New titles, new games, new(ish) consoles, and yet we still use the same technology in our game controllers. Sure, the PlayStation 5 controller has some advanced features such as adaptive triggers, but after many months of gaming, you may notice something odd about your Xbox, Switch, or PlayStation controller. Perhaps, your characters walk without input, or the camera moves around slowly. Maybe you wiggle the analog sticks and it’s fine … but only for a moment. One of the sticks has begun to drift on its own.

Enter the Hall Effect game controller. They promise to address the annoying issues that often plague traditional controllers, such as stick drift and similar wear over time. But what exactly are they, and how do they measure up against the standard Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo controllers?

Let’s delve into the magnetic world of Hall Effect game controllers to unravel their magic and see what they are, whether they’re worth preferring, and how some specific models compare.

 

Hall Effect: The Magnetic Marvel

 

The gaming companions we’ve grown accustomed to, namely Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation controllers, rely on potentiometers for their analog sticks to help sense direction. Now, a potentiometer is like a tiny volume knob for each analog stick. As you move the analog stick, the potentiometer turns, changing how much electricity can flow through it (or is resisted). This change in electricity tells the computer or console how far (and in what direction) you moved the analog stick. However, it is a physical connection, and over time the parts touching inside the potentiometer can wear out. Such wear might lead to the dreaded stick drift, dwindling precision, and eventually the controller’s retirement.

The Hall Effect, a principle named after physicist Edwin Hall, comes into play when magnetic fields interact with electric currents. In the gaming sphere, this principle morphs into a sensor technology that bids adieu to the physical contact. The heart of this technology lies in the Hall Effect sensors nestled within the joysticks and other control interfaces. Think of this like a permanent magnet and an electrical conductor engaging in a sort of dance, where every move of the magnet alters the voltage in the conductor. This voltage change is then translated into in-game movements or commands. The best thing is, the magnet and conductor don’t touch, which means no wear and tear! At least, on those particular components.

 

What’s In It For You?

 

The proposition for Hall Effect controllers is pretty straightforward. No more stick drift, much more durability, no more disappointment as your controller’s sticks slowly stop working properly. They can theoretically endure marathon gaming sessions over years and years. In my opinion, Hall Effect controllers emerge as a worthy gaming partner, to help you achieve your best.

There’s one more thing to mention, though. Whilst we’ve been talking about Hall Effect sensors as a single monolithic thing—in reality there are different designs, and they’re not all made the same. In fact, a new sensor called the K-Silver JH16 was released this year (specifically, in April 2023) and adopted in new controllers. Why is this important? Well, the JH16 offers superior integrated hall effect sensors, better battery performance, and improved centering performance compared to the older modules. So, even though there are plenty of older Hall Effect controllers that are probably still good, I’m limiting the scope of this article to cover the newest controllers that ought to be great.

This unfortunately has the effect of narrowing down our options. Admittedly, there isn’t a huge amount of information on these Hall Effect controllers, so I had to do some searching. Based on what I found, the following is what I can recommend overall. I’d appreciate it if anyone who has had any of the below controllers could share their experiences, especially around longevity—though, to be fair, it’s probably a little too early to tell.

 

Recommended Hall Effect Controllers

GameSir T4 Kaleid ($42)

• • Pros:
    • Features well-placed back buttons and a comfortable grip
    • Face buttons have a satisfying tactile click, akin to high-end controllers
    • Lighweight (380g), making it easy to handle
    • LEDs add aesthetic appeal (though this might be a con for some)
    • Offers high-end features at a budget-friendly price
  • Cons:
    • Lacks wireless connectivity
    • Unlabelled function buttons can be challenging to use, requiring reference to the manual
    • Turbo Mode feature can be accidentally activated, potentially disrupting gameplay

GameSir G7 SE ($50)

• • Pros:
    • Provides precise control and prevents stick drift
    • Offers a comfortable grip and well-distributed weight
    • Includes customizable back buttons and software customization for button mapping and sensitivity adjustments
    • Durable construction with responsive buttons and secure joysticks
    • Incorporates additional functionalities like volume and chat mixer controls on the D-pad, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a mute button
    • Offers high-end features at a reasonable price
  • Cons:
    • Lacks wireless connectivity
    • Some buttons, like the select button, are awkwardly positioned
    • The controller can be noisy during vibration feedback due to its construction

Mobapad ChiTu HD ($56)

• • Pros:
    • Features original dual-axis ALPS linear motors for vivid vibration feedback
    • About 30 hours of battery life
    • Comfortable and versatile with interchangeable buttons and adjustable joystick caps
    • Near-identical alternative to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
    • HD rumble, NFC, Switch BAYX layout, and digital triggers
    • Has two buttons on underside of controller for added functionality
  • Cons:
    • Back buttons can be a little awkwardly placed for small hands

Flydigi Vader 3 Pro ($90)

• • Pros:
    • C and Z buttons are well-placed, with membrane switches to prevent accidental button presses.
    • Triggers offer mechanical click emulation and can be changed on the go
    • An impressive 500 Hz polling rate in wireless mode for high responsiveness
    • Four underside buttons, with customizable macro functionality
    • The ABXY buttons provide a tactile ‘clicky’ response
  • Cons:
    • Battery only lasts about 8 hours before needing to charge
    • Trigger vibrations in comparison to other controllers are lackluster, with limited game support and reduced effectiveness in Bluetooth mode
    • Flydigi app is prone to crashing, and lacks essential features like vibration testing, specific game configurations, and reliable firmware updates
    • Should be calibrated before use

 

Conclusion:

 

The gaming ecosystem is in a perpetual state of evolution, and Hall Effect game controllers are a shining example of the innovative strides aimed at enhancing our experiences. When your current controller is on its last legs, or perhaps if you’re looking at getting a second one, I think it’d be a worthwhile investment to check these controllers out.

These Hall Effect gaming controllers promise more longevity, and to me that means many more hours gaming and focusing on the things that matter more. As we venture further into digital realms, perhaps it’s time to consider nestling the magnetic revolution in our hands.

 

Sources:

 

• Creative Bloq – GameSir G7 review: beats Xbox at its own game
• GameRant – GameSir G7 SE Wired Controller Review
• GamesRadar – GameSir G7 SE review: “Is the standard Xbox controller redundant?”
• GamesRadar – GameSir T4 Kaleid review: “Transparent – in more ways than one”
• China Gadget Reviews – Unboxing MOBAPAD Chitu Pro-HD Mechanical Multi-Platform Gamepad Controller
• Reddit User /u/kaldeqca – Flydigi Vader 3 Pro Review

A couple of weeks ago I went through eight of the most popular Steam games at the time, and linked which Logical Increments PC build tier is needed to play that game at a specific performance level. Well, that proved to be a popular article, so I’m here to round out the list with more of Steam’s most successful titles (and maybe a couple trending ones)!

I strongly recommend also checking out the previous list, and even the much older list I made with similar goals way back in January 2020.

Something that surprised me as I went through the list last month was how closely linked 1440p resolution at 120 frames per second (1440p120) and 4K resolution at 60 frames per second (4K60) were. I guess it’s not too much of a surprise since 4K is more-or-less double the amount of pixels in 1440p, but I still found it intriguing that you could sometimes get away with a system that was one tier lower at 4K60 than the 1440p120 ones. In a way, it makes sense: lower frame rates tend to be more stable than higher frame rates, and your processor isn’t having to work as hard since only half the amount of frames are being generated.

And, as you’ll now see, that trend continues here!

 

Criteria:

 

As I mentioned in the previous article, Logical Increments keeps its primary tier list consistently updated, showing you the cost of building systems geared towards particular performance milestones. From the humble ‘Destitute’ system to the jaw-dropping ‘Monstrous’ setup, it shows what is attainable at each price point, offers a roadmap for some upgrading, and generally makes it convenient to knit together a balanced system with top-notch parts.

With that list in hand, we can match each of the most popular games on Steam right now with a Logical Increments tier. In this piece, I cross-referenced eight of the most played Steam games with our tier list to see what is required to hit 60 frames per second at 1080p (referenced as 1080p60), 120 frames per second at 1440p (referenced as 1440p120), and 60 frames per second at 4K (referenced as 4k60).

Back in the old 2020 version of this exercise, I stuck to certain non-negotiables for a system to land in a specific category. In this article and last month’s article, though, I made a few changes:

• The lion’s share of the time, we’re talking 99% or more, it had to cruise within 10% of the minimum frames per second or higher at the chosen resolution. So, I care more about the ‘minimum’ than the ‘average’ frames per second.
• It had to strut with at least very high graphical settings.

What should you do with this information? Find the games you play most often, or at least the games that interest you. Look at the resolution and frames per second you’re interested in, and (assuming you’re not bursting your budget), get the suggested tier for a satisfying, pleasant experience. You won’t have any regrets, as these systems have been vetted to ensure a proper balance of performance and price.

Now, let’s get on with what you came here for! On with the games!

 

Games:

Naraka: Bladepoint

We covered PUBG, Apex, and Warzone last month, and this is yetanother free-to-play battle royale game. I guess those are pretty popular at the moment? Anyway, this game differs from many others in that it features a melee-based combat system inspired by martial arts. There have been a few comparisons to Apex Legends, but it still stands out with a style that, according to former Rock Paper Shotgun writer Matt Cox, is a game where “fighting game aficionados will feel right at home” with its mix of combos and rock-paper-scissors-style combat. Cox summarizes, “charged attacks beat normal attacks, parries beat charged attacks, and normal attacks beat parries”. But what do you need to run the game? Well, according to its Steam page, it “requires ‘Windows Memory integrity and VBS enablement’ to be disabled.” That’s unusual. But, hey, it’s still popular.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Fair Tier	Excellent Tier	Excellent Tier
I find that getting specific benchmarks on this game a little difficult, at least for current-generation hardware. An RX 6600XT is enough to play at 1080p60 quite comfortably, and it’ll provide a much smoother experience than the recommended specs on the Steam page.	An RTX 4070 is an excellent choice for this tier. Achieving around 124 FPS with minimums of around 106 FPS means that you’re all set with an Excellent Tier system	It’s actually pretty similar to the 1440p120 tier, which is why we can just stick with that.

Grand Theft Auto V

Explore the world of Los Santos and Blaine County! …Again! Team up with friends, do missions, go crazy! This game was released on Steam in April 2015, and it has maintained a high level of popularity throughout that time. It’s just a fun multiplayer game with friends. Nothing too stressful, nothing too competitive. So, what do you need to enjoy this level of mayhem? Considering how old the game is, I don’t think you need much. Heck, the minimum requirements include an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 with a 9800 GT or HD 4870! One thing to consider throughout all of this is that MSAA is crazily hardware-intensive, so if you want to play with that enabled, jump up two tiers from my recommendations.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Modest Tier	Great Tier	Very Good Tier
Ignoring the minimum requirements, I’m going to assume if you’re reading this you want to play online as well and that requires a bit more power than the single-player campaign. Really, any dedicated graphics card should do nicely.	With a minimum of 110 FPS (but pushing averages close to 150 FPS), the Great Tier is my recommendation here. Only concern is how CPU-bound you are.	With the CPU having to work less, you can probably get away with a lesser graphics card. But you don’t want to skimp on the CPU too much. The Very Good tier is the one just below the Great Tier.

Battlefield V

Ah, another ‘V’. This first-person shooter interestingly reached its peak popularity for the year on the 27th of November. I wonder how much Modern Warfare 3 influenced that. Anyway, for a game that came out a few years ago, the graphics still hold up nicely and it’s just an all-round fun experience. For the most part anyway.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Modest Tier	Great Tier	Very Good Tier
This game does need a dedicated graphics card to run, but even the low-tier RX 6400 is enough to play at 1080p60. 66 FPS minimum and averaging much higher (close to 90 FPS), this tier is only $25 more than the one below it which is significantly weaker.	With lows of around 115 FPS, but averaging a solid 180 FPS, the Great tier is where you can get solid, dependable, consistent performance.	This is yet another situation where for 4K60 I feel comfortable recommending the next tier down from the last column.

War Thunder

Even though it came out around 10 years ago in August 2013, War Thunder has been steadily rising in popularity. In fact, its most popular day was around late March or early May of this year. How crazy is that? As a military MMO, this game pays high attention to detail and focuses on realism and authenticity—at least as much as a game can be, whilst still being accessible. Still, it’s got plenty of planes, tanks, and ships.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Minimum Tier	Fair Tier	Modest Tier
War Thunder doesn’t take a lot to run, so you can even get solid performance with integrated graphics.	The Fair Tier just meets the criteria, with a low of 109 FPS. It does have an average of 158 FPS, though, so you’re going to have a great time.	The Modest Tier can still pump out over 60 FPS at 4K. I had a look at the tier directly before this one, but you’re sacrificing too much performance.

Football Manager 2024

Well, this is a peculiar one. It doesn’t really need graphics power unless you want to watch your team run around in 3D—but even then the graphics are nothing amazing. Really, this is like a glorified spreadsheet, though I will say it’s become a little simpler and more friendly towards beginners than it used to be.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Destitute Tier	Poor Tier	Poor Tier
I’m sort of scratching my head with this one. Technically, technically, you can get away with the Destitute Tier for this game, but it makes me uncomfortable to recommend such a system. It has a dual core CPU. Without Hyperthreading. At that point, for a gaming system you may want to consider the used market.	You know what? I’m going to suggest the Poor Tier. With 8GB of RAM, to be precise. At just about $50 more than the Destitute Tier, it’s fully capable of meeting the needs of this game.	Erm, Poor Tier again.

Warframe

Set sometime in the fairly distant future, Warframe has you team up with other crazy metal ninjas and slice and dice your way through thousands (if not tens of thousands) of enemies that are powerless to stop your onslaught. You can also breed pets, that will help you slice and dicce you way through thousands (if not tens of thousands) of enemies. Grind, collect loot, build more powerful weapons, get more powerful classes (which are also known as frames), and relax as you’ve sliced and diced your way through a million or so enemies and they keep coming back for more.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Fair Tier	Great Tier	Great Tier
This is a fast-paced game. To maintain a certain level of smoothness and fluidity, you should go with the Fair Tier.	According to the system requirements on Steam, you barely require something a little stronger than a toaster. But since then, the game has expanded to larger, open areas which take more graphical power. The Great Tier should cover you nicely.	Similarly, I think the Great Tier is the best option for 4K60 gaming.

Tevi

I don’t know too much about this game, as it’s just been released within a day or so of me writing this (which probably accounts for it making its way into this list, by riding a wave of release traffic). But, according to its Steam page, it is self-described as a “bullet hell metroidvania.” Neat! Based on its art style and recommended specifications, I doubt it really requires anything significant considering it’s a 2D game.

1080p60	1440p120	4K60
Poor Tier	Minimum Tier	Minimum Tier
Lots of bright lights and neon… that don’t affect performance much, since it’s all in 2D. This game can run on integrated graphics.	Might, might, be worth getting a slightly more powerful system for this game. But I don’t think so. It’s not absolutely needed.	And for 4K as well, it’s the Minimum tier all the way!

 

Conclusion:

 

There we go, another list of Steam games completed! I find it a little interesting that the most popular games are mostly older games. I guess those of us suffering from the high prices of the newest and most powerful PC parts this year can be grateful that such popular titles are so easy to run (or maybe I’ve got the causation reversed there).

With rare exceptions such as Baldur’s Gate 3, the games I’ve covered in this article and the previous one are mostly several years old, if not older. Maybe there have only been a few really legendary multiplayer releases in the past few years. If true, that would go to show that a game with solid mechanics and a healthy multiplayer scene really can trump the latest and greatest tech.

Back in January 2020, I crafted a neat little piece discussing the Logical Increments tier needed to enjoy each of the top games on Steam at the time. Fast forward to now, and oh, how the scene has shifted! Back around that period, we were seeing trade tariffs causing a good bump in prices for PC hardware​. As we ventured into late 2020, high demand meant the cost of PC parts kept climbing, and 2021 brought even higher prices—especially for graphics cards due to a cryptocurrency boom. Oh, and let’s not forget, the world was just getting acquainted with Covid-19, adding a whole new level of complexity to tech market dynamics through supply chain issues.

Now, at the tail end of 2023, with prices and availability having normalized in some (though not all) component categories, and just a week left until Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s about time we take a fresh look at what Logical Increments PC building tier you’d need to dive into the most popular Steam games today. Let’s see what changed in the last few years, and whether that ol’ system still has some life in it, or whether it might be worth a little upgrade. Stick around as we unpack the current gaming demands and discuss today’s tech landscape.
 

Criteria:

 

Logical Increments keeps its primary tier list consistently updated, showing you the cost of building systems geared towards particular performance milestones. From the humble ‘Destitute’ system to the jaw-dropping ‘Monstrous’ setup, it shows what is attainable at each price point, offers a roadmap for some upgrading, and generally makes it convenient to knit together a balanced system with top-notch parts.

With that list in hand, we can match each of the most popular games on Steam right now with a Logical Increments tier. In this piece, I cross-referenced the 8 most played Steam games with our tier list to see what is required to hit 60 frames per second at 1080p (referenced as 1080p60), 120 frames per second at 1440p (referenced as 1440p120), and 60 frames per second at 4K (referenced as 4k60).

Last time, I stuck to two non-negotiables for a system to land in a specific category. This time I made a few changes:

• The lion’s share of the time, we’re talking 99% or more, it had to cruise within 10% of the minimum frames per second or higher at the chosen resolution. So, I care more about the ‘minimum’ than the ‘average’ frames per second.
• It had to strut with at least very high graphical settings.

What should you do with this information? Find the games you play most often, or at least the games that interest you. Look at the resolution and frames per second you’re interested in, and (assuming you’re not bursting your budget), get the suggested tier for a satisfying, pleasant experience. You won’t have any regrets, as these systems have been vetted to ensure a proper balance of performance and price.

Now, let’s get on with what you came here for! On with the games!

 

Games:

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 is the freshest iteration in the cherished Counter-Strike series, known for its intense competitive gameplay that’s been honed by Valve (and then by millions of players worldwide over two decades). Built on the Source 2 engine, this game was released on September 27, 2023, 11 years after CS:GO. Interestingly, even though it had a massive graphical upgrade and several systems were overhauled (to the disappointment of some), the minimum specifications haven’t really changed that much. Really, any gaming computer built in the last 5 years would be able to run this at 1080p60 without any issues. But I digress. Here are my recommendations:

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Modest Tier	Superb Tier	Superb Tier
An RX 6500XT 4GB, RX 580 8GB, or GTX 1060 6GB would be plenty to run CS2 at this tier of performance. In fact, the above graphics cards would run it in excess of 80 FPS on average, but I wanted the minimum to be above 54 FPS.	If you needed to save some money, you could get away with the Great tier, but Superb provides some extra smoothness and stability using those more graphically intensive parts.	It’s actually pretty similar to the 1440p120 tier. I am not overly surprised as both 1440p120 and 4k60 are pushing out a similar number of total pixels per second.

DotA 2

Another Source 2 engine game. Last time, I said that “the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Dota 2 was officially released in 2013, and quickly rose in ranks to become one of the most popular games on Steam. Allowing for a range of different gameplay styles, such as strategical and tactical or more aggressive, you can play the game almost any way you want. It has a fairly steep learning curve, and can be an exercise in frustration for newcomers, but once you get the hang of the controls you’ll be greeted with fun, exciting gameplay.” Not much has changed on that front, so let’s see if the recommendations have changed:

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Entry Tier	Great Tier	Good Tier
Similar to last time, I feel that a dedicated graphics card would help immensely keeping the minimum FPS above 60. If you went with the Minimum Tier you’d be getting framerate dips down to below 40 FPS. Not desirable.	This surprised me a little. This system would comfortably push 200 FPS normally, but it would also drop to around 109 FPS on occasion. If you don’t care about smoothness that much, or you’re happy to drop settings, I think you could get away with the Good Tier.	Huh, you don’t need as powerful a GPU at 4k60 compared to 1440p120! Probably because the CPU doesn’t need to push as hard. At the Good tier, you can reach a minimum of 69 FPS, and average around 135 FPS.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Released in late 2017, this battle royale game catapulted to the top of Steam’s most popular games, and it hasn’t really dropped from the list. Thankfully, it’s a lot more stable to run these days; in the early years, there were stability and optimisation problems, but hey, that’s now mostly a worry of the past.

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Modest Tier	Great Tier	Great Tier
This tier will run this game at a comfortable average of 79 FPS, sometimes dipping down to 55 FPS. Considering the minimal price difference between this tier and the Entry tier, this is definitely the one to go for.	With the Great tier, you’re getting a comfortable minimum of 109 FPS, averaging around 161 FPS. It seems like you need to pair it with an AMD CPU for that tier, because with the same graphics card, using the i5-13600KF (from the Superb tier) instead of the R5 7600 causes a minor drop in FPS. Not significantly, but enough to bring it below the standards outlined above.	With the CPU working less hard in the 4K tier compared to 1440p120, you could use the i5-13600KF and still achieve stable FPS. But I’d still stick with the specified Great tier and use the R5 7600.

Baldur’s Gate 3

A role-playing game released in early August, 2023. Baldur’s Gate 3 received high praise for its narrative, gameplay, and player choice. It has a fantastic amount of flexibility and replayability. You really can play this game any way you want. Its popularity has surprised its creators though, with a peak of around 800,000 players on release, and a current count still above 100,000 months later. The suggestions below include using upscaling technology in the game’s settings; if you don’t want to use it, I suggest going up a tier or two.

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Modest Tier	Great Tier	Great Tier
Considering the minimum specs, the equivalent current-generation tier would be the Modest tier. You’d get respectable performance with this.	With the Great tier, the RTX 3070 can comfortably push 100+ FPS using upscaling tech, though it will fare slightly worse in Act 3 in the big city.	Similarly to 1440p120, the Great Tier is perfectly fine for 4k60 as long as you use upscaling tech.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a battle royale game released in February 2019. Though it’s another game built on the Source engine, it isn’t similar to Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 because the engine of Apex Legends is a fork of the original Source engine from around the time Portal 2 came out. I’d argue that Apex Legends is really pushing the original Source engine to its limits, so I’m interested to see how well it performs on lower-tier systems. Without further ado, let’s check out the recommendations:

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Modest Tier	Great Tier	Great Tier
This game can push out over 60 FPS minimum on an RX 6400, so I’m comfortable recommending the Modest tier.	The Great tier can provide excellent performance, pushing close to 110 FPS minimums and averaging over 150 FPS.	The Great tier is also fantastic at this resolution, offering minimums just a smidge below 60 FPS and averaging closer to 77 FPS.

Team Fortress 2

Last time, I said that it’s “nearly impossible to get good data on how well current GPUs run this game.” And you know what? That still holds true today, thanks to the age of the game. Team Fortress 2 has been running for around 15 years, and still has popularity and longevity. Which makes perfect sense to me; it’s a great game! My only question is about how well-supported current-generation graphics cards are, comparatively. So, with some interpolation of available data, here are the choices I’ve made:

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Entry Tier	Modest Tier	Modest Tier
Similar to last time, the integrated graphics on an AMD APU is enough for this game. Getting the Entry tier with the R5 5600G means you could pop in a dedicated graphics card in the future, knowing your CPU is powerful enough and won’t bottleneck your system.	An entry-level dedicated graphics card should do well here. I would get the RX 6500 XT over the RX 6400 in this case, but I expect this to run well on this hardware.	Since 4k60 pushes only slightly more pixels per second than 1440p120, and lower frame rates tend to be more stable, I’m comfortable recommending the Modest Tier here as well.

Call of Duty

So, this part encompasses Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Modern Warfare II, and Warzone. Having both solid single-player campaigns and a “multiplayer combat arena with battle royales, resurgence and DMZ” this game, whose earliest member came out in 2022, does require a powerful system to get the most out of it. I definitely recommend using upscaling tech like DLSS or FSR if the visual artifacts don’t bother you.

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Great Tier	Outstanding Tier	Outstanding Tier
The Great tier is really required to push this game. Though you’ll get averages of around 90 FPS, the minimums are just under 60 FPS at native resolution. You could drop a tier if you run it as a balanced preset instead. Check out whether upscaling tech is helpful or degrades your image quality too much.	At this tier, you should be able to use upscaling tech and still maintain high-quality graphics. Without it, your minimum FPS drops to around 90, and at this stage you really want to get 100 FPS minimums for proper smoothness.	Again, we see an overlap in requirements for this column and the previous one, so the Outstanding tier is my recommendation here too.

The Finals

A really recent entry, The Finals is a new shooter game that’s just been released. As in, I was typing this section the day The Finals was released (in open beta) so there’s not a huge amount of information available yet. To further exacerbate this situation, the system requirements on Steam all say TBD. Lovely. But that doesn’t mean there’s zero info, and we can extrapolate data from similar games and similar engines as well. Anyway, this game is much more arcade-like, and has some really solid destruction physics. Keep in mind though that at present this is in beta, so stability and optimisation isn’t the best yet (and may not be the devs’ current priority).

1080p60	1440p120	4k60
Modest Tier	Enthusiast Tier	Exceptional Tier
You definitely want a dedicated graphics card for this game, but it doesn’t seem to require too much to run. An RX 6500XT is my recommendation over the RX 6400.	Quite the jump up between the two tiers. Now, I’m removing ray-tracing from the equation here, because you’d definitely need something stronger than this otherwise.	As I’ve mentioned before, 4k60 pushes a relalitvely small number of additional pixels per second when compared to 1440p120. But the CPU doesn’t have to work quite as hard at lower frame rates, and lower numbers tend to be more stable. Hence the Exceptional tier works here.

 

Conclusion:

 

Something that surprised me was that for the most part, 4k60 required the same tier as 1440p120, or sometimes even the tier below. Personally, I prefer 1440p120 over 4k60—but for slower, single-player games it’s worth knowing. Nonetheless, whether you are chasing the thrill of multiplayer games like The Finals or Apex Legends, or getting immersed in the narrative of Baldur’s Gate 3, getting the right hardware is instrumental to a good experience.

It’s not just enough to look at the average frame rates, but the minimum you’ll get as well. You want to ensure the experience stays smooth, which is what my analysis has done here. It is fantastic that most of these games don’t require powerful hardware. You can get a fully enjoyable experience at 1080p60 with a fairly budget-oriented system. So, even though games continue to evolve and push new heights with new releases and updated versions, you can still be assured that your old favourites will be hanging around for years to come, and that you’ll have the system to run them.

 

Sources

• Gamers Nexus – Coronavirus Hits PC Hardware Manufacturing Hard: Z490, AM4, & Computex
• HowManyFPS – FPS Calculator for Hardware, PCs, and Laptops
• PC Gamer – Larian’s boss worried Baldur’s Gate 3 had peaked in early access, so its massive 800K concurrent player launch was ‘way, way beyond’ expectations
• PCGamesN – The Finals system requirements
• RockPaperShotgun – Baldur’s Gate 3 system requirements, PC performance, and best settings to use
• Steam – Call of Duty Store Page
• SteamCharts – Top Games List
• TechPowerUp – Counter-Strike 2 Performance Benchmark Review – 40 GPUs Tested