Have you ever observed your system overheating while playing a game? How do we know if a game is CPU or GPU-intensive? Have you ever wondered why some games place such a high burden on the CPU? Are you curious about which games are CPU-intensive?In this article, we will help you understand these queries.
Some games have higher CPU power than the GPU power. These games are called CPU Intensive Games. They make our processor heavy because of complicated calculations, physics, AI, and some background tasks. So we will discuss this further for your understanding.
For achieving top performances, it’s important to know if your CPU is holding you back. Our Bottleneck Calculator can help analyze your system performance, like CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage, to find out what issues arise in the system. So you put your hardware details to get the result.
What are CPU-intensive games?
CPU-intensive games are those that heavily depend on the system’s central processing unit (CPU) to execute complicated calculations, simulations, and tasks like Physics engines, Artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, and Large-scale simulation. For a smooth gaming experience, these games require significant processing power.
CPU Intensive Games vs GPU Intensive Games
CPU
A central processing unit is a key hardware component that performs like the brain of a computer, the core computational unit in a server. It
performs different types of computing tasks that provide for the operating system and for applications to run.
CPU intensive game require fast CPU with multiple cores and also Adequate RAM and storage.
GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) performs the same act in hardware components but with extra features. It could execute complex mathematical operations that can be processed in parallel; however, for graphics rendering tasks in gaming and animation, their uses now extend far beyond the GPUs that were initially created to handle these all.
GPU intensive game need powerful GPU with high VRAM.
Adequate RAM and storage also necessary.
Optimizing Performance for CPU-Intensive Games with a Bottleneck Calculator
Understanding CPU Demand
CPU-intensive games rely heavily on the processor to manage tasks such as physics, AI, and background tasks. If your CPU lacks sufficient power, the game may experience lagging.
Identifying System Imbalance
A bottleneck calculator helps you identify whether your system performance is limited by CPU or GPU. A weak CPU is more likely to be the bottleneck it will create For CPU-intensive games.
Choosing the Right CPU for Gaming
If you mostly play CPU-heavy games like strategy or simulation titles, using a bottleneck calculator can guide you in selecting a CPU that won’t slow down your high-end GPU.
Upgrading Smartly
For games that focus on CPU-intensive games, our calculator can help you choose a CPU. The bottleneck calculator helps identify whether only the CPU upgrade will improve gaming performance in CPU-intensive titles.
Performance Optimization
By utilizing the bottleneck calculator, Gamers can use the bottleneck calculator to test different CPU-GPU before purchase for smooth performance of CPU-demanding games.
What are some common scenarios where a CPU bottleneck can occur in games, and how can you identify them using CPU and GPU usage metrics?
GPU usage is more than 90%, and CPU usage is less than 70%
So, this is likely GPU-bound, and the performance is better.
GPU usage is more than 70%, and CPU usage is less than 90%
So this game is more likely to be a CPU-bound game due to this creating issues in performance, then CPU bottleneck arises.
GPU usage less than 90%, and cpu usage is more than70%
It could be related to a bottleneck, but it’s not always a problem. If it is in only one or two games, it might be game-specific. If it is created in all games, it could be a hardware limitation.
FPS and Bottlenecks
Good FPS and 100% GPU usage: Arise GPU bottleneck.
Bad FPS and 100% GPU usage: Here, You are still hitting a GPU bottleneck, and a better GPU might help.
Bad FPS and low GPU usage: Here, hit a CPU bottleneck, indicating a CPU-intensive game.
Types of Games That Rely On The CPU More and Why?
Some games are more CPU-dependent because of some gameplay mechanics, large open words and detailed graphics that create complexity. Games that utilize high CPU resources due to background processes and numerical calculations of their genre can easily be identified. So these kinds of games winch more rely on your CPU for performance, including.
- Real-time strategy and Turn-based
- Open world
- Simulation
Why?
Strategy games require difficult calculations for resource management, AI decision-making, pathfinding etc.
Open-world games require complex calculations for AI behavior, physics simulation, terrain rendering etc.
Simulation games rely on AI simulation, real-time data processing, physics engine etc.
The CPU handles these tasks smoothly, and it’s essential for seamless gameplay.
Top 10 Most CPU Intensive Games (2024–2025)
The list below the top 10 games from 2024–2025 that used the most CPU power.
- Star Citizen
- Even though it’s in the development stage, this game is famous for its huge world. So you have a strong, multi-core processor to play this game.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
- This game shows real-world weather, live air traffic, and real-time maps. So that’s why we need a fast processor with single-core speed to run efficiently.
- Cities: Skylines II
- In the city-building game, you manage traffic, the economy, and the people living in your city. You do well if you have Strong power CPU.
- Total War: Pharaoh
- This game consists of more features like huge battles with many soldiers. A lot of calculations in this game, especially during battles, so you must have a harder CPU.
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- In 2023, this game came out, But this game still needs a strong processor because of intricate turn-based battles and complex AI-driven characters.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- The recent update to Cyberpunk 2077 has enhanced the city even more with advanced features like ray tracing.CPU remains heavily engaged due to the graphics card handling workload, so the CPU still has a lot to do.
- ARMA Reforger
- This game requires detailed maps, physics, and smart AI. When you are playing or hosting a server, the CPU is heavily Utilized.
- DCS World (Digital Combat Simulator)
- This flight simulator is very detailed. It requires strong performance from both single-core and multi-core CPUs, especially during large combat missions that need a powerful processor necessary for smooth gameplay.
- Manor Lords (2024 Early Access)
- Medieval city-builder game In which you manage battles that look realistic. Due to this CPU load increases more things happen.
- Helldivers 2
- It was released in 2024; this game delivers fast and full action with many enemies at once, so a powerful CPU is needed to keep this game running smoothly.
- It was released in 2024; this game delivers fast and full action with many enemies at once, so a powerful CPU is needed to keep this game running smoothly.
How to Identify If a Game Is CPU Intensive?
CPU-intensive games are those that heavily depend on the processor to process the calculations. If a game requires a high CPU speed, like 3.5 GHz or more, it may be CPU intensive. So there are some game characters included, like Complex gameplay, Large open worlds, AI-driven characters, and Physics-based gameplay.
Impact of Background Processes on CPU Performance in Gaming
For maintaining smooth gaming performance, it’s necessary to minimize the impact of Background processes on the CPU and also close unnecessary programs, causing the likelihood of frame rate drops and stuttering.
Games that aren’t CPU-intensive
These following games are accessible due to their lower-end CPU and GPU ability to run
2D games: puzzles games, platforms that often have lower system requirements.
Casual games: Minecraft, Velly and similar games.
Older games: older system and console games.
Indie games: These games are designed to be less resource intensive.
How AI and Physics Engines Affect CPU Usage
In modern games and many applications AI and physics engines play an important role when upgrading a system for gaming. Many users just focus on GPU performance but CPU is equally important.
Effects
- Increase the CPU usage
- Decrease frame rate
- Performance bottleneck
ON the basis of above all discussion we analyze when you are playing demanding games like open-world RPGs, real-time strategy the CPU handles complex tasks like AI and physics simulations. If your processor is weak it will limit your graphics cards performance,due to this created CPU bottleneck. This occurs when the GPU is ready to perform, but the CPU working well
A bottleneck calculator helps analyze if your CPU and GPU are a good match for each other, especially for CPU-intensive games. By using our tool, you can upgrade the balanced system,Enjoy smoother gameplay, fewer decrease frame drops,better overall performance.