The Most Graphically Intensive PC Games of Today

Whether you’re just stress testing your newest top level setup or want to see much you can get away with putting on your gaming setup, looking into graphically intensive PC games can be a very useful gauge on your system’s ability to tackle gaming as a whole.

But there’s much more than the technical aspects that bring gamers back to the most graphically intensive PC games on the market. First and foremost, it’s the amazing looks. While some of these games offer fantastic gameplay to match beautiful graphic scenery, many come back time and time again to see that cool explosion, or that gigantic mountain, or the riot across hundreds of NPCs. For some of us, this is just who we are as gamers.

So here are some of the top hardware strainers on the market today.

While this game is incredibly stunning visually, it also offers a great challenge to your hardware. Shadow of Mordor isn’t one of the most graphically intensive PC games based on its original content, however.

Shadow of Mordor becomes a true stress tester (both for yourself and for your hardware) when you unlock and begin playing the free HD content pack released for download on Steam. Then you’re cooking with gas.

While its newer series game, Battlefield I, is receiving even more buzz for its intense graphics and gameplay, Battlefield 4 shouldn’t be forgotten as a great hardware challenge.

Battlefield 4 is graphically testing in ways Battlefield I is not.

While in the newer game you may face more realistic combat and scenery, Battlefield 4 is so straining for its scenery as well. Explosions, hails of gunfire from hundreds all around you, it’s that kind of situation.

This makes Battlefield 4 a unique gauge on your hardware’s gaming capabilities, and is a beautiful game dedicated players return to time and time again.

Arma has always been intent on providing a very realistic gameplay experience for being a soldier in war. The copmany is heralded for accomplishing exactly this, but also brings some interesting struggles to hardware everywhere.

Whether you’re playing on the very highest settings or not, your system will likely crumple to the might of Arma 3’s gameplay when it comes to multiple person skirmishes in specific areas of maps online.

Whether this is entirely your hardware’s fault is certainly debatable, but even not including these points, Arma 3 can really put some stress on your hardware and some beautiful combat on your screen making it one of the most graphically demanding PC games.

The Batman video game series has seen some major challengers to graphics cards across the spectrums with its higher settings, and Arkham Knight is no different.

The amount of moving targets on the screen at once can be very impressive, as well as the sheer amount of interaction possible.

Multiple game of the year award winner Witcher 3 did a lot for the millions of players who loaded it up. It entertained them, it amazed them visually, and at the highest settings caused some definite strain on a set up.

Witcher 3’s universe moves a lot, and the beautiful scenery makes for a demanding scene when trying to max out. And while it rewarded players who managed it, it also wreaked havoc on those that couldn’t.

The GTA series has always been a challenger to hardware of all types, but none greater than those posed in Grand Theft Auto 5.

On maxed settings and with the chaos the game can bring in multiplayer and single player alike, even the strongest gaming stations are put to the test. Mods can push this experience even further over the top.

GTA 5 is firmly one of the most graphically intensive PC games, and if you disagree you should try out multiplayer with some of the many intense mods available to you.

Far Cry Primal has a reputation for good PC playability across the graphic setting spectrum. That has a lot to do with the amount of beautiful scenery being generated in any given scene.

But that goes right out of the window with its own HD texture pack and Primal becomes a very graphically intensive game.

With the pack, Primal is a great tester for top of the line hardware, earning its high spot regardless of the lighter regular game’s content.

One of the most played games of 2015, Rise of the Tomb Raider, also just so happens to be one of the most graphically intensive PC games.

Within a wide array of bonus content and with maxed out settings, the game’s beautiful world might leave even the best setups hurting.

Whether you enjoy the story, the quick time event system, killing zombies, killing paramilitary agents, or just exploring a range of worlds and sceneries, this game's highest settings make them all shine.

Dice’s Battlefield 1, the fifteenth installment of the Battlefield series, won the Game Critics Awards Best Action Game, and is also one of the most graphically intensive games available.

The game truly captures an authentic feel of World War I weapons and combat stretched across its campaign and even multiplayer modes.

Putting this beautiful game to its highest settings also means one of the toughest battles yet for your gaming setup.

Bullets and explosions over beautiful destructible moving landscapes can do that.

Deux Ex: Mankind Divided brought out every stop when it comes to a graphically demanding game. In one of the most ambitious designs yet, it is no surprise that this game holds the throne in hardware beatdowns so far, and it’s not very close at all.

The game on ultra-settings becomes near impossible for even the very top of the line in computer hardware and gaming setups making it quite easily the king/queen of graphically demanding PC games. To accomplish this even in its single player mode own is certainly a great achievement for the series.

When it comes to graphically demanding PC games, you need look no further than this list. Whether you’re a hardware masochist, or just want to watch the world burn (in all its beautiful max setting glory), you can start from the top and work your way down to truly give your rig a challenge.