Best GPU benchmarks: 5 options to test your graphics card performance (2024)

Benchmarking is a crucial part of the PC building process, as it allows you to quantify the performance of your newly built PC. Benchmarking the components will not only tell you how well they perform but also help you understand how well they handle heavy loads, and whether they overheat or show any abnormalities when pushed to their limits.

The graphics card (GPU) is one of the core components that you must test alongside other critical components to ensure everything is in top-notch condition before you can rely on it in day-to-day usage. There are plenty of GPU benchmarks out there, but they're not all the same, as they each test your PC differently. If you are wondering which GPU benchmark to try on your PC, then read on to find some good options to consider.

5 In-game benchmarks

Give you a general idea of GPU performance

There is a good chance that you have built a gaming PC to play some games, so why not boot one of those modern AAA titles and run its built-in benchmarks? I know built-in game benchmarks don't have the best reputation as they don't accurately represent all in-game scenarios. Still, it's good to get a general idea of how your system would perform while playing it and whether it can handle it.

Modern games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora have pretty good built-in benchmarking tools that I often use to understand the kind of tweaks I need to make to get stable frame rates. Running these built-in benchmarks won't be my first suggestion. Still, I'd say they can help you gauge your hardware's performance without downloading any additional third-party utilities, if you already have the games installed.

4 FurMark

Best for stress testing

FurMark is a stress-testing utility that pushes your graphics card to its absolute limits, giving you an idea of how it performs under extreme load. In case you are wondering, this benchmark gets its name from rendering highly demanding 3D fur, which is the infamous visual you see in pretty much all the FurMark screenshots or videos.

It provides a lot of useful information about your graphics card, from its operating temperature to clock speed and even fan speed while testing. There's even an option to set a temperature warning alert that goes off when your GPU's temperature exceeds certain limits, as it likely will during this strenuous testing.

Some would argue that benchmarks like FurMark don't represent real-world usage, and I'd say that's true because it's not meant to. It's essentially a stress test that pushes your graphics card to its absolute limits, sometimes even beyond the recommended limits, which doesn't represent the ideal operating condition. In fact, there have been multiple discussions on this topic of how stress tests like this can cause irreparable damage to the GPU.

FurMark

FurMark is also a popular benchmarking program, although it's more popular among enthusiasts who often push their GPUs to their absolute limits and know what they are doing.

See at Geeks3D

3 Cinebench 2024

Test both the CPU and GPU

Cinebench 2024 is a one-stop destination that lets you benchmark both your CPU and GPU in the same utility, making it a good fit for this list. That's right, the new Cinebench 2024 version which debuted in September 2023 brings back GPU testing that left the utility with the release of Cinebench R20. It may not push your GPU to its limits the same way something like Furmark would, but it will give you a good understanding of what to expect from your graphics card regarding real-world use cases.

The new version of Cinebench, which is available to download for free, includes support for Redshift and Cinema 4D's default rendering engine, and it uses the same render algorithms across both the CPU and GPU implementations. It also comes with a new user interface and some other under-the-hood enhancements to bring you the best results.

Cinebench 2024

This new version of Cinebench brings back GPU testing, making it a good fit for those looking to download a simple and easy-to-use benchmarking tool that mimics real-world usage.

See at Maxon

See Also

How to Check GPU Usage in Windows 10: A Step-by-Step Guide - Live2Tech

2 Superposition

A good free option

Superposition is a great free tool to test your graphics card, and it's the one we used in our guide on benchmarking a GPU, which is linked near the end of this article. Superposition has also been around for quite some time now, and it's popular for its ease of use. The basic performance test built into Superposition lets you select a resolution for the test and a quality preset. From there, you can simply run the program to generate results, highlighting the performance of your GPU.

Superposition also lets you monitor things like the GPU temperature and clock speeds in real-time as the benchmark is running, and it even includes a test designed specifically around virtual reality (VR) gaming. Those who like stressing their GPU in the name of testing can also use its built-in stress test, but you'll have to purchase the extended version to access that.

The free version, which you can download using the link below, should be sufficient for most users, though, and I only recommend upgrading if you want the additional features like looped tests, leaderboard posting, and more.

Superposition

The free version of Superposition gets you a basic benchmarking tool that's enough to gauge your GPU's performance and stability. It even includes a free VR benchmark tool, which is great.

See at Unigine

1 3DMark

Best overall

3DMark is one of the best and the most reliable GPU benchmarking tools that's been around for decades. It was created and developed by UL (formerly Futuremark), and it essentially includes a collection of benchmarks like Time Spy, Port Royal, and more. Each of these benchmarks puts your graphics card through its paces, making it render different graphically intensive scenes with pre-defined or customizable settings.

We regularly run a suite of 3DMark benchmarks to test the gaming laptops, CPUs, and GPUs that show up on our test bench here at XDA, so be sure to look for the 3DMark scores in our reviews the next time you read them. One of the best things about the 3DMark benchmark is that it lets you customize the settings for each run, and you can even set it to run in a loop, allowing you to push your GPU to its limits and gather additional data over time.

I also like the detailed report it generates after each run, highlighting things like your GPU's score, a monitoring chart with various metrics, etc. You can even compare your results with others in the community to see how your system performs relative to their machines. 3DMark is a paid program that costs $35, but you can download the 3DMark Demo for free on Steam, which gives you access to a limited number of benchmarking options.

3DMark

3DMark is a popular benchmarking utility with a collection of benchmarks to test your GPU's performance with various settings. The program's free version is enough to run some basic tests, while the paid version unlocks additional tests to collect more information.

See at Steam

Finding the best benchmarks

Unless you are looking to really push the limits of your GPU, and see how far it can go before dropping to its knees, I suggest sticking with basic benchmarks like 3DMark or Cinebench 2024. Even the free version of 3DMark from Steam would suffice for general testing, as it gives you unlimited access to some popular tests like Time Spy and Fire Strike.

Those who really want to test how far they can push their GPU can consider something like Furmark. Most modern GPUs have fail-safe mechanisms in place for when they exceed certain power limits and operating temperatures. However, just be careful while running a stress test like Furmark, especially if you are working with an overclocked GPU.