5 Games I Use to Benchmark My Windows 11 PC

Benchmarking is a great way to see how your computer performs under specific conditions, but benchmarking tools often give abstract scores and numbers that aren't easy to judge if you don't have access to a benchmark.

That's why when I'm benchmarking my Windows 11 PC or review laptop, I use these games to test.

Fortnite

Using Fortnite to benchmark a PC has a few advantages: it's free, it shows you how well your PC performs against mainstream titles that are well-optimized, And being an online game, it can also highlight issues like latency and ping.

Coincidence, if it can run Fortnite at a decent FPS and resolution, your PC can run other well-optimized online games. I use it as a starter test when I am not sure how important the PC factors are.

Unfortunately there's no built-in benchmarking tool available, but you can turn on the FPS counter to see your average frame rate during a match.

Red Dead Redemption 2

When I'm ready to challenge the PC's CPU and GPU, I run a benchmark using Red Dead Redemption 2. Unfortunately, the benchmarking tool built into the game isn't available if you only have access to Red Dead Online.

To access the benchmarking tool, you need to go to Story Mode, select Settings, and then go to Graphics. Then you will see the option to use benchmarking tool.

The tool presents a series of scenes without any NPCs, but also measures performance in more active scenes such as robberies and shootouts. At the end of the benchmark, you'll get a summary of your peak frame rate, average frame rate, and lowest frame rate.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

If you want to see how your PC performs with older AAA titles, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a great option for a variety of reasons. It includes a benchmarking tool and you don't need to buy the full game for this tool — you can access it by downloading the free demo on Steam.

The game was re-released in 2018, so you don't want to use it to benchmark potential performance in brand new games. But if you're mostly playing older AAA games, this will give you an idea of ​​how your computer will perform. It also provides detailed information such as GPU and CPU rendering performance along with information about your average FPS.

To access the benchmarking tool, open the demo, go to Options, and then choose Display and Graphics. After that you will get the option to run the benchmark. The demo is 15GB in size so it will take up considerably less storage and download time compared to the full game with built-in benchmarks.

Call of Duty: Warzone

Benchmarking Call of Duty: Warzone has a few advantages: it's free, it has realistic graphics, and it has a variety of game modes in which you can test your hardware. Since it's online, you can also use it to check latency. You get when using a gaming laptop over Wi-Fi.

As with Fortnite, I track tactics by measuring the average FPS of a gaming time and glance for issues like screen tearing or slow rendering. I use the Windows Game Bar to gauge game performance during a match.

Black Myth: Wukong Benchmarking Tool

So what if you want to standard your PC using one of the rearmost games with realistic graphics? also luckily for you, the inventors of Black Myth Wukong have released a free, standalone benchmarking tool on Steam.

Blackmoth: The Wukong benchmarking tool measures your FPS and VRAM usage as it plays a variety of environmental scenes. Unfortunately, it doesn't include scenes with a significant number of NPCs, but it can help you identify problems and decide the best settings for the game.

You don't even need to own the main game to use the benchmarking tool, which means it's a good way to measure your PC's performance with the 2024 title. Another advantage is that it's only 10GB in size, meaning you don't need to take up a game's worth of space on your drive just to run a benchmarking tool.

With these games, you can get an idea of how well your Windows 11 PC performs. Built-in benchmarks give very reliable statistics, seeing how your computer performs in competitive titles online can give you a good idea of what games your setup can handle.