Best Games for the GPU

A lot of people are asking whether i would be able to run this game or not.
Usually the GPU becomes the deciding factor since people asking such questions tend to have weak GPUs.
So assuming the PC has enough RAM and CPU processing power I decided to make a list of games playable on specific GPUs for the last 3 years 2011,2012,2013.
CPU and RAM won't be a problem in most cases.
The Game Tiers are based on performance so as not to have a reduction in overall game value.
One certainly wouldn't like to play Skyrim at the lowest possible settings, 800x600.
That would just defeat the purpose of playing Skyrim.
Also these Tiers are not meant to max out each game.
These are meant only to play at settings that does not reduce overall game value.

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Game legend:
* - Personal Preference
** - Genre/Series fan
*** - Worth playing
**** - Must play
***** - If u haven't played this u are not a PC gamer

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Game Tier 7
Hotline Miami *** 2012

Game Tier 8
To the Moon ** 2011
Resonance * 2012
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition * 2012

Game Tier 9
LIMBO *** 2011

Game Tier 10
Antichamber ** 2013

Game Tier 11
Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine *** 2013
Frozen Synapse *** 2011
Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episode 1: We Negotiate With Terrorists * 2011

Game Tier 14
Portal 2 ***** 2011
The Sims Medieval * 2011
FTL: Faster Than Light *** 2012

Game Tier 15
The Binding of Isaac ** 2011
Anomaly: Warzone Earth ** 2011

Game Tier 16
Trine 2 *** 2011
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution ** 2011
The Book of Unwritten Tales ** 2011
The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith *** 2013
The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 1 - All That Remains * 2013
The Walking Dead: 400 Days * 2013
The Walking Dead *** 2012

Game Tier 17
Bastion **** 2011
Football Manager 2014 ** 2013
Football Manager 2013 *** 2012
Guacamelee! Gold Edition *** 2013
Shadowrun Returns * 2013
The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief * 2013
Torchlight II *** 2012
Rogue Legacy ** 2013

Game Tier 18
Gone Home *** 2013

Game Tier 20
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria ** 2012
TrackMania 2 Canyon * 2011
Magicka * 2011
Gunpoint *** 2013

Game Tier 21
ShootMania Storm * 2013
Memoria * 2013
Endless Space * 2012
Orcs Must Die! 2 ** 2012
Legend of Grimrock ** 2012

Game Tier 22
Dota 2 *** 2013
TERA * 2012
Total War: Shogun 2 *** 2011
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood *** 2011
Dead Space 2 *** 2011
Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues *** 2011
Tropico 4 * 2011
Dragon Age II * 2011
XCOM: Enemy Within *** 2013
XCOM: Enemy Unknown *** 2012
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion ** 2012
Quantum Conundrum * 2012

Game Tier 23
The Stanley Parable **** 2013
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ** 2012

Game Tier 24
Might & Magic Heroes VI * 2011

Game Tier 25
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm *** 2013
Saints Row: The Third *** 2011
Rift *** 2011
World of Tanks ** 2011
Guild Wars 2 **** 2012
Mass Effect 3 *** 2012
Europa Universalis IV *** 2013
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai *** 2012
The Swapper *** 2013
Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World *** 2013
Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings * 2012

Game Tier 26
Divinity: Dragon Commander * 2013
Shadow Warrior * 2013
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition ** 2012
Far Cry 3 *** 2012
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim **** 2011
Batman: Arkham City **** 2011
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings *** 2011
DiRT 3 *** 2011
Crysis 2 *** 2011
Total War: Rome II * 2013
Diablo III *** 2012
DmC: Devil May Cry *** 2013

Game Tier 27
Outlast * 2013

Game Tier 28
Saints Row IV *** 2013
Payday 2 * 2013
Dishonored **** 2012
Borderlands 2 **** 2012
PlanetSide 2 ** 2012
Deus Ex: Human Revolution **** 2011
Star Wars: The Old Republic ** 2011

Game Tier 29
BioShock Infinite **** 2013
Company of Heroes 2 ** 2013
Battlefield 3 *** 2011
Tribes: Ascend *** 2012

Game Tier 30
Tomb Raider *** 2013
Metro: Last Light ** 2013
Serious Sam 3: BFE * 2011
Max Payne 3 *** 2012

Game Tier 31
Battlefield 4 ** 2013

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Now comes the GPU Tier List. This list is based on TomsHardware's Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart that is published every month in Best Graphics Cards For The Money article.
It's a direct copy paste.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html


GPU Tier 36
Discrete: GTX 690 Radeon HD 7990

GPU Tier 35
Discrete: GTX 780 Ti

GPU Tier 34
Discrete: GTX 780, Titan Discrete: R9 290, 290X

GPU Tier 33
Discrete: GTX 590, 680, 770 Discrete:  HD 6990, 7970 GHz Ed, R9 280X

GPU Tier 32
Discrete: GTX 670, 760 Discrete: HD 5970, 7870 LE (XT), 7950

GPU Tier 31
Discrete: GTX 580, 660, 660 Ti Discrete: HD 7870, R9 270, 270X

GPU Tier 30
Discrete: GTX 295, 480, 570, 650 Ti Boost Discrete: HD 4870 X2, 6970, 7850
Go (mobile): 680M Mobility: 7970M

GPU Tier 29
Discrete: GTX 470, 560 Ti, 560 Ti 448 Core Discrete: HD 4850 X2, 5870, 6950
Mobility: 7950M

GPU Tier 28
Discrete: GTX 560, 650 Ti Discrete: HD 5850, 6870, 7790, R9 260X
Go (mobile): 580M, 675M Mobility: 6990M

GPU Tier 27
Discrete: 9800 GX2, 285, 460 256-bit, 465 Discrete: HD 6850, 7770
Mobility: 6900M

GPU Tier 26
Discrete: GTX 260, 275, 280, 460 192-bit, 460 SE, 550 Ti, 560 SE, 650 Discrete: HD 4870, 5770, 4890, 5830, 6770, 6790, 7750 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 570M, 670M Mobility: HD 5870, 6800M

GPU Tier 25
Discrete: 8800 Ultra, 9800 GTX, 9800 GTX+, GTS 250, GTS 450  Discrete: HD 3870 X2, 4850, 5750, 6750, 7750 (DDR3)
Go (mobile): 560M, 660M Mobility: HD 4850, 5850, 7870M

GPU Tier 24
Discrete: 8800 GTX, 8800 GTS 512 MB, GT 545 (GDDR5) Discrete: HD 4770
Go (mobile): GTX 280M, 285M, 555M (GDDR5) Mobility: HD 4860, 7770M, 7850M

GPU Tier 23
Discrete: 8800 GT 512 MB, 9800 GT, GT 545 (DDR3), GT 640 (DDR3) Discrete: HD 4830, HD 5670, HD 6670 (GDDR5), HD 7730 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 9800M GTX, GTX 260M (112), GTS 360M (GDDR5), 555M (DDR3) Mobility: HD 5770, HD 5750, 6600M/6700M (GDDR5), 7750M

GPU Tier 22
Discrete: 8800 GTS 640 MB, 9600 GT, GT 240 (GDDR5) Discrete: HD 2900 XT, HD 3870, HD 5570 (GDDR5), HD 6570 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 9800M GTS, GTX 160M Mobility: 6500M (GDDR5), 6600M/6700M (DDR3), 7730M

GPU Tier 21
Discrete: 8800 GS, 9600 GSO, GT 240 (DDR3) Discrete: HD 3850 512 MB, HD 4670, HD 5570 (DDR3), HD 6570 (DDR3), HD 6670 (DDR3), HD 7730 (DDR3)
Go (mobile): GTX 260M (96), GTS 150M, GTS 360M (DDR3) Mobility: HD 3870, HD 5730, HD 5650, 6500M (DDR3)

GPU Tier 20
Discrete: 8800 GT 256 MB, 8800 GTS320 MB, GT 440 GDDR5, GT 630 GDDR5 Discrete: HD 2900 PRO, HD 3850 256 MB, 5550 (GDDR5)
Go (mobile): 8800M Mobility: HD 3850

GPU Tier 19
Discrete: 7950 GX2, GT 440 DDR3, GT 630 DDR3 Discrete: X1950 XTX, HD 4650 (DDR3), 5550 (DDR3)
Integrated: HD 7660D

GPU Tier 18
Discrete: 7800 GTX 512, 7900 GTO, 7900 GTX, GT 430, GT 530 Discrete: X1900 XT, X1950 XT, X1900 XTX 
Go (mobile): 550M

GPU Tier 17
Discrete: 7800 GTX, 7900 GT, 7950 G, GT 220 (DDR3) Discrete: X1800 XT, X1900 AIW, X1900 GT, X1950 Pro, HD 2900 GT, HD 5550 (DDR2)
Go (mobile): 525M, 540M Integrated: HD 7560D

GPU Tier 16
Discrete: 7800 GT, 7900 GS, 8600 GTS, 9500 GT (GDDR3), GT 220 (DDR2) Discrete: X1800 XL, X1950 GT, HD 4650 (DDR2), HD 6450
Go (mobile): 7950 GTX Mobility: X1800 XT, HD 4650, HD 5165, 6400M
Integrated: HD 6620G, 6550D, 7540D

GPU Tier 15
Discrete: 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 7800 GS, 8600 GS, 8600 GT (GDDR3), 9500 GT (DDR2) 
Discrete: X800 XT (& PE), X850 XT (& PE), X1650 XT, X1800 GTO, HD 2600 XT, HD 3650 (DDR3), HD 3670 Integrated: Intel HD Graphics 4000
Go (mobile): 7800 GTX, 7900 GTX Mobility: X1900, 3670 
Integrated: 6520G, 6530D, 7480D

GPU Tier 14
Discrete: 6800 GT, 6800 GS (PCIe), 8600 GT (DDR2), GT 520 Discrete: X800 XL, X800 GTO2/GTO16, HD 2600 Pro, HD 3650 (DDR2), 
Go (mobile): 7800, Go 7900 GS, 520M, 520MX Mobility: X800 XT, HD 2600 XT, 3650 
Integrated: 6410D, 6480G

GPU Tier 13
Discrete: 6800 GS (AGP) Discrete: X800 GTO 256 MB, X800 PRO, X850 Pro, X1650 GT
Go (mobile): 6800 Ultra, 7600 GT, 8600M GT, 8700M GT, 410M Mobility: HD 2600 
Integrated: 6370D, 6380G

GPU Tier 12
Discrete: 6800, 7300 GT GDDR3, 7600 GS, 8600M GS  Discrete: X800, X800 GTO 128 MB, X1600 XT, X1650 Pro
Go (mobile): 6800, 7700 Mobility: X1800, HD 5145, HD 5470 (GDDR5)

GPU Tier 11
Discrete: 6600 GT, 6800LE, 6800 XT, 7300 GT (DDR2), 8500 GT, 9400 GT 
Discrete: 9800 XT, X700 PRO, X800 GT, X800 SE, X1300 XT, X1600 PRO, HD 2400 XT, HD 4350, HD 4550, HD 5450 Integrated: IntelHD Graphics3000
Go (mobile): 7600 (128-bit) Mobility: X800, 3470, HD 5470 (DDR3), HD 5450, HD 5430, 6300M
Integrated: HD 6310, HD 6320

GPU Tier 10
Discrete: FX 5900, FX 5900 Ultra, FX 5950 Ultra, 6600 (128-bit) Discrete: 9700, 9700 Pro, 9800, 9800 Pro, X700, X1300 Pro, X1550, HD 2400 Pro
Go (mobile): 6800 (128-bit) Mobility: X1450, X1600, X1700, 2400 XT, X2500, 3450
Integrated: 9300, 9400 Integrated: HD 3200, HD 3300, HD 4200, HD 4250, HD 4290, HD 6250,HD 6290 

GPU Tier 9
Discrete: FX 5800 Ultra, FX 5900 XT Discrete: 9500 Pro, 9600 XT, 9800 Pro (128-bit), X600 XT, X1050 (128-bit) Integrated: IntelHD Graphics(Core i5-6x1), 2000
Go (mobile): 6600, Go 7600 (64-bit) Mobility: 9800, X700, X1350, X1400, X2300, HD 2400

GPU Tier 8
Discrete: 4 Ti 4600, 4 Ti 4800, FX 5700 Ultra, 6200, 8300, 8400 G, G 210, G 310 Discrete: 9600 PRO, 9800 LE, X600 PRO, HD 2300
Integrated: IntelHD Graphics(Core i3 5x0, Core i5-6x0)
Go (mobile): 315M Mobility: 9700 (128-bit), X600, X1300
Integrated: Xpress 1250

GPU Tier 7
Discrete: 4 Ti4200, 4 Ti4400, 4 Ti4800 SE, FX 5600 Ultra, FX 5700, 6600 (64-bit), 7300 GS, 8400M GS, 9300M G, 9300M GS
Discrete: 9500, 9550, 9600, X300, X1050 (64-bit)  Integrated: IntelHD Graphics(Pentium G)
Mobility: 9600

GPU Tier 6
Discrete: 3 Ti500, FX 5200 Ultra, FX 5600, FX 5700 LE, 6200 TC, 6600 LE, 7200 GS, 7300 LE Discrete: 8500, 9100, 9000 PRO, 9600 LE, X300 SE, X1150
Integrated: GMA X4500
Go (mobile): 5700, 8200M, 9200M GS, 9100 Mobility 9700 (64-bit)
Integrated: 8200, 8300

GPU Tier 5
Discrete: 3, 3 Ti200, FX 5200 (128-bit), FX 5500,  Discrete: 9000, 9200, 9250
Go (mobile): 5600, 6200, 6400, 7200, 7300, 7400 (64-bit) Mobility: 9600 (64-bit), X300

GPU Tier 4
Discrete: FX 5200 (64 bit) Discrete: 9200 SE Integrated: GMA X3000, X3100, X3500
Go (mobile): 7200, 7400 (32-bit) Integrated: Xpress 200M, Xpress 1000, Xpress 1150
Integrated: 6100, 6150, 7025, 7050

GPU Tier 3
Discrete: 2 GTS, 4 MX 440, 2 Ultra, 2 Ti, 2 Ti 200 Discrete: 7500 Integrated: GMA 3000, 3100

GPU Tier 2
Discrete: 256, 2 MX 200, 4 MX 420, 2 MX 400 Discrete: SDR, LE, DDR, 7000, 7200 Integrated: GMA 500, 900, 950

GPU Tier 1
Discrete: Nvidia TNT Discrete: Rage 128 Discrete: Intel 740

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So how do you come to know which games you can play. Suppose you have a Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 Ti card. That is in GPU Tier 29. So you can play all games in Games Tiers 1-29.
If you have Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 which is in GPU Tier 15, you can play all games from Game Tiers 1-15.
It is certainly possible to play a game with a lower Tier GPU(till approximately -9) with lower settings, because this list was designed with good quality game settings in mind.
Hopefully this list will serve as a reference. As a tip, use Ctrl+F on the browser to search for games or GPUs.
Also this list represents performance and does not account for feature support.
So if a game requires Shader Model 3.0 or DirectX11, then powerful but very old cards may not work.
Also if you find any inconsistencies please let me know.
A lot of guesswork happenened while making the list. I haven't played most of the games myself.




P.S.: Popular games like Crysis 3 and CoD:Ghosts are not in this list because they are not great games. This list represents PC gaming - quality gameplay and innovation. Unfortunately Crysis 3 and CoD:Ghosts doesn't meet such quality.
 


Graphics-wise, that list makes no sense. It puts games with less demanding/less good-looking graphics in higher tiers than games with much better graphics.
 


That post is from 1-6-2012 for one thing, and ALOT of good looking games have come out in the last 2 years, lol. Regardless, the actual posts say that SS3 is only demanding if you use mods, etc. to fly with turbo mode enabled or if you spawn tons of AI characters in one place. Very different from the graphics being so good that it takes a good rig to get decent FPS.
 


I don't see mention of any 'mods' in that thread. 'Serious mode' is a difficulty level where lots of enemies appear. 'God mode' is a cheat so that u don't die. 'Aerial mode' is also a cheat that lets you fly. They are just suggesting that for benchmarking purposes