Cpu load on diffrent resolutions

[123221rew]

Ive heard, that cpu load is less on higher resolutions than on 1080p. Is it true? If it is, why?

Thank you for response.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I don't know where you heard that but no its not true. CPU load is dependent on the program running and its dependency on CPU performance. Higher resolutions on certain games may not have any additional CPU load as the only thing changed is the graphics which is run by the GPU. But as games more complex their CPU reliance goes up.

There is no such thing as a hard and fast rule here.

 

[unksol]

What you most likely hard is that CPU load is less of a concern than GPU load at higher resolutions which is true. The only way it's actually going to be less is if your GPU is a bottleneck at higher resolutions.

 

[synphul]

Like Rogue Leader mentioned, it depends on the game. The cpu may need to work a little harder if the resolution goes up only to keep the gpu fed with data to process, the higher the resolution the more image data that needs processed. It's not that the cpu workload becomes less, it's more that at higher resolutions the workload is more evenly balanced between the cpu and gpu.

The gpu will have more pixels to push as resolution goes up. If you had an i5 with a gtx 980 at 1080p, chances are the gpu isn't being pushed that hard. It's a strong gpu and handling 1080p isn't much of a problem so you might have 90% cpu use and 70% gpu use. (Not exact numbers, just for reference). Moving to 1440p, the gpu has more pixels to process so you might have 90-95% cpu use and 90% gpu use. The work requirements on the components leans more toward the gpu, but doesn't mean cpu use will drop to say 70%.

If it were a gtx 950, a less powerful gpu, then there would be a performance hit if it's already maxed out at 1080p. Moving to 1440p would place even more additional stress on the gpu and either settings have to be lowered or fps is going to drop or both. In that situation the gpu is the bottleneck or the weakest link in relation to the performance demand.