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Gears of War: E-Day is demanding even at native 1080p Ultra. In Tom’s Hardware’s 43-GPU test, an RTX 5060 was the lowest current-generation class the publication identified for an average near 60 FPS at that setting; RX 9060 XT or RTX 5060 Ti offered more headroom. Native 4K Ultra was far more demanding: only the RTX 5090 averaged above 60 FPS, while the RTX 4090 came close. These are results and recommendations from Jeffrey Kampman’s test published October 1, 2026—not a guarantee for every PC or later game version.
How demanding is E-Day on PC?
Tom’s Hardware tested 43 graphics cards in Gears of War: E-Day, a game rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5. The publication describes it as the first shipping title to use UE5 MegaLights, a lighting system that lets artists illuminate spaces with hundreds of dynamic ray-traced light sources in real time. The benchmark indicates that the GPU you need depends sharply on resolution and whether you use native rendering, upscaling, or a lower preset.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Gears of War: E-Day | Standard Edition | XBOX Series X | $67.84 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Gears of War E-Day | Premium Edition | XBOX Series X|S and Windows Digital | $99.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Gears of War 3 (Renewed) | $20.48 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Xbox One - Gears Of War 5 - [PAL EU - NO NTSC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51duB8cYpdL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Xbox One - Gears Of War 5 - [PAL EU - NO NTSC] | $16.97 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Gears of War 3 | $5.87 | Buy on Amazon |
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The thresholds below summarize the publication’s reported average-frame-rate results and recommendations. “Near 60 FPS” is not the same as a sustained 60 FPS, and the article does not establish a universal minimum for every scene, system configuration, or future update.
| Target in Tom’s Hardware test | Reported GPU guidance | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p, native Ultra | RTX 5060: lowest current-generation class identified for an average around 60 FPS. RX 9060 XT or RTX 5060 Ti preferred for more margin. | RX 9070 GRE and RTX 5070 are options for higher refresh rates; RX 9070, RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 Ti exceeded a 90 FPS average in the test. |
| 2560 × 1440, native Ultra | RX 9070 GRE and RTX 5070 were close to, but just short of, a 60 FPS average. | RX 9070, RX 9070 XT and RTX 5070 Ti provide more headroom. |
| 4K, native Ultra | RTX 5090 was the only tested GPU reported to average above 60 FPS. | RTX 4090 came close but fell short of that average. |
These are publication-specific benchmark findings, not a complete buying comparison: the article’s reported thresholds should not be read as price, value, or availability advice. Performance can also change with game and driver updates.
#1 Best Overall
- AN ORIGIN STORY BEGINS — Fight alongside Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago in the gripping origin story of Emergence Day, as the Locust Horde erupts from below.
- A DARKER, GRITTIER THREAT — Face reimagined enemies and a terrifying underground invasion that restores the fear, dread, and intensity at the heart of the Gears of War series.
- MULTIPLAYER EVOLVED — Battle in Horde Siege for large‑scale PvE action or prove your skill in refined Versus PvP with greater precision and competitive depth.
- CLASSIC COMBAT, MODERNIZED — Experience signature cover‑based gameplay enhanced with updated movement, traversal, and controls that feel like Gears while playing like something new.
- CO‑OP YOUR WAY — Play online with up to four players across Campaign, Horde Siege, and Versus, or team up locally with 2‑player split‑screen co‑op on console.
What the GPU comparison does—and does not—show
At 1080p, Tom’s Hardware reports that RTX 50-series cards had a slight average-FPS advantage over RX 9000-series cards in its results, while RX 9000-series cards delivered substantially better 1% lows. Average FPS describes overall throughput; 1% lows help show how much performance dips during the slowest moments, so the two measures can tell different stories about smoothness.
The author also noticed more apparent hitches on Nvidia cards, particularly at lower resolution. That was a subjective observation in this test, not a measured guarantee about all Nvidia systems; the article says variable-refresh-rate monitors made the hitches less noticeable. The available summary does not provide the complete test configuration or independent repeatability data, so use these results as a useful comparison from one publication rather than a prediction for every setup.
Rank #2
- PREMIUM EDITION — Includes Bravo Squad Signature Weapon Pack, five Seasonal Customization Packs starting with the Emergence Pack, plus 1,000 Iron to unlock additional in‑game content.
- AN ORIGIN STORY BEGINS — Fight alongside Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago in the gripping origin story of Emergence Day, as the Locust Horde erupts from below.
- A DARKER, GRITTIER THREAT — Face reimagined enemies and a terrifying underground invasion that restores the fear, dread, and intensity at the heart of the Gears of War series.
- MULTIPLAYER EVOLVED — Battle in Horde Siege for large‑scale PvE action or prove your skill in refined Versus PvP with greater precision and competitive depth.
- CLASSIC COMBAT, MODERNIZED — Experience signature cover‑based gameplay enhanced with updated movement, traversal, and controls that feel like Gears while playing like something new.
Which settings are worth lowering?
Medium is the practical compromise
The game offers Low, Medium, High, Ultra and Ludicrous presets. In the scene Kampman compared, the largest visual loss came from switching to Low: shadows and ambient occlusion were reduced substantially, making some surfaces look like “cardboard cut-outs.” Medium retained considerably more visual richness. Differences from Medium through Ultra were more subtle, including softer, more detailed foliage shadows, possible extra bounce light, and somewhat sharper textures.
For a GPU that misses its target at native Ultra, the test therefore supports trying Medium before dropping straight to Low. The visual comparisons are tied to the author’s captured scene; they do not establish that every level or scene will show identical differences.
Rank #3
- Disc only. Original case and manual not included. Will come packaged in a generic case.
- This renewed game has been cleaned, tested, and shows minimal wear.
Ludicrous carries a steep performance cost
In the RTX 3060 scaling test, Ludicrous cut performance roughly in half compared with Ultra. The publication says most GPUs will need upscaling and frame generation to make this preset playable, where those features are supported. It is a costly setting to enable simply for a small preset-number increase.
Can upscaling make a slower GPU viable?
Tom’s Hardware reports that the tested build offered DLSS, FSR, XeSS and Epic TSR upscaling, subject to GPU compatibility. These options render internally at a lower resolution and reconstruct the output; they can raise performance, but the author found that image stability and detail varied by method and GPU generation.
- DLSS: Kampman judged it the sharpest and most stable of the three vendor-specific upscalers he tested.
- FSR 4: On RX 9000- and RX 7000-series cards, the author found it strong, though fine details in motion were a little less stable than with DLSS.
- Older Radeon fallback: On RX 6000-series cards, the available FSR looked visibly unstable in the author’s comparison. XeSS looked better than FSR 2 or 3 there, but did not remove every issue.
- Epic TSR: Listed among the upscaling options in the tested build; Tom’s Hardware does not provide a comparative image-quality verdict for it.
For an RTX 3060, the article’s specific practical result was 1080p Medium with DLSS Quality: that combination cleared a 60 FPS average with reasonable 1% lows in the scaling test. Native Low did not get above a 60 FPS average on that card. Kampman cautioned that more aggressive upscaling at 1080p looked unattractive in the tested scene because image-quality problems became visible.
What frame generation support was observed?
Frame generation creates additional displayed frames based on rendered frames, so its reported frame rate should not be confused with the underlying rendering rate or baseline input latency. In the tested build, Kampman reported that DLSS Multi Frame Generation worked as expected, AMD FSR ML Frame Generation appeared on RX 9000-series cards, and Intel XeSS 3.0 Multi Frame Generation was functional.
Best Value
- This item does not work outside US. We cannot guarantee compatibility. You can contact the call center for more information on compatibility.
- Enthralling cinematic story. Experience the epic finale to the Gears of War trilogy
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- One of the definitive multiplayer experiences on Xbox LIVE
- Gears of War 3 pushes the envelope for stunning visuals on Xbox 360
On RX 7000- and RX 6000-series cards, the frame-generation option was grayed out in the author’s test. He could not verify whether the feature was possible or working properly on those cards. The article also notes support for Nvidia Reflex and AMD Radeon Anti-Lag and advises considering baseline latency when deciding whether frame generation suits a setup.
What does RTX Mega Geometry do, and is it worth enabling?
The article describes RTX Mega Geometry as a toggle intended to make ray tracing of complex meshes, such as foliage, more efficient. Although the technology is technically compatible as far back as Turing, E-Day’s menu enabled it only on GPUs with at least 12 GB of VRAM.
On the compatible cards Kampman tested, enabling Mega Geometry reduced performance by roughly 10%, with a similar drop across GPU generations. He did not test every compatible card, so the result is an approximate cost in his tested cases, not a universal figure. Try the toggle against your own performance target rather than assuming that its efficiency purpose means it will raise frame rates.
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Quick Recap
Choosing a sensible starting point
- Set the target resolution and preset first. Use the native Ultra thresholds above as the article’s reference points; 1440p and especially 4K need substantially more GPU headroom than 1080p.
- If you are short of your target, try Medium. The test found that it retains much more of the scene’s visual richness than Low, while changes from Medium to Ultra were comparatively subtle in the captured scene.
- Choose an upscaler your GPU supports and inspect motion. The author’s image-quality findings differ across DLSS, FSR generations and XeSS, especially on older Radeon cards. At 1080p, avoid assuming that the most aggressive upscaling mode will look acceptable.
- Treat generated frames separately from baseline performance. Check how the game feels as well as the displayed frame rate, and account for Reflex or Radeon Anti-Lag where available.
- Test Mega Geometry as a visual-performance trade-off. The menu requirement is at least 12 GB VRAM in the tested build, and the tested performance cost was about 10%.
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