Why Forza Horizon 6 Is a Brutal Test for Modern GPUs
Forza Horizon 6 is more than a showpiece racer; it is a serious stress test for any gaming PC. Built on the latest ForzaTech engine and targeting current-generation consoles only, the game drops legacy hardware support and leans hard into advanced rendering features. On PC, it offers ray tracing-enabled global illumination for indirect lighting, ray traced reflections across the open world, and detailed car-on-car reflections, replacing older cube map tricks. Advanced refraction shaders add realistic rainbow-like effects on plastics and polycarbonate elements such as headlights and taillights, further increasing the rendering workload. The result is a visually spectacular racer that can easily overwhelm mid-range hardware when pushed to Extreme presets with ray tracing enabled. To help gamers understand what they really need for smooth gameplay, a comprehensive Forza Horizon 6 GPU benchmark covering 47 graphics cards was conducted to map performance across multiple settings and resolutions.
Test Setup and Methodology for GPU Performance Testing
The Forza Horizon 6 GPU benchmark was designed to showcase real-world performance rather than synthetic metrics. All testing used the game’s built-in benchmark tool, which closely mirrors actual gameplay conditions, including dense environments and complex lighting. The core test system is anchored by an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor on a high-end X670E motherboard, paired with fast DDR5-6000 memory, PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage, and a robust 1200W ATX 3.0 power supply. This removes CPU and platform bottlenecks so the focus remains squarely on GPU performance testing. A total of 47 graphics cards from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel were evaluated at native 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions. Four primary presets were used: Extreme+RT and High+RT for ray tracing performance tests, plus Extreme and High without ray tracing. Upscaling technologies such as DLSS, FSR, and XeSS were measured separately, while frame generation was intentionally excluded to keep results comparable.
Ray Tracing Performance: Which GPUs Survive Extreme+RT?
Running Forza Horizon 6 at the Extreme+RT preset is where even modern GPUs begin to sweat. At 1080p with maximum settings and ray tracing enabled, Nvidia’s RTX 5090 tops the graphics card benchmark charts with an impressive 157 fps, outpacing the RTX 4090 by 38% and the RTX 5080 by 45%. The RTX 5080 achieves 108 fps and holds a 9% advantage over the RTX 5070 Ti, which narrowly beats the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4080. On the AMD side, the RX 9070 XT delivers 91 fps, but still trails the RTX 4080 and RTX 5070 Ti. Interestingly, VRAM capacity proves crucial: the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB averages 63 fps, making it 40% faster than the 8GB version and comparable to an RTX 4070, RTX 3090, or RX 7900 GRE. Below roughly 40 fps on this preset, gameplay becomes noticeably difficult, underscoring how punishing Extreme+RT can be.
Resolution Scaling and the Impact on Mid-Range GPUs
Increasing resolution dramatically changes how different GPUs stack up in Forza Horizon 6. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Extreme+RT drops RTX 5090 performance by about 24%, down to 120 fps, which is still very smooth given the native resolution and maximum ray tracing workload. Some cards scale better than others: the RX 7900 XTX loses only around 20% performance, while the RX 9070 drops about 30%, allowing the 7900 XTX to catch up at around 60 fps. In this range, the RTX 4070 Ti Super delivers 58 fps, RTX 5070 hits 56 fps, RTX 4070 Super reaches 54 fps, and RX 7900 XT sits near 52 fps. Below these, frame rates fall into the mid-40s or lower, which can feel inconsistent in a fast racer. Budget and older mid-range GPUs that manage acceptable 1080p Extreme+RT performance may struggle significantly at 1440p or 4K without dialing back settings.
Practical Settings Advice for Gamers and Future-Proofing
The data from 47 GPUs highlights a clear pattern: Forza Horizon 6’s max settings with ray tracing are best reserved for high-end hardware, especially beyond 1080p. Budget and mid-range cards can still deliver a great experience, but compromises are necessary. Dropping from Extreme+RT to High+RT or even Extreme (without ray tracing) often yields big performance gains with relatively modest visual trade-offs. Upscaling via DLSS, FSR, or XeSS can further boost frame rates, and in many cases widens the performance gap in favor of Nvidia cards, especially when DLSS is used on GeForce GPUs while FSR serves Radeon. Turn 10’s advanced lighting, refraction, and reflection features also demand ample VRAM; tests suggest that at least 12GB is ideal to fully enjoy the game. With Forza Horizon 6 breaking concurrent player records and expanding to more platforms, understanding these GPU performance realities is essential for future-proof, visually rich racing sessions.