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Gears of War: E-Day Leverages Unreal Engine 5's MegaLights and Shows High CPU Utilization
Key points
- Gears of War: E-Day is the first game to use Unreal Engine 5's MegaLights technology.
- MegaLights enables hundreds of dynamic ray-traced light sources in real time.
- The game shows high CPU utilization (80-90%) and clear CPU performance scaling.
- This CPU behavior is uncommon for most Unreal Engine 5 titles.
- The game is rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5.
Next-Gen Lighting with MegaLights
Gears of War: E-Day, a new installment in the Gears saga, is developed using Unreal Engine 5. It is the first shipping title to incorporate UE5's MegaLights technology. This technology allows developers to implement hundreds of dynamic ray-traced light sources within a scene, all rendered in real time.
The implementation of MegaLights contributes to the game's visual presentation, creating detailed light and shadow effects from various sources, such as flashing police car lights and flickering supermarket fluorescent tubes.
Unusual CPU Demands
Unlike most Unreal Engine 5 games, Gears of War: E-Day demonstrates significant CPU utilization. Monitoring overlays show CPU usage between 80% and 90% during gameplay.
The game also exhibits clear performance scaling across different CPUs. For example, a Ryzen 7 9800X3D achieved 42% higher performance than a Ryzen 5 7600X at 1080p with the High graphics preset. This level of CPU scaling is not typical for many other UE5 titles, which often show a lack of significant performance differences between CPUs.
Context of Unreal Engine 5 Performance
While Unreal Engine 5 is widely used in modern AAA games, many titles built with it do not typically place a heavy load on the CPU or show substantial performance variations across different CPU models. Previous tests of numerous UE5 games have often found a lack of CPU scaling.
Exceptions to this trend include games like Marvel Rivals, known for its dense fighting arenas and destructible environments, and The Blood of Dawnwalker, which features a large, sparsely populated city that can impact CPU performance.
Implications for PC Hardware
The high CPU utilization and scaling observed in Gears of War: E-Day suggest that the game may benefit from more powerful CPUs, potentially influencing hardware recommendations for optimal performance. This contrasts with the typical CPU requirements of other Unreal Engine 5 titles.
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How outlets covered it
A performance analysis of Gears of War: E-Day on PC details its graphics demands across 43 GPUs. The game is built on Unreal Engine 5 and is the first title to use its MegaLights technology, which enables hundreds of dynamic ray-traced light sources in real time.
Gears of War E-Day exhibits high CPU utilization and scaling across different CPUs, which is unusual for Unreal Engine 5 titles. This behavior contrasts with most other UE5 games that typically do not show significant CPU scaling.