Devoted Zwifters understand that better graphics make the game more engaging and lifelike. However, figuring out the best combination of CPU and GPU for your system can be difficult and time-consuming, given the many options available.
That’s where the search feature on Zwiftalizer 2.0 comes in!
Table of Contents
Why It’s Needed
This feature is designed to help you quickly and easily find the ideal combination of CPU and GPU for your needs. Whether you’re building your own PC or buying a pre-built system, the search function will save you time and effort.
This is particularly useful right now because although the prices of graphics cards went up due to high demand for mining crypto and supply chain issues resulting from COVID, prices are now mostly back to normal levels, and supply is expanding. As serious gamers upgrade their systems, there are also great deals to be had on used computer parts and graphics cards from previous generations.
Last but not least, 2023 is a great time to look at GPU options for Zwift again because AMD finally improved their OpenGL drivers, Intel released a line of graphics cards, and Apple Silicon has (almost) done away with the need for a graphics card altogether.
How It Works
Just type the CPU model code and GPU model code into the search box to find out how well a certain CPU and GPU work together:
The search function draws from a database of real user rides from 2022 and later to rank the results based on the average frames per second (FPS) and the crowding factor. Crowding is important because when it’s busy around you, the CPU has to do more work to figure out the physics, which makes the GPU wait for instructions. This is what people mean when they say the CPU is a bottleneck or that Zwift is often a ‘CPU bound’ app. The results also show details for world, profile, resolution, game client version and date.
It’s important to remember the key performance indicators we’re looking at are:
- whether or not it can consistently run at 60 FPS, and
- how often does it dip below 60 FPS
For the first, we look at Average, and for the second, we look at P1. P1 is the 1st percentile, which means that 1% of the time, the low values were equal to or lower than this number. A P1 of 60 FPS or more means that the frame rate never went below that. That’s perfect.
Max and averages of more than 60 FPS are not always better. In fact, very high values are usually a sign that the computer is overkill for Zwift and that the user has wasted a lot of money. Also, many users keep vertical sync turned on, which typically caps the FPS at 60, whether they know it or not. This is why there are so many results at 60,60,60, which is good.
It’s important to know that Zwift uses only one core of the CPU to do most of its number crunching. This means that you don’t have to buy a pre-built gaming PC with many CPU cores. Instead, you can easily get by with a cheaper Core i3 CPU from the 12th generation or higher. But many pre-built computers don’t have a Core i3, so the options are to either spend too much or build your own with parts better suited to Zwift.
Build Your Own PC
The results show that putting together your own PC from parts is still the way to go. Dave Higgins’ post covers this topic in great detail, and my research confirms that a 12th generation Intel Core i3 12100F and an Nvidia GTX 1650 is a great combination for getting 60 FPS at 1440 resolution and Ultra profile for all worlds (except Makuri Islands), which many builders agree is the optimal balance of quality, performance, and cost.
Why not use 4K? I think it’s overrated, and the benefits don’t make up for the extra cost. 4K means that there are 4 times as many pixels as in 1080 and 2.25 times as many as in 1440. As you might imagine, that needs a GPU that costs at least twice as much, as well as a 4K monitor or TV. I’ve never been tempted. I use a Core i5 4690K, GTX 970 at 1440, and a cheap 1080 TV. Since we’re talking about total costs, I’d recommend that everyone get the best trainer they can afford before they upgrade their graphics.
4K has 4 times as many pixels as 1080 and 2.25 times the number of pixels as 1440:
- 1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600 pixels
- 2560 x 1440 = 3,686,400 pixels –> sweet spot
- 3840 x 2160 = 8,294,400 pixels (4 x 2,073,600)
If building your own PC isn’t for you, don’t worry. The search function can also help you check how a pre-built machine will perform, so you don’t have to spend hours researching and comparing irrelevant benchmarks (no other game has the same performance characteristics as Zwift). When you see a PC, laptop, or Mac that fits your needs, look carefully at the CPU and GPU model numbers and type them into the search to see what performance you can expect. Follow the Amazon links to check current price (USA and UK). I make money from these links, and that’s helped keep Zwiftalizer up and running for over seven years.
Some Examples
Nvidia Cards Remain The Best Choice
Since its release in 2016, Zwiftalizer has consistently shown that Nvidia graphics cards are the best choice for Zwift on PC. This is because Zwift still uses the OpenGL graphics library on Windows, and Nvidia has the best OpenGL drivers.
zwiftalizer.com/search/12100F+1650
Good News for AMD Radeon Card Owners
Recent tests show that AMD Radeon cards on Windows now perform 15%-20% better than they did in previous years. This is because AMD made optimizations to OpenGL drivers on Windows. This is great news for everyone with an AMD Radeon card. Make sure you have at least version 22.11.2 of the Radeon Adrenaline driver.
In a separate improvement, Macs with AMD Radeon GPUs also got a performance boost. Zwift completed the switch from OpenGL graphics APIs to Metal graphics APIs on MacOS sometime toward the end of 2022. I recommend the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB because there are a lot of them on the used market and they work in everything from 2009 Mac Pro Towers, in eGPUs enclosures on Intel Macs, to Windows PCs and Hackintoshes, and there’s even a Zwifter using one on Linux with Windows as a virtual machine.
Intel ARC A770 GPU a Viable Option
Intel has finally released a line of discrete graphics cards. Search results show the ARC A770 performs well. We can also see when the ARC A770 was given the Ultra profile by Zwift developers (PC Client version 1.32, early December 2022).
It’s not clear how and when the people who work on Zwift give profiles to GPU models. Even years after being released, some new models still don’t have Ultra.
While I still advise getting an Nvidia card it’s good to know there is an alternative if Nvidia supplies run short or prices rise again.
zwiftalizer.com/search/arc+A770
A Mini PC is the worst option
I wouldn’t suggest this option because integrated Intel and AMD Radeon graphics are still not very good. If you want something small, you should get an Apple TV. Some people still want to run Windows programs on the smallest PC they can get, so the results of the Radeon APU Vega 11 could be interesting to them. The Radeon NUC line works pretty well now and there are some very potent Intel+Nvidia options, but both are ridiculously expensive, so I’d advise an M1 Mac Mini over a NUC if a small box is really important to you.
zwiftalizer.com/search/Radeon+Vega+11
Apple’s M1 with Metal API equals Nvidia GTX 950
Since Zwift switched to the Metal graphics API around the end of 2022, there has been about an 18% increase in FPS for machines with Apple Silicon, like M1, M2, and so on. With 7 GPU cores, the base-level M1 chip from 2020 can now maintain 60 FPS at 1440 resolution with the High profile in every world except Makuri Islands. This is impressive for a System-on-a-Chip (SOC) design that uses very little power and has no fans. However, to put things in perspective, the performance is still only the same as a low-end graphics card from 2015, the Nvidia GTX 950 GPU.
Now that all iOS, AppleTV, and MacOS devices run on Metal, graphics improvements are likely to come to all of them in 2023. In November 2022, Jon Mayfield posted the following comment on Reddit (see thread):
Thus far iOS and AppleTV devices have all been switched, as well as almost all macbooks – except the M1/M2! Seems like Apple’s drivers were slightly different on M1/M2. So yes, changes are coming (probably within 30 days!) for M1/M2s to start running on the Metal API (vs OpenGL), but no, visual changes won’t be apparent until next year sometime.
Also, Jon said on February 13, 2023, that more than half of Zwift users use Apple devices (see thread).
We’ve now moved all our apple devices to Metal (more than 50% of our users!), and are now measuring how feasible it is to ship Vulcan on windows+android. Turns out those older laptops are still lacking a bit of support here, but the numbers are diminishing to the point it looks reasonable to go Vulcan (backup plan is DX on windows, GLES on Android).
There is potential to improve this further if Zwift makes a binary specifically for Apple M1/M2 Silicon. This does not appear to be a priority for Zwift though. For example, it’s been two years and there are still discrepancies with the M1/M2 profiles. The M1 has High profile without rider shadows, and the M2 has Medium profile with rider shadows and appears to be capped at 30 FPS.
The main reason Zwift doesn’t have a native binary for M1/M2 yet is that it depends on software libraries from a third party that would need to be rebuilt. In March 2022, Jon said the following (see thread):
As for a Mac M1 native version of Zwift, that isn’t in the works at the moment [March 2022]. Our code would compile easily on it, but there are 3rd party libs that would need to be rebuilt that we aren’t in control of. Maybe next year? Fortunately the translation layer Apple made seems pretty good so it’s not the end of the world. That’ll be another mac m1 specific speed boost we can look forward to.
At $549 USD for a renewed M1 Mac Mini, I wouldn’t really recommend it over an AppleTV, just for Zwift, because the graphics quality isn’t three times better. You should still keep an eye on it if you want a Mac for other reasons or you find a used one at a good price.
Compare with Core i3 6098P and Nvidia GTX 950
zwiftalizer.com/search/6098P+950
I don’t understand any of this. What laptop should I buy?
A Core i5 11300H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 laptop costs between $700 and $800 USD right now. If portability is important to you, this is a reasonable choice. But be aware that in a few years, you may want more performance and a laptop typically can’t be meaningfully upgraded.
I would also like to point out that laptop parts aren’t as strong as desktop parts with the same product codes. This is a marketing trick. Compared to the desktop 30xx GPU line, the mobile/laptop RTX 3050 is really very weak. This is because the parts in a laptop use less power so heat doesn’t build up in its small case and burn your house to the ground.
zwiftalizer.com/search/11300H+3050
What About AppleTV?
AppleTV logs are inaccessible, however many logs from iPads and iPhones with the same CPU have been uploaded. This shows that the performance of AppleTV is the worst that Zwift is capable of in terms of the graphics experience. It is consistent though, and it’s cheap, but it’s still an iPhone chip in a box and capped at 30 FPS.
People have asked me if I think the latest AppleTV with the A15 Bionic processor will do real 4K. The short answer is no. It only has 4GB of RAM which is not enough to use the high-resolution textures that are needed for the scene to look sharp at 4K, and they are capped at 30 FPS due to the power and heat constraints of the small box, which makes the scene look choppy at 4K.
Android Tablet?
Um, yeah. Pass. It’s still 720 basic, but if that’s your jam – Mali G78 (Kirin 9000, Exynos 2100) beats Adreno 660 (Snapdragon 888)
In summary, the search feature on Zwiftalizer 2.0 is a useful tool for all Zwifters who want to find the best graphics experience without breaking the bank. Whether you’re building your own PC or buying a pre-built system, the search function will help you find the perfect combination of CPU and GPU.
Give it a try at zwiftalizer.com/search
Thanks to Dave Higgins for checking my facts and fixing my weird half-Welsh, half-American grammar. Also, a huge thank you to everyone who has bought me a coffee, sent me money through PayPal, or become a Patreon. Because of you, everyone can still use Zwiftalizer for free.
P.S. Zwiftalizer log results will include Scotland when Zwift includes Wales. Come on, two England worlds? Do Wales. We have hills, dragons and over 400 castles.
Questions or Comments?
Post below!
Why run Zwift at a resolution of 1440 if the television is only 1080?
It looks better. Try it for yourself if possible and see the difference.
In the past I had the same question.
The scene appear smoother to me when it is rendered at 1440 and then shrunk down to 1080 compared with 1080 with anti-aliasing turned on the Nvidia control panel, which I find to be blurry.
Edges and textures look better.
Wales has 600 castles & 600 world class beaches. Show me better than Barafundle on a sunny day, winter or summer 🏴
You’re making me feel home sick Steve. Gower is where I biked, surfed and camped in my youth.
So what set up would you need to run 60 FPS in Makuri?
Get to the recipe? 🙂 ok, Core i5-12600KF, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. But it depends. Core i3 12100F was good for medium-sized to large crowds on PC Client version 1.32, but it has gotten worse and now dips below 60 on more recent build versions. Hopefully that’s an issue that can be fixed. Makuri has some places with a lot of foliage, so I’d recommend an RTX 3060 Ti or an RTX 2070 for the GPU. The benchmarks pages is a good way to explore real results, for example, start here https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks/1/ultra/2160/100, then click on a system to see… Read more »
it tough to get your 1% fps rate above 60FPS with 100% crowding in Makuri. I get there with a Intel 12th gen and RTX2060 running 4K (sometimes drops to 53-58 still tho)
so if I ran1440p instead of 4K it would likely hold that all the time.
So Intel 12th+ and something like GTX l1660super kinda would get there. Makuri is an “interesting” world for frame rate dropping and CPU load
Resolution setting is irrelevant when CPU is the bottleneck, as is the case with high crowding. The only place your 2060 will be overloaded in 4K is the golden trees area (where the demands are frankly ludicrous). Everywhere else it will be fine for 4K60.
Isn’t this a fundamental issue with zwift and a massive barrier to use, the fact that to get decent resolution on the “game” you’ve essentially got to build yourself a high end gaming pc, just to sit in your pain cave. It doesn’t work on xbox or PlayStation and if like most people you don’t want to spend a fortune to put in your garage you get an apple tv, so you get poor graphics.its useful to know what it would take to get good graphics. But there has to be a better way forward for zwift.
You don’t have to build a high end gaming pc at all. That isn’t the focus of this article. With intel cpus the biggest change has been 12th gen aka Alder lake chips. This makes a meaningful difference to how well zwift works. What this also means is that you can run it on 4th gen, 5th gen etc etc easily and hit 60fps with a totally budget setup. An old hp prodesk unit with a4th gen cpu, i3-4130 / i3-4150 and 8gb of ram can be picked up for around £50-60 on ebay. Add a used gpu, gtx 1060… Read more »
OK so zwift launches the zwift hub, with colour coding to make putting the legs on easier. How many of potential customers of the zwift hub are really going to go out and build a pc to actually get a decent fps and resolution. If their targeted consumer base needs help putting a turbo trainer together there’s no chance they’ll be building a system that makes zwift look good. It’s not that you can’t build something for a reasonable price, it the barrier it creates. That’s the fundamental issue for zwift
But yes – it is a fundamental issue with zwift 🙂
That’s always the response, but it’s not true. High end for Zwift isn’t high end for gaming. For Zwift a 12th gen i3 ($99) is just fine. $100 motherboard, $50 memory, $150 1650 Super video card, $40 SSD and $70 case and power supply and you have about the very best Zwift can utilize. That’s $500 for the “high end” machine, you could definitely build one adequate where most people couldn’t tell the difference for about $200.
You forgot the Windows operating system, which is $100 for a legit, non-pirated, non-restricted version. That’s the main problem with do it your own builds, people forget the cost of the OS. You could run Linux of course but the intent of this article will require a Windows installation.
not true, I run my “zwift box” on windows 10 , free version, I don’t care about the watermark on the screen, been like that for almost 3 years. Completely legal
That is what I spent , around 550€, new computer with a 1050ti , built by me ,pre-covid.
Yes Rob, I agree, the fundamental problem with Zwift has always been that you have to put everything together yourself. Customers are encouraged to use whatever hardware they already have, which is often a phone or tablet, and that’s led to a huge number of hardware combinations, substandard graphics, crappy wireless connections, and a wide range of customer experiences that they’ve struggled to support. The all-in-one bike was supposed to solve some of those issues, but it got axed. Now it’s too late. I think they’re in a bad spot.
Apple tv is not that expensive
I know that’s why i use them, they just work, keep themselves updated and 150$/£ give or take. Have 2 one for me and one for the wife. And sit in the garage which is cold and damp most of the winter. Would I pay 250-300 for a “box” that just worked and had much improved graphics etc. absolutely. That’s why i have never understood Zwift not going down this route themselves or even more logically x-box (as i understand its operating system is based on windows) and there is a massive high volume market of them out there. I… Read more »
Vulkan can’t come zoon enough. 🙏
Can you make a list of popular pc’s which works? (Buy once, be solid for 5 years?)
because it’s a pain in the ass to look for a pc and than check what components they have.” And cross reference them. And than when you bought one, come to the conclusion it isn’t future proof because you was on the border of specs in the first place.
And to be honest, this looks like another study for me, to have a small idea what I’m looking at.
Too bad of the negative thumbs. Because I love the input of the auditor. But for a leek (like me) it is still to to complicated to select a decent pc, without investing 10+ hours. Please prove me when I wrong
I think the reason people gave you a thumbs-down is because you might be using artful “strategic incompetence” to get me to do free work for you. But I can understand how you feel and it’s a reasonable enough question because Zwift has shown no leadership at all when it comes to recommending what computer to buy. (Don’t believe the TV commercials showing Ultra graphics on iPads. That’s all fake). Asking me to fill that role doesn’t take into account the help I’ve already given and the time I’ve volunteered to try to help other people. I don’t recommend any… Read more »
In sub 1hr you could Google a Facebook group dedicated to this (ZPCMR), find someone selling a PC, usually at exceptionally reasonable rates because they “do it for fun not profit”, get good, friendly support, and sit back happy. A list of prebuilt PC’s would change almost every 30 minutes for best value based on where you are and what you deem “best”. If there is no interest in looking in to how to improve your setup then you won’t care about the benefits anyway, so in that case an appleTV is the best way forward because it “just works”… Read more »
Thank you for your reply. I understand the “free work part” without asking for an answer, please bare in mind that nerding out (please take it as a compliment) about another pc is an extra hobby, where you have to invest time and money in. You always make wrong choices, buy the wrong things. I would love to improve my setup (I did this with my bike as well) And nerded out about the bike, but I don’t want (or are to afraid to) to invest in another hobby, with the expensive and steep learning fees. I do also woodworking… Read more »
Thanks for the job. I don’t find my i5-1035G1 in the search. Do you know whay or can I do?
Just type in 1035G1, there are loads of results.
Thanks for the updated look at this, always feel Zwift could use a little more encouragement in the graphics department.
I get that the M-series Macs are still emulating Intel for Zwift and are limited to High settings. But any word on the M-series iPads, running native Arm code, still being locked at Basic? Do they ever plan to add better graphics options to their app?
I honestly don’t know. Everything I know about the M1/M2 native arm roadmap is captured here and what I was able to piece together as an outsider from JM’s comments on Reddit and rumours on DC Ray Maker’s website. If I hear of anything, I’ll post again. Having sat in prioritization meetings in other companies, I can only imagine the development time required keeps getting pushed out on the time table because there are too few users to move the needle on the revenue goals – would not translate to more bums on seats subscribers, and those already subscribed aren’t… Read more »
I have the Samsung Galaxy 8+ with the high storage and memory options. It absolutely kicks ass. I can still return it due to my Best Buy warranty.
I think one of the most important pieces of information is missing in this article: Intel integrated graphics have a m a s s i v e b u g when using Zwift. While they run Zwift alright, (maybe no 60FPS but smooth enough that I wouldn’t complain), Zwift frequently crashes on them. This happens fairly consistently after about half an hour of riding give or take. There have been suggestions on Zwift forums to roll back drivers to solve the issue but that certainly hasn’t worked for everyone (plus Windows likes to undo the rollback whenever it updates). Zwift… Read more »
Interesting tool, thanks for posting. I have a higher end laptop but I don’t use for Zwift. My 3 yr old Dell Ryzen 5 2500U Vega 8 is actually quite good on medium Zwift graphics. You wouldn’t know it from the search results tho, typicabeloe 60 fps. But i swear it’s fine. I have very decent fibe internet, perhaps that helps.
Thank you for this great resource! I was looking to run zwift on something besides my iphone but didn’t want to go with apple tv, so decided to build a budget pc using this page and Dave Higgin’s post. The budget option recommended seems to give the best bang for the buck and really isn’t much more expensive than apple tv, plus you learn a thing or two about building a pc. My build: Used Dell Inspiron 3847, no HD or OS, 8GB RAM (CPU = i3-4130) ($65 on ebay) GPU: EVGA GTX 960 4GB ($67 on ebay) 256 GB… Read more »