Forza Horizon 6 - 34 GPU Performance Review

TechPowerUp
TechPowerUpMay 15, 2026

Why It Matters

Understanding these performance curves helps buyers match GPU memory and feature sets to their desired frame rates, especially as ray tracing and AI‑upscaling become standard in next‑gen titles.

Key Takeaways

  • 1080p extreme settings run 60 FPS on all GPUs except RX 7600.
  • Ray tracing doubles VRAM usage, cutting performance by up to 48%.
  • Only RTX 5090 exceeds 200 FPS at 1080p, even with ray tracing.
  • DLSS and frame generation boost 4K FPS, but gains remain modest.
  • Non‑Nvidia cards lack frame generation, limiting high‑refresh performance.

Summary

The video reviews Forza Horizon 6’s GPU demands across 1080p, 1440p and 4K, testing extreme, high, medium and low presets, ray tracing, DLSS, FSR, XeSS and frame‑generation features.

At 1080p the game consumes roughly 5 GB VRAM on low settings and up to 9 GB on extreme; ray tracing adds about 2 GB and can push usage past 14 GB with frame generation. Performance drops 48 % when ray tracing is enabled on extreme, but medium and high presets still deliver roughly 50 % more frames than low. All GPUs except the RX 7600 hit the 60 FPS target at extreme 1080p, while 100 FPS requires 16 GB variants such as the RTX 560 Ti or RX 960 XT.

The RTX 5090 is the only card to sustain over 200 FPS at 1080p, and even with ray tracing it stays above 140 FPS. At 1440p the RTX 5090 reaches 187 FPS, RTX 4090 just under 150 FPS, and older RTX 4070 Ti or RX 7900 XT hold above 100 FPS. At 4K most cards fall to 30‑60 FPS; only the RTX 5090 breaks 140 FPS, and Nvidia’s DLSS‑Performance mode plus frame generation can push the RTX 5090 to 392 FPS, a gain far beyond AMD’s modest improvements.

The results underline that VRAM capacity and Nvidia‑exclusive frame‑generation are decisive for high‑refresh or 4K play. Gamers with 8 GB cards may hit bottlenecks, while AMD users will need to rely on upscaling rather than frame generation until Microsoft adds broader support.

Original Description

Playground Games uses their own proprietary ForzaTech engine in Forza Horizon 6, older versions of the engine have powered previous Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport titles. As expected, the only rendering API supported is DirectX 12. Render-tech includes ray-traced reflections and ray-traced global illumination. When RT is disabled, screen-space reflections (SSR) and screen-space global illumination (SSGI) can be used. Upscaling support is comprehensive, covering NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, with native-resolution AA modes available. Frame generation is only available via NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation—AMD and Intel GPUs do not get any frame generation option.
Intro: 0:00 - 0:24
VRAM & Settings: 0:24 - 1:51
Performance: 1:51 - 4:48
Upscaling: 4:48 - 6:16
Outro: 6:16 - 6:38
RTX 5090 32 GB
RTX 4090 24 GB
RX 9070 XT 16 GB
RX 7900 XTX 24 GB
RTX 5080 16 GB
RTX 4080 16 GB
RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB
RX 9070 16 GB
RX 7900 XT 20 GB
RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB
RX 7900 GRE 16 GB
RTX 5070 12 GB
RX 7800 XT 16 GB
RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB
RTX 4070 12 GB
RX 6900 XT 16 GB
RX 7700 XT 12 GB
RX 9060 XT 16 GB
RTX 3080 10 GB
RX 9060 XT 8 GB
RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB
RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB
RTX 5060 8 GB
RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB
RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB
RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB
RTX 3070 8 GB
RX 7600 XT 16 GB
RX 7600 8 GB
RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB
RTX 4060 8 GB
Arc B580 12 GB
RTX 3060 12 GB
Arc A770 16 GB

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