I recently bought a computer and graphics card specifically to run Zwift. As there are no lists of graphics cards which run Zwift in Ultra (zwiftalizer seems to have pulled its benchmarks) I bought an AMD Radeon RX 570, 8 GB. That card scores comparably to an Nvidia GTX 1060 on https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/ and http://www.ozone3d.net/gpudb/scores-geeks3d-furmark.php. Based on those tests, I figured the card should be able to handle Zwift in Ultra with no problem.
However, Zwift only runs in High graphics profile, not Ultra. (In High profile at 1440p, I get 90+ FPS.)
I contacted Zwift support and was told, “the game auto directs what graphics card you are using, and applies the most optimal graphics profile. While your GPU may be able to display our Ultra graphics, it may lead to a decreased frame rate or other graphical issues. Because of this, our development team currently has the card in the High graphics category.” and " I would encourage you to share your ideas on our feature request forum​​ or vote up other request to have the profile added."
So, I’d like to see an Ultra graphics profile for this card.
Seems odd to me that Zwift mandate the maximum graphics setting we can use. If we’re happy with any potential frame rate drop, we should be able to select the highest graphical setting.
This is because Zwiftalizer does not need to collect user data anymore - no cookies, no analytics, no trackers, no ads, no api calls, no uploads, no database, no sneaky CDNs, no google fonts, not even web access logs. It’s just easier not to have to think about GDPR, PII and data leaks.
Also, the benchmarks were collected over almost 3 years and did not accurately reflect recent performance improvements. Nor did it consider things like world, route, number of riders nearby or account for the minimum fps being low during startup. (That’s changed now in the single log view. It uses 5th percentile and 95th percentile instead of min and max).
Generally though, after averaging all the things … the benchmarks did show that Nvidia hardware is the preferred choice for Zwift and OpenGL in general, and whatever custom stuff is going on.
Lastly, I don’t have the figures to back this up, but based on how many logs came from laptops running the basic profile, I suspect the number of us who build a gaming PC with discrete GPU specifically to run Zwift are in the minority. Convenience is more important to most - portable, wireless, mobile, set-top boxes, all-in-one-bike (?? I would like this, I use a Stages Solo bike occasionally and it’s nice how it all just works) and performance of those devices gets better every release cycle.