A hardware reviewer with access to high‑end components tested graphics settings in several recent titles to evaluate the benefit of using the maximum "Ultra" preset. The review ran Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2, Hogwarts Legacy and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth at maximum settings on an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor and a PowerColor Red Devil RX 7900 XTX graphics card, with 4K resolution and various upscaling modes.

In Cyberpunk 2077, the ultra preset with ray tracing and path tracing limited frame rates to about 20 fps, while using balanced upscaling raised performance to playable levels with only minor visual differences noted in screenshots. Similar results were observed in Alan Wake 2, where the highest settings dropped to 1–3 fps; switching to balanced upscaling increased the frame rate to a smooth, playable range with no perceptible change in image quality.

In Hogwarts Legacy, the reviewer found that enabling ray tracing added little visual benefit, and reducing settings by one notch while using balanced upscaling yielded an additional 15% frame rate without noticeable degradation. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth showed minimal visual change when resolution was cut by 40% with balanced upscaling, and performance remained stable.

Across all tests, the reviewer concluded that the performance loss from running games at ultra settings is not justified by the marginal visual improvement, especially for players using high‑end hardware that can maintain higher frame rates at lower presets. The findings suggest that most gamers can achieve satisfactory visual quality while improving smoothness and reducing hardware strain by opting for lower graphics settings.