Is running multiple games at once CPU or GPU intensive?

[RickyWars1]

If I run skyrim and something like csgo or battlefield at the same time, what would be getting the extra load? The GPU or the CPU? A bit of both, if so, what gets more?

I have an 8350, so I'm wondering if I'm not getting much of an fps difference because my CPU has multiple cores or if the games I'm running aren't intensive enough to make me have a noticeable fps drop.

Windows 8, 8gb ram, R9 280x if important.

 

[IrnMan]

It depends, if you are running multiple monitors with each game running on a different monitor then all components will be under load from both (or all) games.

If, however, you were playing one game then paused it, minimised it and switched to another game I am not sure. Both processes would still have to be held in memory so that will probably cause some issues as there will be a lot of memory swapping going in when you first switch from one game to the other, considerably dampening performance. That will likely improve after the first few minutes. However if the minimised game is paused then the GPU would not need to be rendering any new graphics and the CPU would not be need to execute any instructions for it as the game is paused.

So theoretically, the GPU and CPU should not be required for a game that is paused and minimised. As to how it works in practice, well you might want to test it for yourself.

 

[gamerk316]

Both. You'd also be severely RAM limited as well, as simply pausing a game does not clear its memory contents.