Lenovo ThinkPad X230t Review
Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review
AMD Trinity and FX Desktop Review
Toshiba Tecra R950 Review

Battlefield 3

Editorial Team (translated by Vinay Pradhan), 11/02/2011

Battlefield 3 sets new standards with large multi-player battles and detailed graphics. To find out the hardware requirements of this game, read on.

How We Test

We measured the frames per second of the second level of the single-player campaign with Fraps. The recording started as soon as the doors of the vehicle opened and ended when the protagonist reaches the commanding officer at the cards table. This scene put a big strain on the hardware (even in comparison to the average multiplayer battle). We used the following graphics settings for our tests.

1920x1080; Ultra; Radeon HD 5850
1920x1080; Ultra; Radeon HD 5850
1024x768; Low; Radeon HD 5850
1024x768; Low; Radeon HD 5850
1366x768; Medium; Radeon HD 5850
1366x768; Medium; Radeon HD 5850
1366x768; High; Radeon HD 5850
1366x768; High; Radeon HD 5850

Analysis of the Benchmarks

Battlefield 3 requires a strong middle-class graphics card, such as the GeForce GT 540M to run with minimum details on notebooks. Thankfully, this graphic card is affordable for most buyers. Middle and high details require high-end graphic cards. Ultra graphics are only possible with high-end graphic cards on desktop PCs.

An overview of the games we have tested can be found here.

Show Restrictions
Pos      Model                                     Battlefield 3
 Battlefield 3 (2011)
low
1024x768
low
2xAF 		med.
1366x768
medium
4xAF 		high
1366x768
high
16xAF 		ultra
1920x1080
ultra
16xAF 4x MSAA
 1NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI
115
103
66
 3AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire
141
131
68
 4NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590
123
110
98
57
 5NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
138
122
113
56
 6AMD Radeon HD 7970
138
107
86
48
 7NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
141
112
100
46
 9NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX
126
104
92
46
 10AMD Radeon HD 7870
124
98
79
39
 11NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580
142
108
89
45
 14NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX SLI
104
91
81
42
 16NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M
122
90
74
36
 17AMD Radeon HD 7970M
120
83
67
38
 26NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX
73
59
29
 30AMD Radeon HD 6870
106
80
68
28
 31NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470
103
75
61
30
 35NVIDIA Quadro K4000M
98
72
51
24
 36NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M SLI
92
71
55
27
 37ATI Radeon HD 5850
109
78
60
24
 38NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M
96
68
54
24
Pos      Model                                     Battlefield 3
lowmed.highultra
 39NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
98
70
54
24
 40AMD Radeon HD 6990M
94
67
52
22
 41AMD Radeon HD 7770
93
65
49
21
 45NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB
93
68
56
18
 48AMD Radeon HD 6970M
84
59
46
19
 49NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX
96
72
52
21
 51NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M
86
59
47
20
 52AMD Radeon HD 8870M
51
41
38
19
 57NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M
80
53
41
18
 66NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M
74
50
39
18
 73NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
63
42
33
15
 75NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
73
49
37
17
 77NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
42
34
31
12
 78NVIDIA Quadro K2000M
51
35
29
12
 79NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
73
50
39
16
 83AMD FirePro M4000
57
41
33
14
 90NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
58
41
33
12
 91*NVIDIA GeForce GT 645M
57
38
29
12
 97NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
50
35
28
12
 98AMD Radeon HD 7730M
47
32
25
10
Pos      Model                                     Battlefield 3
lowmed.highultra
 99*AMD Radeon HD 8750M
43
32
26
10
 117AMD Radeon HD 7690M XT
49
34
28
10
 119AMD FirePro M5950
30
23
 120NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE
40
26
21
9
 121*AMD Radeon HD 8730M
38
32
27
 123AMD Radeon HD 6770M
38
27
22
 124NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M
46
29
21
 125NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M
49
32
24
10
 139*AMD Radeon HD 7660D
37
25
20
8
 140AMD Radeon HD 6750M
35
27
21
 151*AMD Radeon HD 6740G2
37
29
24
 158*AMD Radeon HD 8550M
16
14
13
 159*AMD Radeon HD 7660G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
37
31
27
10
 162*AMD Radeon HD 7520G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
22
18
16
6
 163AMD Radeon HD 7670M
37
26
21
7
 169NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
39
24
18
8
 170*AMD Radeon HD 7560D
37
25
20
7
 172NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M
36
23
18
 174AMD Radeon HD 6650M
35
25
19
7
 178NVIDIA NVS 5400M
40
27
21
8
Pos      Model                                     Battlefield 3
lowmed.highultra
 188AMD Radeon HD 6630M
34
22
20
 189AMD Radeon HD 7650M
37
24
19
7
 191AMD Radeon HD 7570M
30
21
16
6
 194ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
35
23
18
6
 195AMD Radeon HD 7660G
32
22
17
6
 200NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M
29
20
15
 204AMD Radeon HD 7610M
30
19
15
 216AMD Radeon HD 7500G + HD 7550M Dual Graphics
15
13
11
 217*AMD Radeon HD 7600G
12
8
 218AMD Radeon HD 7550M
25
16
12
 244Intel HD Graphics 4000
16
13
12
5
 245AMD Radeon HD 6620G
25
17
13
 246AMD Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
24
 248*AMD Radeon HD 6520G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
22
23
17
 251*AMD Radeon HD 6480G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
17
15
13
 253AMD Radeon HD 7470M
18
12
9
 255NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
12
10
 257AMD Radeon HD 7520G
17
14
11
 280AMD Radeon HD 7450M
20
14
11
 282NVIDIA GeForce 610M
19
12
Pos      Model                                     Battlefield 3
lowmed.highultra
 285NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
20
13
10
 286AMD Radeon HD 7420G
16
11
7
 314AMD Radeon HD 8280G
10
8
6
 320Intel HD Graphics 3000
11
 340*Intel HD Graphics 2500
17
11
 375*Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)
9
 377*AMD Radeon HD 7340
10
7
 379*AMD Radeon HD 7310
8
6
* Approximate position

 

Legend
5Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
123Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.
> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > FAQ / Tips / Technics > Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards > Battlefield 3
Author: Editorial Team, 2011-11- 2 (Update: 2012-07-18)