Notebookcheck Logo

Far Cry 4 Benchmarked

Call to Freedom. The Ubisoft recipe has changed little for the long-awaited sequel, Far Cry 4, as the game is composed primarily of action, exploration and foraging. We tested the performance of the Kyrat special edition on various laptops and have summarized our findings in this review.

For the original German article, see here.

Game Engine

Far Cry 4 uses the modified Dunia Engine 2, which was also used in the predecessor. One of the most impressive features of engine is its enormous landscape: although there are a few blurry mountains in the horizon, most of the area is accessible whether on a quad, glider or on your feet. Thanks to this seemingly open environment, the user will be able to enjoy an astonishing degree of freedom, offered by very few other games. Other Ego shooters, like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, feel claustrophobic in comparison. The intense colors, realistic lighting and thick vegetation provide an enchanting virtual world.

Despite all these qualities, the game is lacking in a few areas. For example, although most objects have a high level of detail, some surfaces suffer from mediocre textures. The game barely manages to reach the level of Battlefield 4 (Frostbite 3), Crysis 3 (CryEngine 3) or Ryse: Son of Rome (CryEngine 4).

Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4

Ubisoft has created a nigh perfect graphics menu: if you do not want to explore the additional options for hours, then we suggest choosing one of the 5 presets ((6 @Nvidia). The performance is often higher than in our Far Cry 3 benchmarks as not all features are set to max on "Ultra" mode (no HBAO+, SMAA instead of MSAA, ...).

Although the Ego shooter looks sparse with low details, at medium details the user can start having fun. Like most other games, the graphics become truly impressive at high details. Thankfully, a restart is not required after changing the settings, but the intro videos can not be skipped. If the user employs a SSD, the load times should be quite short.

Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4

It is evident that Far Cry 4 is produced by the same publisher as Assassin's Creed Unity, as the game is part of the Nvidia TWIMTBP program and receives very fast patches. We use the version 1.3.0 for our benchmarks. While reading this review, you might find yourself wondering why the AMD GPUs perform better than their Nvidia competitors at times (compare the R9 M290X to the otherwise often faster GTX 870M). We believe this discrepancy is due to the GPUs producing different effects in the game at high and max settings.

Furthermore, at most settings, we noticed a fault in the shadow processing with our AMD R9 M290X GPU. This problem was found in Far Cry 3 as well and was alleviated after a few updates. The Intel HD Graphics 4600 also suffers from faulty shadows but this IGP is far too weak for this game (<20 fps). Finally, despite our AMD GPU producing good fps rates, the game stuttered on many systems. We could not find a reason for this behavior.

Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4
Far Cry 4

Benchmark

We did not use any cars or planes and stayed on foot so as to ensure consistent benchmark results. We start at the idyllic yet chaotic village in which the protagonist finds himself after the tutorial mission ("Reach the Belltower"). The 50 second test, which can be seen in the video below, provides a reliable measure of the average performance. Notebooks have to achieve at least 35-40 fps in our benchmark if they are to reliably provide fluid performance in more demanding scenes.

Results

The hardware requirements may not be as extreme as those of Assassin's Creed Unity, but the game still requires strong performance. If you have entry-level hardware, you will not be able to enjoy Kyrat properly. The game lags a lot with GPUs below the GeForce GT 740M – even at a resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels and minimum details. Normal details and a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels require a middle-class GPU like the GeForce GT 750M.

Low Settings
Low Settings
Medium Settings
Medium Settings
High Settings
High Settings
Ultra Settings
Ultra Settings

It becomes really hard at high settings and the FHD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. We recommend a GeForce GTX 870M for this level. If you choose the preset "Ultra", we would recommend either a Radeon R9 M290X or a GeForce GTX 780M/880M. The Intel CPUs are usually limited by their GPUs (a dual-core with Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading can easily provide sufficient performance).

Far Cry 4
    1920x1080 Ultra Graphics Quality AA:SM     1920x1080 High Graphics Quality AA:SM     1366x768 Medium Graphics Quality     1024x768 Low Graphics Quality
Radeon R9 290X, 4790K, Intel SSD 530 Series SSDSC2BW240A
Sapphire Radeon R9 290X Tri-X OC
80 (49min) fps ∼70%
94 (55min) fps ∼65%
115 (60min) fps ∼67%
122 (69min) fps ∼69%
GeForce GTX 980, 3770K
Desktop-PC
77.7 (50min) fps ∼68%
87.2 (58min) fps ∼61%
101.4 (67min) fps ∼59%
102.4 (71min) fps ∼58%
Radeon R9 280X, 3770K
Desktop-PC
60.4 (42min) fps ∼53%
72 (46min) fps ∼50%
92.9 (53min) fps ∼54%
96.4 (60min) fps ∼54%
Radeon R9 M290X, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
41.4 (29min) fps ∼36%
49.1 (32min) fps ∼34%
70.7 (39min) fps ∼41%
76.1 (44min) fps ∼43%
GeForce GTX 880M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
40.3 (34min) fps ∼35%
50.5 (42min) fps ∼35%
95.9 (67min) fps ∼56%
104.4 (75min) fps ∼59%
GeForce GTX 780M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
36.5 (30min) fps ∼32%
46.6 (38min) fps ∼32%
95.7 (66min) fps ∼56%
103.8 (73min) fps ∼59%
GeForce GTX 870M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
32.9 (28min) fps ∼29%
42.2 (36min) fps ∼29%
93.4 (69min) fps ∼55%
100.8 (69min) fps ∼57%
GeForce GTX 770M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
25.2 (21min) fps ∼22%
31.2 (26min) fps ∼22%
73.1 (59min) fps ∼43%
93.2 (68min) fps ∼53%
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
23 (20min) fps ∼20%
29.9 (23min) fps ∼21%
74.4 (62min) fps ∼44%
93.7 (67min) fps ∼53%
GeForce GTX 850M, 4340M
Schenker M504
21.8 (18min) fps ∼19%
27 (22min) fps ∼19%
60.4 (51min) fps ∼35%
79.4 (61min) fps ∼45%
GeForce GTX 765M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
18 (12min) fps ∼16%
23.4 (15min) fps ∼16%
57.9 (48min) fps ∼34%
79.9 (65min) fps ∼45%
GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
11.5 (8min) fps ∼10%
14.2 (9min) fps ∼10%
35.2 (30min) fps ∼21%
49.4 (41min) fps ∼28%
Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ, Intel SSD 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B3
SCHENKER S413
8.5 (5min) fps ∼7%
12.2 (7min) fps ∼8%
23.6 (16min) fps ∼14%
30.7 (19min) fps ∼17%
Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), A10-7850K, Samsung SSD 470 Series MZ-5PA256/EU
A10-7850K Asus A88-XM-PLUS
14.7 (10min) fps ∼10%
30.8 (25min) fps ∼18%
42.5 (33min) fps ∼24%
GeForce GT 740M, 4200M
HP Envy 15-j011sg
8.3 (7min) fps ∼7%
10.1 (8min) fps ∼7%
24.2 (20min) fps ∼14%
34.3 (29min) fps ∼19%
GeForce GT 640M, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
9.6 (2min) fps ∼7%
26.9 (21min) fps ∼16%
35.8 (27min) fps ∼20%
GeForce GT 720M, 4200M, WDC Scorpio Blue WD10JPVX-22JC3T0
MSI CX61-i572M
7.1 (0min) fps ∼5%
17.9 (0min) fps ∼10%
25.7 (0min) fps ∼15%
Radeon HD 8650G, A10-5750M, Samsung SSD 470 Series MZ-5PA256/EU
Pumori Test Platform (A10-5750M)
17.7 (12min) fps ∼10%
24.8 (16min) fps ∼14%
HD Graphics 4600, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
5.3 (2min) fps ∼5%
7 (3min) fps ∼5%
14.3 (9min) fps ∼8%
19.9 (12min) fps ∼11%
GeForce GT 630M, 3720QM, Seagate Momentus 7200.5 ST9750420AS
Asus N56VM
16.3 (11min) fps ∼10%
22.2 (16min) fps ∼13%
HD Graphics 3000, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
0 (0min) fps ∼0%

Test Systems

Four or our test models are provided by Schenker Technologies (mysn.de):

  • W504 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 860M, GTX 870M, GTX 880M, Radeon R9 M290X)
  • W503 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 765M, GTX 770M, GTX 780M)
  • M504 (Core i5-4340M, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 850M)
  • M503 (Core i7-4702MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 750M)

These notebooks have Windows 7 64 bit installed on them.

Other test models were provided by Nvidia:

Intel provided one more:

  • Schenker S413 (Core i7-4750HQ, 8 GB DDR3, Iris Pro Graphics 5200)

The desktop PCs use CPUs/APUs from Intel and AMD, SSDs from Micron, Intel and Samsung, mainboards from Intel and Asus and graphics cards from Nvidia and AMD.

The GPU drivers we used: Nvidia 344.75, AMD 14.11.2 Beta, Intel 10.18.10.3960.

Overview

Show Restrictions
PosModel< PrevNext >Far Cry 4
 Far Cry 4 (2014)
low
1024x768
Low Graphics Quality
med.
1366x768
Medium Graphics Quality
high
1920x1080
High Graphics Quality
SMAA
ultra
1920x1080
Ultra Graphics Quality
SMAA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
102.4
101.4
68.5n4
62.3n4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)
119.25n2
116.6n2
96.1n2
80.6n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
130.8
130.6
89.6
67.9
AMD Radeon R9 290X
122
115
94
80
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
110.55n4
104.15n4
72.65n4
61.55n4
AMD Radeon R9 280X
96.4
92.9
72
60.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
113.6
112.2
65.8
50.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
95n3
87n3
60n5
48.3n5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
45
AMD Radeon R9 M295X
67.7
70.4
45.9
38.9
AMD Radeon R7 370
97.8
89.6
54.5
41.26
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M
104.4
95.9
50.5
40.3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950
101.3
96.1
52.3
39.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M
103.8
95.7
46.6
36.5
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
95.3n3
88.2n3
46.1n3
37.1n3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M
100.8
93.4
42.2
32.9
AMD Radeon R9 M290X
76.1
70.7
49.1
41.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
86.45n4
74.15n4
37.4n4
30.85n4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M
93.2
73.1
31.2
25.2
PosModel< PrevNext >Far Cry 4
low med. high ultra
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
70.4n2
59.15n2
29.15n2
22.85n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
66.9n2
56.4n2
25.95n2
20.5n2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M
75.2n3
57.2n3
25.8n3
20.9n3
AMD Radeon R9 M280X
28.5
21.2
18.8
16.3
NVIDIA GeForce 945M
72.3
53
23.9
19.1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M
79.9
57.9
23.4
18
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 768MB
68
AMD Radeon R9 M265X
57.8
42
19.3
15.5
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
49.4
35.2
14.2
11.5
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
44.2
31.4
14.2
13.3
NVIDIA GeForce 940M
43.95n2
30.65n2
13.65n2
13.2
AMD Radeon R9 M375
40.8
31.6
15.8
NVIDIA GeForce 840M
46.85n2
31.3n2
14.1n2
12
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)
42.5
30.8
14.7
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200
28.6n2
21.7n2
10.8n2
7.75n2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
34.3
24.2
10.1
8.3
NVIDIA GeForce 930M
40.2n2
27.95n2
NVIDIA GeForce 830M
36.6
25.8
11.9
10.8
AMD Radeon R7 M260X
29.5
21.1
11.4
8.2
AMD Radeon R7 M270
38.4
27.8
13.1
10.3
PosModel< PrevNext >Far Cry 4
low med. high ultra
AMD Radeon R7 M265
39
28
13.5
10
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
35.8
26.9
9.6
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri)
23.7
16.9
9.6
6.6
AMD Radeon R7 M360
32.1
22.6
10.4
7.6
NVIDIA GeForce 920M
32.95n2
20.8n2
8.1n2
6.65n2
AMD Radeon R7 M260
29.1
20.6
9.4
AMD Radeon R7 M340
28.5
25.7
11.6
10.7
Intel HD Graphics 530
22n2
15.65n2
7.9
5.8
Intel HD Graphics 5600
22.5
16.3
8.4
6.3
AMD Radeon HD 8650G
24.8
17.7
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
22.2
16.3
AMD Radeon R5 M330
25.6
17.6
AMD Radeon R5 M255
34.2
24
10.8
8.8
NVIDIA GeForce 820M
26.5
18.2
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
20
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
25.7
17.9
7.1
AMD Radeon R5 M240
29
19.6
Intel HD Graphics 4600
18.9n2
13.15n2
6.3n2
5.3
Intel HD Graphics 5500
14.35n4
10.55n4
6.2n3
2.1
Intel HD Graphics 5000
14.3
10.6
PosModel< PrevNext >Far Cry 4
low med. high ultra
Intel HD Graphics 4400
13.5n2
9.9n2
Intel HD Graphics 5300
9.2
6.8
3.5
1.7
Intel HD Graphics 4000
13.2
AMD Radeon R5 (Beema/Carrizo-L)
14.3
10.7
AMD Radeon R4 (Beema)
12.6
8.4
AMD Radeon R3 (Mullins/Beema)
13.1
9.2
Intel HD Graphics 4200
6.1
AMD Radeon HD 8330
9.8
6.8
Intel HD Graphics (Braswell)
6.1
4.3
Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail)
5.6
3.8
(-) * Smaller values are better. / n123 Number of benchmarks for this median value / * 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
60Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
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.
?Uncertain – 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.
static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
Florian Glaser, 2014-11-30 (Update: 2021-05-18)