FIFA 12 Benchmarks
FIFA 2011 for PC has been the reference soccer game ever since its release. Thanks to its low system requirements, even entry-level laptops can run the game fluently at a wide range of graphical settings. In our following benchmarks, we run FIFA 12 through a range of desktop and laptop graphics cards to see if this latest iteration continues the low-requirement tradition.
Testing methodology
Since FIFA 12 features no integrated benchmark functions, we used single player matches against the computer as the basis for our testing. Only a few minutes of passing on the mid-field were benchmarked and recorded with the separate program Fraps. Instant replays after goals or fouls were not included in our benchmarks as performance took a noticeable hit during these close-up scenes.
Results on Low, Medium, High and Ultra under different levels of anti-aliasing and resolutions are detailed below. Additional technical information on each notebook GPU can be seen on their respective graphics card pages.
We also tested the full version of Fifa 12 on a Radeon HD 6870 and experienced no performance difference with our benchmark sequence. Furthermore, the results should also be valid for the extension pack Euro 2012 Poland-Ukraine, as it only extends the game modi and teams of Fifa 12.
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Benchmark analysis
Fortunately for FIFA 11 players, FIFA 12 is about as taxing to the system as its predecessor, so entry-level laptops that are able to play FIFA 11 fluently should also perform about equally as well in the 2012 version. Therefore, even older systems with Core 2 Duo processors in conjunction with an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD GPU can render fluent frame rates at the lowest graphical settings. We noticed lots of stuttering with the GMA 4500MHD under medium settings, which oddly enough did not record correctly in Fraps.
Jumping to medium-high detail settings will only require a modern integrated GPU, such as the Intel HD Graphics 3000 in Sandy Bridge chipsets or Radeon graphics in AMD Fusion cores.
The highest detail settings at full HD resolution will play at over 60 FPS with the fast mid-range GeForce GT 540M. The less powerful Radeon HD 6630M was able to provide acceptable frame rates on the ultra settings as well, but at about half the average of the GeForce GT 540M.
Note: All tested games can be found in our gaming list.
