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FIFA 15 Benchmarked

New engine, renewed appeal. After years of getting less attention, the 2015 version of the PC game boasts nicely improved graphics. Our review takes a look at how various notebook graphics card perform when playing the game.
Fifa 15 Logo

 For the original German article, see here.

Technology

Compared to its predecessor, Fifa 15 has significantly higher demands on the hardware. Of course that shouldn't be a surprise, since the new version uses the powerful Ignite Engine (Playstation 4, Xbox One) and not the older Impact Engine (Playstation 3, Xbox 360), which was already behind the times last year. Fifa 15 finally has spectators in the stands worth taking a look at, as the characters are a lot more life-like than they used to be. The players look better, too - not only as far as the sharpness of the textures is concerned, but also because of their realistic appearance: some of the virtual players now look strikingly similar to the human counterparts they are modeled after. We also can't find many faults with the lighting, the grass, the number of polygons in use, and the general atmosphere.

Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15

From a technical standpoint, the performance is quite decent, although there's still room for improvement. We especially liked the animations. Although the main competitor PES offers a slightly more realistic gaming experience, Fifa 15 is definitely stepping up to the first division this time around. The commentators are also convincing and describe the game play on the field nicely.

Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15
Fifa 15

Unfortunately, the graphics menu only contains a handful of options. Aside from the resolution and the rendering quality (medium details are missing), the user can only adjust anti-aliasing. At least EA doesn't use FXAA, but the higher-quality MSAA for this purpose. The framerate can be reduced as well, which might decrease the notebook noise level in some cases. Should micro-stutters become an issue, Windows Aero can be turned off as well (see screenshots down below).

We didn't experience the ominous bug that has all players, including the goalkeepers, charge towards the ball (supposedly, this issue can be remedied by choosing a longer name for the PC). We did notice, however, that load times are significantly longer with Intel GPUs. If Fifa 15 runs suspiciously slow, graphics switching can be the culprit. In this, case, changing the preset in the Nvida driver to "high-performance processor" (the default is "auto-select") solves  the issue and the game then starts with the GeForce GPU every single time.

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

Benchmark

We use the same benchmark process we followed when evaluating the predecessor: we use a kick-off game between FC Bayerna and Borussia Dortmund in the Allianz Arena. To be as fair as possible, we use identical options (6 min half time length, semi-professional difficulty, Fall, 3 PM, fair weather...). We start recording using the tool Fraps as soon as the referee blows the starting whistle. After exactly seven minutes of game time (that's not equivalent to "real" time), we stop the test.

The performance can drop by half or even 2/3 during replays (Fifa 14 had the same issue), so it's best if the frame rate is at least 50 or even better 60 fps from the start. We try to avoid replay situations altogether or at least shorten them with a mouse click should they occur. Because of the mediocre replay performance, the minimum fps can fluctuate as well. This is why some weaker graphics cards can at times seemingly outperform their more powerful siblings. The average frame rates vary slightly from pass to pass as well, but at least they are more consistent (+/-10 %).

Results

Unlike Fifa 14, which was very playable even with low-end GPUs at medium to high settings, Fifa 15 can push bargain notebooks to their limits. Case in point: the HD Graphics 4600 graphics card integrated into the current Intel processor generation. With a frame rate of about 52 fps at 1280 x 720 pixels and details on low, there is not much headroom for higher-end settings. Those who'd like to run Fifa 15 with the details set to high, a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, and 2x anti-aliasing, will have to make sure that they have a dedicated GPU from AMD or Nvidia (~62 fps @ GeForce GT 740M) at their disposal. Middle-class graphics cards like the GeForce GT 750M can handle a resolution of 1920 x 1080 Pixel and 4x MSAA. High-end GPUs are not going to be tasked much: a Geforce GTX 860M allowed us to play at frame rates of above 100 fps. Hopefully EA will continue to improve the engine for the next version.

Fifa 15
    3840x2160 High Preset     1920x1080 High Preset AA:4x MS     1366x768 High Preset AA:2x MS     1280x720 Low Preset
GeForce GTX 780 Ti, 3770K
Desktop-PC
268.7 (168min) fps ∼90%
284.4 (237min) fps ∼80%
326.1 (284min) fps ∼72%
Radeon R9 290X, 2600K, Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB MZ7PD256HAFV-0Z000
Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X Desktop
204 (0min) fps ∼69%
GeForce GTX 880M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
189.3 (163min) fps ∼64%
227.9 (168min) fps ∼64%
280.8 (254min) fps ∼62%
GeForce GTX 760, 3770K
Desktop-PC
181.3 (126min) fps ∼61%
219 (187min) fps ∼61%
309.8 (264min) fps ∼68%
GeForce GTX 780M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
166.1 (109min) fps ∼56%
208.3 (113min) fps ∼58%
251.8 (196min) fps ∼56%
GeForce GTX 870M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
157.4 (68min) fps ∼53%
210.6 (169min) fps ∼59%
267.8 (178min) fps ∼59%
Radeon R9 280X, 3770K
Desktop-PC
147.8 (106min) fps ∼50%
269.8 (134min) fps ∼75%
301.1 (254min) fps ∼66%
GeForce GTX 750 Ti, 3770K
Desktop-PC
134.8 (92min) fps ∼45%
178.1 (105min) fps ∼50%
253.2 (228min) fps ∼56%
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
119.5 (47min) fps ∼40%
173.9 (135min) fps ∼49%
246.8 (211min) fps ∼54%
GeForce GTX 770M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
115.7 (63min) fps ∼39%
173.2 (156min) fps ∼48%
224.4 (178min) fps ∼50%
Radeon R9 M290X, 4700MQ
Schenker W504
111.3 (63min) fps ∼37%
184.9 (170min) fps ∼52%
194.4 (173min) fps ∼43%
GeForce GTX 850M, 4340M
Schenker M504
95 (44min) fps ∼32%
141.6 (124min) fps ∼40%
180.1 (161min) fps ∼40%
GeForce GTX 765M, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
92.6 (42min) fps ∼31%
139.9 (120min) fps ∼39%
206 (189min) fps ∼45%
GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ
Schenker M503
55.6 (49min) fps ∼19%
84.6 (71min) fps ∼24%
112.7 (87min) fps ∼25%
Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ, Intel SSD 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B3
SCHENKER S413
16.9 (14min) fps ∼10%
40.7 (35min) fps ∼14%
67 (55min) fps ∼19%
92 (73min) fps ∼20%
GeForce GT 640M, 2637M, Lite-On LMT-256M3M
Acer Aspire M3-581TG
42 (36min) fps ∼14%
Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), A10-7850K, Samsung SSD 470 Series MZ-5PA256/EU
A10-7850K Asus A88-XM-PLUS
29 (23min) fps ∼10%
61 (58min) fps ∼17%
81 (73min) fps ∼18%
GeForce GT 740M, 4200M
HP Envy 15-j011sg
36.2 (30min) fps ∼12%
61.9 (36min) fps ∼17%
76.1 (50min) fps ∼17%
GeForce GT 720M, 4200M, WDC Scorpio Blue WD10JPVX-22JC3T0
MSI CX61-i572M
30.3 (0min) fps ∼10%
47.2 (0min) fps ∼13%
66 (0min) fps ∼15%
Radeon HD 8650G, A10-5750M, Samsung SSD 470 Series MZ-5PA256/EU
Pumori Test Platform (A10-5750M)
20.6 (18min) fps ∼7%
36.6 (31min) fps ∼10%
52 (42min) fps ∼11%
GeForce GT 630M, 3720QM, Seagate Momentus 7200.5 ST9750420AS
Asus N56VM
28.7 (24min) fps ∼10%
42 (34min) fps ∼12%
59 (48min) fps ∼13%
Iris Graphics 5100, 4258U, Apple SSD SM0256F
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch 2013-10
25.8 (21min) fps ∼9%
42 (36min) fps ∼12%
56 (47min) fps ∼12%
HD Graphics 4600, 4700MQ
Schenker W503
20.9 (18min) fps ∼7%
36 (31min) fps ∼10%
52.3 (45min) fps ∼12%
HD Graphics 4000, 3720QM
Asus N56VM
15.7 (12min) fps ∼5%
24.6 (19min) fps ∼7%
32.4 (24min) fps ∼7%

Review Systems

Four of our review notebooks are courtesy of Schenker Technologies:

  • 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)

All these notebooks feature 64-bit Windows 7. Thanks to Micron for supplying a 480 GB Crucial M500 SSD.

One additional review notebook is from Nvidia:

  • HP Envy 15-j011sg (Core i5-4200M, 12 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 740M)

We used the following drivers for our tests: Nvidia 344.11, AMD 14.7 RC3, Intel 10.18.10.3907

We've also included benchmark results from other notebooks, which potentially could have different drivers installed.

Übersicht

Show Restrictions
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 Fifa 15 (2014)
low
1280x720
Low Preset
high
1366x768
High Preset
2x MSAA
ultra
1920x1080
High Preset
4x MSAA
4K
3840x2160
High Preset
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Qualcomm Adreno 304
AMD Radeon Pro 560
Qualcomm Adreno 302
AMD Radeon HD 6850M
AMD Radeon HD 6830M
AMD Radeon HD 6310
AMD Radeon HD 6320
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low high ultra 4K
AMD Radeon 760M
AMD Radeon 680M
AMD Radeon HD 6775G2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M
293.3n3
244.7n3
232.4n3
104.4
NVIDIA RTX A5500 Laptop GPU
AMD Radeon Pro 455
AMD Radeon Pro 555X
AMD Radeon HD 6650M
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
AMD Radeon Pro 5300M
AMD Radeon HD 6680G2
AMD Radeon HD 6690G2
AMD Radeon HD 6480G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6250
AMD FirePro W5130M
AMD Radeon HD 7430M
AMD Radeon HD 7350M
AMD Radeon HD 7370M
AMD Radeon HD 7340
AMD Radeon HD 7290
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low high ultra 4K
Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop)
Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen)
NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS
Nvidia RTX 1000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
Intel UHD Graphics 630
NVIDIA GeForce 920M
69.95n2
53.8n2
33.65n2
Intel HD Graphics 2500
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX
NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT SLI
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6250
NVIDIA RTX 3500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA RTX 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA Quadro T2000 Max-Q
NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (Laptop)
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low high ultra 4K
PowerVR SGX543MP3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M SLI
PowerVR SGX535
NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
NVIDIA Titan RTX
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low high ultra 4K
AMD Radeon HD 6730M
Qualcomm Adreno 225
AMD Radeon HD 6450 GDDR5
AMD Radeon HD 6480G
AMD Radeon Graphics (Ryzen 7000)
AMD Radeon 780M
AMD Radeon 630
AMD Radeon 625
AMD FirePro M8900
AMD FirePro W5170M
AMD Radeon 520
AMD Radeon HD 6630M
AMD Radeon HD 7500G
AMD Radeon HD 6450M
AMD Radeon HD 6290
AMD Radeon 740M
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low high ultra 4K
AMD FirePro W4190M
AMD Radeon 540X
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
161.85n2
132.7n2
91.3n3
41.6
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M
AMD Radeon Pro 460
AMD Radeon HD 6540G2
AMD Radeon HD 6545G2
AMD Radeon HD 6870M
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AMD Radeon HD 6530M
AMD Radeon HD 7640G
AMD Radeon HD 6950M
AMD Radeon HD 7640G + HD 7610M Dual Graphics
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AMD Radeon HD 6550M
NVIDIA T600 Laptop GPU
NVIDIA GeForce 920MX
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q
NVIDIA Quadro P4200
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6520G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6550D
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AMD Radeon Pro 555
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 GT
AMD Radeon Pro 5600M
AMD Radeon Pro 560X
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20
AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100
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low high ultra 4K
AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100
NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M
AMD Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire
AMD Radeon HD 6990M
AMD Radeon HD 6970M
AMD Radeon HD 6970
AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire
ATI Radeon HD 5570
AMD Radeon HD 7660G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon X800
ATI Radeon IGP 340M
ATI Mobility Radeon X700
ATI Radeon IGP 320M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M
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low high ultra 4K
NVIDIA GeForce GT 430
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G
NVIDIA GeForce 830M
70.5
62.8
42.1
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M
NVIDIA GeForce MX450
NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M
NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation
NVIDIA GeForce 825M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 415M
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
332.8
259.7
210.6
103.3
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low high ultra 4K
NVIDIA GeForce GT 625M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M
76.1
61.9
36.2
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M
NVIDIA Quadro P5000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M
66
47.2
30.3
NVIDIA Quadro P3200
AMD Radeon HD 6720G2
AMD Radeon HD 6515G2
AMD Radeon HD 6510G2
PowerVR GE8300
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (Laptop)
Qualcomm Adreno 205
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Max-Q
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NVIDIA Titan X Pascal
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q
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low high ultra 4K
PowerVR GXA6850
PowerVR GX6450
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low high ultra 4K
PowerVR GM9446
PowerVR GE8322 / IMG8322
PowerVR SGX544
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low high ultra 4K
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low high ultra 4K
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low high ultra 4K
AMD Radeon R5 M420
AMD Radeon HD 6520G
AMD Radeon HD 6470M
AMD Radeon HD 6750M
AMD Radeon HD 6490M
AMD Radeon 660M
AMD FirePro W4170M
AMD FirePro W2100
AMD Radeon HD 6370M
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low high ultra 4K
AMD Radeon HD 6350M
AMD Radeon HD 6330M
AMD Radeon 620
AMD Radeon 610
AMD Radeon 610M
AMD FirePro W4100
AMD FirePro M5950
AMD FirePro M4000
AMD FirePro M6100
AMD FirePro M3900
AMD FirePro M4100
AMD Radeon 530
AMD FirePro M2000
AMD Radeon HD 6770M
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AMD Radeon HD 6790
AMD FirePro M6000
AMD Radeon Pro W6800
NVIDIA RTX A4500 Laptop GPU
AMD FirePro M5100
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low high ultra 4K
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI
380.3
288.1
211.7
96
AMD Radeon HD 6645G2
AMD Radeon HD 6760G2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS
ATI Radeon HD 5850
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)
NVIDIA Quadro P3000 Max-Q
AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
306.4
245.6
244.6
167.9
AMD Radeon HD 6870
AMD FirePro W7170M
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AMD Radeon HD 6430M
AMD Radeon HD 6380G
AMD Radeon R6 (Kaveri)
26.7
18.3
8.2
AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo)
54.7
32.4
17.2
AMD Radeon HD 7310
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M
249.35n2
212.2n2
150.05n2
AMD Radeon HD 6620G + HD 7450M Dual Graphics
AMD Radeon R5 M335
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low high ultra 4K
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low high ultra 4K
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AMD Radeon PRO W6600M
AMD Radeon R5 M430
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 150M
AMD Radeon HD 8970M Crossfire
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PowerVR SGX545
AMD Radeon HD 8970M
AMD Radeon HD 6640G2
AMD Radeon Pro 450
AMD Radeon HD 6620G
Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580
(-) * 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.
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Florian Glaser, 2014-10- 7 (Update: 2021-05-18)