FIFA 16 Notebook Benchmarks

Routine Kick. Few games have the mass appeal of the FIFA football series. We took a look at its various aspects and our benchmark results will tell you what hardware you need to run FIFA 16 well. Is an entry-level system powerful enough to run the game fluidly?

Florian Glaser, ✓ Stefanie Voigt (translated by Vinay Pradhan), Published 10/12/2015 🇩🇪 🇵🇱

For the original German article, see here.

Engine

The predecessor may have had better graphics, but FIFA 16 is looking to make changes. The newest addition to the FIFA family upholds the long tradition of making virtual stadiums come alive with realistic sounds and visuals. There are even excited fans singing in the stands and waving team flags.

Low requirements are a blessing, but they do lead to some "blocky" characters. The fans in the stands could be a lot more realistic with more polygons and better textures.

The pretty 3D grass only shines in zoomed shots. As players of the FIFA series already know, the frame rate drops rapidly during replays and the performance can drop by more than 50%.

The Ignite engine does not have smooth transitions between the menus. In fact, it is quite annoying when the game stutters every time you move to another menu. The commentators will often end up "repeating" themselves. Although there is plenty of commentary in the English version of the game, you will quickly realize that they are saying the same things in different ways.

Unfortunately, we had some issues starting our benchmarks, especially on notebooks that were updated from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10. Either the launcher gave an error due to the .NET Framework or Windows quit the application with the error "FIFA 16 is no longer working". In these cases, the gamer just has to keep trying until it works.

Benchmark

As last year, we use a kickoff game between FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund in the Alliance arena as our benchmark sequence. We used the same settings everywhere to ensure that results are comparable. Our match takes place in autumn at 3 PM with clear skies. The half time lasts 6 real minutes, of which we only tested 60 seconds (= 7 game minutes).

To avoid repeats, we kept the ball in mid-field and stayed away from throw-ins, fouls and goals. As we could not always keep to this plan, it might be that the fps numbers are a little off. If you want to run FIFA 16 fluidly, we recommend a system that achieves an average of 60 fps in the benchmark.

▶ load Youtube video

Results

The performance is quite similar to FIFA 15. No surprise, as both games look quite similar. Notebooks, without a dedicated GPU and only an IGP (HD Graphics 4600, HD Graphics 5500, HD Graphics 5300...) can run FIFA 16 with low details and resolutions around 1280x720 pixels decently.

For the rendering quality "High", 2x MSAA and a 1366x768 pixels resolution, the computer should have a middle-class GPU like the GeForce GT 750M. 4x AA and a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels only run well once you have a GeForce GTX 850M or better. FIFA 16 can be quite demanding at the 4K resolution as the 3840x2160 pixels resolution, 2x MSAA and the "High" quality setting require at least a GeForce GTX 970M or higher.

To achieve higher frame rates than 30 or 60 fps, you have to set the "Frame Rate" in the game settings to "No Limit on fps". Weaker models will perform better if Aero is turned off in Windows (translucent windows). Low settings may lead to a limit depending on the graphics chip. For example, our desktop PC with a GeForce GTX 980 could only surpass the weaker, mobile GeForce GTX 980M of the XMG U506 (Core i7-3770K vs. Core i5-6600K) at the two highest settings.

Update 03.10.15: on systems with weaker CPUs, FIFA 16 will run slowly despite sufficient frame rate. The Core i5-5250U (Intel NUC5i5RYK), the Core i7-2637M (Acer Aspire M3-581TG) and the Kaveri FX-7600P (Asus N551ZU-CN007H) were affected. We encountered the same problem last year with FIFA 15.

FIFA 16
3840x2160 High Preset AA:2x MS 1920x1080 High Preset AA:4x MS 1366x768 High Preset AA:2x MS 1280x720 Low Preset
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980, 3770K Desktop-PC	123.5 (117^min) fps ∼46% 243.5 (221^min) fps ∼77% 241.3 (209^min) fps ∼71% 265.6 (229^min) fps ∼61%
AMD Radeon R9 290X, 4790K Sapphire Radeon R9 290X Tri-X OC	128 (120^min) fps ∼47% 206 (185^min) fps ∼65% 256 (219^min) fps ∼75% 267 (232^min) fps ∼62%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	88.2 (35^min) fps ∼33% 192.2 (101^min) fps ∼61% 220 (152^min) fps ∼65% 242.5 (227^min) fps ∼56%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	73.1 (69^min) fps ∼27% 160.2 (138^min) fps ∼51% 222.2 (201^min) fps ∼65% 241 (221^min) fps ∼56%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	68.4 (23^min) fps ∼25% 170.9 (160^min) fps ∼54% 212.9 (118^min) fps ∼63% 236.3 (192^min) fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, 3770K Desktop-PC	58.4 (30^min) fps ∼22% 156.8 (149^min) fps ∼50% 222.8 (114^min) fps ∼66% 265.6 (177^min) fps ∼61%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	57.3 (27^min) fps ∼21% 135.7 (121^min) fps ∼43% 200.3 (105^min) fps ∼59% 244.9 (225^min) fps ∼56%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, 4720HQ Schenker XMG A505	44.5 (42^min) fps ∼16% 108.1 (95^min) fps ∼34% 161.8 (148^min) fps ∼48% 208.6 (135^min) fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	34.2 (31^min) fps ∼13% 78.7 (31^min) fps ∼25% 135.4 (53^min) fps ∼40% 224.2 (128^min) fps ∼52%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, 4340M Schenker M504	29.9 (28^min) fps ∼11% 77.9 (34^min) fps ∼25% 114.3 (57^min) fps ∼34% 173 (106^min) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ Schenker M503	49.1 (46^min) fps ∼16% 77.2 (66^min) fps ∼23% 143.4 (125^min) fps ∼33%
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), A10-7850K A10-7850K Asus A88-XM-PLUS	29.6 (25^min) fps ∼9% 58 (55^min) fps ∼17% 84 (77^min) fps ∼19%
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ SCHENKER S413	10.8 (9^min) fps ∼4% 38.2 (31^min) fps ∼12% 62.5 (51^min) fps ∼18% 117 (95^min) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M, 4200M HP Envy 15-j011sg	30.8 (27^min) fps ∼10% 52.2 (47^min) fps ∼15% 93.4 (88^min) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M, 4200M MSI CX61-i572M	24 (20^min) fps ∼8% 41.7 (36^min) fps ∼12% 77.5 (70^min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M, 3720QM Asus N56VM	23 (20^min) fps ∼7% 35 (30^min) fps ∼10% 73 (59^min) fps ∼17%
Intel HD Graphics 4600, 4700MQ Schenker W504	20.3 (16^min) fps ∼6% 37.4 (35^min) fps ∼11% 77.1 (69^min) fps ∼18%
Intel HD Graphics 5500, 5010U Intel NUC Kit NUC5i3RYH	18.1 (7^min) fps ∼6% 35.7 (31^min) fps ∼11% 55.9 (50^min) fps ∼13%
Intel HD Graphics 3000, 2637M Acer Aspire M3-581TG	0 (0^min) fps ∼0%

Test Systems

Four of our test models are from Schenker Technologies (mysn.de):

W504 (Core i7-4700MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 860M, GTX 870M, GTX 880M, GTX 970M, GTX 980M)
A505 (Core i7-4720HQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 960M)
M504 (Core i5-4340M, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GTX 850M)
M503 (Core i7-4702MQ, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 750M)

Three notebooks were provided by Nvidia:

HP Envy 15-j011sg (Core i5-4200M, 12 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 740M)
MSI CX61-i572M281BW7 (Core i5-4200M, 8 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 720M)
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3-581TG (Core i7-2637M, 4GB DDR3, GeForce GT 640M)

Intel added 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. We use the Asus PB287Q as our 4K monitor.

GPU drivers: Nvidia 355.98, AMD 15.8 Beta, Intel 10.18.15.4279 (Win 10) or 10.18.14.4264 (Win 7)

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 629 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2009

I discovered my interest in computers in my childhood, growing up with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 in the early 1990s. I was especially fascinated with computer games, even from an early age. From Monkey Island through Lands of Lore to Doom, I tried every game I could get my hands on. I have been working for Notebookcheck since 2009 with my focus mostly being on high-performance gaming laptops.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Archive of our own reviews > FIFA 16 Notebook Benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2015-10-12 (Update: 2024-08-15)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > FIFA 16 (2015)
Pos	Model	low 1280x720 Low Preset	high 1366x768 High Preset 2x MSAA	ultra 1920x1080 High Preset 4x MSAA	4K 3840x2160 High Preset 2x MSAA
76	NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	304.1	290.1	289.1	270.9
77	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 SLI (Laptop)			306	219
93	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Desktop)	370			208
114	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile			291	201
127	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI (Laptop)	357.3	319.8	266.4	118.6
138	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile			210.5ⁿ²	161
158	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti				162
165	AMD Radeon R9 Fury			250	157
167	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980	265.6	241.3	243.5	123.5
179	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (Laptop)	352.1ⁿ²	318.75ⁿ²	281.75ⁿ²	123.55ⁿ²
181	AMD Radeon R9 390X				128
182	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M SLI	302.4	247	173.1	70.8
183	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (Desktop)	391	340	298	127
187	AMD Radeon RX 480 (Desktop)			225	120
188	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile			241	111
212	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970			253.5ⁿ²	114
237	AMD Radeon R9 290X	267	256	206	128
244	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M	302.3ⁿ⁴	253.85ⁿ⁴	194.9ⁿ⁴	88.6ⁿ³
254	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960				72
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >FIFA 16
Pos	Model	low	high	ultra	4K
262	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M	241.15ⁿ⁴	218.35ⁿ⁴	171.65ⁿ⁴	69.5ⁿ²
266	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680	296.2	281.7	192.5ⁿ²	87.1ⁿ²
284	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M	241	222.2	160.2	73.1
288	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950	265.6	222.8	156.8	58.4
303	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M	233.7ⁿ³	183.6ⁿ³	127.4ⁿ³	51
307	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M	244.9	200.3	135.7	57.3
309	AMD Radeon HD 8970M	194.4	141.2	109.6
318	AMD Radeon R9 M390	233	190	111	54
328	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M	177.8ⁿ³	145ⁿ³	99.35ⁿ⁴	44.5
359	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M	224.2	135.4	78.7	34.2
367	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M	170.75ⁿ²	108.2ⁿ²	72.8ⁿ²
373	AMD Radeon R9 M385X			59.2
375	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M	173	114.3	77.9	29.9
379	AMD Radeon R9 M280X	78	69	53	19.5
384	NVIDIA GeForce 945M	201	103.7	69.3
467	NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M	143.4	77.2	49.1
470	NVIDIA GeForce 940MX	123.4ⁿ²	68.8ⁿ²	45ⁿ³
475	NVIDIA GeForce 940M	98.1	59.3	36.5
493	AMD Radeon R7 M370		27.9	15.6
506	NVIDIA GeForce 840M	88.5	57.9	38.5
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >FIFA 16
Pos	Model	low	high	ultra	4K
511	AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)	84	58	29.6
512	Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200	117	62.5	38.2	10.8
521	NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M	93.4	52.2	30.8
523	NVIDIA GeForce 930M	99.7	57.8	36.4
530	NVIDIA GeForce 830M	92.6	50	34.1
533	NVIDIA GeForce 920MX	91.2	51.2	31.7
534	Intel Iris Graphics 540		65	38.8
566	AMD Radeon R7 M265	69	49.1	27.5
571	NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M	106	56	35.1
572	AMD Radeon R7 (Carrizo)	43.1	37.6	19.3
573	AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri)	62	45.2	23.3
574	AMD Radeon R8 M365DX	48.15ⁿ²	37.4	15.8
575*	AMD Radeon R7 M460	88.1	51.8	24.5
578	AMD Radeon R7 M360	72.4ⁿ³	59.7ⁿ³	23.9ⁿ³
580	NVIDIA GeForce 920M	75.25ⁿ²	46	28.2
583	AMD Radeon R8 M445DX	77.5	53.8	25
592	AMD Radeon R7 M340	82.1	52.4	24
597	AMD Radeon R6 M340DX	56.1	40.4	23.9
607	Intel HD Graphics 530	87.6	46.2	25.8
612	Intel HD Graphics 620	78.4	50.9	29.3
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >FIFA 16
Pos	Model	low	high	ultra	4K
613	AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo)	49.65ⁿ²	31.1ⁿ²	16
647	Intel HD Graphics 5600	70	39.8	20.8
678	NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M	73	35	23
681	AMD Radeon R5 M335	58.3	39.7	18.4
682	AMD Radeon R5 M330	51ⁿ²	35.8ⁿ²
684	AMD Radeon R5 M255	87.2	52.2	23.6
689	Intel HD Graphics 520	44ⁿ⁹	31.4ⁿ⁷	20.9ⁿ³
690	Intel Iris Graphics 6100	51.2ⁿ³	37.2ⁿ³	20.95ⁿ²
692	NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M	77.5	41.7	24
694	AMD Radeon R5 M240	50	38.5
706	Intel HD Graphics 6000	53	39	21.3
713	Intel HD Graphics 4600	59.1ⁿ²	31ⁿ²	17.55ⁿ²
715	Intel HD Graphics 5500	49.15ⁿ²	34.75ⁿ²	17.65ⁿ²
790	Intel HD Graphics 515	42
793	Intel HD Graphics 4400	49.7	25.3
828	Intel HD Graphics 5300	26.3	15.3
837	Intel HD Graphics 4000	60	26	16
843	AMD Radeon R5 (Beema/Carrizo-L)	33.5	20.7
848	Intel HD Graphics (Broadwell)	38.1	20.6
906	Intel HD Graphics 400 (Braswell)	36.5	14.2	9
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >FIFA 16
Pos	Model	low	high	ultra	4K
945	AMD Radeon R2 (Mullins/Beema/Carrizo-L)	22.6	14.8

Legend
5	Stutters – 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.
30	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60	Fluent – 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.