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Just Cause 3 Notebook Benchmarks

Adrenaline junkie. Just Cause returns to the PC after five years. The third part follows the tradition of the series and offers an extremely crazy and casual gameplay. However, it looks like the developers forgot the technical optimization with all this fun. Here are our first impressions of the retail version.

Florian Glaser, ✓ Tanja Hinum (translated by Andreas Osthoff), Published 12/19/2015 🇩🇪 🇷🇺

For the original German article, see here.

Graphics

2015 was not only the year of action-adventures, but also of sloppy PC ports. Besides Call of Duty Black Ops 3, Batman Arkham Knight in particular upset the community. The list includes graphics errors, crashes and framerate drops: Many titles cannot even remotely utilize the potential of the PC platform.

Even though the technology of Just Cause 3 is not the feared catastrophe, there is some criticism for this title as well. It starts with the size of the game: At almost 50 GB, the action title is one of the biggest games in general. Yes, other open-world games occupy even more storage space (GTA V, Shadow of Mordor, ...), but there are also other examples like Fallout 4 and Metal Gear Solid V that stay below 30 GB.

Another problem are the long loading times. It takes forever befor the main menu opens after the launch – even if Just Cause 3 is installed on an SSD. We also experienced regular crashes during the launch ("JustCause3.exe has stopped working") on some devices. Once you reached the main menu, the loading times are reasonable.

The third-person title does not cause a lot of criticism for the graphics settings. The tilte does lack presets to adjust the overall graphics quality, but the graphics menu is very simple to use and – except for the scrolling sensitivity – well-structured. Starting with the gamma value, you can either turn the options on and off or adjust them in four steps. The anisotropic filtering ranges from 2-16x, while the anti-aliasing modes include the post-processing versions FXAA and SMAA. The resolution and the picture mode can obviously changed as well. The options are completed by V-Sync.

You won't be impressed by the graphics, even when you crank up all the settings. You can, for instance, notice the lack of high-quality anti-aliasing (e. g. MSAA), but the textures still appear blurry on the highest setting. No comparison to GTA V, which is often razor-sharp. Just Cause 3 at least offers an opulent amount of effects. Hardly any game can show explosions that look this good. The viewing distance and the details of the main figures can also keep up with the rivals, and setting changes do not require a restart.

We were still slightly disappointed by the technology. The situation is similar for the hardware requirements, which are significantly higher than our subjective expectation. The developers should also improve the button mapping in the menus (Ctrl instead of Esc for back). The control of the main character itself is a bit "fluffy", which creates positive memories of Saints Row 4. The combination of the parachute and the Grapple-hook creates completely new ways of fast movement.

Just Cause 3 is a part of Nvidia's gaming program TWIMTBP, so it is not surprising that AMD GPUs are sometimes performing significantly worse. The desktop model Radeon R9 Fury, for example, was even slower than the otherwise less powerful GeForce GTX 980 in the tests. We can also notice that the title is – depending on the system – limited by the CPU at moderate settings. From our mid-range notebooks, the 15-inch model Asus N551ZU with Kaveri FX-7600P and Radeon R9 M280X was affected the most, because it could not manage smooth gameplay at all. Entry-level devices cannot handle low details anyway, but there can also be performance fluctuations on fast systems depending on the game situation. This means our results are just an indicator.

Benchmark

Because of the identical sequence, we actually use the start of the game for our performance tests. After the first two intro sequences, the main character Rico jumps on a plane to protect it with a rocket launcher. We record the gameplay (around 30 seconds, until the first ground base – see video – is just 200 meters away) and note the minimum as well as average frame rate.

Results

We already mentioned that Just Cause 3 requires a mainstream GPU. Low-end chips from Intel's HD Graphics lineup (HD 4600, HD 5500, …) and older all-round models like the GeForce GT 740M do not manage more than 30 fps in any setting. Only a GeForce GT 750M can more or less handle 1024 x 768 pixels at the lowest details. We would recommend a GeForce GTX 850M or better for 1366 x 768 pixels and normal settings.

If you want to play in 1920 x 1080 pixels and high details, you will definitely need a high-end chip like a GeForce GTX 960M or GTX 870M, and we would recommend a top model (GTX 880M+) for the maximum details. 3840 x 2160 pixels are not a good idea for single-GPU notebooks. Even very fast desktop chips like the GeForce GTX 980 or Radeon R9 Fury are struggling in this case (~36 fps @High).

Just Cause 3
3840x2160 High / On AA:FX AF:8x 1920x1080 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x 1920x1080 High / On AA:FX AF:8x 1366x768 Medium / Off AF:4x 1024x768 Low / Off AF:2x
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980, 6700K Desktop PC	36.6 (33^min) fps ∼30% 84.2 (75^min) fps ∼47% 94.9 (84^min) fps ∼56% 135.9 (110^min) fps ∼62% 147.1 (108^min) fps ∼63%
AMD Radeon R9 Fury, 4790K XFX Radeon R9 Fury Pro	36.3 (33^min) fps ∼30% 59 (47^min) fps ∼33% 63 (50^min) fps ∼37% 77 (58^min) fps ∼35% 88.6 (66^min) fps ∼38%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	23.6 (20^min) fps ∼19% 59.7 (50^min) fps ∼34% 65.3 (49^min) fps ∼39% 79.3 (58^min) fps ∼36% 82.9 (54^min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	19.9 (16^min) fps ∼16% 50.7 (46^min) fps ∼28% 56.5 (46^min) fps ∼33% 82.6 (63^min) fps ∼38% 86.1 (58^min) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	17.6 (14^min) fps ∼14% 40.1 (36^min) fps ∼23% 44.8 (40^min) fps ∼27% 69.5 (59^min) fps ∼32% 78.4 (56^min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, 6700K Desktop PC	16.5 (12^min) fps ∼13% 47.7 (44^min) fps ∼27% 53.2 (46^min) fps ∼31% 97.1 (85^min) fps ∼45% 119.4 (102^min) fps ∼51%
AMD Radeon R7 370, 4790K MSI Gaming R7 370 2GB	14.7 (12^min) fps ∼12% 41.3 (36^min) fps ∼23% 45.2 (40^min) fps ∼27% 69 (59^min) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	14.6 (11^min) fps ∼12% 34.7 (30^min) fps ∼19% 41.2 (37^min) fps ∼24% 63.8 (53^min) fps ∼29% 70.2 (57^min) fps ∼30%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, 4720HQ Schenker XMG A505	11.7 (8^min) fps ∼10% 30.9 (29^min) fps ∼17% 35.9 (31^min) fps ∼21% 63.4 (55^min) fps ∼29% 71.8 (51^min) fps ∼31%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M, 4700MQ Schenker W504	10.7 (5^min) fps ∼9% 27.5 (24^min) fps ∼15% 31.7 (26^min) fps ∼19% 51.9 (44^min) fps ∼24% 61.7 (52^min) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, 4340M Schenker M504	9 (6^min) fps ∼7% 24.4 (20^min) fps ∼14% 28.7 (24^min) fps ∼17% 45.7 (33^min) fps ∼21% 47.1 (31^min) fps ∼20%
AMD Radeon R9 M280X, FX-7600P Asus N551ZU-CN007H	18.7 (14^min) fps ∼11% 21.9 (15^min) fps ∼9%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, 4702MQ Schenker M503	13 (9^min) fps ∼7% 14.8 (11^min) fps ∼9% 27 (23^min) fps ∼12% 34.5 (30^min) fps ∼15%
AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop), A10-7850K A10-7850K Asus A88-XM-PLUS	14.1 (11^min) fps ∼8% 24.4 (19^min) fps ∼11% 26.6 (18^min) fps ∼11%
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, 4750HQ Schenker S413	11.9 (10^min) fps ∼7% 12.8 (11^min) fps ∼8% 21.6 (15^min) fps ∼10% 26.6 (23^min) fps ∼11%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M, 4200M HP Envy 15-j011sg	10 (7^min) fps ∼6% 11.4 (9^min) fps ∼7% 22.3 (19^min) fps ∼10% 27 (23^min) fps ∼12%
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M, 4200M MSI CX61-i572M	7.9 (0^min) fps ∼5% 15.5 (0^min) fps ∼7% 19.2 (0^min) fps ∼8%
Intel HD Graphics 4600, 4700MQ Schenker W504	6.8 (3^min) fps ∼4% 15.1 (12^min) fps ∼7% 19.3 (16^min) fps ∼8%

Test Systems

Four of our test models are provided by 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 are 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, 4 GB DDR3, GeForce GT 640M)

In addition, Intel provided one notebook:

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

The desktop PCs are equipped with CPUs/APUs from Intel and AMD, SSDs from Micron, OCZ, Intel and Samsung, motherboards from Intel and Asus as well as graphics cards from Nvidia, PNY and AMD. We use the monitor Asus PB287Q for our 4K tests.

We used the following GPU drivers: Nvidia 359.06, AMD 15.11.1 Beta, Intel 20.19.15.4300 (Win 10) and Intel 10.18.14.4294 (Win 7), respectively.

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Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 721 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.

Translator: Andreas Osthoff - Managing Editor Business Laptops - 2131 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013

I grew up with modern consumer electronics and my first computer was a Commodore C64, which encouraged my interest in building my own systems. I started working as a review editor for Notebookcheck during my dual studies at Siemens. Currently, I am mainly responsible for dealing with business laptops and mobile workstations. It’s a great experience to be able to review the latest devices and technologies and then compare them with each other.

contact me via: LinkedIn

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Just Cause 3 Notebook Benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2015-12-19 (Update: 2026-02-25)

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.