Total War Pharaoh review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Off to Egypt. The established Total War series has received a new spin-off: Pharao. Thanks to its integrated benchmark, the game is well-suited for our performance test. We have tested multiple laptop and desktop GPUs to see how well they can run the game.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Daisy Dickson), Published 10/19/2023 🇩🇪 🇸🇪 ...

Test laptops

We currently run our gaming benchmarks with these laptops. Clicking on the photos will take you to the respective manufacturer's website. All other test systems (tower PCs, mini PCs, ...) are listed at the end of the article.

Tech

While Total War Pharaoh has been quite well received by the press so far, it has received rather mixed feedback from the community. Our benchmark article primarily focuses on the tech and speed of the new Total War off-shoot.

As a result of the desert landscape, Pharaoh's graphics look a bit dull and dreary in places, but the visuals look quite good in close-ups (especially in combat situations). Besides the textures and the vegetation, the units and effects (water simulation, etc.) also look modern, but they don't blow you away.

The graphics menu is also quite impressive. Starting with the main tab, which is still quite clear in view of there currently being seven options. Here, you can adjust the resolution (scaling), overall quality (there are four presets), picture mode, brightness, and gamma value. The developers have almost gone overboard with the Advanced tab. Close to 30 detail sliders are an extreme amount for a PC game — especially a strategy one — and require a lot of scrolling if you are not satisfied with the presets.

A positive: Changes are applied without having to restart the game, which is very practical. The explanations and, in some cases, comparison pictures for the individual settings also prove to come in quite handy. Players just have to do without some modern features like FSR and DLSS. The game takes up a moderate 41 GB of storage.

Benchmark

Particularly worthy of praise is the fact that the game features an integrated benchmark. To be more precise, there are three benchmarks because you can choose between a battle, siege and campaign sequence. While the latter runs significantly faster, the first two hardly have anything in common in terms of performance. Our measurements were performed with the siege benchmark, which is the most visually appealing (see video). The approximately 1.5-minute sequence shows a tracking shot with various close-ups and distant shots of a settlement or city and the corresponding surrounding area in front of a fancy pyramid backdrop.

The frame rate is very dependent on the camera distance and the amount of units or unit activity shown. In order to be properly prepared for all situations, we recommend at least 40 FPS as an average graphics card benchmark value.

Results

FHD (1,920 x 1,080)

Similar to most strategy games, Total War Pharaoh is quite frugal in terms of graphics power. Even with an iGPU on the level of the Radeon 680M, the game can be run in 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and using full detail settings.

Total War Pharaoh
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset 1920x1080 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	396 fps ∼100% 280 fps ∼100% 229 fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	317 (194^min) fps ∼80% 220 (131^min) fps ∼79% 177 (95^min) fps ∼77%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	278 (155^min) fps ∼70% 187 (108^min) fps ∼67% 154 (85^min) fps ∼67%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	281 (54^min) fps ∼71% 192 (112^min) fps ∼69% 154 (81^min) fps ∼67%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	263 (161^min) fps ∼66% 166 (97^min) fps ∼59% 129 (76^min) fps ∼56%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900H Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733ZX	256 (146^min) fps ∼65% 157 (90^min) fps ∼56% 123 (73^min) fps ∼54%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	239 (158^min) fps ∼60% 149 (103^min) fps ∼53% 116 (75^min) fps ∼51%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	212 (164^min) fps ∼54% 128 (99^min) fps ∼46% 101 (78^min) fps ∼44%
AMD Radeon RX 6800S, R9 6900HS Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	236 (134^min) fps ∼100% 164 (100^min) fps ∼41% 111 (69^min) fps ∼40% 91.5 (55^min) fps ∼40%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro	87.9 fps ∼37% 68.6 fps ∼17% 43.8 fps ∼16% 34.7 fps ∼15%
AMD Radeon 680M, R9 6900HS Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	72.4 (61^min) fps ∼31% 65.1 (54^min) fps ∼16% 52.6 (38^min) fps ∼19% 46.3 (31^min) fps ∼20%

QHD (2,560 x 1,440)

It doesn't have to be a high-end device for a mix of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and the Ultra preset, either. A GeForce RTX 4050 already cracks the 60 FPS mark.

Total War Pharaoh
2560x1440 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	205 fps ∼100%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	169 (94^min) fps ∼82%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	151 (91^min) fps ∼74%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	136 (83^min) fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900H Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733ZX	98.4 (69^min) fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	95.4 (74^min) fps ∼47%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	81.6 (63^min) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	66.6 (52^min) fps ∼32%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro	22.1 fps ∼11%

UHD (3,840 x 2,160)

Even 3,840 x 2,160 and maximum settings are super easily managed by certain mid-range chips. However, a GeForce RTX 4060 would be on the safe side.

Total War Pharaoh
3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	117 fps ∼100%
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, i9-13900K Desktop-PC Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	98.4 (79^min) fps ∼84%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Neo 17 E23	96.1 (77^min) fps ∼82%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	74.5 (60^min) fps ∼64%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, i9-12900H Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G733ZX	53.5 (37^min) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	47.1 (38^min) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Pro 15 E23	40.2 (32^min) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, i9-13900HX XMG Focus 15 E23	32.3 (26^min) fps ∼28%
AMD Radeon 780M, R9 7940HS Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro	10.6 fps ∼9%

Please note

Since gaming tests are very time-consuming and often restricted by installation or activation limits, we can only provide you with a part of the benchmarks upon publication of this article. Further graphics cards will be added later.

Overview

All test systems

Laptop	Graphics card	Processor	RAM
XMG Neo 17 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 @175 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Schenker Key 17 Pro E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 @175 W TGP (12 GB GDDR6X)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Pro 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Pro 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
XMG Focus 15 E23	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 @140 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900HX	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Asus ROG Strix Scar 17	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti @150 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-12900H	2 x 16 GB DDR5
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14	AMD Radeon RX 6800S (8 GB GDDR6) & AMD Radeon 680M	AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS	2 x 16 GB DDR5

Tower PC	Graphics card	Processor	RAM
Asus ROG Strix Z790-F	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16 GB GDDR6X) AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT (20 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-13900K	2 x 24 GB DDR5 G.Skill

Mini PC	Graphics card	Processor	RAM
Minisforum UM790 Pro	AMD Radeon 780M	AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS	2 x 32 GB DDR5

Operating system	Nvidia driver	AMD driver
Windows 11	ForceWare 537.58	Adrenalin 23.10.1

Loading Comments

Comment on this article

Editor of the original article: Florian Glaser - Managing Editor Gaming Laptops - 615 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: Daisy Dickson - Translator - 215 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2023

Originally from Scotland, I grew up and lived in Germany until I completed my high school qualifications before moving back to Scotland to complete my university studies. Growing up bilingual led me to form a close relationship with the English and German languages, often working in the fields of teaching and translation. Most of my childhood was shaped by playing around on new consoles, computers and gadgets and getting to grips with the new craze of the internet and smartphones. This interest has stayed with me well into adulthood. Nowadays, I live in Glasgow and work as a freelance translator and digital media coordinator. I have been translating for Notebookcheck since early 2023.

Please share our article, every link counts!

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Total War Pharaoh review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks

Florian Glaser, 2023-10-19 (Update: 2023-10-19)

Pos	Model	< Prev Next > Total War Pharaoh (2023)
Pos	Model	low 1920x1080 Low Preset	med. 1920x1080 Medium Preset	high 1920x1080 High Preset	ultra 1920x1080 Ultra Preset	QHD 2560x1440 Ultra Preset	4K 3840x2160 Ultra Preset
2	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090	565.7ⁿ³	348.2ⁿ³	231.3ⁿ³	187.1ⁿ³	186.2ⁿ³	158.2ⁿ³
3	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX	599.7	406.6	285	230.6	216.1	125.8
4	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super	636.25ⁿ²	410.8ⁿ²	286.1ⁿ²	232.15ⁿ²	213.25ⁿ²	120.1ⁿ²
5	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080		396	280	229	205	117
8	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT		278	187	154	151	98.4
11	AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT	564.3	339.7	229	184.7	166	87
12	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU		317	227.5ⁿ²	177.5ⁿ²	164.5ⁿ²	96.1
14	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090	558.3	343.4	225.2	182.6	156	86.8
22	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU		281	192	154	136	74.5
24	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB		372	252	206	152	81.8
30	AMD Radeon RX 6800	506.6	334.8	205	168	121.6	61
31	AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT	519.1	333.2	209.7	169.6	122.8	60.5
32	NVIDIA Titan RTX	493	319.6	200.9	159.9	116	60.8
33	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti	508.5	321.8	202.4	163.5	119.4	62.9
36	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU		256	157	123	98.4	53.5
37	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU	385.9	251.25ⁿ²	156.1ⁿ²	121.15ⁿ²	91.3ⁿ²	47.1
40	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070		334	200	159	111	57.7
41	AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT	466.9	318.4	191.1	155.5	103.8	51.1
43	AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT	463.8	310.4	183.2	148.5	97.8	48
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Total War Pharaoh
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
44	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU	349.9	220.3	133.8	103.5	78.6	42.1
45	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti	444	283.9	175.8	139.6	97.1	49.8
46	Intel Arc A770	386	244	151	119	86	46
48	AMD Radeon RX 7600	402.9	271.5	163.1	129.1	83.3	40.8
53	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU		216ⁿ²	138.5ⁿ²	110ⁿ²	78.8ⁿ²	40.2
58	AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT	396.3	267.9	151.2	121	77.5	36.2
62	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU	329.3	205.4	127.1	99.1	78.3	42.5
64	AMD Radeon RX 6800S	236	164	111	91.5
65*	AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT	300.7ⁿ²	179.15ⁿ²	114.05ⁿ²	89.35ⁿ²	63.55ⁿ²	33ⁿ²
66	Intel Arc A750	367.2	231.4	137	108.7	77.4	40.6
71*	Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU	242	209.5ⁿ²	138.5ⁿ²	109ⁿ²	82ⁿ²
76	NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	398.7	266.7	149.4	118.1	80.6	41.8
80	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (Desktop)	386.7	253.9	147.1	114.7	79	41.1
84	AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Desktop)	336.7	238.7	126.8	104.1	66.1	31.7
89	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU				97.3	69.3	36.5
91	AMD Radeon RX 7600S		189	117	92.7	62.8	31.6
97	Intel Arc A580	349.7	218.9	125	98.1	67.5	34.8
98	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (Desktop)	352	230.7	132.3	103.3	70.5	35.6
100	AMD Radeon RX 6600	316.1	217.3	115.8	93.7	58.8	27.7
102*	Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU	212	140	77	58	42
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Total War Pharaoh
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
104	AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Desktop)	310.3	220.3	113.8	93.6	59.2	28.3
106	AMD Radeon RX 6600M	286.2	186.4	112.6	91.4	59.2	27.4
117*	Apple M3 Pro 14-Core GPU	193	125	67	53	35
134	AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (Desktop)	278.4	206.5	105.9	87.5	55.2	25.8
142	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super (Desktop)	252.3	165	92.6	72.7	48	23.5
143	AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT	188.9	143.1	81.5	66	40.7	16.9
144	AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (Desktop)	191.7	136.7	70.5	58.3	37	17.7
145	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU		179.5ⁿ²	106.05ⁿ²	80.35ⁿ²	66.6	32.3
148*	Intel Arc A730M	233.6ⁿ²	139ⁿ²	84ⁿ²	67.1ⁿ²	53.3	27.3
152	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile	183.5	127.2	82.4	66.3
158	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (Desktop)	209.8	144.2	82.8	65.9	43.5	21.1
161	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Super (Desktop)	201.9	136.5	75.4	59.5	38.7	19.2
167	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU		106.1	62	48.8
173	AMD Radeon RX 6500M	141.9	87.7	53.3	37
187	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile	156.8	94.7	57.1	45.1
189	AMD Radeon RX 5500M	117.6	79.1	53.6	43.4
198	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 Mobile	80.7	50.4	29.5	19
202	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile	144.4	93.1	53.3	41.6
203	Intel Arc A380	137	87	49	39
222*	Intel Arc A310	111	73.6	41.6	32.3
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Total War Pharaoh
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
223*	Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU	99.35ⁿ²	68.65ⁿ²	49.6ⁿ²	38.05ⁿ²
225*	Intel Arc 7-Cores iGPU	95.5	56.8	35.6	28.1
241*	AMD Radeon 780M	88.7ⁿ⁶	67.1ⁿ⁶	48.95ⁿ⁶	40.8ⁿ⁶	22.1	10.6
242*	Apple M3 10-Core GPU	133ⁿ³	83ⁿ³	44ⁿ³	35ⁿ³	24
249	AMD Radeon 680M	72.4ⁿ³	62.5ⁿ³	48.4ⁿ³	43.6ⁿ³
317	NVIDIA GeForce MX350	67.9	44	23	18.4
334	NVIDIA GeForce MX250	45.6	28.2	16.4
337	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs	44.6ⁿ²	32.25ⁿ²	22.1ⁿ²	22.4	16.8
381*	Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)	39	25	13
382*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 10	36.5	26	13.6	11
419	Intel UHD Graphics 32EUs (Alder Lake)	27.1	19.9	13	11.4
420*	Intel UHD Graphics Xe 32EUs (Tiger Lake-H)	41.1	30.5	19.5	17.7
431*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)	46.4	33.5	18.4	14.4
508	Intel Iris Graphics 550	23.2	14.3
511*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000)	40.5	31.9	21.3	18.8
584	Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU)	18.2	12.6	6.4
585	Intel UHD Graphics 630	16.4
587*	Intel UHD Graphics Xe 16EUs (Tiger Lake-H)	17.8	13.5
595	Intel UHD Graphics 620	15.8	10.5
668	AMD Radeon R5 M255	14.9
Pos	Model	< Prev Next >Total War Pharaoh
Pos	Model	low	med.	high	ultra	QHD	4K
669*	AMD Radeon RX Vega 3	19.7	13.4
776	Intel HD Graphics 4400	9

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.