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Mobile graphics chips are becoming increasingly powerful, but can they run brand-new games? We tested 11 games with the 780M iGPU.
While dedicated graphics cards for desktop PCs are becoming increasingly expensive, many gamers are opting for a handheld device like the Asus ROG Ally, Valve’s Steam Deck or Nintendo’s recently announced Switch 2. These often feature APUs (accelerated processing units), i.e., CPUs (central processing units) with integrated graphics processing units (iGPUs). This saves much needed storage, but can cause problems, especially with titles demanding a lot of memory, due to the small amount of video memory (VRAM) that is taken off the RAM. For the purposes of this test, we used a powerful 2023 gaming laptop – the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 GA402XZ, which comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU (8 cores, 16 threads, 4 GHz standard and up to 5.2 GHz boost clock speed) accompanied by an integrated Radeon 780M graphics processor (512 MB up to 3 GB VRAM) and 32 GB of RAM (16 GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM, 16 GB RAM soldered onboard). The device also features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, which we retired for this test. In G-Helper we selected the Eco GPU mode to disable Nvidia’s dedicated GPU (dGPU) and used the Turbo performance mode to squeeze the most out of the Ryzen processor.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
The PC port of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II Remastered, released just a few days ago on April 3rd and developed by Nixxes and Iron Galaxy Studios, runs with the RTX 4080 laptop GPU at 60 to 100 frames per second at a native resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (1440p) at settings similar to PS5 Pro’s performance mode. The 780M can’t really keep up with the PS5 Pro, so we had to lower the settings a bit. After disabling the dGPU, we explored the semi-open world area in Seattle with PS4 Pro-equivalent graphics settings, and lo and behold: the action-adventure runs at a stable 30 FPS (frames per second), though you have to make some compromises in terms of resolution. Although the game runs at 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (1080p), it’s upscaled from 1,280 x 720 pixels (720p) using AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR) in performance mode. It still looks good enough and plays similarly to when it first released five years ago on PS4 Pro. As with all (semi-)open world games, we only tested a small area of the game and there may be areas where these settings aren’t sufficient for a smooth gaming experience.
Split Fiction
Hazelight’s wonderfully creative co-op adventure lets us explore two beautifully designed worlds, which, with a dGPU with sufficient video memory, can be displayed at consistently high frame rates. With the 780M, things are different; in scenes with lots of particle effects, the frame rate repeatedly drops, much to our dismay. With optimized settings, Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA), and 72 percent resolution scaling, the game runs pretty decent in 1080p, even in the demanding endrun. However, there are frequent stutters in some areas that make these sections unplayable. Overall, we can’t recommend playing Split Fiction with a 780M iGPU. EA lists an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 – 4 GB or AMD Radeon RX 470 – 4 GB as the minimum requirement on Steam. Since our 780M iGPU can use up to 3 GB of RAM, this also seems to be a bit on the lower end, although dedicated VRAM is much faster than what the iGPU is taking away from our RAM.
Atomfall
Wyndham Village is a fairly taxing area in Rebellion’s post-apocalyptic first-person role-playing game, with numerous buildings to explore, wandering pedestrians and patrolling robot guards. With optimized graphics settings, we were able to achieve a smooth 60 frames per second for the most part, but apparently VRAM overflow turns out to be an issue here as well, which can lead to significant stuttering that can last significantly longer than in Split Fiction and makes it unbearable to play. In other districts or indoor areas, however, the frame rate remains significantly more stable. All in all, we can’t fully recommend tackling Atomfall with the 780M iGPU.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
While Nixxes’ PC port of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 struggled with big performance issues and glitches upon its release almost two months ago, the action-adventure runs quite well on powerful systems after seven official patches. The 780M iGPU performs rather nicely, especially while using Insomniac’s own upscaler, IGTI. With medium graphics details, 16x Anisotropic Filtering and in IGTI quality mode, we are able to swing through New York City at a mostly stable 30 frames per second, similar to how the first game performed on PS4 (Pro).
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Warhorse Studios’ knightly adventure was one of the few games in our test that defaulted to optimized settings for our system. While we were able to play on our gaming laptop’s native resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 (1600p) with the RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, the 780M iGPU demanded us to upscale from 1,280 x 800 pixels (800p) in FSR 3 performance mode on medium graphics details (shadows: low) to receive a stable 30 frames per second. We didn’t notice any frame rate drops while exploring the towns and expansive landscapes or during combat. So, it’s probably not far-fetched that KCD2 could one day run on a Nintendo Switch 2.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Majima’s pirate adventure takes us to bustling Honolulu, which was already quite demanding for PCs in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While the 780M iGPU often struggles in the numerous fights with Hawaii’s underworld, the game mostly runs at up to 60 FPS with optimized graphics settings at 1080p in FSR 3 performance mode, upscaled from 960 x 540 pixels (540p). For better image clarity, we recommend limiting the frame rate to 30 FPS with the same graphics settings and using FSR 3 quality mode (scaling up from 720p). Long-time fans of the franchise are familiar with this frame rate anyway – Judgment, Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life all ran at 30 FPS, since the magical world of 60 FPS remained elusive to new titles powered by the Dragon Engine for a long, long time until Yakuza: Like a Dragon was released in 2020.
With FSR Frame Generation (screenshot 1 below, AVG 76 FPS), you can achieve even higher frame rates, but at the cost of significantly increased latency and issues with the UI. The frame rates are simply too low to make meaningful use of FSR, in stark contrast to the RTX 4080 laptop GPU (screenshot 2 below, AVG 300 FPS with identical settings). Thus, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is fully playable with the 780M iGPU.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
We took to the dark catacombs of the Vatican and climbed aboard an airship to check whether the latest indie adventure, which is also coming to PlayStation 5 on April 17th, is playable on the AMD Radeon 780M iGPU and yes, it is, with a few caveats. With low graphics details, Texture Pool Size set to high and Anisotropic Filtering on medium, we were able to achieve a smooth 30 frames per second natively in 720p. However, this is not quite possible in the demanding jungle section at the beginning of the game, though even high-end systems struggle with that area. With a little optimization, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is playable on APUs and 30 frames per second are perfectly sufficient to explore the ancient sights.
Red Dead Redemption II
Once again we took up the hat of Arthur Morgan in Rockstar Games’ well optimized Red Dead Redemption II. With PS4-equivalent graphics settings, we were able to roam the prairie n 1080p at a stable 30 frames per second—whether in gunfights, galloping through the rich game world, or in cutscenes. Even PS5 Pro can’t currently achieve more than that, as every console version is currently locked to 30 FPS. However, since Rockstar has recently been keen to re-release their games with technical improvements on new platforms, the launch of a 60 FPS version for Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S is a real possibility.
Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced
On March 4th, Rockstar Games enhanced the PC version of GTA V with ray tracing features, which console gamers on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 have been able to enjoy for three years and which will also be available to all PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members at no additional cost from April 15th. Since the Radeon 780M doesn’t support ray tracing, it makes no difference whether we turn the numerous RT options on or off. Once again, we used PS4-equivalent graphics settings and achieved 30 to 60 FPS, depending on the time of day, weather conditions and crowd density.
While the newly added TAA provides a much clearer image, it does cost around 10 FPS in our tests compared to the Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing (FXAA) variant. VRAM seems to be the key issue here again, as 780M iGPUs, which can be given up to 6 GB of video memory via BIOS changes, seems to be able to run the game at a stable 60 FPS. Such an option wasn’t available to us, so we recommend limiting the frame rate to 30 FPS, as was the case with the last and penultimate console generations, to achieve a consistent frame rate.
Direct link: TAA screenshot | Direct link: FXAA screenshot
LEGO Horizon Adventures
Sony’s first multi-platform game (considering Nintendo platforms), LEGO Horizon Adventures, is surprisingly demanding, still we managed to achieve a mostly stable 60 FPS in 1080p with 40 percent Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) and optimized settings. 768 x 432 pixels (432p) doesn’t sound like much and this low base resolution is particularly noticeable in fast-moving scenes, resulting in a lot of artifacts. Especially in local and online multiplayer, which is what LEGO games are designed for, the frame rate is likely to drop a bit and since 30 percent is the smallest possible TSR scaling option, there’s not much leeway to stay at 60 FPS. Therefore, we can’t fully recommend playing LEGO Horizon Adventures with the 780M iGPU.
Cyberpunk 2077
You can push pretty much every system to their limit with CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 and amazingly, we were able to sneak, shoot and speed through Night City even without a dedicated graphics card, although we did so without the jaw-dropping path tracing reflections. Visuals are quite compromised to achieve 60 FPS on 720p in FSR 3 performance mode and low graphics details. Nobody should be forced to play this game at a base resolution of 360p, so we looked for a way to run Cyberpunk 2077 at a stable 30 FPS on the iGPU. At 1080p with FSR 3 quality mode and medium graphics, the dazzling environments still look good enough and we don’t have to avoid shootouts in the smoke-filled alleys of Night City or abort heated chases for performance reasons. It’s nice to experience V’s adventure even without a dedicated graphics card, although we don’t want to miss the fantastic RT reflections.
Final thoughts
With an integrated graphics unit, such as the AMD Radeon 780M, you can naturally play all sorts of titles that aren’t part of our test, especially genres like visual novels or strategy games, which aren’t known for having exorbitantly high hardware requirements. In more demanding titles, we got mixed results. While most titles supported AMD’s FSR upscaler, it doesn’t always achieve the best results compared to Nvidia’s DLSS, so it’s often better to check other upscaling options like IGTI, TAA or TSR or simply pick a lower resolution. Split Fiction and Atomfall clearly show that the iGPU simply has too little video memory or that it suffers from the slower bandwidth and therefore we can’t recommend to play these games on the 780M. All other titles, while suffering from some significant visual downgrades, are largely playable. The Last of Us Part II Remastered and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, in particular, run surprisingly well on the 780M while maintaining a high level of image quality. Given the relatively small 14-inch screen of the Zephyrus G14, the lack of image clarity is naturally less noticeable than on a 70-inch TV.
While AMD’s FSR upscaler continuously evolves in terms of image quality and performance with each new iteration, it currently makes little sense to use Frame Generation with the low frame rates achieved by the iGPU. The laptop’s 16:10 aspect ratio proved to be an issue in our testing, as the image was often stretched from 16:9 to 16:10. Surprisingly few games offer the option to adjust the aspect ratio, and even if they do, it doesn’t always work. Since in 16:10 the image is often cropped, we recommend selecting a 16:9 desktop resolution and then running the games in Exclusive or Borderless Fullscreen mode.
With the 890M, AMD already released an even faster iGPU last year, which may be able to address some of the aforementioned shortcomings of the 780M. We would very much like to put this to the test in the future and are eager to see the future of APU’s in gaming.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered, LEGO Horizon Adventures and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 were provided to us by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Split Fiction by EA, Atomfall by Rebellion, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 by Warhorse Studios, Red Dead Redemption II by Rockstar Games and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle by Bethesda Softworks.
