The space horror game The Callisto Protocol faced a rough start on Steam, where many players complained about optimization issues. A creative experiment picked up attention online: can the game run on a PC without a discrete graphics card? YouTuber Christo Gevedjov shared a video detailing the results, which sparked discussions about how the title performs across a range of integrated graphics solutions.
Instead of a dedicated GPU, the test relied on an AMD integrated solution built directly into the processor. The experiment unfolded across three different integrated GPUs with distinct capabilities: Athlon 3000G with Vega 3, Ryzen 3 3200G with Vega 8, and Ryzen 5 3400G with Vega 11. The hardware setup included a compact 120 GB SSD for system data and 16 GB of DDR4 RAM. The operating system chosen for the run was Windows 11 Pro (64-bit), a modern platform that provides the latest features and security updates, yet can still reveal bottlenecks when a game leans heavily on GPU horsepower.
Observed performance varied significantly with each CPU-GPU pairing, highlighting how much the integrated graphics step up or fall short under demanding survival horror gameplay. In the Athlon 3000G Vega 3 configuration, the experience hovered at around 25-30 frames per second (FPS) during normal action, with occasional drops in recorded footage to about 20 FPS when scenes turned chaotic or enemy appearances intensified. This result underscored the difficulty of maintaining smooth visuals on the most modest integrated setup. The test demonstrates what many PC builders already know: integrated graphics, though improving, still struggles with AAA engines that push post-processing and lighting to their limits.
With the Ryzen 3 3200G Vega 8 configuration and a 720p output, the game showed improved stability, achieving roughly 30-35 FPS in standard play, with recording impacts bringing FPS down to the mid-20s. The difference compared to the low-end Athlon kit was noticeable, though not enough to deliver a consistently silky experience at higher detail levels. For players prioritizing frame rate over absolute sharpness, this setup offered the most balanced compromise among the tested configurations, especially when capture overhead is considered.
Finally, the Ryzen 5 3400G Vega 11 setup at 720p delivered the strongest results in this test, achieving about 40-50 FPS with less frequent dips during intense sequences. While not matching the smoothness some gamers expect from a mid-range discrete GPU, the Vega 11’s stronger integrated performance clearly reduced noticeable stuttering and kept more action on screen during tense moments. The takeaway here is that better integrated graphics can move a game into a more playable category, even if the experience isn’t equivalent to a dedicated graphics card, particularly for players who prefer higher resolutions or advanced visual effects.
From a broader perspective, the experiment highlights how optimization can make a big difference. The developers have acknowledged the current rough edges and stated that a patch is in development to improve stability and overall performance. Patches like these typically focus on reducing frame-time variance, tightening memory bandwidth usage, and refining how the engine streams textures and lighting data on systems with limited graphical resources. The goal is to bring more players into a stable experience without forcing a hardware upgrade. In parallel, players may find that lowering certain in-game settings, such as shadow quality, post-processing, and texture detail, can yield a noticeably smoother adventure even on modest machines. This is especially relevant for the many PC gamers who build budget or compact systems that rely on integrated graphics when planning new titles or revisiting classics in the genre.
In a related note, another driving discussion in the community touched on auditory customization in another racing title, NFS Unbound, where some players reported a beep-aligned voice cameo by rapper A$AP ROCKY as an unusual tuning choice. While unrelated to Callisto Protocol, these anecdotes illustrate how players actively engage with game design details and react to audio choices that alter the perception of a title’s polish or personality. Overall, the current sentiment remains hopeful: a patch promises steadier performance, and players are eager to see how much a future update can stabilize the experience across a spectrum of hardware configurations.
Attribution: VG Times