Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a wide spread of performance in Evolve, with average frame rates ranging from 39.9 FPS at 4K Ultra to 248.3 FPS at 1080p Low. The data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is overwhelmingly capable at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires a careful choice of settings to stay above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The measured results are consistent with the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 68th percentile among all graphics cards, suggesting a system where the processor has ample headroom to feed the graphics card in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all presets. The Low preset produces an average of 248.3 FPS, which is the highest measured figure for this combination in the entire dataset. Moving up the quality ladder, Medium delivers 195.3 FPS, High drops to 152 FPS, and Ultra still maintains a robust 103.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a performance reduction of approximately 58%, from 248.3 down to 103.4 FPS, which indicates that the graphics card is the primary limiter as settings increase, though even at Ultra the result is far above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the same preset hierarchy holds but with expectedly lower numbers. Low produces 167.9 FPS, Medium reaches 129.2 FPS, High stays at 101.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.4 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is notable: 101.4 versus 69.4 FPS represents a 32% reduction, which is the largest single-step drop within any resolution's preset ladder. This suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p introduces a significant rendering cost, yet it still clears the 60 FPS threshold by a margin of 9.4 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low averages 97.6 FPS, Medium hits 75.9 FPS, High falls to 55.8 FPS, and Ultra averages just 39.9 FPS. The step from Medium to High at 4K is a 26% decrease (75.9 to 55.8 FPS), pushing the system below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Ultra at 4K is the only preset across all resolutions that falls below 40 FPS, indicating that this setting combination is too demanding for the RTX 3080 at this resolution. The data shows no min or max FPS values, so only average frame rates are available for analysis.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 103.4 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and the system clears the threshold by more than 40 FPS, leaving substantial headroom for potential frame rate dips during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is also the best playable setting, averaging 69.4 FPS. This is a tighter margin than at 1080p, with only 9.4 FPS of headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. The data indicates that 1440p Ultra is playable but close to the boundary, so users sensitive to frame pacing might prefer High, which averages 101.4 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the best setting that maintains 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 75.9 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 55.8 FPS, which is below the playable threshold, making Medium the highest quality option that remains playable. Low at 4K averages 97.6 FPS, but Medium offers a substantial visual upgrade over Low while still providing 15.9 FPS of headroom above the threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU responsibilities shifts across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 248.3 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that places significant demand on the CPU to issue draw calls and process game logic. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, appears well-suited to this task, as evidenced by the high 3dmark max threads score of 13929 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172. However, the GPU is still the limiting factor at 1080p Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 103.4 FPS, a 58% reduction from Low, showing that the RTX 3080's rendering workload scales heavily with preset quality.

At 1440p, the GPU's role becomes more prominent. The transition from Low (167.9 FPS) to Ultra (69.4 FPS) represents a 59% decrease, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. This suggests that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck as settings increase, regardless of resolution. The CPU's performance headroom is evident in the fact that even at 1440p Low, the system produces 167.9 FPS, which is far above what most displays can refresh, indicating the CPU is not holding back the GPU at this resolution.

At 4K, the GPU is unequivocally the dominant factor. Ultra averages 39.9 FPS, which is 60% lower than Low's 97.6 FPS. The CPU's influence at 4K is diminished because the GPU is so heavily loaded that it cannot keep up with the CPU's instruction throughput. The 3dmark single thread score of 1286 and Geekbench single core score of 3010 suggest strong per-core performance, but at 4K Ultra, the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are likely the limiting factors, not the CPU's processing capabilities.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 4K with the High preset?

A: No. The measured average FPS for 3840x2160 High is 55.8, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable 4K setting is Medium, which averages 75.9 FPS.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: Ultra is playable at 1440p, with an average of 69.4 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold, though the margin is relatively slim compared to lower presets.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p Low to 4K Low?

A: The frame rate drops from 248.3 FPS at 1920x1080 Low to 97.6 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, a reduction of 60.7%. This indicates a significant scaling cost as resolution increases, even on the lowest preset.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 or the Ryzen 9 9900X the main bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p. Going from Low to Ultra at 1080p reduces performance from 248.3 to 103.4 FPS, while the CPU's high benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore 32172) indicate it has ample capacity to handle the game's processing demands.

Q: What is the worst-performing setting combination in the dataset?

A: The lowest average FPS is 39.9, recorded at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset. This is the only measured configuration that falls below 40 FPS.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p Medium compared to 4K Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average is 129.2 FPS, while at 4K Medium it is 75.9 FPS. The 4K result is 41.3% lower, demonstrating the substantial rendering cost of moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Ryzen 9 9900X's average benchmark score of 57498 is nearly identical to several other processors. The AMD EPYC 9015 scores 57555, a difference of -0.1%, meaning it would behave almost identically in Evolve. The AMD EPYC 7313 scores 57399, a 0.2% delta, and would also produce nearly the same frame rates. Intel's Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 1.1% higher, potentially yielding a marginal FPS improvement, while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58323, 1.4% higher, again a negligible difference in real-world gaming.

For the GPU, the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172 is closely matched by several other cards. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, a -0.3% delta, meaning it would deliver nearly identical performance in Evolve. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23250 (-0.3%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23273 (-0.4%), both of which would produce comparable frame rates. The AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23276 (-0.4%), also a near-match. It is important to note that these rival GPUs have very different specifications (the P106-100 is a mining card, the R9 M290X is a mobile chip), yet their aggregate benchmark scores align closely with the RTX 3080, suggesting that in Evolve specifically, they would offer similar average performance despite architectural differences.

The Verdict

This PC can run Evolve, and it does so exceptionally well at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, every preset from Low to Ultra averages above 60 FPS, with Ultra delivering 103.4 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets also clear the threshold, with Ultra at 69.4 FPS being the most demanding playable option. At 3840x2160, the system is partially playable: Low and Medium average 97.6 and 75.9 FPS respectively, both above 60 FPS, but High (55.8 FPS) and Ultra (39.9 FPS) fall below the playable threshold. The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p are fully playable at maximum settings, while 4K requires dropping to Medium or lower to maintain smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

Among all tested combinations in the database, this CPU and GPU pairing ranks 1080th out of 3700 combos for Evolve. This places it in the top 29.2% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a strong performer for this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the Ryzen 9 9900X's high CPU throughput and the RTX 3080's capable rasterization performance. Given that the combo achieves playable frame rates at 4K Medium and Ultra at 1440p, the rank is consistent with a system that can handle Evolve at high quality settings on most displays, though it falls short of the very top configurations that might sustain 4K Ultra above 60 FPS. The data shows that for a game released in 2015, this modern CPU and GPU combination has ample power, with the only real limitation appearing at 4K with maximum quality settings.