Evolve

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B390 in Evolve shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the combination delivers a playable experience across two presets, but the frame rate collapses at higher resolutions.

Starting at 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 89 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure for this pairing. Medium settings at the same resolution average 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS. High settings drop to 54 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 37 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 52 FPS, indicating that the graphics preset heavily influences performance even at the least demanding resolution tested.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decline across the board. Low settings still manage 60 FPS average, exactly at the playable threshold. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 29 FPS, while at Ultra the drop is 12 FPS. This suggests the Ultra preset is already bottlenecked by the GPU at 1080p, so the resolution increase has a smaller relative impact.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches playable levels. Low settings average 34 FPS, Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is a further 26 FPS loss, bringing the average below 35 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces single-digit-to-low-teen frame rates that would be borderline unplayable in a fast-paced FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: every doubling of pixel count from 1080p to 4K roughly halves the frame rate at equivalent settings. The only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS anywhere is Low at 1440p and Low plus Medium at 1080p. Medium at 1080p stays above 60 FPS on average and never dips below 59 FPS according to the recorded minimum, making it the highest quality preset that remains fluid.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a 125 W TDP. Its benchmark profile shows strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 15790. The single-thread scores are also robust, with 1850.5 in Cinebench R23 and 2308 in Geekbench. In the database, this CPU sits at the 84th percentile among all tested processors.

The Intel Arc B390, by contrast, is a modest integrated graphics solution based on Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines. Its peak FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, and it operates with system-shared memory. The GPU's benchmark score from 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1482, placing it at just the 9th percentile among all tested GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, and GeForce GT 625 OEM, all of which score within 2.7% of the Arc B390.

The performance scaling across resolutions makes the GPU's role clear. At 1080p, the Arc B390 is the limiting factor: dropping from Low to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 89 to 37 FPS, a 58% loss. The CPU is more than capable of feeding this GPU at 1080p, given its high single-thread scores and the fact that Evolve is a 2015 FPS title with modest CPU demands. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and PassMark single-thread score of 4013 both indicate ample headroom for frame generation at lower resolutions.

At 1440p, the GPU becomes even more dominant in determining performance. The frame rate drops of 24 FPS from Low to High and 35 FPS from Low to Ultra confirm that the integrated graphics unit is overwhelmed by the increased pixel count. The CPU's role diminishes further because the GPU cannot produce enough frames to challenge the processor's throughput.

At 4K, the Arc B390 is entirely the bottleneck. The difference between Low and Ultra is only 20 FPS, and even the lowest preset fails to reach 35 FPS. This is a clear sign that the GPU has run out of shading and texture throughput, and no CPU upgrade could improve these numbers. The system-shared memory architecture also means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which further constrains performance at high resolutions where memory traffic increases.

The recorded data shows no resolution or preset combination where the Core i7-12700K becomes the limiting factor. The processor's 3DMark max-thread score of 9979 and Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 12229 are far above what a 2015-era FPS title requires. The verdict is unambiguous: in this pairing, the Arc B390 dictates playability, and the CPU merely provides a stable platform.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the database identifies the most demanding preset that keeps the average frame rate at or above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Medium, which averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS. This is the highest quality preset at this resolution that maintains an average above 60 FPS. Low settings are also playable at 89 FPS, but Medium offers a better visual experience while still clearing the threshold. High settings at 54 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS both fall short of playable.

At 2560x1440, the only playable preset is Low, which averages exactly 60 FPS. This is the most demanding setting that stays at or above the threshold, but it leaves no headroom: any variance in scene complexity could push the average below 60. Medium at 46 FPS, High at 36 FPS, and Ultra at 25 FPS are all unplayable by this standard.

At 3840x2160, no settings are playable. The best average is 34 FPS at Low, but this is far below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 26 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The database records no playable settings for this resolution, meaning the combination cannot deliver a smooth experience at 4K under any preset.

The pattern is straightforward: 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, 1440p Low is the maximum, and 4K is out of reach. Users seeking higher visual fidelity at 1440p or any playable frame rate at 4K would need a more powerful discrete GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Evolve at 1080p with high settings?

A: No. High settings at 1920x1080 average 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings average 69 FPS and are the highest playable preset at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this setup?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where more than one preset is playable. Medium settings deliver 69 FPS average, while Low delivers 89 FPS. At 1440p, only Low reaches the threshold at exactly 60 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with the Arc B390?

A: No. At 3840x2160, all presets fall short of 60 FPS. The best result is 34 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 26 FPS, High at 21 FPS, and Ultra at 14 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, 1.3% lower; the GeForce 800M scores 1460, 1.5% lower; the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, 2.5% lower; and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, 2.7% lower. The Arc B390 is the fastest of this group, but only by a small margin.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K ranks at the 84th percentile among all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T (0.1% lower average score), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i7-13700T (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core 5 213PE (0.4% lower). All four rival chips score within half a percent of the i7-12700K.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution. The i7-12700K has strong single-thread and multi-thread scores, and the frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases, which is a GPU-bound pattern. The Arc B390's 9th percentile GPU ranking confirms it is the constraint.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for both components, several combinations would behave similarly to the Core i7-12700K plus Arc B390 in Evolve.

On the CPU side, the Intel Core i5-13600T has an average benchmark score 0.1% lower than the i7-12700K. This chip would deliver essentially identical frame rates in Evolve, since the game is not CPU-limited in this pairing. The Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 0.2% lower, which is also a negligible difference. The Intel Core i7-13700T and Intel Core 5 213PE are 0.3% and 0.4% lower respectively. Any of these processors paired with the Arc B390 would produce the same measured FPS within a rounding error, because the GPU constrains performance across all tested resolutions.

On the GPU side, the nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1.3% lower than the Arc B390, the GeForce 800M scores 1.5% lower, the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 2.5% lower, and the GeForce GT 710 scores 2.7% lower. These deltas are small, meaning the Arc B390 is only marginally faster than this cluster of legacy GPUs. In practical terms, a system with the i7-12700K and any of these NVIDIA parts would produce frame rates within a few FPS of the measured numbers. The GT 710, for instance, would likely average around 86 FPS at 1080p Low instead of 89 FPS, and around 58 FPS at 1440p Low instead of 60 FPS, based on the 2.7% score difference.

The key takeaway is that the Arc B390 sits at the bottom of the GPU performance distribution, surrounded by decade-old entry-level parts. The CPU, by contrast, is a high-end desktop processor from 2021. The combination is heavily imbalanced, and any of the CPU rivals listed above would preserve the same gaming experience. Upgrading the GPU to a part even one tier above the Arc B390 would produce a larger performance gain than swapping the CPU to any of its nearest rivals.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this specific CPU and GPU pairing at 3288 out of 3700 tested combinations for Evolve. This places the combo in the bottom 11% of all tested systems for this game. The ranking reflects the Arc B390's weak GPU performance rather than the CPU's capability, as the i7-12700K is a strong processor that ranks in the top 16% of all CPUs.

The rank of 3288 means that roughly 412 tested combinations perform worse than this setup in Evolve. Those slower combos would almost certainly pair weaker CPUs with similarly weak integrated or entry-level GPUs. The combinations ranked above this one include any system with a more capable discrete GPU, even if paired with a slower CPU, because Evolve is GPU-bound in nearly all configurations.

The verdict by resolution aligns with the overall rank: 1080p Medium is playable at 69 FPS, 1440p Low is exactly at the threshold, and 4K is not playable under any setting. The 9th percentile GPU ranking and the sub-10th percentile combo rank both point to the same conclusion: this is a low-end gaming configuration suitable only for 1080p gaming at medium quality or 1440p at the lowest settings.

For a 2015 FPS title like Evolve, players would need to accept significant visual compromises to maintain playable frame rates. The Core i7-12700K has ample processing power for modern games, but the Arc B390 limits this system to legacy titles at modest settings. The data shows a clear mismatch between the CPU's high-end positioning and the GPU's entry-level performance, and the rank of 3288 out of 3700 reflects that imbalance in measurable terms.