Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 pairing presents a mid-range desktop combination for evaluating Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. The CPU carries a launch MSRP of $246 and the GPU a launch MSRP of 299 USD. With the CPU ranking in the 85th percentile among all processors and the GPU in the 61st percentile, the measured frame rates across three resolutions reveal how this combination handles the game's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the data shows a steep drop-off as settings climb. Low settings deliver an average of 72 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings fall to 56 FPS average, with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS. High settings average 44 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, indicating that 4K resolution places significant pressure on the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 272 GB/s bandwidth.

At 2560x1440, the picture improves considerably. Low settings reach 127 FPS average. Medium averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114. High settings hold 77 FPS average, still above 60. Ultra drops to 54 FPS, just below the playable threshold. The step from High to Ultra costs a significant number of frames, suggesting that the Ultra preset enables effects that disproportionately impact performance at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, every preset clears 60 FPS. Low averages 190 FPS, Medium 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169, High 115 FPS, and Ultra 80 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a large reduction, yet even the most demanding preset maintains a comfortable margin above the playable threshold. The Medium preset at each resolution includes min/max data, revealing frame pacing characteristics: at 4K the range spans 48 to 65, at 1440p it spans 84 to 114, and at 1080p it spans 125 to 169.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Evolve at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average is 72 FPS. Medium drops to 56 FPS average, and High and Ultra fall to 44 and 31 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best preset at 1440p that stays above 60 FPS?

A: High settings, which average 77 FPS. Medium averages 99 FPS and Low 127 FPS, but Ultra falls below the threshold at 54 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 scores 17509 (0.7% lower). The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639.

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

A: The data suggests not at higher resolutions, since FPS drops consistently as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the 190 FPS average indicates the CPU can feed the GPU adequately; the Core Ultra 5 225's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and multi-core of 25891 support this.

Q: What is the best settings combination for 1080p?

A: Ultra settings, which average 80 FPS. All four presets — Low 190, Medium 147, High 115, Ultra 80 — clear the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2003 out of 3700 tested combos, placing it in the middle of the database.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured data reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern. At 1080p Low, the average of 190 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates. The Core Ultra 5 225's Passmark single-thread score of 4412 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for a 2015 FPS title like Evolve. The 10-core, 10-thread configuration with 20 MB of shared L3 cache provides ample headroom for game logic and physics at lower resolutions.

As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272 GB/s bandwidth and 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput must fill increasingly large frame buffers. The 4K Ultra result of 31 FPS versus 1080p Ultra at 80 FPS shows a dramatic drop when pixel count quadruples. This is a classic GPU-limited signature.

The CPU's role is more visible at 1080p Low, where the 190 FPS average approaches the practical limit for many game engines. At 1440p and 4K, the FPS differences between presets grow larger, indicating the GPU's shading units, TMUs, and ROPs are the constraining resources. The RTX 4060's 96 TMUs and 48 ROPs, combined with a 128-bit memory bus, create a bandwidth ceiling that becomes apparent at 4K Medium and above.

The Medium preset at each resolution includes min/max data, revealing frame pacing characteristics. At 4K the range spans 48 to 65 FPS, at 1440p it spans 84 to 114 FPS, and at 1080p it spans 125 to 169 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that GPU-bound scenarios produce more consistent frame pacing, while CPU-bound or balanced scenarios at lower resolutions exhibit larger swings.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Evolve? Yes, with caveats depending on resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best settings at 1080p are Ultra, averaging 80 FPS. At 2560x1440, three presets are playable: Low (127 FPS), Medium (99 FPS), and High (77 FPS). Ultra falls short at 54 FPS. The best 1440p setting is High at 77 FPS average. At 3840x2160, only Low is playable, averaging 72 FPS. Medium (56), High (44), and Ultra (31) all miss the 60 FPS target.

The verdict data confirms this: for 4K, the playable settings list only Low with 72 FPS average; for 1440p, High/Low/Medium are playable with High as the best at 77 FPS; for 1080p, all four are playable with Ultra as the best at 80 FPS. The RTX 4060's 61st percentile GPU ranking and the Core Ultra 5 225's 85th percentile CPU ranking combine to deliver a system that is comfortably playable at 1080p, mostly playable at 1440p, and only minimally playable at 4K.

For a game released in 2015, the performance profile is strong. The 1080p Ultra result of 80 FPS average leaves headroom for streaming or background tasks. The 1440p High result of 77 FPS is smooth for competitive play. The 4K Low result of 72 FPS is technically playable but requires significant visual compromises.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, offer similar compute performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945, essentially identical to the Core Ultra 5 225's 36938. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, 0.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093, 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112, 0.5% higher. Any of these CPUs would deliver comparable frame rates in Evolve, as the game's CPU demands are modest for a 2015 title.

The GPU's nearest rivals present a more interesting picture. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666, 0.2% above the RTX 4060's 17639. This is a much older card, yet its average benchmark score lands within a rounding error of the RTX 4060. The AMD Radeon 780M, an integrated GPU, scores 17588, 0.3% below. The AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (0.5% lower) and AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17509 (0.7% lower) round out the list. These deltas are all small, meaning the RTX 4060 and these rivals would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Evolve.

The implication is that a system built around any of these CPU-GPU pairings would perform similarly. For instance, pairing the Ryzen 5 5600F with a Radeon HD 7790 would likely yield frame rates within a few percent of the measured values, though the HD 7790's older architecture may lack modern feature support. The 780M's integrated nature means it would share system memory, potentially altering performance in ways not captured by the GPU benchmark alone.

Best Settings per Resolution

The data provides a clear best-settings recommendation for each resolution, defined as the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS average.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 80 FPS. This is the highest preset available and it clears the threshold by a comfortable margin. Players can enable all visual features without concern.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are High, averaging 77 FPS. Ultra is not playable at 54 FPS, so High represents the optimal balance of visual quality and performance. The 77 FPS average provides a margin above the threshold.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are Low, averaging 72 FPS. This is the only playable preset at 4K. The 72 FPS average clears the threshold, but the visual compromise is significant. Medium at 56 FPS and High at 44 FPS are not viable for smooth gameplay.

These recommendations align with the verdictByResolution field, which lists Low as the best 4K setting (72 FPS), High as the best 1440p setting (77 FPS), and Ultra as the best 1080p setting (80 FPS). The pattern shows that each resolution step down allows roughly one additional preset tier: 4K Low, 1440p High, 1080p Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 2003 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the middle of the field. The middle-of-the-pack ranking is consistent with the component percentiles: the CPU at 85th percentile is strong, but the GPU at 61st percentile pulls the overall combo down.

The rank of 2003 suggests that slightly more than half of tested combos outperform this pairing in Evolve, while slightly less than half perform worse. Given that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, combos with more powerful GPUs would rank higher. The CPU's high percentile (85) indicates that CPU-bound scenarios are unlikely to be the limiting factor; instead, the RTX 4060's mid-range position (61st percentile) defines the combo's overall standing.

For context, the combo's average benchmark scores — CPU 36938 and GPU 17639 — place both components in the middle of their respective distributions. The CPU's nearest rivals show deltas of 0%, -0.2%, -0.4%, and -0.5%, while the GPU's nearest rivals show -0.2%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.7%. These small variations could shift the ranking by a few positions. The 2003rd rank out of 3700 is a stable, representative result for this hardware pairing in Evolve.