Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable experience in Evolve at 1080p and 1440p, but fails to hit 60 FPS at 4K. The data shows this combo ranks in the 20th percentile overall, yet the benchmark results reveal a clear path to smooth gameplay by adjusting resolution and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination performs best, with all tested settings except Ultra clearing the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings produce an average of 137 FPS, the highest recorded for this combo. Medium settings deliver 106 FPS on average, with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS. High settings average 83 FPS, while Ultra drops to 58 FPS — just 2 FPS shy of the playable mark. The 1080p results show a consistent scaling pattern: dropping from Ultra to Low nearly doubles performance, from 58 to 137 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the combo maintains playability at Low and Medium settings. Low averages 92 FPS, while Medium hits 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS. High settings fall to 56 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is notable because it exactly matches the playable threshold at its worst frame, making it a viable but not heavily headroom-laden option.

At 3840x2160, no settings reach 60 FPS. Low settings average 52 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and maximum of 47, High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra averages just 22 FPS. The 4K results show a steep drop-off: even the lowest settings fall 8 FPS short of playable, and Ultra delivers less than half the required frame rate.

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent relationship between resolution and settings. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS; at 1440p, it is 53 FPS; at 4K, it narrows to 30 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor more severely as pixel count rises.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Evolve at 1080p with High settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 High is 83 FPS, which exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict data confirms High is listed among playable settings at this resolution.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p?

A: Medium is the best playable setting at 2560x1440, with an average of 71 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS. The verdict lists Medium as the best settings at this resolution, with Low also playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: No. At 3840x2160, no settings achieve 60 FPS. The highest average is 52 FPS at Low, which is below the playable threshold. The verdict confirms zero playable settings at 4K.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings?

A: The Medium setting drops from 106 FPS at 1920x1080 to 71 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 35 FPS. This represents a 33% decrease in average frame rate.

Q: Does the Ultra preset ever hit 60 FPS?

A: No. At 1080p, Ultra averages 58 FPS; at 1440p, it averages 39 FPS; at 4K, it averages 22 FPS. The Ultra preset is never playable at any tested resolution.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium?

A: The minimum recorded FPS at 1920x1080 Medium is 90 FPS, with a maximum of 122 FPS. This indicates consistent performance with no severe frame drops.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets shows the GPU is the dominant constraint for this combo in Evolve. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 137 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames well above the 60 FPS target. The CPU's benchmark scores support this: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4823 place it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, making it unlikely to bottleneck at these frame rates.

As resolution increases, the frame rate drops disproportionately. From 1080p Low (137 FPS) to 1440p Low (92 FPS) is a 33% reduction, and from 1440p Low to 4K Low (52 FPS) is a 43% reduction. This pattern indicates that the Arc B570's rendering throughput — not the CPU — limits performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's specifications confirm this: 2304 shading units, 80 ROPs, and 11.52 TFLOPS FP32, with a 160-bit memory bus providing 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, the memory bandwidth and pixel rate become insufficient to maintain playable frame rates even at Low settings.

The settings scaling further isolates the GPU role. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 79 FPS, while at 4K the same settings change costs only 30 FPS. This diminishing penalty at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is already saturated at 4K Low, so additional graphical load has less relative impact. The CPU, with its high single-thread score of 7303 in Cinebench R23, does not appear to be the bottleneck even at 1080p Low where frame rates exceed 130 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2971 out of 3700 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 20% of systems. This rank reflects the modest GPU performance: the Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 96th percentile. The pairing of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU creates a significant imbalance, and the game's performance data reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities.

The low combo rank is primarily attributable to the GPU. The Arc B570's average benchmark score is 20556, with a PassMark G3D score of 14195. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2649. These figures place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with the observed FPS results that show playability only at lower resolutions and settings. The CPU's 96th percentile standing does not compensate for the GPU's mid-range position in this title.

In practical terms, a 2971 rank out of 3700 means this combo outperforms roughly 20% of tested systems in Evolve. This is consistent with the measured results: at 1080p, the combo is competitive with mid-range hardware, but at 4K it falls behind most systems that can maintain playable frame rates at that resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rival for the Intel Arc B570 is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which has an average score of 20534 — just 0.1% lower. This indicates that the RTX 3070 Mobile would produce nearly identical frame rates in Evolve at all tested resolutions. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, a 0.1% difference in the other direction, meaning it would perform essentially the same. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M and AMD Radeon R9 M390X are also within 0.5% of the Arc B570's average score, though these are workstation and older mobile parts respectively, likely with different driver optimizations.

On the CPU side, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is the closest rival, with an average benchmark score of 83807 versus 84003 for the 290K Plus — a 0.2% difference. This means swapping to the 285K would have negligible impact on game performance, as the GPU remains the bottleneck. The AMD EPYC 4584PX and AMD EPYC 9135 are 1.1% and 1.2% lower respectively, while the AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% higher. These server-class processors would not change the gaming outcome, as the Arc B570 limits the frame rate.

For users seeking similar performance, a system with an Arc A750 or an RTX 3070 Mobile would deliver nearly identical FPS numbers in Evolve. The CPU choice among the nearest rivals — 285K, EPYC 4584PX, or EPYC 9135 — would not alter the playability verdict at any resolution, since the GPU is the determining factor.

The Verdict

This PC can run Evolve at 60 FPS or higher at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, but not at 3840x2160. At 1080p, the playable settings are High (83 FPS), Low (137 FPS), and Medium (106 FPS), with High being the best visual quality that still clears the threshold. At 1440p, Low (92 FPS) and Medium (71 FPS) are playable, with Medium offering the best balance of quality and performance at an average of 71 FPS and a minimum of exactly 60 FPS.

At 4K, the verdict is clear: no settings are playable. The highest average is 52 FPS at Low, which falls 8 FPS short of the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 4K averages just 22 FPS, which is unplayable by any standard.

The practical recommendation from the data is to run Evolve at 1080p High or 1440p Medium. Both options maintain the 60 FPS threshold with solid averages, and the 1440p Medium result includes a recorded minimum of 60 FPS, indicating consistent performance without dips below playable levels. For users prioritizing higher visual fidelity, 1080p Ultra at 58 FPS is nearly playable but technically below the threshold. The data does not support 4K gaming with this combo, as even the lowest settings fail to reach the required frame rate.