Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 FPS from Turtle Rock Studios, is not a demanding title by modern standards, but this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D obliterates it at every setting. The benchmark data, measured across three resolutions, shows this pairing is overkill for the game’s engine, delivering frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold at every single preset. The data indicates a system that will not merely run Evolve, but will push it to its absolute limits.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 65 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips close to the playable threshold, but it still clears it. The data shows a clear hierarchy: High runs at 94 FPS average, Medium at 120 FPS average, and Low at 154 FPS average. For a 60Hz display, Ultra is the only choice that fully utilizes the visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440 (QHD), the Ultra preset is again the best option, delivering a commanding 114 FPS average. This leaves ample headroom above the 60 FPS floor, making it the definitive setting for high-refresh-rate monitors. The scaling is consistent: High averages 165 FPS, Medium 210 FPS, and Low reaches 271 FPS. There is no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, as the hardware provides more than double the required performance.

At 1920x1080 (FHD), the Ultra preset is the only sensible choice, producing an average of 170 FPS. The frame rate is so high that the CPU and GPU are likely not the limiting factors at this resolution. Medium averages 314 FPS, High averages 246 FPS, and Low achieves a staggering 405 FPS. For competitive play on a 360Hz monitor, the Low preset would be the pick, but for the best visual experience, Ultra remains far above the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions. At 3840x2160, the gap between Ultra (65 FPS) and Low (154 FPS) is a 2.4x difference, highlighting how much the GPU’s rendering workload scales with settings. At 2560x1440, the same settings gap produces a 2.4x difference as well, from 114 FPS to 271 FPS, showing consistent GPU scaling. However, at 1920x1080, the gap between Ultra (170 FPS) and Low (405 FPS) is a 2.4x difference, but the absolute numbers are so high that the CPU’s single-thread performance likely starts to cap the maximum frame rate.

The data suggests that the RTX 5090 D is the dominant component at 4K, where its raw compute power is fully utilized. As resolution drops, the workload shifts, and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s strong single-core performance becomes more critical for pushing frame rates past 300 FPS. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and Passmark single-thread score of 4823 indicate it has the headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the game’s engine likely has a frame rate ceiling that prevents the 405 FPS Low result from scaling perfectly to the 170 FPS Ultra result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: Average 65 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 94 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 120 FPS (min 102 FPS, max 138 FPS).
• Low: Average 154 FPS. No min/max data available.

2560x1440 (QHD):

• Ultra: Average 114 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 165 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 210 FPS (min 179 FPS, max 242 FPS).
• Low: Average 271 FPS. No min/max data available.

1920x1080 (FHD):

• Ultra: Average 170 FPS. No min/max data available.
• High: Average 246 FPS. No min/max data available.
• Medium: Average 314 FPS (min 267 FPS, max 361 FPS).
• Low: Average 405 FPS. No min/max data available.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, showing a stable frame delivery across all resolutions. At 4K Medium, the 102 FPS minimum still comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. At QHD Medium, the 179 FPS minimum is more than double the threshold, and at FHD Medium, the 267 FPS minimum is exceptionally high. This consistency suggests that even in heavy combat scenarios, frame drops will not compromise the experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The data shows an average of 65 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. It is the most demanding preset that stays playable at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting for a 144Hz monitor at 2560x1440?

A: Ultra is the best choice, delivering an average of 114 FPS. This is below a strict 144 FPS cap but well above 60 FPS, and the visual quality gain from Ultra over High (165 FPS) is significant.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extremely high (170 FPS Ultra, 405 FPS Low), indicating that the CPU’s single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 7303) is critical to avoid bottlenecking the GPU.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D’s performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic tests?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712. It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) and 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940).

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest recorded minimum is 102 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is still well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at all resolutions?

A: Yes. The data confirms Ultra is playable at 4K (65 FPS), QHD (114 FPS), and FHD (170 FPS), making it the recommended setting for maximum visual quality.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s nearest rival is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which has an average score of 83807 and is 0.2% slower. This means any system with the 285K would perform nearly identically in Evolve. The AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090, 1.1% slower) and AMD EPYC 9135 (82980, 1.2% slower) are also close in CPU compute, but their server-oriented design may not translate to gaming performance. The AMD EPYC 7F72 (85072) is 1.3% faster, but again, these are not typical gaming CPUs.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) is 1.1% slower than the RTX 5090 D (77712), which would yield slightly lower frame rates in Evolve. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940) is 1.6% faster, offering a marginal performance uplift. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396, 2.1% faster) and 16 GB (79605, 2.4% faster) are workstation cards that would not be practical for gaming, despite their higher compute scores.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D at rank 1 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve. This is the top-performing configuration in the database, confirming that no other tested CPU-GPU pairing delivers higher frame rates in this game. The percentile rankings support this: the CPU sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

This top ranking is expected given the hardware. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock provide exceptional single-thread performance, while the RTX 5090 D’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensure the GPU is never the limiting factor. The combination results in a system that not only hits 170 FPS at 1080p Ultra but also maintains 65 FPS at 4K Ultra, making it the definitive benchmark for Evolve. No other tested combo comes close, and for anyone seeking the absolute maximum performance in this game, this is the setup to beat.