Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a playable experience in Evolve, but the data indicates that settings management is critical to achieving smooth frame rates. The measured rows show a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and performance, with the Low preset providing the highest frame rates across all resolutions, while the Ultra preset consistently produces the lowest. For a 60 FPS baseline, the Medium preset is the highest quality setting that can achieve this target, but only up to 2560x1440 resolution. At 3840x2160, even the Medium preset falls below 60 FPS, meaning users must accept either a lower resolution or a lower preset for a fluid experience.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results indicate that the Low preset is the only configuration that consistently delivers high frame rates across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low produces an average of 137 FPS, which is 31 FPS higher than the Medium preset's 106 FPS and 79 FPS higher than the High preset's 83 FPS. This pattern holds at 2560x1440, where Low reaches 92 FPS, outperforming Medium by 21 FPS and High by 36 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low drops to 52 FPS, but this is still 12 FPS above Medium and 20 FPS above High.

The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for users prioritizing a balance between visual quality and performance, provided they are not targeting 4K. At 1920x1080, Medium achieves 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery. At 2560x1440, Medium maintains 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, which is exactly at the threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset offers a modest visual upgrade but costs 23 FPS at 1080p and 15 FPS at 1440p compared to Medium, making it a less attractive option.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution in this game. It produces the lowest average frame rates: 58 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. These numbers indicate that Ultra is only viable for users who prioritize image quality over gameplay smoothness and are willing to tolerate sub-60 FPS performance. For most players, the data suggests using Medium at 1080p or 1440p, or dropping to Low at 4K if higher resolution is essential.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2294 out of 2872 tested combinations in Evolve. This places it in the lower 20th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that this hardware pairing is not optimized for this particular game. The rank suggests that a significant portion of other CPU-GPU combinations deliver better performance in Evolve, which is consistent with the frame rate data showing that only the Low preset at 1080p exceeds 120 FPS.

This ranking is particularly notable because both components individually perform reasonably well in synthetic benchmarks. The CPU holds a percentile of 73 against all CPUs, and the GPU holds a percentile of 65 against all GPUs. However, their combined performance in Evolve does not reflect these individual strengths, suggesting a potential bottleneck or inefficiency in how this specific game utilizes the hardware. The rank implies that users with this setup may experience lower performance than expected based on component-level benchmarks alone.

The data shows that the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 and Intel Core i5-12500, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with deltas of -0.1% and -0.4% respectively. This indicates that the CPU is competitive with its peers, so the low combo rank is likely influenced more by the GPU's interaction with the game or the specific demands of Evolve's engine. The GPU's nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores nearly identically in synthetic tests, yet this does not translate to a high ranking in this game.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2500 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz. These specifications contribute to a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s, which are relevant for rendering the environments and effects in Evolve.

The data shows that the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands at lower settings, but they become strained at higher presets and resolutions. At 4K with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 22 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's raw compute power and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the highest visual fidelity. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS, which is moderate, and this appears to be a limiting factor at 4K resolution.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it at the 65th percentile, with a PassMark G3D score of 14195. In comparison to its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, which is 0.1% higher, and the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582, which is 0.1% higher. These small differences in synthetic scores do not fully explain the frame rate variations seen in Evolve, but they do confirm that the B570 is a mid-range GPU. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K and at Ultra settings, where the frame rates fall below playable thresholds.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 137 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this resolution. The Medium preset achieves 106 FPS, with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS, indicating consistent performance. The High preset drops to 83 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 58 FPS. This represents a 79 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings, demonstrating the significant impact of visual quality on performance at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease proportionally. The Low preset averages 92 FPS, the Medium preset averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, the High preset averages 56 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium results in a 21 FPS drop, while the transition from Medium to High results in a 15 FPS drop. The gap between High and Ultra is 17 FPS, showing that Ultra has a disproportionately large performance cost.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more constrained. The Low preset averages 52 FPS, the Medium preset averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS, the High preset averages 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 22 FPS. The data shows that even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K, indicating that this resolution is only suitable for users who prioritize resolution over frame rate. The Medium preset's minimum of 34 FPS suggests significant frame time spikes, which could lead to noticeable stuttering in gameplay.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset is the highest quality setting that maintains an average of 71 FPS at 2560x1440, with a minimum of 60 FPS. The High preset drops to 56 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 58 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target and represents a significant performance hit compared to the Medium preset, which delivers 106 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: The data indicates that 4K gaming is not optimal with this combination. The best 4K result is 52 FPS on the Low preset, while the High preset drops to 32 FPS and Ultra to 22 FPS. Users seeking 60 FPS would need to use a lower resolution.

Q: Which preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1920x1080?

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance, achieving 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS. This is noticeably higher than the High preset's 83 FPS, while still offering better visual quality than the Low preset's 137 FPS.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 2560x1440?

A: The Low preset averages 92 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. This represents a 53 FPS difference, indicating that Ultra settings at 1440p are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the GPU or CPU limit performance more at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, with the Ultra preset at 4K achieving only 22 FPS, which is consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture and codename Cezanne. It operates at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU has 16 MB of L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. These specifications are relevant for handling the game's physics and AI computations.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates solid performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. The Geekbench multicore score is 7976, with a single-core score of 1730. The CPU's percentile of 73 against all CPUs indicates it performs better than the average processor, and its nearest rivals show minimal differences: the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19617 (0.1% lower), and the Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668 (0.4% lower).

The CPU's performance in Evolve appears to be sufficient for the game's demands, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a pattern consistent with GPU limitation. At 1080p with Low settings, the 137 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions. However, at 4K, the frame rates drop significantly regardless of settings, indicating that the CPU is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's 12 threads provide ample parallelism for modern games, and its boost clock of 4.20 GHz supports responsive gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear relationship between resolution and frame rate, with performance decreasing as resolution increases. At 1080p, the average frame rates across all settings range from 58 FPS (Ultra) to 137 FPS (Low). Moving to 1440p, these averages drop to a range of 39 FPS (Ultra) to 92 FPS (Low), representing a reduction of approximately 33% across settings. At 4K, the range narrows to 22 FPS (Ultra) to 52 FPS (Low), which is a further reduction of approximately 43% from 1440p.

This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 45 FPS drop for the Low preset (137 to 92 FPS), while the transition from 1440p to 4K results in a 40 FPS drop (92 to 52 FPS). These consistent drops suggest that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint, as the CPU's workload does not scale as significantly with resolution.

The data also shows that the performance gap between settings narrows at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS, but at 4K, this difference shrinks to 30 FPS. This convergence indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even reducing settings has a diminished impact on frame rate. The Ultra preset at 4K achieves only 22 FPS, which is a 36 FPS drop from the Low preset, demonstrating that the GPU cannot handle the combined demands of high resolution and high settings.