Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetric multiplayer FPS, remains a demanding title for lower-tier hardware, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 with the Intel Arc B370 produces a predictable bottleneck profile. Benchmark data for this combination shows a system that is firmly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly capable at 1080p with reduced settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three tested resolutions and four quality presets reveal a clear hierarchy: the Intel Arc B370, despite its modern architecture and integrated nature, struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, while the Ryzen 5 5600's six-core Zen 3 architecture provides ample headroom for the game's CPU demands. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, contextualizes the combo's ranking, and offers specific settings guidance based solely on the measured data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, indicating that the Intel Arc B370 is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 80 FPS at 1920x1080 to 54 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 26 FPS, and then to 31 FPS at 3840x2160, a further drop of 23 FPS. This scaling is not linear; the transition from 1440p to 4K incurs a 42.6% performance penalty, while the 1080p to 1440p step costs 32.5%. Such a pattern points to the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth constraints becoming increasingly dominant as pixel count rises.

The data shows that the gap between settings widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 46 FPS (80 vs 34), but at 4K, that spread compresses to 18 FPS (31 vs 13). This compression occurs because the GPU is already saturated at 4K, so reducing quality settings yields diminishing returns. The Arc B370's 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs, combined with a system-shared memory architecture, simply cannot sustain the pixel throughput required for 4K rendering in Evolve, even at its lowest presets.

Conversely, the CPU's role in scaling is minimal. The Ryzen 5 5600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, shows no signs of bottlenecking at any resolution. The consistent FPS progression across resolutions—80, 54, 31 at Low—mirrors what would be expected from a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiter, the 1080p and 1440p scores would be closer together. The benchmark results indicate that Evolve's engine, despite being from 2015, is well-optimized for multi-threaded processors, and the Ryzen 5 5600's Zen 3 architecture provides more than enough computational headroom for this title.

The 4K Medium preset yields an average of 24 FPS, with a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS. This narrow band suggests that the GPU is working at its absolute limit, with frame times being highly consistent under load. The 13 FPS Ultra result at 4K is effectively unplayable, confirming that this resolution is outside the Arc B370's viable operating range for Evolve. The data strongly suggests that users should target 1080p or, at most, 1440p with this combo, as the performance cliff between 1440p and 4K is too steep to overcome with settings adjustments alone.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2639 out of 2872 tested combinations for Evolve, placing it in the bottom 8.1% of all systems. This rank reflects the Intel Arc B370's position as an entry-level integrated GPU, despite its pairing with a capable mid-range CPU. The GPU's percentile vs all GPUs is 5, meaning it outperforms only 5% of all graphics cards in the database, while the CPU's percentile is 74, a stark contrast that highlights the imbalance of this pairing.

This ranking is not a reflection of the Ryzen 5 5600's capabilities, which are solidly mid-pack. The CPU's average benchmark score of 20468 puts it within 0.1% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20454), 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20425), and 0.5% of the AMD EPYC 9454P (20422). In synthetic tests like Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 5 5600 scores 18309 multi-core and 2584 single-core, demonstrating strong computational performance. However, in Evolve, the combo's rank is dragged down by the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, which is 0.2% below the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% below the ATI Radeon HD 5770.

The implication is clear: this combo is severely GPU-limited in Evolve. The ranking would be significantly higher with a more powerful discrete graphics card. The data shows that the CPU is not the constraining factor, as its performance class is far above the GPU's. For users considering this combination, the expectation should be that Evolve will run at lower settings and resolutions, with the understanding that the Ryzen 5 5600 is capable of driving much higher frame rates if paired with a stronger GPU. The rank of 2639 is a direct consequence of the Arc B370's integrated nature, not a commentary on the overall system quality.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is a 3 nm integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, part of the Arc Graphics-M generation. Its base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2400 MHz, which is a wide dynamic range. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 20 raster operation pipelines (ROPs). It also includes 10 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Critically, the memory is "System Shared," meaning it uses the system's DDR4 RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent."

This shared memory architecture is the root cause of the performance limitations seen in Evolve. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places the GPU in the 5th percentile, with nearest rivals including the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, 0.5% faster) and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, 0.2% faster). These are legacy discrete GPUs from over a decade ago, underscoring the Arc B370's position as a low-power, integrated solution. The GPU's pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are theoretical maximums that the shared memory bandwidth cannot sustain in practice.

In Evolve, the GPU's role is to render the game's environments, characters, and effects. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the Arc B370 can achieve 80 FPS, which is playable. However, at 1080p Ultra, the score drops to 34 FPS, a 57.5% reduction. This sensitivity to quality settings indicates that the GPU lacks both the raw compute power (6.144 TFLOPS FP32) and the memory bandwidth to handle higher graphical loads. The 25 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm this is not designed for high-end gaming, and the "System Shared" memory means it competes with the CPU for bandwidth, further limiting performance.

The boost clock of 2400 MHz is relatively high for an integrated GPU, but it cannot compensate for the fundamental limitations of the architecture. The 10 ray tracing cores are irrelevant for Evolve, as the game does not support ray tracing, and the DirectX 12 Ultimate support is forward-looking but unused here. The data indicates that the Arc B370 is a capable media and light-gaming GPU, but Evolve's 2015-era rendering demands, while not extreme, still exceed its comfortable threshold at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo are 1080p with the Low preset, which yields an average of 80 FPS. This is the only configuration that achieves a frame rate above 60 FPS, providing a smooth experience for a 60 Hz display. The 1080p Medium preset, at 62 FPS, is also playable and offers better visual fidelity, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, indicating acceptable frame pacing. For users prioritizing visual quality over raw performance, 1080p High at 49 FPS is still viable, though it may feel less smooth during intense action sequences.

At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 54 FPS, which is borderline playable but may exhibit stutter in fast-paced moments. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 42 FPS, and High falls to 33 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 23 FPS, is not recommended. For 4K, the data is unequivocal: even the Low preset at 31 FPS is not playable, and the Ultra preset at 13 FPS is a slideshow. Users with 4K displays should either run the game at 1080p or accept that Evolve is not playable at native resolution with this GPU.

The Medium preset appears to be the best balance of quality and performance at 1080p. The 62 FPS average, with a minimum of 53 FPS, suggests that the game remains responsive even during heavy load. The jump from Low to Medium costs 18 FPS (80 to 62), but the visual improvement in texture detail and shadow quality is substantial for a game from 2015. The High preset at 49 FPS is a reasonable compromise for those with adaptive sync monitors, but the 31 FPS drop from Low to High at 1440p (54 to 33) highlights the GPU's inability to handle increased pixel shading workloads.

In summary, the recommended configuration is 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This provides a playable frame rate while maintaining a decent level of visual fidelity. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest performance headroom. Users should avoid 4K entirely and approach 1440p with caution, as only the Low preset comes close to acceptable performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured dataset for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 80 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra is 80, 62, 49, 34, showing a steady decline of roughly 15-18 FPS per tier.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 54 FPS, Medium averages 42 FPS (minimum 35, maximum 48), High averages 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 12 FPS, from Medium to High is 9 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 10 FPS. This narrower spacing compared to 1080p suggests the GPU is becoming the dominant constraint.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 31 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS (minimum 20, maximum 27), High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. The differences between presets shrink further, with only 5 FPS separating Low from High, and 6 FPS separating Medium from Ultra. This compression indicates that the GPU's shading units are saturated, and further quality reductions have minimal impact.

Looking at resolution scaling within a single preset, Low goes from 80 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 1440p to 31 FPS at 4K. Medium goes from 62 to 42 to 24. High goes from 49 to 33 to 19. Ultra goes from 34 to 23 to 13. The consistent ~40% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~45% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets confirms that the GPU's memory bandwidth is the limiting factor, as it scales directly with pixel count. The only anomaly is the 4K Ultra result of 13 FPS, which is slightly lower than the expected proportional drop, likely due to the GPU's ROPs being overwhelmed by the combination of high pixel count and ultra-quality shaders.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 7 nm desktop processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codename Vermeer). It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a theoretical bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It features a 32 MB L3 cache (shared), 512 KB L2 per core, and 64 KB L1 per core. The processor's TDP is 65 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 5600 demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 18309, and single-core is 2584. In Geekbench, it scores 9158 multi-core and 1936 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score is 21541, with a single-thread score of 3256. These scores place the CPU in the 74th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20468. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (0.2% faster), and AMD EPYC 9454P (0.2% faster).

For Evolve, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics calculations. The game is from 2015, and its engine is not particularly demanding by modern standards, but it does benefit from multiple cores. The Ryzen 5 5600's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for this title. The measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking: at 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 80 FPS, which is the highest score in the dataset, and the CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures smooth frame pacing.

The CPU's 3DMark scores further confirm its capability. In 3DMark, it scores 5641 with 16 threads, 3313 with 4 threads, and 882 single-thread. These scores indicate that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads without issue. The PassMark data compression score of 251687 and integer math score of 68396 show strong general-purpose performance, which translates to efficient handling of Evolve's background tasks.

The conclusion is that the Ryzen 5 5600 is not the limiting factor in this combo for Evolve. Its performance is consistent with CPUs that are several tiers above the Arc B370's GPU class. If a user were to upgrade the GPU, the CPU would still have headroom to push higher frame rates, as evidenced by its synthetic benchmarks. The data suggests that the combo's rank of 2639 is entirely attributable to the GPU, and the CPU's contribution is positive, if underutilized in this specific game.