Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the Intel Arc B390 represents a stark contrast in component hierarchy, with the CPU ranking in the 86th percentile against all processors while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile against all graphics cards. This pairing produces a heavily GPU-limited experience in Evolve, where the measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are constrained by the integrated graphics solution rather than the eight-core Zen 5 processor.

CPU Role, cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X brings substantial processing capability to this pairing, built on the Zen 5 architecture with a 4 nm process node from TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and the CPU integrates Radeon Graphics for basic display output.

Synthetic benchmarks for the 9700X show strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The 3DMark single-thread score is 1280, while the 2-thread score reaches 2525, the 4-thread score hits 4869, and the 8-thread score climbs to 8184. The max-thread score of 9771 indicates that scaling continues well beyond 8 threads, which aligns with the 16-thread capability. Cinebench R23 results show 2211 for single-core and 20485 for multi-core, while Geekbench reports 3023 single-core and 17906 multi-core. PassMark single-thread performance is 4654, with a multithread score of 37161.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 37943 places it in the 86th percentile of all tested CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14901E with an average score of 37911 (0.1% behind), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 37904 (0.1% behind), the Intel Core 5 211E at 37829 (0.3% behind), and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 at 37804 (0.4% behind). This indicates the 9700X is statistically tied with these comparable processors, with less than half a percent separating them.

For Evolve, a game released in 2015, the CPU's capabilities far exceed what the title demands. The 9700X's 16 threads and high boost clock ensure that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the measured average FPS reaches 89, the processor is not the bottleneck. The game's core logic, physics, and AI processing load remain well within the CPU's capacity, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates deteriorate with increasing resolution and settings, which points to GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.

Settings Recommendations, which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data across three resolutions and four settings presets provides clear guidance for the optimal experience with this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 89 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Moving to Medium at this resolution yields 69 FPS average, with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 79. The High preset drops to 54 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 37 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers exactly 60 FPS average, representing the baseline for smooth gameplay at this resolution. Medium provides 46 FPS average (minimum 39, maximum 53), High drops to 36 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset manages 34 FPS average, Medium achieves 26 FPS (minimum 22, maximum 30), High drops to 21 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 14 FPS.

The data suggests that the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that achieves frame rates clearly above 60 FPS, with 89 FPS average. This represents the best experience for this combo, as it provides a comfortable margin above common refresh rate thresholds. The Medium preset at 1080p, with 69 FPS average, also offers playable performance, but the 59 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips below 60 FPS.

For 1440p, the Low preset's 60 FPS average is borderline, with no minimum value recorded in the data. Given that the Medium preset at this resolution drops to 46 FPS, the Low preset is the recommended choice for 1440p if the user prioritizes frame rate stability. At 4K, all presets produce average frame rates below 35 FPS, making this resolution impractical for gameplay with this GPU.

FAQ, 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 89, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 80 FPS average.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 37943, placing it 0.1% ahead of both the Intel Core i9-14901E and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core 5 211E, and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The Intel Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The measured FPS drops consistently as resolution increases from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, and as settings increase from Low to Ultra. The CPU's strong benchmark scores, including an 86th percentile ranking, indicate it has ample headroom that the GPU cannot utilize.

Q: What frame rate does the Medium preset achieve at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo achieves an average of 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. This is lower than the 60 FPS average achieved with the Low preset at the same resolution.

How This Combo Ranks, use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2530 out of 2872 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the bottom portion of the ranking table. This position reflects the significant disparity between the CPU and GPU capabilities, where the processor's 86th percentile standing is undermined by the GPU's 9th percentile performance.

The rank of 2530 out of 2872 means that approximately 88% of tested combos perform better in this game, while about 12% perform worse. This is a poor outcome for a combo featuring a high-end desktop CPU, but it is directly attributable to the GPU's limitations. The Arc B390, based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, is designed as an integrated graphics solution with a 3 nm process node, 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are modest figures that constrain frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it just 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M, 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710. These are entry-level and legacy discrete GPUs, reinforcing that the Arc B390 operates in a performance tier far below what the 9700X can feed.

In the context of Evolve, this combo's rank suggests that users seeking higher frame rates would need to either reduce resolution to 1080p and settings to Low, or consider a different GPU. The CPU's role in this ranking is minimal, as the data shows that the 9700X is not the constraint at any measured configuration.

GPU Role, VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Panther Lake chip, utilizing the Xe3-LPG architecture on Intel's 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz, with memory being system shared rather than dedicated. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as system dependent, meaning performance varies based on the host system's RAM configuration.

The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio). The TDP is 80 W, and it operates as an IGP with no power connectors or dedicated display outputs beyond what the portable device provides.

The GPU's sole benchmark score is 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This low ranking is consistent with the measured FPS in Evolve, where even the best case scenario (1080p Low) only reaches 89 FPS average. The system shared memory configuration means bandwidth is dependent on the CPU's DDR5 support, but the GPU's compute capabilities are the primary bottleneck.

In Evolve, the GPU's limitations manifest across all settings. At 1080p, raising settings from Low to Medium reduces average FPS from 89 to 69 (a 22.5% drop), while High reduces it to 54 (a 39.3% drop from Low), and Ultra drops to 37 (a 58.4% drop). These reductions indicate that the GPU lacks the shading and texture throughput to handle higher quality presets, as the 48 TMUs and 24 ROPs become saturated with increased geometric and pixel complexity.

Measured FPS Breakdown, resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 89 FPS with no minimum or maximum recorded. Medium produces an average of 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 and maximum of 79, indicating some frame time variance. High yields 54 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 37 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 52 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers exactly 60 FPS average, a 32.6% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 46 FPS (minimum 39, maximum 53), which is 33.3% lower than the 1080p Medium average. High averages 36 FPS, a 33.3% reduction from 1080p High. Ultra averages 25 FPS, a 32.4% reduction from 1080p Ultra. The consistent percentage reduction across settings at this resolution step suggests a uniform scaling factor related to pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 34 FPS, which is 43.3% lower than the 1440p Low result and 61.8% lower than 1080p Low. Medium averages 26 FPS (minimum 22, maximum 30), a 43.5% reduction from 1440p Medium and 62.3% from 1080p Medium. High averages 21 FPS, a 41.7% reduction from 1440p High. Ultra averages 14 FPS, a 44.0% reduction from 1440p Ultra. The 4K results show that all presets fall below 35 FPS, making this resolution unsuitable for playable frame rates.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum values, occurring at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 59-79 FPS range shows a 20 FPS spread; at 1440p, the 39-53 FPS range shows a 14 FPS spread; at 4K, the 22-30 FPS range shows an 8 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes more uniformly saturated.

Resolution Scaling, how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling behavior in Evolve for this combo reveals a consistent pattern of frame rate degradation that points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 77.8%, yet the average FPS drops by approximately 32-33% across all settings. This non-linear relationship indicates that while pixel throughput increases, other GPU resources such as shading units and texture units are also being stressed, but not to the point of complete saturation.

From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 125%, and the average FPS drops by approximately 42-44% across settings. This larger percentage drop at the higher resolution step suggests that the GPU is becoming progressively more saturated, with the 1536 shading units and 48 TMUs unable to maintain the same efficiency as resolution increases. The 24 ROPs, responsible for pixel output, are likely the first bottleneck at 4K, given the measured pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s.

The overall scaling from 1080p Low (89 FPS) to 4K Low (34 FPS) represents a 61.8% reduction, while from 1080p Ultra (37 FPS) to 4K Ultra (14 FPS) represents a 62.2% reduction. The near-identical percentage drops across settings indicate that the GPU's limitation is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven at the extremes. This is characteristic of a GPU where the fill rate and texture throughput are the primary constraints, rather than shader compute.

If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain more constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload in Evolve is primarily tied to game logic and draw calls, which do not scale directly with pixel count. The 9700X's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its 9771 max-thread 3DMark score and 20485 Cinebench R23 multi-core score, provides more than enough headroom. The data conclusively shows that the Intel Arc B390 is the bottleneck, with its 9th percentile GPU ranking and system shared memory configuration unable to deliver playable frame rates at higher resolutions or settings beyond 1080p Low.