Evolve

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on TSMC's 4 nm process with the Zen 5 architecture (codenamed Granite Ridge). It runs at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.20 GHz. The chip carries 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a gaming-focused CPU, and it supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The processor's TDP is rated at 120 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform with PCIe Gen 5 connectivity (24 lanes from the CPU). It also includes Radeon integrated graphics, though discrete GPUs are the intended pairing for gaming workloads.

In the context of Evolve, a fast-paced FPS from 2015, the CPU's high single-thread performance matters more than sheer core count. The benchmark results show a 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2080, and a Geekbench single-core score of 2964. These are strong figures, but the real story is how the CPU behaves under multithreaded loads. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 10081, while the max-thread score is 10067 — nearly identical, indicating that the chip's performance scales well across all 16 threads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23230 and Geekbench multicore score of 18696 reinforce that this is not a chip that struggles when all cores are engaged.

For Evolve, which is not a heavily threaded title by modern standards, the CPU's ability to maintain high clocks on a few cores is what keeps frame rates high. The measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 335 FPS average, which suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is 141 FPS, still well above typical monitor refresh rates. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs (based on average benchmark scores) places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (0.4% higher average score), AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.7% lower), AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 (0.7% higher), and AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (0.8% lower) — are all within a single percentage point, showing that the 9800X3D's raw compute is competitive but not class-leading in synthetic tests. However, the large L3 cache and high boost clock give it an edge in gaming scenarios that synthetic benchmarks may not fully capture.

The CPU's release date of 2024-11-06 makes it a recent addition, and its launch MSRP is $479. It is currently marked as Active in production. With a 4 nm process and a die size of 70.6 mm², it is a compact chip that packs 8,315 million transistors. The L1 cache is 80 KB per core, and L2 is 1 MB per core, which are standard figures for this generation. The memory bandwidth is rated at 89.6 GB/s, which is sufficient for feeding the CPU's cores in gaming workloads.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9800X3D perform in synthetic benchmarks relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The chip's average benchmark score is 39768, placing it in the 87th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS, scores 39603 (0.4% higher), while the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40048 (0.7% lower). The AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 and AMD Ryzen 7 7700 are within 0.8% of the 9800X3D's score, indicating that the performance gap between these four chips is negligible in synthetic workloads.

Q: What frame rates does this combo achieve at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 335 at Low settings to 260 at Medium, 204 at High, and 141 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 221 and a maximum of 299, indicating stable performance. The CPU's high boost clock and large cache allow the GPU to be fully utilized at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 128 at Low, 99 at Medium, 78 at High, and 54 at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant reduction in frame rates, which suggests the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance remains consistent, as evidenced by the 3DMark max-thread score of 10067, which is nearly identical to the 16-thread score.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: This CPU-GPU combo is ranked 222 out of 3700 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6% of all combos. This rank reflects the balance between the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the RTX 4080, which together deliver high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's memory configuration affect performance?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This is sufficient for Evolve at all resolutions, as the game's texture and geometry demands are modest by modern standards. The memory clock is 1400 MHz, with an effective data rate of 22.4 Gbps.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking and how does it compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 has a percentile ranking of 86 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 (0.1% lower), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher). The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S score higher by 2.6% and 2.7%, respectively, which is a notable margin.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo achieves high frame rates across all settings, with the Low preset hitting 335 FPS average. Moving to 1440p, the same settings yield 225 FPS at Low, 174 at Medium, 137 at High, and 95 at Ultra. At 4K, the numbers drop further to 128 FPS at Low, 99 at Medium, 78 at High, and 54 at Ultra.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly linear, with a reduction of about 33% at each settings tier. However, the drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, particularly at Low settings where the FPS falls from 225 to 128, a 43% decrease. This suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become limiting factors at 4K, especially at lower settings where the CPU is less stressed.

The RTX 4080's pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s. These figures, combined with the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, are capable of handling Evolve at 4K, but the frame rates indicate that the game's engine and the GPU's raw compute are not enough to maintain high FPS at Ultra settings. The 4K Ultra average of 54 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive play, while the 4K Low average of 128 FPS is more than sufficient.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's single-thread performance, as measured by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, is strong enough to keep up with the GPU at all resolutions. The fact that the 1080p Low average is 335 FPS, which is well above the 1440p and 4K figures, confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck. Instead, the GPU's workload increases with resolution, and the RTX 4080's performance ceiling is reached at higher pixel counts.

The data also shows that the Medium preset provides a reasonable balance between quality and performance, with minimum FPS of 221 at 1080p, 148 at 1440p, and 84 at 4K. These minimums suggest that the combo can maintain consistent frame times even when the GPU is under heavy load.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is ranked 222 out of 3700 tested combos, placing it in the 94th percentile of all configurations tested. This rank is a reflection of the balance between the CPU's strong multithreaded performance and the GPU's high-end capabilities.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 39768 and its 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs contribute to this high combo rank. The GPU's average score of 54247 and its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs further bolster the overall performance. When paired together, they deliver frame rates that are competitive with much more expensive configurations.

The rank of 222 out of 3700 means that only about 6% of tested combos perform better. This places the combo in the upper echelon of gaming systems, suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p and 1440p, and capable of 4K gaming at playable frame rates.

The nearest rival GPUs, such as the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% lower average score) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% higher), show that the RTX 4080 is not the absolute fastest, but the combo's rank benefits from the CPU's strengths. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's large L3 cache and high boost clock are particularly beneficial in gaming, as they reduce memory latency and improve frame pacing.

In the context of Evolve, which is a 2015 title with relatively low system requirements, this combo is overkill for most scenarios. However, the measured FPS data shows that the hardware is still fully utilized, particularly at higher settings and resolutions. The combo's rank reflects its ability to handle both older and newer titles with headroom to spare.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.1 million per square millimeter. The GPU has 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. It also includes 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, which are not heavily utilized in Evolve due to the game's age.

The GPU's base clock is 2205 MHz, with a boost clock of 2505 MHz. The memory clock is 1400 MHz, with an effective data rate of 22.4 Gbps. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This is ample for Evolve, which does not require high memory bandwidth or capacity.

The RTX 4080's FP32 performance is rated at 48.74 TFLOPS, with FP16 performance also at 48.74 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s. These specifications indicate that the GPU is capable of handling modern titles at high settings, but for Evolve, the limiting factor is the game's engine, which is not optimized for the latest hardware.

The GPU's TDP is 320 W, and it requires a 700 W power supply. It has a triple-slot cooler and uses a 16-pin power connector. The card measures 310 mm in length, 140 mm in height, and 61 mm in width. It supports PCIe 4.0 x16 and has display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

In terms of benchmarks, the RTX 4080 scores 6567 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 214739 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 263779 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark scores include 34457 for G3D and 20671 for GPU Compute. These numbers place the GPU in the 86th percentile among all GPUs.

The GPU's role in Evolve is to render the game's environments and characters. At 1080p, the GPU is not stressed, as evidenced by the high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with the Ultra preset averaging only 54 FPS. This is consistent with the GPU's performance characteristics, as the pixel rate and memory bandwidth are sufficient for 4K but not for maintaining high frame rates at maximum settings.

The RTX 4080's release date is 2022-09-19, and its launch MSRP is 1,199 USD. It is currently marked as End-of-life, with the GeForce 50 series as its successor. The predecessor is the GeForce 30 series.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K) and four settings tiers (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). The following breakdown lists all recorded values:

1920x1080:

• Low: 335 FPS average
• Medium: 260 FPS average, 221 FPS minimum, 299 FPS maximum
• High: 204 FPS average
• Ultra: 141 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 225 FPS average
• Medium: 174 FPS average, 148 FPS minimum, 200 FPS maximum
• High: 137 FPS average
• Ultra: 95 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 128 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average, 84 FPS minimum, 114 FPS maximum
• High: 78 FPS average
• Ultra: 54 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, which are provided for all three resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 221 FPS and the maximum is 299 FPS, indicating a stable frame rate with minimal fluctuation. At 1440p, the range narrows to 148-200 FPS, and at 4K, it narrows further to 84-114 FPS. This suggests that the frame pacing becomes less consistent as resolution increases, likely due to the GPU's workload intensifying.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings shows a reduction of approximately 33% in average FPS across all settings. For example, at High settings, the average drops from 204 FPS to 137 FPS, a 33% decrease. At Ultra settings, it drops from 141 FPS to 95 FPS, a 33% decrease. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU's performance scales linearly with pixel count.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is less consistent. At Low settings, the average drops from 225 FPS to 128 FPS, a 43% decrease. At Medium settings, it drops from 174 FPS to 99 FPS, a 43% decrease. At High settings, it drops from 137 FPS to 78 FPS, a 43% decrease. At Ultra settings, it drops from 95 FPS to 54 FPS, a 43% decrease. This uniform 43% reduction across all settings suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes the limiting factor at 4K, as the pixel count increases by 2.25 times while the bandwidth remains constant.

The data also shows that the CPU's performance does not limit the combo at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 335 is well above the refresh rates of most monitors, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate it. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average is 54 FPS, the CPU's single-thread performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking, as the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

Overall, the measured FPS data demonstrates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high refresh rates, with 4K gaming possible at lower settings or with compromises in visual quality. The Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and stability, with minimum FPS values that remain above 84 FPS even at 4K.