Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built on the CryEngine, presents an interesting case study for the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher quality presets, yet capable of delivering exceptional performance at lower settings where the CPU's capabilities come to the forefront. The data indicates a versatile pairing that can adapt to different gaming priorities, from maximum visual fidelity to extreme refresh rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly demonstrates the shifting bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 333 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the CPU and GPU are working efficiently, but the substantial drop to 127 FPS at 3840x2160 on Low settings—a 62% reduction—points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count quadruples.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the High preset. The system delivers 203 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 136 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 77 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 62% performance decrease from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering workload is scaling nearly linearly with pixel count at this quality level. The GPU is clearly the dominant constraint here, as the frame rate reduction aligns closely with the increase in resolution.

At Medium settings, the data shows a similar trend with average frame rates of 258 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 43%, which is less severe than the 1080p to 1440p reduction of 33%, suggesting that at higher resolutions the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are being utilized more efficiently. The 4K Medium result includes a min FPS of 84 and max of 113, showing some frame time variance but maintaining playable performance.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most significant scaling penalty, with frame rates of 140 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and only 54 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result represents a 61% drop from 1080p Ultra, confirming that the most demanding settings place an immense burden on the GPU. This pattern indicates that for Evolve, the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are adequate at lower presets, but the Ultra settings at 4K push the GPU to its limits, resulting in frame rates that may struggle to maintain smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate displays.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 144 FPS in Evolve?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 with High settings delivers 136 FPS, which is close to but slightly below 144 FPS. To exceed 144 FPS, you would need to use Medium settings at 1440p, which achieves 173 FPS, or drop to 1080p where even Ultra settings reach 140 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 4K High performance?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, while the 4K High preset averages 77 FPS. This represents a 43% performance increase when dropping from Ultra to High, suggesting that the Ultra preset includes settings that are disproportionately demanding on the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 333 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the dataset. This frame rate is likely near the point where the CPU's single-threaded performance becomes a factor, but the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's boost clock of 5.60 GHz and 96 MB of L3 cache help sustain this high output.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 173 FPS, with a minimum of 147 FPS and a maximum of 199 FPS. This indicates that the system can maintain a frame rate above 144 FPS for most of the time, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: The data shows no indication of VRAM-related stuttering or performance degradation at 4K. The 4K High preset averages 77 FPS, and even at 4K Ultra the system maintains a playable 54 FPS, suggesting that 16 GB is sufficient for Evolve at this resolution.

Q: How significant is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. Low settings achieve 333 FPS, while Ultra achieves 140 FPS, representing a 58% reduction. This wide gap indicates that the Ultra preset at 1080p is still heavily GPU-bound, despite the lower resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER plays a dominant role in Evolve's performance, particularly as resolution and settings increase. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for the game's texture and geometry demands at all tested configurations. The memory clock runs at 1438 MHz with 23 Gbps effective speed, and the boost clock of 2550 MHz helps drive the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions.

At 4K resolution, the GPU's compute resources become the primary constraint. The 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, coupled with 80 RT cores and 320 Tensor cores, are heavily utilized at this resolution. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are tested most rigorously at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 54 FPS. This represents a significant workload, and the GPU's 320 W TDP reflects the power required to sustain these performance levels.

The GPU's performance relative to its peers shows it sits just below the standard RTX 4080, with a deltaPct of -0.1%. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, is 1.1% faster in aggregate benchmarks, while the RTX 4080 SUPER maintains a 2.7% advantage over the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. In Evolve specifically, the GPU's capabilities are fully expressed, with the 4K High result of 77 FPS demonstrating that the card can handle modern resolutions with high-quality settings.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 260075 indicate strong DirectX 12 and Vulkan performance, which aligns with Evolve's engine requirements. The Passmark G3D score of 34245 places the GPU in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end positioning. The GPU's 112 ROPs and 320 TMUs are well-balanced for the game's rendering pipeline, ensuring that texture filtering and pixel output do not become bottlenecks at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings achieve an average of 333 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings deliver 258 FPS on average, with a minimum of 220 FPS and maximum of 297 FPS, indicating consistent frame delivery. High settings produce 203 FPS average, while Ultra settings drop to 140 FPS. These results show that at 1080p, the combo is capable of driving even the most demanding settings well above 120 FPS, making it ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain impressive but show the expected scaling. Low settings achieve 224 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. Medium settings average 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS and maximum of 199 FPS, providing a smooth experience for 144 Hz monitors. High settings produce 136 FPS, while Ultra drops to 94 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the system can handle the resolution comfortably, with only the Ultra preset falling below the 100 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance characteristics change significantly. Low settings still deliver a respectable 127 FPS, but the higher presets show the GPU's limitations. Medium settings average 99 FPS with a range of 84 to 113 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. High settings produce 77 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 54 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that while the RTX 4080 SUPER can handle the resolution, users seeking high refresh rates at 4K would need to stick with Low or Medium settings.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 193 FPS (333 vs 140), while at 4K, the difference is 73 FPS (127 vs 54). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU's performance headroom allows the GPU to fully express its capabilities, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 190th out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 6.6% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the system's strong overall performance, though it is not at the absolute top tier due to the GPU's position relative to newer or more powerful cards.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 92nd among all CPUs indicates that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a high-end processor, with an average benchmark score of 58386. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M at 0.1% higher score, the Intel Xeon w5-2545 at 0.2% lower, and the Intel Core i9-14900 at 0.5% lower. This places the CPU in a tightly contested performance band where small differences in synthetic benchmarks translate to minimal real-world gaming differences.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 86th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54209, is slightly lower than the CPU's relative standing. The nearest rivals show that the RTX 4080 SUPER is nearly identical in performance to the standard RTX 4080 (-0.1% delta), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB trails by 2.7%, and the AMD Radeon 8060S by 2.8%. This suggests that the GPU is well-matched with its direct peers, and the combo's ranking in Evolve is a reflection of both components working effectively together.

The rank of 190 out of 2872 combos indicates that there are 189 configurations that achieve higher frame rates in Evolve. These would likely include combinations with more powerful GPUs such as the RTX 4090 or newer generation cards, paired with high-end CPUs. However, the 9850X3D and 4080 SUPER combo still delivers excellent performance, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, where it can exceed 200 FPS on lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers an outstanding 333 FPS average. This setting is ideal for competitive play where reaction time is critical, and the high frame rate ensures minimal input lag. At 2560x1440, Low settings still achieve 224 FPS, making this a viable option for users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.

The Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p, it achieves 258 FPS, which is only 23% lower than Low but provides noticeably better graphics. At 1440p, Medium delivers 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS, ensuring that most of the gameplay stays above 144 FPS. The 4K Medium result of 99 FPS is also respectable, making this preset the most versatile across all resolutions.

The High preset is recommended for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rates. At 1080p, it achieves 203 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth. At 1440p, the 136 FPS average is suitable for 144 Hz displays, though it may occasionally dip below the refresh rate. The 4K High result of 77 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

The Ultra preset should only be used at 1080p, where it achieves 140 FPS, or at 1440p where it delivers 94 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset's 54 FPS average is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on most displays, and users would be better served by High or Medium settings. The Ultra preset at 4K appears to include settings that are disproportionately demanding, as evidenced by the 43% performance drop from High to Ultra at that resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D provides a strong foundation for Evolve's performance. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture, offer robust multi-threaded capabilities that are evident in synthetic benchmarks. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228 indicate balanced performance that suits gaming workloads. The Passmark multi-thread score of 41318 and single-thread score of 4704 further confirm this.

The CPU's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz and base clock of 4.70 GHz are crucial for gaming performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is more likely to be a factor. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant advantage for games like Evolve that may benefit from large cache sizes. The 4 nm process node and TSMC manufacturing contribute to the CPU's efficiency, with a TDP of 120 W.

The CPU's benchmark results show it performs within a tight band of its rivals. The Passmark data compression score of 474501 and encryption score of 22856 demonstrate strong computational throughput. The floating-point math score of 81998 and integer math score of 123140 indicate that the CPU can handle the physics and AI calculations required by Evolve without becoming a bottleneck.

In the measured game data, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 333 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to maintain such performance, thanks to its high clock speeds and large cache. The 1440p Low result of 224 FPS also benefits from the CPU's capabilities, as the GPU is not fully saturated at this resolution and settings level.

The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 58386, places it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900, scores 0.5% lower, indicating that the 9850X3D holds a slight edge in aggregate performance. This advantage, combined with the RTX 4080 SUPER's strong GPU performance, creates a balanced system that avoids significant bottlenecks in Evolve. The CPU's active production status and 2026 release date suggest it is a current-generation part with ongoing driver and software support, ensuring compatibility with the game's engine.