Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetrical FPS, presents an interesting stress profile for the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 mobile combo. The measured data shows a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but with enough CPU headroom to push very high frame rates at 1080p. The benchmark results indicate a system that scales predictably with resolution, though the drop from 1440p to 4K is steep, highlighting the RTX 4080’s limits at 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a classic resolution scaling curve, with the most dramatic shifts occurring between 2560x1440 and 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 98 FPS at 1440p to 56 FPS at 4K, a 42.9% reduction. This significant drop indicates that the rendering load at 4K is saturating the GPU, as the pixel count more than doubles while the frame rate is nearly halved. The trend is consistent across all settings presets, confirming that resolution is the primary bottleneck for this combo in Evolve.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more pronounced in absolute terms. The system delivers 241 FPS at 1080p, drops to 161 FPS at 1440p (a 33.2% decrease), and then falls to 92 FPS at 4K (a 42.9% decrease from 1440p). This pattern suggests that even at Low settings, the 4K resolution imposes a massive fill-rate requirement that the RTX 4080 cannot fully overcome. The 1080p to 1440p transition is less severe, with a 33.2% frame rate drop, which is closer to the 77.8% increase in pixel count, implying the GPU is still the limiting factor but with more headroom.

The Medium preset provides the only complete data set with minimum and maximum frame rates. At 4K, the average is 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS. This 22 FPS spread indicates some frame pacing inconsistency, but the minimum of 60 FPS suggests the system can hold a playable frame rate in most scenes. At 1440p Medium, the average jumps to 125 FPS with a min of 106 and max of 144, showing a much tighter and more consistent performance envelope. The 1080p Medium results show 186 FPS average with a min of 158 and max of 214, demonstrating that the CPU and GPU have ample headroom at this resolution, with the frame rate likely being capped by the game engine’s physics or draw call processing.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with the system dropping from 101 FPS at 1080p to 68 FPS at 1440p and then to 39 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS average in the entire dataset, and it represents a 42.6% drop from the 1440p result. This suggests that Ultra settings at 4K push the RTX 4080 beyond its comfort zone, likely due to the combination of high-resolution textures, advanced shading, and post-processing effects that tax both the memory bandwidth and the shader units. The benchmark results indicate that for a consistent 60+ FPS experience, 4K is only viable at Medium settings or lower, while 1440p can handle High settings comfortably.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. In Evolve, which is a game that does not typically scale beyond a handful of cores, this processor provides substantial single-thread performance. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030 and multi-core score of 42713 place it in the top 95th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it has far more processing power than Evolve requires.

The CPU’s role in this combo becomes clear when examining the 1080p Low preset, where the system achieves 241 FPS. At this resolution and settings, the GPU is not the bottleneck, as the RTX 4080 can easily handle the low geometric complexity and simple shading. Instead, the frame rate is likely limited by the CPU’s ability to process game logic, physics, and draw calls. The Ryzen 9 8945HX’s high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks are processed quickly, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

The nearest rivals for the 8945HX include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% higher average score), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (0.4% lower), the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% higher). The extremely small deltaPct values, all within 1%, indicate that these processors are virtually identical in overall benchmark performance. However, the 8945HX’s advantage in this gaming context is its high boost clock and modern Zen 4 architecture, which provides excellent instructions per clock (IPC). The Passmark single-thread score of 3907 confirms strong single-core capability, which is more relevant for Evolve than the massive multi-core throughput.

The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache is another factor that helps in gaming. Evolve’s map data and entity information can be cached locally, reducing the need to access system memory. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with an 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU has fast access to data when cache misses occur. In the measured 4K Ultra results, the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops to 39 FPS, which is clearly GPU-limited. However, in the 1080p Low results, the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics updates is the determining factor, and the data shows it can sustain 241 FPS without issue.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end mobile GPU based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This memory configuration is crucial for Evolve, which can use large textures and has a tendency to consume significant VRAM at higher settings.

The GPU’s role is most evident in the 4K results. At 4K High, the average frame rate is 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is even more telling, indicating that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are saturated. The RTX 4080’s 16 GB VRAM is sufficient for Evolve’s highest settings, as the game is from 2015 and does not have the massive texture sets of modern titles, but the raw pixel throughput at 4K is the limiting factor.

At 1440p, the RTX 4080 shows its strength. The High preset yields 98 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 68 FPS, which is still playable but shows a 30.6% drop from High. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce effects like higher-quality shadows, ambient occlusion, and reflections that significantly increase the GPU load. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 125 FPS, showing that the GPU has headroom when settings are reduced.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.6% lower), and the AMD Radeon 8060S (2.7% lower). The deltaPct values are small, but the RTX 4080’s advantage in Evolve comes from its high memory bandwidth and efficient Ada Lovelace architecture. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 indicates strong modern API performance, which is relevant for Evolve’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779 further confirms the GPU’s compute capabilities.

The GPU’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient for Evolve. The game’s visual effects, such as the monster’s acid attacks and the hunter’s jetpack trails, rely on pixel and texture throughput. The measured data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is rarely the bottleneck, as the frame rates are 146 FPS at High, 186 FPS at Medium, and 241 FPS at Low. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 101 FPS, which is still high but shows that Ultra settings can stress the GPU even at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Evolve provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 241 FPS on Low, 186 FPS on Medium, 146 FPS on High, and 101 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum of 158 FPS and a maximum of 214 FPS, showing a 56 FPS range that indicates some variability in demanding scenes. This is the only preset at 1080p with min/max data, but the averages suggest a well-balanced system that can easily drive high refresh rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 161 FPS on Low, 125 FPS on Medium, 98 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS, which is a 38 FPS range. This tighter range compared to 1080p Medium indicates that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor, but the frame times are more consistent. The High preset at 1440p at 98 FPS is a solid result for a demanding game, and the Ultra preset at 68 FPS remains above 60 FPS, making it the highest settings that can maintain a playable frame rate at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 92 FPS, which is playable but not high refresh rate territory. The Medium preset averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, making it the only 4K preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS. The High preset drops to 56 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the Ultra preset falls to 39 FPS, which is not recommended for a competitive or action-heavy game like Evolve. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is CPU-limited, 1440p is balanced, and 4K is strictly GPU-limited.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 1212 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve. This places it in the top third of all systems tested, which is a strong result considering the game’s age and the fact that many desktop systems with more powerful GPUs are included in the database. The rank of 1212 suggests that while the combo is capable, it is not at the absolute top tier for this game, likely because Evolve’s performance is heavily dependent on GPU raw throughput, and the mobile RTX 4080 is not as powerful as its desktop counterpart.

The combo’s ranking is influenced by the CPU’s 95th percentile standing and the GPU’s 86th percentile standing. The CPU is clearly not a limiting factor, as its performance is near the top of the database. The GPU, while strong, is in the upper-middle range, which aligns with the measured FPS results. The high rank of 1212 out of 3700 indicates that this combo outperforms the majority of systems, but it is not in the top 10% for Evolve. This is consistent with the 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS, which would be significantly higher on a desktop RTX 4090 or a more powerful GPU.

The deltaPct values for the CPU’s rivals, which are all within 1%, suggest that swapping the 8945HX for a similar-tier processor would not change the ranking significantly. However, the GPU’s rivals show more variation, with the RTX 4080 SUPER being 0.1% faster and the AMD Radeon 8060S being 2.7% slower. In a game like Evolve, where the GPU is often the bottleneck, a 2.7% difference in GPU performance could translate to a few frames per second, potentially altering the combo’s rank by a few positions. The data indicates that this combo is well-balanced for Evolve, with the CPU providing ample headroom and the GPU driving the frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 101 FPS is perfectly playable and provides the best visual quality. The High preset at 146 FPS is also excellent for high refresh rate displays, and the Medium preset at 186 FPS is ideal for competitive play where frame rate is paramount. The Low preset at 241 FPS is unnecessary in most scenarios, as the visual quality degradation is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 125 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, especially for 120Hz or 144Hz monitors. The High preset at 98 FPS is still very smooth and provides better image quality, but it may not fully utilize a 144Hz display. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is playable and offers the best visuals, but the frame rate is close to 60 FPS, which may result in occasional dips in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 161 FPS is overkill for most displays and should be avoided unless maximum frame rate is the only goal.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 71 FPS is the only setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS, based on the minimum of 60 FPS recorded. This is the recommended preset for 4K gaming, as it provides a good balance of visual quality and smoothness. The High preset at 56 FPS is playable but may stutter on some displays, and the Ultra preset at 39 FPS is not recommended for a game like Evolve, where fast reaction times are crucial. The Low preset at 92 FPS is an option for those who prioritize frame rate over visuals, but the Medium preset provides a significantly better visual experience for a 21 FPS penalty. For the best overall experience, users should target 1440p Medium or High, as this resolution offers a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining consistently high frame rates.