Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 FPS title, presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B370 combination. The measured data shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics solution, particularly at higher resolutions. The Arc B370, an integrated graphics processor with a 25 W TDP, operates as the primary bottleneck across all tested settings. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, focusing on resolution scaling, settings impact, and the distinct roles of the CPU and GPU in shaping the final frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate degradation from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is severe for this combo, confirming that the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting component. At the "Low" settings preset, the average frame rate drops from 80 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 26 FPS. Pushing further to 4K, the average falls to 31 FPS, which represents a 61% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, as the Arc B370 relies on "System Shared" memory with "System Dependent" bandwidth.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all presets, though the absolute losses are smaller at lower settings. For the "High" preset, the transition from 1080p (49 FPS) to 1440p (33 FPS) is a 16 FPS drop, and then a further 14 FPS drop to 19 FPS at 4K. The "Ultra" preset shows a similar trend, starting at 34 FPS at 1080p, falling to 23 FPS at 1440p, and reaching a nearly unplayable 13 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are exhausted by the increasing pixel count, regardless of the graphical complexity.

The data suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X is not the factor limiting these scores. The 12-core, 24-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz has ample headroom for a game like Evolve. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a more plateau-like scaling, where frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are closer together. Instead, the dramatic drops highlight a pure GPU limitation. The "Medium" preset provides the only min/max data points, showing at 4K a range of 20 to 27 FPS, which reinforces the instability and high variance typical of a stressed integrated GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured results, the optimal experience for this hardware combination is found at 1920x1080 with the "Low" settings preset, which delivers an average of 80 FPS. This is the only configuration in the data set that achieves a frame rate high enough for smooth, responsive gameplay. The "Medium" preset at 1080p is a viable alternative, offering an average of 62 FPS, but with a noted min FPS of 53, which could lead to occasional stutter during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset is the only playable option, with an average of 54 FPS. However, this comes with a significant visual compromise. The "High" preset at this resolution drops to 33 FPS, which is below the threshold for a consistent experience. At 3840x2160, no preset is recommended for playable frame rates; even "Low" only manages 31 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset falls to a slideshow-like 13 FPS. The data indicates that users should prioritize resolution over visual fidelity, or vice versa, but cannot have both with this combo.

The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy: "Low" is always significantly faster than "Medium", which is faster than "High", which is faster than "Ultra". For example, at 1440p, the performance gap between "Low" (54 FPS) and "Ultra" (23 FPS) is 31 FPS. This suggests that the graphical effects enabled by higher presets, such as shadows, textures, and post-processing, place an overwhelming load on the Arc B370's 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs. For a balanced experience, the "Medium" preset at 1080p appears to be the sweet spot, trading a 18 FPS loss for a significant visual upgrade over "Low".

GPU Role

The GPU data reveals a component that is fundamentally underpowered for Evolve at higher settings. The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated processor with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its performance is best contextualized by its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, with deltaPct scores of -0.2% and -0.5% respectively, indicating that the Arc B370 is statistically on par with these older discrete graphics cards.

The GPU's memory configuration is a critical weakness. It uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and must share the system's DDR5 memory with the CPU. The bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which in a dual-channel configuration for the Ryzen 9 9900X is 89.6 GB/s. This shared bandwidth is a bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions where the demand for texture data increases. The low pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s further constrain its ability to fill the screen at 4K.

The data shows that the GPU's performance is the primary driver of the frame rate differences. When moving from "Low" to "Ultra" at 1080p, the average FPS drops from 80 to 34, a 46 FPS swing. This is not a CPU-driven change. The GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is simply insufficient to handle the increased shader complexity of the "Ultra" preset. The 25 W TDP is incredibly low, which limits sustained boost clocks, but the architecture itself appears to be the limiting factor in this legacy title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates provides a clear picture of the combo's capabilities. Starting at 1920x1080, the results are: "Low" 80 FPS, "Medium" 62 FPS (min 53, max 72), "High" 49 FPS, and "Ultra" 34 FPS. This shows a linear degradation as settings increase, with a 46 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets. The "Medium" preset's min/max range of 53 to 72 FPS indicates a 19 FPS variance, suggesting some frame pacing issues.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops considerably. The "Low" preset averages 54 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. "Medium" averages 42 FPS (min 35, max 48), "High" averages 33 FPS, and "Ultra" averages 23 FPS. The spread between "Low" and "Ultra" at this resolution is 31 FPS. The relative performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, hovering around a 32-35% reduction in average FPS.

At 3840x2160, the combo is clearly out of its depth. The "Low" preset is the only one that breaks 30 FPS, with an average of 31 FPS. "Medium" drops to 24 FPS (min 20, max 27), "High" to 19 FPS, and "Ultra" to a mere 13 FPS. The data shows that 4K resolution is not a viable target for this hardware in Evolve, as even the lowest settings fail to provide a smooth experience. The "Medium" preset at 4K shows a min FPS of 20, which would result in significant stuttering and input lag.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2639 out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's low 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's high percentile rank (92nd) does little to boost the overall combo performance, as the GPU bottleneck dominates the gaming experience. The rank indicates that the vast majority of other hardware pairings, even those with older or less powerful CPUs, are likely to outperform this setup in this specific game.

This poor ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations. The Arc B370's 3DMark score of 1184 is comparable to that of the AMD FirePro M2000, which has a deltaPct of 1.4% relative to the Arc B370. These are legacy or entry-level graphics solutions that are not designed for modern gaming workloads at high resolutions. The combo rank suggests that for Evolve, the CPU is effectively wasted pairing with this GPU, as the frame rates are entirely dictated by the graphics processor's output.

The data implies that a user with this CPU would see a massive improvement in performance by pairing it with a more capable discrete GPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its high multi-threaded scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore of 32172), is more than capable of feeding a powerful graphics card. However, this specific combo, as measured, is limited to low-resolution, low-settings gaming. The rank of 2639 is a stark indicator of the performance ceiling imposed by the integrated graphics.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X plays a supporting role in this benchmark, providing a robust foundation that is never the limiting factor. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, it boasts a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its processing power is evidenced by a Geekbench multicore score of 22174 and a single-core score of 3010. These scores indicate that the CPU is capable of handling the game's logic, physics, and AI without breaking a sweat.

The data shows that the CPU's performance headroom is vast. For example, the Passmark multithread score is 54643, and the data compression score is 683579. These are extremely high numbers that suggest the CPU is not being taxed by Evolve, a game from 2015. The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth provide ample data transfer rates for the CPU cores, ensuring that the GPU is always fed with draw calls and geometry data.

The evidence for the CPU not being a bottleneck is in the scaling. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions. Instead, the frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's performance percentile of 92% versus the GPU's 5% tells the entire story. The Ryzen 9 9900X is a top-tier desktop processor, while the Arc B370 is an entry-level integrated solution; the gaming performance is wholly dependent on the latter.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with "Low" settings provides the highest average frame rate of 80 FPS. The "Medium" preset at 1080p is also viable, with an average of 62 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: No. All 4K presets fail to reach 31 FPS, with "Ultra" averaging only 13 FPS. The GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X or the Intel Arc B370 the bottleneck?

A: The Intel Arc B370 is the bottleneck. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking and the steep FPS drops with increasing resolution confirm this, while the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking shows it has ample headroom.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B370 scores 1184. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with a score of 1186 (-0.2% delta) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with a score of 1190 (-0.5% delta), showing statistically similar performance.

Q: What is the frame rate variance at the "Medium" preset?

A: At 1080p, the "Medium" preset shows a min of 53 FPS and a max of 72 FPS. At 1440p, it shows a min of 35 FPS and a max of 48 FPS. At 4K, it shows a min of 20 FPS and a max of 27 FPS.

Q: Given the CPU's power, would a different GPU improve performance significantly?

A: The CPU's high benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172, suggest it is not a limiting factor. The combo's low rank of 2639 out of 2872 is due to the GPU, implying that a more powerful GPU would yield a substantial performance increase.