Evolve

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 351st out of 2,872 tested combos in Evolve. This places the pairing in the top 12.2% of all tested configurations, a strong showing for a game released in 2015. The rank indicates that this modern, high-end hardware combination sits well above the median tested system, though it does not claim the absolute top tier. Given the game's age, the combination's position reflects both the CPU's substantial multi-threaded throughput and the GPU's raw rasterization power, but the ranking also suggests that other combos—likely with even newer or more specialized components—can push higher.

The 351st rank out of 2,872 combos means roughly 2,521 tested configurations fall below this pairing. That places the combo in the upper echelon, but not the very peak. The delta between this rank and the top is not quantified in the data, but the percentile positioning implies a system that will handle Evolve with ease at most settings. The data shows a clear hierarchy: this is a combination designed for high-refresh-rate 1440p play and comfortable 4K performance, with the measured FPS numbers supporting that interpretation. The rank, however, is a holistic measure that includes both CPU and GPU contributions, so it is worth examining each component's role separately to understand where the bottleneck—if any—might lie.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It operates on a 4 nm process node from TSMC, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's thermal design power is 120 W, and it supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The L3 cache is 128 MB, which is substantial for gaming workloads, and the processor includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core and 1 MB of L2 cache per core.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 47,737, while the single-core score is 6,739. The Geekbench multicore score reaches 22,884, with a single-core score of 3,041. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 2,512 with 2 threads to 13,795 with max threads, indicating good thread scaling for a 24-thread processor. The Passmark multithread score is 56,154, with a single-thread score of 4,646. These numbers place the CPU in the 91st percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,762.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which scores 55,093. It is 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K at 54,053, 2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6505P at 53,701, and 2.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F at 53,620. These deltas are tight, meaning the CPU is effectively in a performance cluster with these rivals, with no single competitor holding a decisive edge.

For Evolve, a game from 2015, the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are likely overkill. The game was designed for an era of 4-core, 8-thread processors. However, the high single-core performance—evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,739—is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in older game engines that may not scale well across many cores. The 128 MB L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which can benefit frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios. The data suggests the CPU will not be the limiting factor in this combo, as the measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 306 FPS on average, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU at very high rates.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a high-end graphics card from the Radeon RX 7000 series, based on the Navi 31 chip with the RDNA 3.0 architecture. It has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1,929 MHz, with a boost clock of 2,498 MHz and a game clock of 2,365 MHz. The memory runs at 2,500 MHz, effective 20 Gbps. The card features 6,144 shading units, 384 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units, along with 96 ray tracing cores. Its compute performance is 61.39 TFLOPS for FP32, with a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s.

In GPU benchmarks, the RX 7900 XTX scores 31,238 in Passmark G3D and 17,689 in Passmark GPU compute. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 6,841, Geekbench OpenCL is 50,465, and Geekbench Vulkan is 85,612. The GPU's average benchmark score is 19,410, placing it in the 64th percentile against all GPUs. This percentile is lower than the CPU's 91st percentile, suggesting that the GPU, while powerful, does not stand as far above its competition as the CPU does.

The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark data are somewhat surprising given the card's modern architecture. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB scores 19,334, a 0.4% difference from the RX 7900 XTX. The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 scores 19,602, putting the RX 7900 XTX 1% behind. The AMD FirePro D300 scores 19,637, placing the RX 7900 XTX 1.2% behind, and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp scores 19,177, with the RX 7900 XTX 1.2% ahead. These rival comparisons are based on average benchmark scores across a broad set of tests, which can be misleading for gaming-specific performance. The RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of VRAM and high bandwidth are far beyond what those older cards offer, but the percentile ranking reflects a mixed benchmark suite that does not fully capture gaming prowess.

For Evolve, the GPU's 24 GB VRAM is more than sufficient, as the game from 2015 likely uses a fraction of that capacity even at 4K Ultra. The high memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are handled without stutter. The boost clock of 2,498 MHz provides ample compute throughput for the game's FPS rendering. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 49 FPS on average, which suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at that extreme setting, as the CPU has plenty of headroom. At lower settings, the GPU can push much higher frame rates, indicating that the card is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p and 1080p.

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems in Evolve?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination ranks 351st out of 2,872 tested combos, placing it in the top 12.2% of all configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 54,762. It is 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093), 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), 2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701), and 2.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking and its closest competitor?

A: The GPU sits in the 64th percentile against all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 19,410. Its closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB at 19,334, a 0.4% difference.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 306, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo in Evolve?

A: The lowest average FPS is 49, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU have a higher percentile ranking?

A: The CPU ranks in the 91st percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 64th percentile against all GPUs, indicating the CPU is relatively stronger compared to its peers.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals how the combo scales from 1080p to 4K, and it indicates where the bottleneck shifts. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 186. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High settings, the average FPS drops to 125, a 32.8% reduction. At 3840x2160 High, the average FPS falls to 71, another 43.2% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern shows that the GPU is becoming increasingly stressed as resolution increases, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The 1080p Low average is 306 FPS, dropping to 205 FPS at 1440p Low (a 33% decrease) and then to 117 FPS at 4K Low (a 42.9% decrease from 1440p). The fact that 1080p Low reaches 306 FPS suggests the CPU is capable of extremely high frame rates, but the GPU cannot sustain that throughput at higher resolutions. At 4K Low, the 117 FPS average still indicates the GPU is handling the load, but the frame rate is less than half of the 1080p Low figure.

The Medium settings show a similar trend. At 1080p Medium, the average is 237 FPS, dropping to 159 FPS at 1440p Medium, and then to 90 FPS at 4K Medium. The percentage drops are 32.9% and 43.4%, respectively, mirroring the High and Low patterns. This consistency suggests that resolution scaling is uniform across settings, with each step up in resolution costing roughly 30-40% performance.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is steeper. The 1080p Ultra average is 129 FPS, dropping to 86 FPS at 1440p Ultra (a 33.3% decrease) and then to 49 FPS at 4K Ultra (a 43% decrease from 1440p). The 4K Ultra figure of 49 FPS is the lowest recorded, and it indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at this extreme. The CPU's contribution to frame rate diminishes as resolution increases, because the GPU's pixel and texture processing workload grows significantly.

The data shows that the combo is CPU-bound at 1080p, as evidenced by the 306 FPS Low figure, but becomes GPU-bound at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings. The 1440p results strike a balance, with the GPU handling the load while the CPU still has headroom to push frame rates above 125 FPS at High settings.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience. At 1080p, all settings produce playable frame rates. The Low preset achieves 306 FPS, Medium 237 FPS, High 186 FPS, and Ultra 129 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset at 237 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, as the frame rate is well above the 144 Hz threshold and the visual uplift from Low to Medium is typically substantial. The High preset at 186 FPS is also viable for 144 Hz displays, providing better image quality while still exceeding the refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 129 FPS is playable on 120 Hz displays but falls short of 144 Hz, so it is a trade-off for maxed-out visuals.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The Medium preset delivers 159 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution. The High preset at 125 FPS is also strong, suitable for 120 Hz displays. The Low preset at 205 FPS is overkill for most monitors, while the Ultra preset at 86 FPS is playable but may not fully utilize a 144 Hz panel. For 1440p, the High preset offers the best balance, as the 125 FPS average is close to 120 Hz and the visual quality is significantly better than Medium.

At 4K, the settings become more constrained. The Low preset achieves 117 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz displays, but the visual quality is likely poor. The Medium preset at 90 FPS is playable on 90 Hz or lower refresh rate monitors, and it offers better visuals. The High preset at 71 FPS is the sweet spot for 60 Hz displays, providing good visual quality at a smooth frame rate. The Ultra preset at 49 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as it dips below 50 FPS and may not feel smooth in fast-paced FPS gameplay.

The data suggests that for the best overall experience, the Medium or High preset at 1440p provides the ideal combination of visual fidelity and performance. At 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice for a locked 60 FPS experience, while the Medium preset is a viable alternative for slightly higher frame rates. The Low preset is only recommended for players prioritizing maximum frame rates over visual quality.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive breakdown by resolution and settings. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 49 at Ultra to 117 at Low. The Medium preset at 4K records an average of 90 FPS, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 71 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 49 FPS. The Low preset at 4K averages 117 FPS, but no minimum or maximum values are provided for that row.

At 2560x1440, the averages are significantly higher. The Low preset reaches 205 FPS, Medium averages 159 FPS with a minimum of 135 FPS and a maximum of 183 FPS, High averages 125 FPS, and Ultra averages 86 FPS. The 1440p Medium data shows a minimum of 135 FPS, which ensures that frame drops stay above the 120 Hz threshold, making it a solid choice for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 1920x1080, the averages are the highest. The Low preset achieves 306 FPS, Medium averages 237 FPS with a minimum of 201 FPS and a maximum of 272 FPS, High averages 186 FPS, and Ultra averages 129 FPS. The 1080p Medium minimum of 201 FPS means that even the lowest frame rate stays above 200 FPS, which is exceptional for competitive play.

The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops by roughly 30-40% per step. The Medium presets are the only rows with min and max FPS data, and they show that the frame time variance is relatively tight. At 1080p Medium, the min is 201 and the max is 272, a 71 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the min is 135 and the max is 183, a 48 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the min is 77 and the max is 104, a 27 FPS spread. This tightening of the range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as the pixel count increases, likely because the CPU is no longer causing frame pacing issues.

In summary, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K performance being playable but requiring settings adjustments to maintain smooth frame rates.