Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built on the CryEngine, shows distinct performance scaling behavior when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, but which transitions to a more balanced load at lower presets. The data indicates that the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title, while the 9900X3D's 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for the game's engine, which was designed for an era of lower core counts.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent with a GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 204 at 1920x1080 to 137 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 67 FPS or roughly 33%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 78 FPS, which is a 62% reduction from the 1080p figure. This pattern is classic evidence that the rendering load on the RTX 4080 is the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The Ultra preset amplifies this GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p, the system manages 141 FPS on average. At 1440p, this falls to 95 FPS, and at 4K, it plummets to 54 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is a 43% performance loss, which is a steeper relative drop than the 33% loss seen between 1080p and 1440p. This suggests that the higher resolution and Ultra settings are pushing the RTX 4080's shading units, TMUs, and ROPs to their limits, with the 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate becoming the bottleneck.

Low settings tell a different story. At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 335, which is substantially higher than the 204 FPS at High. However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low is a drop from 335 to 225 FPS (a 33% reduction), and then from 1440p to 4K, it drops to 128 FPS (a 43% reduction from 1440p). While the GPU is still the primary limiting factor, the fact that the 1080p Low score is so high suggests that the CPU is not holding the system back at that point. The 9900X3D's single-thread score of 1269 in 3DMark and its 679 score in Cinebench R15 single-core are more than adequate for Evolve's logic.

The Medium preset data, which includes min and max FPS values, further illustrates the GPU's role. At 4K Medium, the average is 99 FPS with a min of 84 and max of 114. At 1440p Medium, the average is 174 FPS with a min of 148 and max of 200. At 1080p Medium, the average is 260 FPS with a min of 221 and max of 299. The spread between min and max FPS is relatively narrow (around 30% of the average), indicating consistent frame pacing without significant stutter, which is a sign that the GPU is delivering a stable output rather than being interrupted by CPU stalls.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. Its base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide high single-thread performance, which is critical for older game engines like Evolve that often rely on a few primary threads for game logic and physics. The processor's 128 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache also help keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency.

In Evolve, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 335 FPS, which is a high ceiling that many displays cannot even show. This suggests that the 9900X3D is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions. The processor's 3DMark scores support this: a single-thread score of 1269 and a 2-thread score of 2512 show strong per-core performance, while the 8-thread score of 9002 and max-thread score of 13795 indicate that scaling across cores is efficient, though Evolve likely does not use all 24 threads.

The CPU's benchmark standings show it sits at the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, has an average score of 55093, which is a delta of -0.6%, meaning the 9900X3D is essentially on par with that chip. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K is 1.3% slower, and the Intel Xeon 6505P is 2% slower. These small deltas suggest that in a game like Evolve, where the GPU is the bottleneck at most settings, the choice between these high-end CPUs would not produce a noticeable difference in frame rates.

FAQ

Q: How does the 9900X3D compare to its closest CPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF's 55093 score. It is 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K's 54053 score.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p with this combo?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination achieves an average of 335 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the data.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 have enough VRAM for Evolve at 4K Ultra?

A: The RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo produces an average of 54 FPS, indicating that the memory capacity is sufficient for the game, though the GPU's compute capabilities are the limiting factor at those settings.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1440p High and 4K High?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the average FPS is 137. At 3840x2160 High, the average FPS is 78, which is a drop of 59 FPS or approximately 43% lower performance.

Q: How stable is the frame rate at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the average FPS is 174, with a minimum of 148 and a maximum of 200. This 52 FPS range between min and max indicates relatively stable performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the 4K Ultra result?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 54 FPS is primarily GPU-bound. The CPU's high single-thread performance (1269 in 3DMark single-thread) and multi-thread capability (13795 in max threads) are not the bottleneck, as lower resolutions with the same CPU and a lighter GPU load show much higher frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is ranked 222nd out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the top 6% of all system configurations that have been measured for this game. The high rank reflects the strength of both components, but it is important to note that this is a 2015 title, so the absolute performance ceiling is limited by the game engine's ability to scale with modern hardware.

The rank suggests that while the combo performs admirably, there are 221 other configurations that achieve higher average FPS. These are likely to include systems with newer GPUs, such as the RTX 4080's successor, or potentially configurations with even faster CPUs that can push frame rates higher at low settings. However, the 9900X3D's percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs and the RTX 4080's percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs indicate that this is a top-tier pairing.

The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is only 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080's 54247. This negligible difference means that in Evolve, swapping to a SUPER variant would yield virtually identical frame rates. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% slower, which places the RTX 4080 in a strong competitive position within its segment.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for a balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay is the High preset at 2560x1440. This configuration yields an average of 137 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium settings. The 4K High preset at 78 FPS is also playable, but the 137 FPS at 1440p offers a more responsive feel, which is beneficial for a fast-paced FPS.

For players with a 1080p monitor and a high refresh rate display, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is recommended. It produces an average of 260 FPS, with a minimum of 221 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate stays high even during intense combat scenes with multiple monsters and effects. The Ultra preset at 1080p, with an average of 141 FPS, is only slightly lower and might be chosen by those who prioritize image quality over frame rate, but the 204 FPS average at High is a better trade-off for competitive play.

At 4K, the High preset at 78 FPS is the only viable option for a smooth experience, as Medium drops to 99 FPS (which is still good) but High offers better visuals. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is borderline for a 60 Hz display and should be avoided unless the player is willing to tolerate the lower frame rate for maximum visual fidelity. The Low preset, while hitting 128 FPS at 4K, sacrifices too much visual detail for the modest FPS gain over High.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured results is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 335 FPS, the Medium preset averages 260 FPS (with a minimum of 221 and maximum of 299), the High preset averages 204 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 141 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 225 FPS, the Medium preset averages 174 FPS (with a minimum of 148 and maximum of 200), the High preset averages 137 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 95 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 128 FPS, the Medium preset averages 99 FPS (with a minimum of 84 and maximum of 114), the High preset averages 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each step up in quality preset reduces FPS by a roughly proportional amount, and each increase in resolution also reduces FPS significantly. The Medium preset is the only one where min and max FPS are recorded, and the ranges (221-299 at 1080p, 148-200 at 1440p, 84-114 at 4K) indicate stable performance without major dips.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, is a high-end GPU with 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. Its base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz, combined with 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, provide substantial compute power for Evolve's rendering tasks. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game from 2015.

In the measured data, the RTX 4080 is the dominant factor in determining frame rates. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 54247 place it just behind the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% higher) and ahead of other rivals. The GPU's DirectX 12 benchmark score of 132 in Passmark indicates strong performance in modern APIs, although Evolve uses an older DirectX 11 renderer, where the GPU's Passmark score of 314 is more relevant.

The GPU's role is most evident in the 4K results. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the 54 FPS average is a clear sign that the RTX 4080 is at its limits, as the CPU is not the bottleneck. The 78 FPS at 4K High and 99 FPS at 4K Medium show a linear progression as the GPU load decreases. The RTX 4080's 76 ray tracing cores are not utilized in Evolve, but its traditional rasterization performance is what drives these results. The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler suggest it is designed for sustained high-load scenarios, which is consistent with the stable frame times observed at Medium settings.