Evolve

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 71660, which is 0.9% ahead of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270's 71056 score. It also leads the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420) by 1.8% and the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70104) by 2.2%, while trailing the Intel Xeon 6517P (73050) by 1.9%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 25120 places it nearly level with its nearest rivals: the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180, -0.2% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235, -0.5%), AMD Radeon 890M (25246, -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287, -0.7%).

Q: What frame rate does the combo achieve at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combination produces an average of 68.6 FPS. This is the lowest 1080p result among the four tested presets, with Low reaching 158.6 FPS, Medium 124 FPS, and High 99.2 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores 8430 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 59712 in multi-core, showing strong scaling across its 16 cores and 32 threads. In 3DMark, the single-thread score is 1292, while the max-thread score reaches 17184, indicating substantial multi-threading headroom.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the CPU, and what type of memory does it support?

A: The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. It also supports ECC memory, which is notable for workstation-oriented tasks.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and memory bus width?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, with 14 Gbps effective speed.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1178 out of 1695 tested combos for this game. This places the pairing in the lower third of the field, which is consistent with a GPU that sits at the 69th percentile while driving a 2015 FPS title that is not particularly demanding by modern standards.

The ranking suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71660. The disparity between the two components' percentiles — 96 for the CPU versus 69 for the GPU — explains why the combo rank is not higher. The data indicates that the processor has substantial headroom to drive more powerful graphics cards, while the GPU constrains overall frame rates.

The rank of 1178 out of 1695 means that roughly 70% of tested combinations perform better in Evolve. This is not a reflection of the CPU, which is a top-tier part, but rather the GPU's mid-range positioning. For context, the RTX 3060 Ti's nearest rivals — all AMD parts — have nearly identical average scores, with deltas under 1%. This suggests that swapping the GPU for any of those alternatives would yield negligible performance differences in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, with a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The GPU has 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines.

Clock speeds are modest by modern standards: a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The memory subsystem is more substantial, with 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory bandwidth is critical for the game's texture streaming, and the 8 GB capacity is sufficient for the tested presets at all resolutions.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and an equal 16.20 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1 ratio). It also includes 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores, which support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 APIs. These features are largely irrelevant for Evolve, a 2015 title, but they indicate the GPU's broader capability.

The benchmark results show the GPU performing at 20349 in Passmark G3D and 10006 in Passmark GPU compute. Its average benchmark score of 25120 places it at the 69th percentile, with nearest rivals all within 0.7% of its score.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 158.6 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for fast-paced FPS gameplay. Medium settings drop to 124 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings yield 99.2 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 68.6 FPS — the minimum for a comfortable experience on standard refresh rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scaling is consistent. Low settings average 111.2 FPS, which is a 29.9% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings produce 83.9 FPS, High settings 67.3 FPS, and Ultra settings 46.4 FPS. The Ultra result at 1440p falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 59.8 FPS, which is just under the 60 FPS target. Medium settings produce 45.8 FPS, High settings 37.1 FPS, and Ultra settings 26.6 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that the RTX 3060 Ti cannot maintain smooth frame rates at this resolution for Evolve, even with older titles.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 61.2% reduction in average FPS (from 68.6 to 26.6). This indicates that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title, and users should avoid that configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate.

For 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 68.6 FPS provide a solid experience for 60 Hz monitors, while High settings at 99.2 FPS are better suited for 100 Hz or higher refresh rate displays. Medium settings at 124 FPS offer the best balance of visual quality and performance for competitive play, and Low at 158.6 FPS is ideal for maximum frame rates.

At 2560x1440, High settings at 67.3 FPS are the sweet spot for 60 Hz monitors, delivering nearly the same frame rate as 1080p Ultra while offering higher resolution. Medium at 83.9 FPS is suitable for 75 Hz displays, and Low at 111.2 FPS supports 100 Hz monitors. Ultra at 46.4 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

For 3840x2160, only Low settings at 59.8 FPS approach playable territory, and even that is marginal. Medium at 45.8 FPS and below are not viable for a smooth experience. Users with 4K displays should either lower resolution or accept the Low preset's visual compromises.

The data suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays for this game, with High settings providing the best visual-to-performance ratio in both cases.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, with a TDP of 170 W. The 128 MB shared L3 cache is substantial and beneficial for gaming workloads.

The CPU's benchmark results indicate exceptional performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 8430 single-core and 59712 multi-core. The 3DMark results show strong scaling: 1292 single-thread, 2549 for 2 threads, 4963 for 4 threads, 9259 for 8 threads, and 17184 for max threads. The Geekbench scores are 3401 single-core and 22515 multi-core.

The CPU ranks at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71660. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, is only 0.9% behind, while the Intel Xeon 6517P is 1.9% ahead. This places the 9950X3D at the very top of the desktop CPU hierarchy.

For Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frames. Given that the game is from 2015, it is unlikely to utilize all 16 cores effectively, but the high single-thread performance (8430 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, particularly at 4K where the CPU's advantage is largely unused.

The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for any game workload. The 4 nm process node and 16,630 million transistors on a 2x 70.6 mm² die design contribute to its efficiency. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 9259 indicates that even games optimized for fewer threads will perform well.

In summary, the 9950X3D is overqualified for this pairing in Evolve. Its performance is far beyond what the RTX 3060 Ti can utilize, and the combo's rank of 1178 out of 1695 reflects this imbalance. Users seeking higher frame rates should consider a more powerful GPU to match the CPU's capabilities.