Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetric FPS, presents an interesting stress profile for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the Intel Arc B580. The measured data shows a system that is heavily influenced by graphics settings and resolution, with the GPU frequently acting as the primary constraint at higher presets. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics from the FACT PACK, focusing on how the components scale and where the bottleneck shifts.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 155 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 104 FPS, a 33% decrease. At 4K, the average falls further to 59 FPS, which is a 43% drop from the 1440p result and a 62% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline at 4K strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at lower settings, as the workload becomes increasingly pixel-bound.

The scaling on Ultra settings tells a more nuanced story. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 65 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 44 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 25 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 43%. This indicates that while the GPU is stressed at all resolutions on Ultra, the 4K Ultra preset presents an immense load that the Arc B580 cannot overcome, resulting in a frame rate that is likely not smooth for gameplay.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 90 FPS (155 vs 65). At 1440p, it's 60 FPS (104 vs 44). At 4K, the gap narrows to 34 FPS (59 vs 25). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck, where the cost of shading and fill-rate dominates, and the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes less relevant. The data indicates that for this game, the combination is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates on most settings, while 4K is only viable on the lowest settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's specifications are central to understanding its performance in Evolve. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is listed at 2670 MHz. The benchmark results show the GPU's average score is 23021, placing it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. This places it in the same performance tier as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, which has a deltaPct of 0.6, and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, which is 0.2% faster.

The memory capacity and bandwidth are likely sufficient for Evolve at 1080p and 1440p. However, at 4K, the 12 GB frame buffer can be a limiting factor, especially on Ultra settings. The 4K Ultra score of 25 FPS is a strong indicator that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are saturated. The Arc B580's 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s, but the data shows these are not enough to handle the 4K Ultra workload.

The performance delta between the Arc B580 and its nearest rivals is minimal in synthetic benchmarks. The 0.7% difference versus the RTX 3080 is negligible in real-world terms. This suggests that while the GPU is competitive with these higher-tier cards in abstract tests, its performance in Evolve is specifically constrained by the game's rendering demands. The fact that the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3068 provides a baseline for its DirectX 12 performance, but the game's specific engine and effects seem to be very demanding on this architecture.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Evolve with this combo for a high refresh rate experience?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combo can consistently exceed 100 FPS. At Low settings, it averages 155 FPS, and at High settings, it achieves 94 FPS. This makes 1080p the target for smooth, high-refresh-rate play.

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

A: At 4K, the average FPS ranges from 59 on Low to 25 on Ultra. While the Low setting is technically playable, the Ultra setting is not. The data indicates that 4K is only viable with the lowest graphics preset.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F bottlenecking the Arc B580?

A: Based on the scaling, the CPU does not appear to be the primary bottleneck in this game. The single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674 suggest adequate performance. The steep FPS drops at higher resolutions and settings point to the GPU as the limiting component.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to the RTX 2080 in this context?

A: The synthetic benchmark data shows the two GPUs are nearly identical, with the RTX 2080 being 0.6% faster. However, this is based on the average benchmark score, not on Evolve-specific data. The actual in-game performance will depend on driver optimizations and the game's engine.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The average FPS drops from 104 on Low to 44 on Ultra. This represents a 58% decrease in performance, indicating that the Ultra preset places a significant additional load on the GPU.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 102 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 68 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 39 FPS. These figures show that even the minimum frame rates are only playable at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and Intel Arc B580 combination is ranked 2787 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve. This places it in the bottom quarter of all systems tested, which is a surprising result given the individual component scores. The CPU's percentile rank is 68, and the GPU's is also 68, yet the combo's rank in this specific game is much lower, indicating that the pairing is not well-optimized for this title.

This rank suggests that while each part is competent on its own, their combined performance in Evolve is subpar. The fact that the Arc B580's nearest rival, the RTX 2080, performs similarly in synthetic tests but the combo still ranks low implies that the game may be heavily CPU-dependent, or that the Arc B580's architecture is not fully utilized by the game's engine. With a rank of 2787, it is clear that many other combinations of hardware will provide a better experience in Evolve.

The low ranking is likely due to the CPU's limited core count. With only 4 cores and 8 threads, the Core i3-12100F may struggle in scenarios with many concurrent physics calculations or AI routines, which are common in a monster-hunting game like Evolve. The CPU's multi-core scores, such as the Cinebench R23 score of 11860, are respectable, but the game may not be scaling well with only 8 threads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant resource. The CPU's benchmark scores show a strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1932. However, its multi-threaded performance is limited by the low core count, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860.

In Evolve, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The FPS scaling with resolution indicates that the graphics card is the main bottleneck, especially at 4K. However, the low combo rank suggests that the CPU might be limiting performance in certain CPU-intensive scenes. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 is higher than the 8-thread score of 4026, indicating that the processor has some headroom with more threads, but the game may not be able to utilize them effectively.

The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3444 is strong for its class, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-9500, has a similar average benchmark score with a deltaPct of 0.3. This suggests that the Core i3-12100F can keep up with older 6-core processors in many tasks. However, in a game like Evolve, the extra physical cores of the i5-9500 might provide a more stable frame rate in complex scenes, even if the average FPS is similar.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably. On Low settings, it averages 155 FPS. On Medium, it averages 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138. High settings yield an average of 94 FPS, and Ultra drops to 65 FPS. This shows that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combination, allowing for high refresh rates on all but the most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, performance is still playable but with a noticeable drop. Low settings average 104 FPS, Medium averages 80 FPS (with a min of 68 and max of 93), High averages 63 FPS, and Ultra averages 44 FPS. The 1440p Medium setting provides a good balance of visual quality and performance, with a minimum FPS that is still above 60.

The 3840x2160 results are the most challenging. Low settings average 59 FPS, which is borderline playable. Medium settings drop to 46 FPS (min 39, max 53), High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25 FPS. The 4K data clearly shows that this combo is not suited for high-fidelity 4K gaming in Evolve. The drop from 1440p Medium to 4K Medium is 34 FPS, a 43% reduction that highlights the massive increase in GPU workload at 4K. The data confirms that users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for a consistent experience.