Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a striking imbalance in Evolve. The CPU is a modern 10-core, 16-thread part with a 4.70 GHz boost clock, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all tested CPUs. The GPU, however, is an integrated-class part based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, sitting in just the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This combination results in a system where the graphics processor is overwhelmingly the limiting factor, and the measured frame rates reflect that bottleneck consistently across every setting and resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and clearly demonstrates that the Intel Arc B390 is the component dictating performance. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 89 at 1920x1080 to 60 at 2560x1440, a 33% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at Low yields just 34 FPS, which is a 62% drop from the 1080p result. This pattern is not linear; the gap widens as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of fillrate and memory bandwidth.

The scaling at Medium settings tells a similar story. The average FPS moves from 69 at 1080p to 46 at 1440p, then down to 26 at 4K. The minimum FPS at Medium also highlights the strain: at 4K, the minimum FPS is 22, whereas at 1440p it is 39 and at 1080p it is 59. The delta between minimum and maximum FPS at 4K Medium is 8 FPS, which is a tighter window than the 14 FPS range seen at 1440p, suggesting the GPU is consistently saturated rather than spiking.

For High settings, the 1080p average of 54 FPS is already marginal for a fast-paced FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 36 FPS, and at 4K it collapses to 21 FPS. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at higher resolutions, with 37 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and only 14 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the Arc B390’s 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient to drive Evolve at 4K with any playable consistency.

The scaling behavior confirms that lowering resolution is the only effective lever to improve performance. The 1080p Low result of 89 FPS is the only configuration that approaches a high-refresh experience. The 1440p Low result of 60 FPS is acceptable for a 60 Hz display, but anything above Low settings at 1440p or any setting at 4K will result in sub-60 FPS averages. The 10-core, 16-thread i5-14400F is not the constraint here; its 21,645 Cinebench R23 multi-core score shows ample headroom that the GPU cannot utilize in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-14400F and Arc B390 ranks 2530th out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve. This places the system in the bottom 12% of all configurations tested, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s low performance ceiling. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is telling, as it sits just 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% ahead of the GeForce GT 710. These are all extremely low-end parts, and the ranking reflects that the Arc B390 performs in that tier.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in general benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and the Intel Core i9-11900, with the i5-14400F scoring within 0.2% of these parts. This confirms that the processor is a mid-to-high range component that is being held back by the integrated graphics. In Evolve, the combo rank is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability but rather the GPU’s inability to translate that capability into frame rate.

The percentile data is stark: the CPU is in the 83rd percentile, while the GPU is in the 9th percentile. This is a 74-point gap, which is among the largest possible mismatches in a tested system. The data shows that the combo rank would be dramatically higher with a discrete GPU, but with the Arc B390, the system is firmly anchored to the bottom of the rankings. The 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is the only GPU benchmark available, and it aligns with the measured FPS data, reinforcing that the GPU is the sole bottleneck.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the defining component in this system, and its specifications explain the measured results. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, which is a wide range but ultimately constrained by the 80 W TDP and the "IGP" slot width. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning the GPU relies on shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which introduces variability based on the host platform, but for this CPU, it is dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5.

The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. The 24 ROPs are a critical limitation for pixel-heavy workloads like 4K rendering, as the 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient to fill a 3840x2160 framebuffer at high frame rates. The texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s is also low, which impacts the High and Ultra presets that rely on complex textures. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS is the raw compute figure, and it is roughly half the FP16 performance of 15.36 TFLOPS, but neither is enough to keep Evolve smooth at high settings.

The 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present, but they are irrelevant in this context because the standard rasterization performance is already below playable thresholds at most settings. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is a low baseline, and its nearest rivals—all NVIDIA parts from the GT 500 and GT 700 series—confirm its position. The 1.3% delta over the GT 520MX is negligible, and the 2.7% delta over the GT 710 shows that the Arc B390 is barely faster than a decade-old entry-level card.

The shared memory architecture is a double-edged sword. While it allows the GPU to access the full system memory pool, the bandwidth is "System Dependent," which means performance can vary. In this case, the i5-14400F supports both DDR4 and DDR5, but the measured FPS suggests the memory bandwidth is not sufficient to prevent the GPU from stalling at higher resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 26 FPS average with a 22 FPS minimum indicates that the GPU is memory-bound, as the compute units are not being fed fast enough.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear hierarchy for playability. Low settings at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that delivers a comfortable frame rate, with an average of 89 FPS. This is the recommended preset for a smooth experience, as it clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin. Medium settings at 1080p yields 69 FPS, which is still playable, but the drop to 54 FPS at High makes that preset marginal for any competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Low settings exclusively, as the 60 FPS average is the only result that hits the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 46 FPS, which is acceptable for slower games but not ideal for an FPS like Evolve. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, at 36 FPS and 25 FPS respectively, are not recommended for any serious play.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that no settings preset is truly viable. The Low preset at 34 FPS is the best option, but it is still below the 60 FPS standard and will feel sluggish. The Medium preset at 26 FPS is borderline unplayable, and the High and Ultra presets at 21 FPS and 14 FPS are effectively slideshows. The recommendation for 4K is to avoid it entirely or reduce the resolution to 1440p.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Low, which provides the highest average FPS of 89. If a user prioritizes visual fidelity over frame rate, 1080p Medium at 69 FPS is the highest quality preset that maintains a playable frame rate. The 1080p Medium minimum FPS of 59 is just shy of 60, but the average of 69 indicates that the game will mostly stay smooth. For users with a 1440p monitor, the 1440p Low preset at 60 FPS is the only option that matches a 60 Hz refresh rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i5-14400F and Arc B390 produce a wide spread of results across the four presets. Low settings achieve an average of 89 FPS, which is the highest measured value for this combo. Medium settings drop to 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS, indicating a 20 FPS range during gameplay. High settings average 54 FPS, which is a 15 FPS drop from Medium. Ultra settings average 37 FPS, which is a 47 FPS drop from Low, showing the cost of enabling the highest quality effects.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings average 60 FPS, which is exactly at the 60 FPS target but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. This 14 FPS range is the smallest measured at 1440p, suggesting the GPU is consistently loaded. High settings average 36 FPS, and Ultra settings average 25 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 35 FPS, which is a 58% reduction in performance.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low settings average 34 FPS, which is the only preset to break 30 FPS. Medium settings average 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 FPS and a maximum of 30 FPS. High settings average 21 FPS, and Ultra settings average 14 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 55 FPS, from 89 to 34, which is a 62% reduction. The 4K Medium minimum of 22 FPS is the lowest minimum recorded, confirming that the system cannot handle 4K rendering with this GPU.

The full data set shows that the Arc B390 has a hard ceiling around 90 FPS at 1080p Low and a floor around 14 FPS at 4K Ultra. The i5-14400F’s performance is consistent, but it is never the limiting factor. The measured FPS values are entirely dictated by the GPU’s fillrate, texture rate, and shared memory bandwidth, all of which are insufficient for Evolve’s demands at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F strong enough for Evolve?

A: Yes, the CPU is more than adequate. It has 10 cores and 16 threads with a 4.70 GHz boost clock, and it scores 21,645 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. The measured FPS is always limited by the GPU, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Evolve with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where frame rates are consistently playable. At Low settings, the average is 89 FPS, and at Medium it is 69 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings hit 60 FPS, and at 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to other GPUs?

A: The Arc B390 has an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710. It sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, placing it among the weakest parts tested.

Q: Is the Ultra preset usable in Evolve?

A: Not at any resolution. At 1080p, Ultra averages 37 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 25 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 14 FPS. The Ultra preset is only suitable for screenshots, not gameplay.

Q: Why does performance drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The GPU has a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and 24 ROPs, which are too few to handle the 3840x2160 framebuffer. The shared memory bandwidth, listed as "System Dependent," also becomes a limiting factor, causing the 62% drop from 89 FPS at 1080p Low to 34 FPS at 4K Low.

Q: What settings should I use for a 1440p monitor?

A: The only viable option is Low settings, which produces an average of 60 FPS. Medium settings at 1440p average 46 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may cause noticeable stuttering in fast action sequences.