Evolve

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a combination that produces playable frame rates at 1080p with lower settings, but the integrated graphics solution becomes the clear bottleneck as resolution and quality settings increase. The data reflects a system where the CPU’s massive computational resources are largely untapped, while the GPU’s limited execution units struggle to keep pace with the demands of a 2015-era FPS title. This analysis draws exclusively from the measured performance data, component specifications, and ranking information provided.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Evolve?

A: According to the measured FPS data, the highest playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 80 FPS. The next viable option is 1920x1080 with Medium settings at 62 FPS average, though the 2560x1440 Low setting at 54 FPS average is also smooth enough for most gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The comboRankInGame data places this pairing at rank 2639 out of 2872 tested combos. That puts it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, indicating that the integrated GPU severely limits overall gaming performance in this title despite the CPU’s high ranking.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K a strong processor on its own?

A: Yes, the CPU benchmarks show it in the 95th percentile versus all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 39399.5, and its Geekbench multicore score is 21697. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900KF, has an average score only 0.3% lower, placing the 14900K at the top of its performance class.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance percentile relative to other graphics cards?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. Its closest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores only 0.2% higher, indicating that this integrated GPU is comparable to very old discrete mobile parts.

Q: How does the FPS scale when moving from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the average FPS is 49. At 2560x1440 High, it drops to 33 FPS, and at 3840x2160 High, it falls to 19 FPS. This represents a 61% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the CPU’s launch MSRP?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has a launch MSRP of $589. This processor features 24 cores and 32 threads with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a desktop-class processor built on the Raptor Lake architecture, specifically the Raptor Lake-R refresh, using a 10 nm process node from Intel. It belongs to the Core 14th Gen series and is designed for the Intel Socket 1700 platform. The chip packs 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a 36 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus, and it integrates UHD Graphics 770 as a fallback display solution.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU’s raw compute potential is far beyond what the game requires. The benchmark data shows a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5, while Geekbench reports 21697 multicore and 2655 single-core. PassMark multithread testing yields 58674, and the single-thread score is 4697. These numbers place the processor in the 95th percentile versus all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of installed processors. The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.3% lower average score), the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (0.6% lower), the AMD EPYC 7413 (1.2% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (1.7% higher). The 14900K essentially trades blows with these high-end parts, demonstrating that it is not the source of any performance shortfall in this pairing.

The measured FPS data supports this conclusion. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 80 FPS, which is a decent frame rate for a 2015 title. However, the CPU is capable of handling far more demanding workloads, as evidenced by its PassMark data compression score of 792694 and integer math score of 210622. The game’s logic, physics, and AI processing are unlikely to stress a 24-core, 32-thread processor running at up to 6.00 GHz. In fact, the CPU’s 125 W TDP and active production status suggest it is designed for sustained high-performance workloads, not for being held back by an integrated graphics unit. The bottleneck in this system is clearly not the CPU, as the frame rates drop dramatically with resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Panther Lake chip and Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with memory that is system shared rather than dedicated. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1). The TDP is only 25 W, and it uses no power connectors, as it is designed for portable devices. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In terms of benchmark performance, the Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which places it in the 5th percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all older or lower-end parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro M2000 (1.4% lower). This means the Arc B370 performs on par with graphics cards from over a decade ago. In a game like Evolve, which was released in 2015, this GPU is the primary constraint.

The measured FPS data confirms this. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system averages only 13 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p with Ultra settings, the average is 34 FPS, which is borderline. The GPU’s 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs are simply insufficient for high-resolution rendering with complex effects. The system-shared memory means bandwidth is dependent on the system configuration, which further limits performance. The boost clock of 2400 MHz is respectable for an IGP, but the small number of execution units relative to a dedicated GPU means raw throughput is low. The 3DMark score of 1184 is indicative of a part that can handle light or older games at low settings, but Evolve’s more demanding preset levels tax it heavily.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame data places this specific configuration at rank 2639 out of 2872 tested combos. That is a position in the bottom 8% of all combinations, which reflects the severe imbalance between the top-tier CPU and the entry-level integrated GPU. To put this in perspective, the CPU alone ranks in the 95th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 5th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of these two disparate components results in a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound in Evolve.

The rank of 2639 suggests that most other tested combos, even those with much weaker CPUs, achieve better gaming performance because they pair with dedicated GPUs. The data indicates that this pairing is better suited for CPU-intensive tasks like content creation or data processing, where the 14900K’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and PassMark multithread score of 58674 shine. In gaming, however, the GPU becomes the sole determinant of frame rate. For example, at 1920x1080 Low, the system hits 80 FPS, which is respectable, but at 3840x2160 Ultra, it falls to 13 FPS. This wide spread in performance across settings is characteristic of a GPU that cannot scale with resolution.

The rank also implies that users seeking to play Evolve at higher resolutions or settings would need to significantly upgrade the graphics solution. The CPU has ample headroom, as evidenced by its performance relative to the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores only 0.3% higher on average. The bottleneck is purely the Arc B370, which is designed for portable devices, not desktop gaming. In a benchmark database context, this combo serves as a cautionary example of how a powerful CPU cannot compensate for an underpowered GPU in a graphics-intensive workload.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system averages 80 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops the average to 54 FPS, a reduction of 32.5%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 31 FPS, which is a 61.3% reduction from 1080p. The trend is similar across all settings presets.

For High settings, the progression is 49 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This represents a 61.2% drop from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings show 62 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, with minimum and maximum values of 53-72 FPS at 1080p, 35-48 FPS at 1440p, and 20-27 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 34 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 13 FPS at 4K.

The fact that the frame rate nearly halves when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and then halves again from 1440p to 4K, indicates that the GPU is operating at its limits even at the lowest settings. The pixel fill rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply too low to handle the increased pixel count at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance does not change with resolution, so the consistent FPS drops across all settings presets point exclusively to the GPU as the limiting component. This is further corroborated by the fact that the CPU’s 3DMark score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile, meaning it lacks the raw power to drive higher frame rates at any resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete set of measured average FPS data for this configuration in Evolve, organized by resolution and settings.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 80 FPS average
• Medium: 62 FPS average, with minimum 53 FPS and maximum 72 FPS
• High: 49 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

At 1080p, the system is closest to playable. Low settings at 80 FPS are smooth, and Medium at 62 FPS is also acceptable for most players. High settings at 49 FPS are playable but with noticeable dips during intense scenes. Ultra at 34 FPS is marginal, as the frame rate is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players prefer, but it is not a slideshow. The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium (53 FPS), which suggests that the frame pacing is relatively consistent at that setting.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 54 FPS average
• Medium: 42 FPS average, with minimum 35 FPS and maximum 48 FPS
• High: 33 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

At 1440p, the performance drops become more pronounced. Low settings at 54 FPS are still playable, but Medium at 42 FPS begins to feel less responsive. High at 33 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 23 FPS is difficult to play comfortably. The minimum FPS for Medium is 35 FPS, which indicates potential stuttering during combat or when multiple effects are on screen. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 30-35% across all settings, which is consistent with a GPU that is struggling with the additional pixel workload.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 31 FPS average
• Medium: 24 FPS average, with minimum 20 FPS and maximum 27 FPS
• High: 19 FPS average
• Ultra: 13 FPS average

At 4K, the system is effectively unplayable for a fast-paced FPS. Even Low settings at 31 FPS are below the playable threshold for many, and Medium at 24 FPS is a slideshow. High at 19 FPS and Ultra at 13 FPS are not viable for any practical gameplay. The minimum FPS of 20 at Medium highlights the severe performance ceiling. This resolution scaling behavior confirms that the Intel Arc B370 is the absolute bottleneck, as the CPU’s performance is identical regardless of resolution. The GPU’s 20 ROPs and 1280 shading units are insufficient for 4K rendering, regardless of the game’s age. The data shows that this combo is best used at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, where the frame rates are acceptable for casual play.