Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the AMD Radeon 880M is a mobile integrated-graphics combination that yields playable frame rates in Evolve only under specific, deliberate settings choices. The measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and fluidity, with the system’s performance ceiling firmly dictated by the iGPU’s capabilities. This analysis walks through the measured FPS rows to determine the optimal configuration, the role of the GPU and CPU, and how this combo stacks up against the broader test pool.

Settings Recommendations

The data indicates that the Low preset is the only settings level that consistently delivers a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so exclusively at 1920x1080. At this resolution, the Low preset produces an average of 75 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all tested configurations. For players prioritizing smooth, responsive gameplay, this is the definitive choice. The Medium preset at 1920x1080 is a viable alternative, yielding an average of 58 FPS, but it falls just short of the 60 FPS mark, making it a secondary option for those who can tolerate minor dips.

At higher resolutions, the Low preset remains the most playable option but with significant compromises. At 2560x1440, Low produces an average of 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. At 3840x2160, Low drops to 29 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended under any tested condition. At 1920x1080, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages only 32 FPS. At 2560x1440, High averages 30 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS. At 3840x2160, High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. These numbers show a consistent pattern: the Radeon 880M lacks the raw throughput to maintain fluid motion at anything above Low settings, even at the lowest resolution.

The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1920x1080 with the Low preset, offering the only average above 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the best compromise for visual quality, but its 58 FPS average and minimum of 49 FPS suggest it is borderline for competitive play. Given that Evolve is an FPS, the margin for error is slim, and the data strongly favors the Low preset for a consistent experience.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 880M is an integrated graphics processor based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process. Its performance characteristics are the primary bottleneck in this combo, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across resolutions and settings. The GPU operates with a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, but its memory configuration is “System Shared,” meaning it relies on the system’s main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory architecture is a critical limitation, as the memory bandwidth is listed as “System Dependent,” which introduces variability and potential contention with CPU tasks.

The GPU’s raw compute specifications are modest: 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. It offers 12 ray tracing cores and a peak FP32 throughput of 4.454 TFLOPS. These numbers, while not groundbreaking, are sufficient for older titles like Evolve, which launched in 2015. However, the measured FPS data reveals that the GPU is the limiting factor at all settings and resolutions. For instance, dropping from Ultra to Low at 1920x1080 improves the average FPS from 32 to 75, a 134% increase, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. Similarly, at 3840x2160, the jump from Ultra (12 FPS) to Low (29 FPS) shows a 142% improvement, further confirming that the GPU’s fill rate and shader throughput are saturated.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate this analysis. Its Passmark G3D score is 7615, and it holds a percentile ranking of 43 among all GPUs, indicating it sits in the lower half of the performance distribution. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (deltaPct of 0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (deltaPct of -0.3), and the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (deltaPct of -0.3). These comparisons show that the 880M is competitive with older discrete mobile GPUs, but it is not a high-performance part. The data suggests that for Evolve, the GPU’s 16 ROPs and 48 TMUs are the primary constraints, as higher resolutions demand more pixel and texture throughput, which the iGPU cannot provide.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth experience in Evolve with this combo?*

A: The data shows that the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that achieves an average FPS above 70 (75 FPS). The Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the next best, averaging 58 FPS, but its minimum of 49 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target for ideal FPS play.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Evolve?*

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 29, achieved with the Low preset. The Medium preset averages 22 FPS, High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. None of these are playable for a fast-paced FPS, indicating the GPU is insufficient for 4K gaming in this title.

Q: How does the Radeon 880M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 8436. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (score 8427, deltaPct 0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (score 8458, deltaPct -0.3), and the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (score 8462, deltaPct -0.3). The 880M performs within less than a half percent of these parts, showing it is a mid-range mobile iGPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The FPS scaling points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. For example, at 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 75 on Low to 32 on Ultra, a 57% reduction, which is consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The CPU’s benchmarks are relatively strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12804.5, suggesting it is not the limiting component.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimum FPS values at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 49 FPS. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 33 FPS. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 19 FPS. These dips highlight the instability of the Medium preset for maintaining a consistent frame rate.

*Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations for Evolve?*

A: The combo ranks 2805 out of 2872 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 2.3% of the pool. This indicates that while the setup can run the game, it is far less capable than the vast majority of other tested systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 75 FPS, the highest of any configuration. The Medium preset follows at 58 FPS, with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 67 FPS, showing some fluctuation. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 32 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded for these two settings. This resolution is the only one where the combo approaches playable frame rates, with the Low preset comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. The Low preset averages 50 FPS, which is still technically playable but lacks the headroom of the 1080p Low setting. The Medium preset averages 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, indicating significant frame pacing issues. The High preset averages 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 21 FPS. None of these settings provide a smooth experience, and the data suggests that 1440p is only suitable for the Low preset if the player can tolerate sub-60 FPS performance.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playability. The Low preset averages 29 FPS, which is below the minimum threshold for a responsive FPS. The Medium preset averages 22 FPS, with a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS, showing severe performance degradation. The High preset averages 17 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 12 FPS. These numbers are uniformly poor, indicating that 4K resolution is not a viable option for this game with this hardware.

The data also shows a clear linear scaling with settings within each resolution. For example, at 1920x1080, the progression from Low (75 FPS) to Medium (58 FPS) to High (45 FPS) to Ultra (32 FPS) represents a consistent 20-25% drop per tier. This pattern repeats at higher resolutions, albeit with lower absolute values, confirming that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with the workload imposed by each settings preset.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At the Low preset, the average FPS goes from 75 at 1920x1080, to 50 at 2560x1440, to 29 at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 42% drop from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 61%, meaning the system loses nearly two-thirds of its performance when the pixel count quadruples. This is a classic sign of a fill-rate-limited GPU, as the number of pixels to render increases dramatically with resolution.

At the Medium preset, the average FPS goes from 58 at 1080p, to 39 at 1440p, to 22 at 4K. The percentage drops are 33% and 44% respectively, showing a similar pattern. At the High preset, the averages are 45, 30, and 17, representing drops of 33% and 43%. The Ultra preset shows 32, 21, and 12 FPS, with drops of 34% and 43%. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings suggests that the scaling is purely resolution-driven and not affected by the settings level, further proving that the GPU is the limiting component.

The data implies that the CPU is not a significant factor in resolution scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU workload is largely independent of pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with the pixel count, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound system. The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at these frame rates, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12804.5 and Passmark multithread score of 21100. Therefore, the resolution scaling analysis points squarely at the Radeon 880M as the performance limiter.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. Its cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores are respectable for a mobile part: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12804.5 and a single-core score of 1647.5, along with a Passmark single-thread score of 3399. These numbers place it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27507.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI, which are typically not as demanding as the graphics rendering. The measured FPS data shows that the combo’s performance is heavily GPU-bound, as the FPS scales directly with resolution and settings. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (deltaPct of -0.1), the Intel Core i5-12600K (deltaPct of -0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X (deltaPct of -0.3), all of which have nearly identical average scores. This indicates that the 125H is a capable mid-range processor that is unlikely to create a bottleneck in a 2015 title like Evolve.

The CPU’s high multicore performance (Cinebench R20 multicore score of 7161) ensures that it can handle the game’s threading requirements without issue. The data shows that at 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 75 FPS, which is a frame rate that would expose any CPU limitations. Since the FPS drops to 32 FPS at Ultra settings, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor; instead, the GPU’s inability to render at higher settings is the constraint. The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory bus (with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide sufficient data throughput to keep the GPU fed, but the GPU’s system-shared memory architecture may introduce latency that the CPU cannot compensate for.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Evolve, this combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and AMD Radeon 880M ranks 2805 out of 2872. This places it in the bottom 2.3% of all tested systems, indicating that it is one of the least capable configurations for this game. The rank is a composite measure of the combo’s overall performance, likely weighted toward the GPU’s capabilities, given the game’s graphics-intensive nature.

The low rank is consistent with the measured FPS data. The combo’s best-case scenario (1080p Low at 75 FPS) is achievable by most dedicated gaming systems, but its worst-case scenario (4K Ultra at 12 FPS) is far below what even modest discrete GPUs can achieve. The GPU’s percentile rank of 43 among all GPUs and its Passmark G3D score of 7615 place it in the lower half of the performance distribution, which directly contributes to the combo’s poor ranking.

Comparatively, the CPU’s rank is much stronger. The 125H’s percentile of 79 among all CPUs and its nearest rivals (all within 0.5% of its average score) show that it is a solid mid-range processor. However, in a game like Evolve, the GPU’s performance dominates the overall experience. The combo’s rank of 2805 suggests that while the CPU is competent, the integrated GPU is a severe limitation, relegating this system to low-resolution, low-settings gaming. The data indicates that for any meaningful improvement in Evolve, a discrete GPU would be necessary, as the 880M’s 16 ROPs and 4.454 TFLOPS are simply insufficient for higher workloads.