Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphics preset, revealing a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings but offers substantial headroom at lower ones. In Evolve, this combination produces a wide range of frame rates, from a highly playable 115 FPS at 1080p High to a demanding 31 FPS at 4K Ultra, illustrating the scalability of both the processor and the mobile graphics solution. The benchmark data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4070 Mobile is the primary performance limiter as resolution and settings increase, while the Core Ultra 5 135H provides sufficient throughput to avoid bottlenecking at lower graphical loads.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve shows a clear and predictable performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 115 FPS at 1080p to 77 FPS at 1440p, a significant reduction of 33%. This trend continues at 4K, where the average drops further to 44 FPS, representing a 62% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the rendering load is expanding rapidly with pixel count, and the RTX 4070 Mobile's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at the highest resolution.

The data from the Medium preset provides additional insight into this scaling behavior. At 1080p, the average FPS is 147, which drops to 99 FPS at 1440p (a 33% decrease) and then to 56 FPS at 4K (a 62% decrease from 1080p). This consistent percentage drop across settings suggests that the bottleneck is primarily the GPU's fillrate and memory subsystem rather than a sudden shift in CPU limitation. The fact that the 4K Medium average of 56 FPS is higher than the 4K High average of 44 FPS, but still below the 1440p High average of 77 FPS, reinforces that resolution has a more substantial impact on performance than the incremental settings increase.

At the Low preset, the scaling is even more dramatic, with average FPS figures of 190 at 1080p, 127 at 1440p, and 72 at 4K. The 4K Low result is particularly telling, as it nearly matches the 1440p High result of 77 FPS. This crossover point suggests that at 4K Low, the GPU is still the limiting factor, but the reduced shader and texture complexity allows it to operate more efficiently. The steep drop from 190 FPS at 1080p Low to 127 FPS at 1440p Low (a 33% reduction) indicates that even at the lowest settings, the increase in pixel count is the dominant cost, with the CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads showing no signs of becoming the primary constraint at these frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the central component in determining Evolve's performance at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, which appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The benchmark results show the GPU's average score of 19587 in the Passmark G3D test and a percentile ranking of 73 against all GPUs, placing it in a solid mid-to-high range for mobile hardware. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, achieves a nearly identical average score of 27425, with a deltaPct of 0%, indicating that these two GPUs are effectively tied in overall compute performance.

The clock speeds of 1395 MHz base and 1695 MHz boost are modest for the Ada Lovelace architecture, but the 4608 shading units and 144 texture mapping units allow for substantial parallel throughput, as evidenced by the 244.1 GTexel/s texture rate and 15.62 TFLOPS FP32 performance. In Evolve, this translates to the GPU being the clear bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 31. This is a 61% reduction from the 4K High average of 44 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset's additional effects, likely including higher shadow quality and post-processing, place a severe strain on the GPU's resources. The 4K Medium average of 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS suggests that the GPU can still maintain a playable experience if settings are moderated, but the 4K Ultra result indicates that this mobile GPU is not designed for maximum fidelity at 4K resolution.

The Passmark DirectX 12 score of 85 for this GPU is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 179, which could explain some performance characteristics in a 2015 title like Evolve, which was released before DirectX 12 became widely adopted. The GPU's Vulkan score of 108367 from Geekbench is strong, but Evolve's engine is likely optimized for older APIs, meaning the GPU's raw compute power may not be fully utilized. The 73rd percentile ranking places this GPU above average, and its performance in Evolve at 1080p High (115 FPS) and 1440p High (77 FPS) reflects a capable mobile solution that can handle high refresh rate gaming at lower resolutions, but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K except at Low settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H provides the processing foundation for this combo, and its specifications suggest it is more than adequate for Evolve's CPU demands. With 14 cores and 18 threads, a base clock of 3.60 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, this processor offers strong multi-threaded performance that is unlikely to bottleneck the RTX 4070 Mobile in most scenarios. The CPU's benchmark results confirm this, with a Passmark multithread score of 22422 and a single-thread score of 3521, placing it in the 81st percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has a nearly identical average score of 29123, with a deltaPct of -0.1%, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 135H is on par with a desktop-class processor from a previous generation.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 190 is exceptionally high, and the data does not show any signs of CPU limitation, as the frame rate scales consistently with resolution changes. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data storage for game logic and AI calculations, which are typically minimal in a 2015 FPS title. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 further demonstrates the CPU's capability to handle concurrent workloads, though Evolve is unlikely to fully utilize all 14 cores.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, achieved through dual-channel DDR5 support, is sufficient to feed the GPU's 256.0 GB/s bandwidth without creating a data transfer bottleneck. This is evidenced by the fact that the performance drop from 1080p to 1440p at high settings is consistent with the increase in pixel count, rather than a sudden plateau that would indicate CPU starvation. The 28 W TDP of this mobile processor is modest, but its architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process, delivers efficient performance that complements the RTX 4070 Mobile's power characteristics. The benchmark data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 135H is never the primary limiting factor in this combo, even at the highest frame rates measured.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile ranks 2003 out of 3700 combos for Evolve, placing it in the 46th percentile. This ranking indicates that while the individual components are above average (CPU at 81st percentile, GPU at 73rd percentile), the combined performance is middling, which is likely due to the demanding nature of Evolve at higher resolutions. The rank of 2003 suggests that there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates, but it also means that this combo outperforms over 1700 other tested configurations.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance contribution. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with a deltaPct of -0.1%, is virtually identical in average benchmark score, meaning that swapping the Core Ultra 5 135H for this desktop CPU would yield no measurable performance difference in synthetic tests. The Intel Core i5-13500HX, another mobile chip, is 0.6% faster, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT is 0.5% slower. These small deltas suggest that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo's ranking; the GPU's performance and the game's optimization are more significant factors. The GPU's rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, is a perfect match at 0% deltaPct, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is only 0.5% faster, indicating that the RTX 4070 Mobile delivers desktop-class performance in synthetic benchmarks.

Given the combo's rank at 2003 out of 3700, it falls just below the median, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing that 4K Ultra is unplayable (31 FPS) and 4K High is borderline (44 FPS). The performance is more competitive at lower resolutions, where the combo's ranking would likely improve if only 1080p results were considered. The fact that the combo ranks below the 50th percentile despite having a top-quartile GPU and CPU suggests that Evolve's engine is not particularly well-optimized for this hardware combination, or that the mobile thermal constraints limit sustained performance compared to desktop equivalents.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and RTX 4070 Mobile combo at 1920x1080 with High settings is 115 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo achieves an average of 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS, which is playable. However, at High settings the average drops to 44 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 31 FPS, indicating that 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Mobile compare to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 Mobile has an average score of 27435, while the RX 6700 XT has a score of 27425, resulting in a deltaPct of 0%, meaning they are effectively identical in performance.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H scores 3521 in the Passmark single-thread test and 1700 in Cinebench R23 single-core, indicating strong per-core performance that is well-suited for older game engines like Evolve's.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum measured FPS is 84, with an average of 99 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS, providing a consistent experience without major frame drops.

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

A: This combo ranks 2003 out of 3700 tested combinations for Evolve, placing it in the 46th percentile, which is slightly below the median for all tested hardware pairings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results show a clear progression across settings. With Low settings, the average FPS is 190, which is the highest measured value for this resolution. Medium settings produce an average of 147 FPS, with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. High settings yield an average of 115 FPS, while Ultra settings drop the average to 80 FPS. These figures show a 42% reduction from Low to Ultra, indicating that the GPU is managing the additional load well at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 127 FPS, Medium settings average 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS, High settings average 77 FPS, and Ultra settings average 54 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each setting results in a consistent 33-36% reduction in average FPS, confirming that resolution scaling is the dominant factor. The 1440p Ultra result of 54 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, but the Medium preset's 99 FPS average offers a much more comfortable margin.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low settings average 72 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium settings drop to an average of 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS. High settings average 44 FPS, and Ultra settings plummet to 31 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset and is not suitable for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium result, with a minimum of 48 FPS, is borderline, but the 4K Low result of 72 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 4070 Mobile can handle 4K if settings are significantly reduced.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset provides an excellent balance with an average of 115 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a smooth experience on a 60 Hz display and approaches the 144 Hz threshold. The Ultra preset at 1080p, with an average of 80 FPS, is also playable and offers the best visual fidelity, but the 35 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual improvement for all users. The Medium preset at 147 FPS is ideal for high refresh rate monitors, as it provides a framerate that can fully utilize a 144 Hz panel.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 77 FPS is the recommended choice for a balance of visual quality and performance, as it stays above the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is preferable for users with a 100 Hz or higher refresh rate display, while the Ultra preset at 54 FPS should be avoided unless the user prioritizes graphics over frame rate. The Low preset at 127 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where framerate is paramount over visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 72 FPS is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience. The Medium preset at 56 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but the minimum of 48 FPS may result in noticeable stutters. The High and Ultra presets at 44 FPS and 31 FPS respectively are not recommended for regular play, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold and the Ultra preset fails to maintain even 30 FPS in demanding scenes. For 4K gaming, users should accept the Low preset or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to use higher quality settings.