Evolve

Evolve is a 2015 FPS that stresses the tested Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + Intel Arc B390 combination in a way that reveals a decisive GPU bottleneck at almost every setting, with the integrated Arc B390 graphics (Panther Lake, Xe3-LPG) capping performance far below what the 10-core Arrow Lake CPU can deliver. The data shows a combo rank of 2530 out of 2872 tested combinations, placing this pairing in the bottom 12% of all tested systems, and the measured FPS numbers confirm that playable frame rates are only achievable at 1080p Low, with every other preset falling below the 60 FPS threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, but the pattern reveals that the integrated GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 89 at 1920x1080 to 60 at 2560x1440, then to 34 at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 55 FPS, or roughly 62%, when moving from 1080p to 4K. This scaling is far from linear, with the 1440p result representing a 33% drop from 1080p, and the 4K result representing a further 43% drop from 1440p. The progressive decline indicates that the Arc B390's fill rate and shading throughput (7.680 TFLOPS FP32, 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate) are simply overwhelmed as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the same trend holds but with lower absolute numbers: 54 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 33% from 1080p to 1440p and 42% from 1440p to 4K, closely mirroring the Low setting pattern. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling is primarily a function of the GPU's raw pixel processing capability rather than any specific setting interaction. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are the likely bottlenecks here, as each resolution step increases the pixel workload by roughly 78% (1080p to 1440p) and another 125% (1440p to 4K).

The Medium settings show the full picture with min and max FPS values available: at 1080p Medium, the average is 69 FPS with a range of 59 to 79; at 1440p Medium, the average drops to 46 FPS with a range of 39 to 53; and at 4K Medium, the average falls to 26 FPS with a range of 22 to 30. The min FPS at 1080p Medium (59) is barely above the 60 FPS target, while at 1440p Medium even the max FPS (53) falls short. This indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads (base 3.30 GHz, boost 4.90 GHz) have ample headroom for a 2015 title.

Ultra settings are the most punishing, with 37 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Ultra result is actually lower than the 4K Low result (34 FPS), which demonstrates that the setting preset has a larger impact on performance than resolution alone. This is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the integrated graphics' memory bandwidth (System Shared, System Dependent) and 1536 shading units are the limiting factors. The data strongly suggests that no resolution scaling behavior can overcome the fundamental GPU limitation, and users should expect sub-60 FPS in all but the most forgiving configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on Arrow Lake-S architecture with a 3 nm process node from TSMC. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz are strong for a desktop CPU, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 3 MB of L2 cache per core. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its average benchmark score of 36938 is nearly identical to the nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945 with a deltaPct of 0, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%) are also within a fraction of a percent.

For Evolve, a game released in 2015, the CPU's role is minimal in terms of raw compute demand. The game's era predates the heavy multi-threading seen in modern titles, and the Core Ultra 5 225's 10 threads are far more than necessary for the game's logic and physics. The Passmark physics score of 2342 and integer math score of 65345 indicate strong computational capability, but these are not exercised heavily by Evolve. Instead, the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 3655, Passmark single-thread 4412) is more relevant, and this is excellent for a desktop part.

The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any measured configuration. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 89 is likely near the game's engine limit or the GPU's ceiling, not a CPU constraint. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect FPS to remain relatively flat across resolutions at a given setting, but instead we see significant drops (89 to 60 to 34 at Low). This is a classic GPU-bound signature. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s (dual-channel DDR5) is also ample, and the integrated GPU shares this bandwidth, which may explain some of the performance ceiling, but the CPU itself is not the limiting factor.

The nearest rival comparisons for the CPU show that the Core Ultra 5 225 is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, and Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 in average benchmark score. None of these rivals would meaningfully change the Evolve results because the GPU is the constraint. Even a significantly faster CPU would yield the same frame rates in this configuration. The CPU's 65 W TDP and active production status indicate it is a modern, efficient part, but its role in Evolve is purely supportive — ensuring that the GPU receives data without bottlenecks, which it does easily.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2530 out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems tested. This rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU, as the Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 puts it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, deltaPct 1.3%), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5%), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5%), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7%). These rivals are all legacy or integrated-class GPUs, which contextualizes the Arc B390's performance level — it is competing with hardware from a much older era despite its modern architecture.

The combo rank of 2530 out of 2872 means that 342 tested combos performed worse, while 2529 performed better. Given that the CPU is in the 85th percentile, the combo rank is a clear indictment of the GPU's capability. If the CPU were paired with even a mid-range discrete GPU from the same era, the rank would improve substantially. However, as configured, this combo is only suitable for low-resolution, low-settings gaming, and Evolve is no exception.

The data indicates that the combo's rank is not a reflection of CPU deficiency. The Core Ultra 5 225's average benchmark score of 36938 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals, and its percentile of 85 shows it outperforms 85% of all CPUs. The bottleneck is unambiguously the GPU, which sits at the 9th percentile. This disparity between CPU and GPU performance is extreme, and it means the combo's rank in Evolve is essentially predetermined by the GPU. For users considering this combo, the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield dramatic improvements, while CPU upgrades would provide virtually no benefit in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), for a total of 12 data points. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 89 FPS, Medium 69 FPS (min 59, max 79), High 54 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. Only Low exceeds the 60 FPS target, and Medium falls just short with an average of 69 but a min of 59. High and Ultra are both below 60, with Ultra at 37 FPS being barely playable. The transition from Low to Medium costs 20 FPS (89 to 69), from Medium to High costs 15 FPS (69 to 54), and from High to Ultra costs 17 FPS (54 to 37). These decrements are roughly linear, indicating that each preset step adds similar GPU workload.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 60 FPS, Medium 46 FPS (min 39, max 53), High 36 FPS, and Ultra 25 FPS. Only Low hits the 60 FPS target, and it does so exactly, with no headroom for dips. Medium, High, and Ultra are all below 60, with Ultra at 25 FPS being borderline unplayable for an FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is consistent: Low drops 29 FPS (89 to 60), Medium drops 23 FPS (69 to 46), High drops 18 FPS (54 to 36), and Ultra drops 12 FPS (37 to 25). The absolute drop decreases as settings increase, but the percentage drop is similar, ranging from 32% to 38%.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 34 FPS, Medium 26 FPS (min 22, max 30), High 21 FPS, and Ultra 14 FPS. No setting reaches 30 FPS except Low, and Ultra at 14 FPS is essentially a slideshow. The drop from 1440p to 4K is: Low drops 26 FPS (60 to 34), Medium drops 20 FPS (46 to 26), High drops 15 FPS (36 to 21), and Ultra drops 11 FPS (25 to 14). The pattern is again consistent, with each resolution step roughly halving the frame rate at each setting, which is expected given the 4x pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K.

The min FPS values are only available for Medium settings: 59 at 1080p, 39 at 1440p, and 22 at 4K. These min values are close to the averages (within 10-15%), which suggests that frame pacing is relatively stable, but the absolute numbers are low. At 1080p Medium, the min of 59 means that even the best-case scenario is just under 60 FPS, while at 1440p Medium, the min of 39 indicates frequent dips below 40 FPS. The data shows no scenario where this combo provides a smooth 60+ FPS experience with headroom, except possibly at 1080p Low, where the average is 89 but no min is provided.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU (IGP) based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process from Intel. It has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its memory is System Shared, meaning it uses the system's DDR5 RAM with bandwidth that is System Dependent, and its FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The GPU's TDP is 80 W, and it uses no power connectors, confirming its integrated nature.

The GPU's benchmark performance is poor, as indicated by its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, deltaPct 1.3%), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5%), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5%), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7%). These are all low-end or legacy GPUs, and the Arc B390 is only 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX, a GPU from 2011. This contextualizes the Evolve results: the Arc B390 is not a gaming GPU, and its performance in a 2015 title is consistent with its 9th percentile ranking.

In Evolve, the GPU is the sole limiting factor. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (37 FPS) is lower than the FPS at 4K Low (34 FPS), but this is a function of the preset's workload, not the GPU's scaling. The GPU's 24 ROPs are a major constraint for pixel-heavy workloads, especially at 4K where the pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s is insufficient. The 1536 shading units and 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 are also modest, and the System Shared memory bandwidth (System Dependent) likely causes additional stalls when the GPU and CPU compete for the same DDR5 bandwidth.

The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz is high for an integrated solution, but it cannot compensate for the limited hardware resources. The data shows that the GPU's performance scales poorly with resolution, and the measured FPS at 4K (14-34 FPS depending on settings) is below playable thresholds for an FPS. The GPU's 12 RT cores are irrelevant for Evolve, as the game does not use ray tracing, and its DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is ahead of the game's 2015 requirements, but this is of no benefit. The GPU's role in this combo is to deliver playable FPS only at 1080p Low, with everything else being a compromise.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that consistently achieves 60 FPS or higher is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 89 FPS. This is the recommended preset for this combo, as it provides the smoothest experience. At 1080p Medium, the average is 69 FPS, but the min FPS of 59 means that users will experience dips below 60, which can be noticeable in an FPS. If users can tolerate occasional drops, 1080p Medium is a viable alternative, offering better visual quality with a 20 FPS average penalty compared to Low.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings reach 60 FPS, and they do so exactly (60 FPS average). This is a risky choice because any demanding scene will push the FPS below 60, and there is no headroom. The data shows that 1440p Medium averages 46 FPS with a min of 39, which is playable but not ideal for a competitive FPS. For users prioritizing resolution over smoothness, 1440p Low is the only option that meets the 60 FPS target, but it offers no margin for error.

At 3840x2160, no setting achieves 60 FPS. The best result is 34 FPS at Low settings, which is below the standard for an FPS. Even 4K Medium (26 FPS) and 4K High (21 FPS) are well below playable thresholds, and 4K Ultra (14 FPS) is unplayable. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in Evolve, regardless of settings.

The settings recommendations are straightforward: use 1080p Low for the best experience, or 1080p Medium if visual quality matters more than absolute smoothness. At 1440p, only Low is acceptable for 60 FPS, and at 4K, no setting is recommended. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as it delivers 37 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K — all below playable levels. The data indicates that the GPU's limitations cannot be overcome by any settings configuration, so users should set their expectations accordingly. The combo's rank of 2530 out of 2872 in Evolve is a direct reflection of these measured results, and the GPU's 9th percentile ranking confirms that this is a low-end pairing for gaming.