Evolve

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti lands at rank 1605 out of 2872 tested combos for Evolve. That places this configuration in the 56th percentile overall, meaning roughly 44% of tested pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this title. The position is respectable but not dominant, reflecting a system that can handle Evolve comfortably at most settings while capping out at the highest visual presets.

The ranking becomes more telling when broken down by resolution. This combo sits in a middle ground where the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU's age begins to show as resolution climbs. The data shows a clear stratification: at 1080p, the system produces highly playable numbers across all settings, while at 4K, only the Low preset approaches what most players would consider smooth. The rank of 1605 captures this duality—not a top-tier pairing, but far from a weak one.

What stands out is the consistency of the CPU's performance profile. The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 25891 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3655 in single-core, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945, a delta of 0%. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i9-12900T trails by 0.5%. This CPU is effectively at parity with its closest competitors, meaning the combo's ranking is driven more by the GPU than any CPU bottleneck.

The GTX 1080 Ti, meanwhile, sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 15548. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 M380, scores 15521 (0.2% ahead), while the RTX 2060 scores 15290 (1.7% behind). This GPU is neither a top-tier performer nor obsolete—it occupies a solid mid-range position that aligns with the combo's overall rank. The pairing makes sense: a modern mid-range CPU feeding a last-generation flagship GPU, with the GPU acting as the primary limiter in Evolve's more demanding scenarios.

GPU Role

The GTX 1080 Ti brings 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, yielding 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 1481 MHz with a boost of 1582 MHz, and memory operates at 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective). These specifications were flagship-tier in 2017, but for Evolve—a game released in 2015—they remain more than adequate for most settings.

The GPU's VRAM capacity is notable. At 11 GB, it exceeds what Evolve realistically requires even at 4K, meaning memory capacity is not a limiting factor. The bandwidth, however, tells a different story. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 29 FPS average, while dropping to High yields 42 FPS and Medium reaches 54 FPS. The jump from Ultra to High (13 FPS) is larger than from High to Medium (12 FPS), suggesting the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are being stressed progressively as settings increase.

The GPU's texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s provide context for these numbers. Evolve's environment-heavy scenes—dense foliage, dynamic lighting, and particle effects—demand texture throughput. The 224 TMUs handle this adequately at 1080p, where the combo reaches 110 FPS on High and 76 FPS on Ultra. But at 4K, the pixel fill rate becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the 42 FPS High result versus 74 FPS at 1440p High.

The 1080 Ti's FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS is another indicator. Evolve's shader complexity at Ultra settings pushes this GPU to its limits at 4K, where the 29 FPS average is barely playable. The fact that Low settings at 4K yield 69 FPS—more than double the Ultra result—shows how heavily the game's higher presets tax the GPU's shading units and ROPs. The 88 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K they struggle to keep up with the pixel throughput required by Evolve's post-processing effects.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Evolve?

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 94 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS, while High reaches 74 FPS. At 1080p, performance is higher (110 FPS on High, 140 FPS on Medium), but the visual fidelity gain from 1440p outweighs the frame rate drop for most players.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K in Evolve?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 69, which is playable. Medium drops to 54 FPS, High to 42 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. Only the Low preset provides a consistently smooth experience at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938 on average, matching the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta). The Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% behind. This CPU is essentially at parity with its closest competitors.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15548. It outperforms the RTX 2060 by 1.7% and the GTX 580 by 1.7%, while trailing the Radeon R9 M380 by 0.2%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Evolve?

A: The GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p, the CPU feeds the GPU well enough to reach 181 FPS on Low, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate collapses to 29 FPS—a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's strong single-thread score of 3655 in Cinebench R23 indicates it is not holding the system back.

Q: How does the combo rank overall?

A: It ranks 1605 out of 2872 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the 56th percentile. This is a mid-pack result, consistent with a modern CPU paired with an aging but capable GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers four resolutions and four settings presets, with 12 total data points. At 1080p, the combo delivers its strongest results: Low averages 181 FPS, Medium 140 FPS (119 min, 161 max), High 110 FPS, and Ultra 76 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 105 FPS, indicating that Evolve's higher presets impose a substantial load on the GPU even at the lowest resolution.

Moving to 1440p, performance drops predictably. Low yields 121 FPS, Medium 94 FPS (80 min, 108 max), High 74 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p ranges from 33% at Low (181 to 121 FPS) to 33% at Ultra (76 to 51 FPS), showing a consistent scaling factor regardless of settings. The minimum FPS at Medium (80) remains above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting this is a viable configuration for competitive play.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. Low produces 69 FPS, Medium 54 FPS (45 min, 62 max), High 42 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The minimum at Medium (45 FPS) dips below playable for many, and Ultra's 29 FPS average is borderline unplayable. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper: Low drops 43% (121 to 69 FPS), Medium drops 43% (94 to 54 FPS), High drops 43% (74 to 42 FPS), and Ultra drops 43% (51 to 29 FPS). This uniform percentage suggests the GPU is the sole limiting factor at these resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only configuration with complete min/max data across all resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 119-161 FPS range shows acceptable variance. At 1440p, the 80-108 FPS range tightens, while at 4K, the 45-62 FPS range indicates noticeable stutter potential. These numbers suggest that Medium is the most stable preset for this combo, with the widest margin before frame rate collapses.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing frame rate, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 181 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. However, this leaves performance on the table. The Medium preset at 1440p (94 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, with a minimum of 80 FPS that keeps gameplay fluid even during intense firefights.

The High preset is viable at 1440p (74 FPS) and 1080p (110 FPS), but the jump from Medium to High costs 20 FPS at 1440p and 30 FPS at 1080p—a significant sacrifice for visual improvements that may be subtle in fast-paced gameplay. At 4K, High drops to 42 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most.

For 4K players, the Low preset is the only practical choice, yielding 69 FPS. Medium at 4K (54 FPS) is borderline, with a minimum of 45 FPS that will cause noticeable hitches. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it produces 76 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K—all below what competitive players would accept.

The Ultra preset's 29 FPS at 4K highlights the GPU's limitations. Even at 1080p, Ultra (76 FPS) is 34 FPS slower than High (110 FPS), indicating that the preset's additional effects (likely volumetric lighting and enhanced shadows) disproportionately tax the GTX 1080 Ti. The data suggests that High at 1080p or Medium at 1440p are the optimal configurations, with the latter offering the best combination of resolution and frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 3.30 GHz with a boost of 4.90 GHz, and its 20 MB shared L3 cache provides ample capacity for game data. The CPU's Cinebench R23 scores—25891 multi-core and 3655 single-core—indicate strong performance for a mid-range desktop chip.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is largely supportive. The game's single-threaded nature benefits from the 4.90 GHz boost clock, which explains why the combo reaches 181 FPS at 1080p Low. The single-core score of 3655 puts this CPU ahead of many older desktop processors, ensuring that Evolve's game logic and physics calculations do not bottleneck the GPU.

The 10 cores and 10 threads are more than sufficient for Evolve, which likely uses fewer than eight threads. The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 30459 and integer math score of 65345 suggest it can handle background tasks without impacting game performance. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this is a capable processor for gaming workloads.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, delivered via dual-channel DDR5, is adequate for Evolve. The game's asset streaming, particularly at 4K, benefits from this bandwidth, but the GPU's 484.4 GB/s is the more critical pathway. The CPU's 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the GPU, though the GTX 1080 Ti's PCIe 3.0 interface means the connection is not fully utilized.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is uniform across all settings, with each resolution step reducing performance by approximately 33-43%. Specifically, moving from 1080p to 1440p sees a 33% drop at every preset, while moving from 1440p to 4K sees a 43% drop. This consistency indicates a purely GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU's performance ceiling is not reached at any resolution.

At 1080p, the combo produces 181 FPS on Low. This high frame rate suggests the CPU is capable of driving much more, but the GPU's rasterization limits prevent higher numbers. The fact that 1440p Low still yields 121 FPS shows that the GPU has headroom at lower resolutions, but the 4K Low result of 69 FPS reveals the GPU's fill rate limits.

The scaling curve is steepest at Ultra settings. From 1080p Ultra (76 FPS) to 4K Ultra (29 FPS), the drop is 62%. This is a larger relative decline than at Low settings, where the drop is 62% as well (181 to 69 FPS). The similar percentage drops across settings suggest that Evolve's resolution scaling is consistent, with the GPU's pixel rate and memory bandwidth being the primary constraints.

The data implies that this combo is GPU-limited in all scenarios tested. The CPU's strong benchmark scores—particularly the single-thread performance—mean it is never the bottleneck. Players seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need a more powerful GPU, while those at 1080p could potentially push higher settings with a GPU upgrade. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking suggests it has longevity, but the GTX 1080 Ti's 58th percentile indicates it is the component holding this combo back in Evolve's most demanding configurations.