Evolve

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks #698 out of 2,872 tested combos in Evolve, placing it comfortably in the top quarter of all system configurations. This is a strong result for a game released in 2015, as the combination of a modern Arrow Lake CPU and an Ampere flagship GPU delivers frame rates that are well above playable thresholds at every resolution tested. The rank reflects not just raw GPU horsepower but also the CPU's ability to feed frames efficiently, and the data shows this pairing avoids the severe bottlenecking that can plague older titles when paired with extremely fast hardware. In practical terms, this combo sits ahead of the vast majority of tested systems, meaning users should expect a smooth experience in Evolve without needing to compromise heavily on visual quality.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 36,938 places it at the 85th percentile among all processors, while the GPU's average score of 41,187 places it at the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards. Neither component is a weak link in this pairing, which is reflected in the measured frame rates. When compared to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 225 is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta), slightly behind the Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2%), and marginally ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 and Intel Core i9-12900T (-0.4% and -0.5%, respectively). These negligible differences mean that CPU choice in this performance class is unlikely to be the deciding factor in Evolve, where GPU load dominates at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU, meanwhile, trades blows with the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (0.8% faster), NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (1.2% faster), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (2% faster), but the RTX 3080 Ti's measured in-game performance speaks for itself.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the GA102 chip using Samsung's 8 nm process, packing 28,300 million transistors across a 628 mm² die. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, it delivers 912.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is crucial for feeding the GPU's 10,240 shading units at high resolutions. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and boosts up to 1665 MHz, with memory running at 19 Gbps effective. This combination of high bandwidth and ample VRAM is well-suited for Evolve, a game that, while not the most demanding by modern standards, still benefits from fast memory throughput when rendering large environments and multiple creatures on screen.

In Evolve specifically, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings rise. At 4K with Ultra settings, the combo drops to 42 FPS average, indicating the GPU is being pushed to its limits. The RTX 3080 Ti's 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key specifications driving these results. The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but largely unused in a 2015 title, meaning the raw rasterization performance is what matters most here. The card's 112 ROPs handle pixel output efficiently, and the 532.8 GTexel/s texture rate ensures that detailed textures don't become a bottleneck at lower settings. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 261 FPS average, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, confirming the GPU has headroom when CPU-bound at lower resolutions.

The RTX 3080 Ti's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which scores 0.8% higher on average, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB, which scores 1.2% higher. However, these are professional or older workstation cards, and in gaming workloads the GeForce driver optimizations and DirectX 12 Ultimate support give the RTX 3080 Ti a distinct advantage in Evolve. The successor to the RTX 3080 Ti, the GeForce 40-series, represents the next generation, but the data shows this Ampere card remains highly capable. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API support ensure compatibility with modern rendering techniques, though Evolve predates these and runs on older APIs without issue.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo delivers 158 FPS on High, 202 FPS on Medium, and 261 FPS on Low, with Ultra at 110 FPS. Moving to 1440p, these numbers drop to 106 FPS High, 135 FPS Medium, and 175 FPS Low, with Ultra at 74 FPS. At 4K, the results are 60 FPS High, 77 FPS Medium, and 99 FPS Low, with Ultra dropping to 42 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a reduction of roughly 62% on High settings (from 158 to 60 FPS), which is consistent with a system that becomes increasingly GPU-limited at higher pixel counts.

The delta between settings levels is also telling. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces average FPS by about 58% (261 to 110 FPS). At 4K, the same setting change reduces FPS by about 58% as well (99 to 42 FPS), indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at both ends. However, the fact that 1080p Low reaches 261 FPS while 4K Low reaches 99 FPS suggests that the CPU is still capable of pushing very high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. The CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads running at up to 4.90 GHz boost are sufficient to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1440p Medium, the combo produces 135 FPS average with a minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing without major drops. This is the sweet spot for this pairing, offering high refresh rates with reasonable visual fidelity.

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 33% on High settings (158 to 106 FPS), and from 1440p to 4K it's approximately 43% (106 to 60 FPS). This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU that has enough bandwidth for 1440p but begins to struggle with the pixel count at 4K, especially on Ultra settings where the 4K result drops below the 60 FPS threshold. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for Evolve at all settings, as the game's textures are not overly demanding by modern standards, so memory capacity is not the limiting factor here. Instead, the GPU's raw compute and fill rate determine the outcomes, and the data clearly shows that for 4K Ultra, users would need to compromise on settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across the board. On Low settings, the average FPS is 261, which is an exceptionally high result that indicates the CPU is not holding back the GPU. On Medium settings, the average drops to 202 FPS, with a minimum of 172 FPS and a maximum of 232 FPS, showing consistent performance. High settings yield 158 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 110 FPS average. These numbers demonstrate that even at maximum settings, the combo easily exceeds the 60 FPS target and provides a highly responsive experience for competitive play. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is approximately 58%, which is substantial but expected given the GPU's capabilities.

At 1440p, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings produce 175 FPS average, which is still well above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors. Medium settings yield 135 FPS average with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS, providing a smooth experience with minimal frame drops. High settings deliver 106 FPS average, which is excellent for a high-resolution gaming session. Ultra settings drop to 74 FPS average, which is still playable but begins to show the GPU's limitations. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 33% across settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count requiring more GPU resources.

At 4K, the combo's performance is more varied. Low settings produce 99 FPS average, which is surprisingly high and indicates the CPU can still drive high frame rates even at this resolution. Medium settings yield 77 FPS average with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS, showing some frame time variance but remaining above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings deliver 60 FPS average, which is right at the standard 60 Hz refresh rate, making it a borderline experience. Ultra settings drop to 42 FPS average, which falls below the smooth gameplay threshold and would require adjustments. The measured data for 4K shows that the combo is best suited for Medium or High settings, where it can maintain playable frame rates without sacrificing too much visual quality.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process. With a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, it offers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3,655 score in Cinebench R23 single-core and 4,412 score in Passmark single-thread. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for gaming workloads. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures the GPU has sufficient data throughput.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic calculations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 261 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game, as the GPU would otherwise be capable of even higher frame rates. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and Passmark multithread score of 30,459 confirm that the CPU has substantial multi-threaded capability, though Evolve is unlikely to utilize all 10 cores effectively given its age. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all processors places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rivals show it performs nearly identically to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, with a delta of 0%.

The CPU's 3 nm process and Arrow Lake architecture represent a modern design, but for a 2015 game like Evolve, the single-thread performance is what matters most. The 368 score in Cinebench R15 single-core and 891 score in Cinebench R20 single-core indicate strong IPC, which translates to efficient game logic processing. The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 16EU is present but irrelevant for gaming with a discrete GPU, and its Gen 5 PCIe support with 20 lanes ensures the RTX 3080 Ti can communicate at full bandwidth, though the GPU itself uses PCIe 4.0. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, and the CPU's performance headroom is evident in the high frame rates achieved at lower settings.

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Evolve?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with RTX 3080 Ti ranks #698 out of 2,872 tested combos, placing it in the top 25% of all systems tested.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36,938, which is tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta), slightly ahead of the Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2%), and ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (-0.4%) and Intel Core i9-12900T (-0.5%).

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved with this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average FPS is 261 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. The next highest is 202 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 175 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, the measured data shows 60 FPS average at 4K with High settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41,187, which is 0.8% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, 1.2% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB, and 2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070.

Q: What are the CPU's core and clock specifications?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP, and was released with a launch MSRP of $246.