Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS, shows a wide performance spread across settings and resolutions with this Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. The measured data indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in most scenarios, with the 10-core Core Ultra 5 225 providing ample headroom at lower resolutions. This pairing ranks in the 85th percentile for CPUs and 83rd for GPUs, but its combined rank of 440 out of 2872 tested combos for this game suggests that the specific workload of Evolve favors other pairings, particularly at higher settings where the GPU's limits are reached.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frames per second (FPS) data for this combo reveals a clear hierarchy in settings presets, with the most balanced experience found at the High preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 177 FPS average, which is a significant drop from the 292 FPS at Low but still far above the 123 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 FPS and a maximum of 260 FPS, showing that it provides a smoother frame time experience than High, which lacks min/max data. However, the jump from Medium to High costs 49 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 54 FPS, indicating that High offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and raw performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 119 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p produces 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS, making it the safest choice for competitive play where frame drops are critical. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 82 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. For 3840x2160, the High preset yields 68 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that maintains playable performance without compromising heavily on visuals. The Medium preset at 4K produces 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, making it the best choice for 4K if you prefer smoother motion over maximum detail, as the Ultra preset at 4K falls to 47 FPS, which is below the ideal playable range for a fast-paced FPS.

The data suggests that the High preset is the optimal starting point for this combo. It provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates that are 2.1 times higher than Ultra at 1080p and 1.5 times higher at 1440p. At 4K, High is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for that resolution. Players with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p or 1440p may prefer Medium for its tighter minimum FPS, but for the majority of users, High offers the best balance of image quality and responsiveness.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use for competitive play with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers the highest average FPS at 292, followed by Medium at 226 FPS. For a balance of responsiveness and visual quality, 2560x1440 at Medium provides 152 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS, which is suitable for most competitive scenarios.

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

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the High preset achieves 68 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 4K reaches 86 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 47 FPS, indicating that 4K gaming is viable only at Medium or High settings.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect performance in Evolve?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores and 10 threads. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 292 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound. The CPU's single-thread score of 3655 in Cinebench R23 suggests it has strong per-core performance, which is important for a game from 2015 that may not utilize all 10 cores effectively.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The data provides min and max FPS only for Medium settings. At 3840x2160, the average is 86 FPS with a range of 73 to 99 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average is 152 FPS with a range of 129 to 174 FPS. At 1920x1080, the average is 226 FPS with a range of 192 to 260 FPS. This indicates a spread of roughly 30% between minimum and maximum, which is typical for this title.

Q: How does this combo's GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43223, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB at 43262 (0.1% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 43268 (0.1% difference). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile by 1%, which scores 43667.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a significant bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 47, which is a 84% decrease from 1080p Low (292 FPS). This large drop indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, while the CPU's 10 cores provide sufficient performance at lower resolutions where frame rates are higher.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support are relevant for gaming workloads. The CPU's benchmark scores show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has an average score of 36945, which is statistically identical (0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% slower and the Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% slower.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 292 FPS, which is the highest measured value. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high frame rates, as the GPU is not being fully utilized at this resolution. The single-core performance, indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655, is crucial for a 2015 game that likely relies on a few primary threads for game logic and physics. The 10 cores provide headroom for background tasks and any multithreaded elements Evolve might use, but the game's age means it may not scale perfectly across all 10 threads.

The data shows a distinct pattern: as resolution increases, the FPS drop is more pronounced, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 169 FPS (292 vs 123), while at 4K, the difference is only 64 FPS (111 vs 47). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor in Evolve at 4K, but it may still influence minimum frame rates in CPU-intensive scenes. The CPU's 65W TDP and 3 nm process node suggest it runs efficiently, but the benchmark data does not directly measure thermal or power throttling.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 440th out of 2872 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the top 15.3% of all pairings. This rank is derived from the measured FPS data across all settings and resolutions, with the combo's average performance being slightly below its individual component percentiles. The CPU is in the 85th percentile and the GPU is in the 83rd percentile, yet the combined rank suggests that other combos with similar or slightly lower component scores may achieve better performance in this specific game.

The rank of 440 indicates that while this is a strong pairing, it is not optimal for Evolve. The game's engine may favor different CPU or GPU architectures, or the combination of this CPU's 10 non-hyperthreaded cores with this GPU may not scale as well as pairs with more threads or different memory configurations. The nearest rival GPUs, such as the RTX 4090 Mobile with a 1% higher average score, may be paired with CPUs that deliver better Evolve-specific results, pushing this combo down the rankings. The data shows that the combo's rank is likely dragged down by the 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may weigh heavily in the overall ranking algorithm.

For context, the top combos likely achieve higher FPS at 4K Ultra, which is the most demanding setting. This combo's 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is only 38% of the 1080p Low result, indicating a significant performance cliff at the highest settings. The rank of 440 out of 2872 means that roughly 85% of tested combos perform worse, but it also means there are better options for players who prioritize Evolve specifically. Players using this combo should focus on the High preset, where the performance is more competitive, rather than pushing Ultra where the combo falls behind.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear trend of decreasing performance as resolution increases, but the rate of decrease varies by settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 292 at 1080p to 196 at 1440p (a 33% decrease) and further to 111 at 4K (a 62% decrease from 1080p). This pattern indicates that the GPU is heavily utilized at all resolutions with Low settings, and the CPU is not the limiting factor. At High settings, the drop is from 177 at 1080p to 119 at 1440p (a 33% decrease) and 68 at 4K (a 62% decrease), showing a consistent scaling pattern.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings shows a drop from 226 to 152 (a 33% decrease at 1440p) and then to 86 (a 62% decrease at 4K). This consistent 33% and 62% drop across all settings strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not scale so predictably with resolution, as CPU load is relatively independent of resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS compared to 1080p Ultra of 123 FPS represents a 62% decrease, which aligns with the other settings.

The data indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Evolve at all resolutions, as the FPS scaling is linear with the pixel count. The 4K resolution has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, but the FPS does not drop to a quarter of the 1080p value, which would be 73 FPS at Low (292/4). Instead, it drops to 111 FPS, showing that the GPU has headroom at lower settings. This suggests that the game's graphics engine is not fully utilizing the GPU's resources at 4K Low, possibly due to CPU-side bottlenecks in draw call processing or other game logic that limits the frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 292 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset produces 226 FPS average, with a minimum of 192 FPS and a maximum of 260 FPS. The High preset drops to 177 FPS average, and the Ultra preset yields 123 FPS average. The data shows a clear step-down from Low to Medium (66 FPS difference) and from High to Ultra (54 FPS difference), with the Medium to High step being the largest at 49 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset achieves 196 FPS average, which is 67% of the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset produces 152 FPS average with a minimum of 129 FPS and a maximum of 174 FPS. The High preset delivers 119 FPS average, and the Ultra preset falls to 82 FPS average. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 114 FPS, which is smaller than the 169 FPS difference at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are the lowest but still playable at most settings. The Low preset achieves 111 FPS average, which is a 62% decrease from 1080p Low. The Medium preset produces 86 FPS average, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS, showing a tighter frame time range compared to lower resolutions. The High preset delivers 68 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset drops to 47 FPS average, which is the only measured result below 60 FPS and is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The min and max FPS data, only available for Medium settings, shows that the frame time consistency is best at 1080p (192-260 FPS), with a spread of 68 FPS. At 1440p, the spread is 45 FPS (129-174), and at 4K, the spread is 26 FPS (73-99). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is working closer to its limits, reducing the variance in frame times. The average FPS at Medium settings drops by 33% from 1080p to 1440p and by another 43% from 1440p to 4K, showing a consistent scaling pattern that points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck in Evolve.