Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a compelling, high-refresh-rate experience in Evolve, with the data showing that the GPU is the dominant performance driver across most settings and resolutions. The measured FPS values indicate that this combination is capable of pushing well beyond 60 FPS at 4K and exceeding 200 FPS at 1080p, making it a versatile setup for both competitive and high-fidelity play.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy in performance across presets Secret, with the Medium preset offering the most balanced experience for this hardware combination. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers an average of 260 FPS, which is only 75 FPS lower than the Low preset’s 335 FPS but a substantial 119 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s 141 FPS. This suggests that Medium captures the vast majority of the performance headroom available from the Low preset while providing significantly improved visual quality, as the 75 FPS difference is relatively small in percentage terms compared to the massive gap between Medium and Ultra.

At 1440p, the Medium preset continues to shine with an average of 174 FPS, comfortably above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold that many high-end monitors target. The High preset at 137 FPS is also viable for 144 Hz displays, but Medium’s 37 FPS advantage over High makes it the more compelling choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate. The data indicates that moving from Medium to High costs 37 FPS at 1440p, while moving from High to Ultra costs another 42 FPS, showing that the scaling becomes increasingly punishing at higher quality tiers.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset’s 99 FPS average is the only setting that delivers a truly smooth experience, with the min FPS of 84 still staying above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 78 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes, while the Ultra preset’s 54 FPS average falls below the ideal 60 FPS baseline. The Low preset at 128 FPS is the fastest option but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that relies on atmospheric detail. Based on the data, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point, as it provides the best balance of FPS and visual quality across all three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 222 out of 3700 combos in Evolve. This places the configuration in the top 6% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a high-performing combination for this title. The percentileVsAllCpus of 85 for the CPU and percentileVsAllGpus of 86 for the GPU independently confirm that both components are in the upper echelon of their respective categories, and their combined performance reflects this synergy.

The ranking suggests that while the RTX 4080 is a powerful GPU, the Core Ultra 5 225 is not bottlenecking its performance in Evolve, as the combo rank is strong relative to the broader pool. The gap between this combo and the top 221 systems is likely driven by even more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher core counts, but the data shows that this pairing is well-balanced for the game’s demands. The fact that the combo ranks in the top fraction of 3700 total combinations underscores that users can expect a premium experience without needing to step up to the absolute highest-tier hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the clear performance driver in this configuration, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 256-bit memory bus providing a substantial 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is particularly relevant for Evolve, a game that features large, detailed environments and multiple AI-controlled monsters and hunters on screen. The 16 GB capacity ensures that texture-heavy scenes at high resolutions do not encounter VRAM limitations, allowing the GPU to maintain consistent frame pacing even when memory pressure is high.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2505 MHz, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, contributes to its strong raw performance. The measured FPS data shows that the RTX 4080 scales impressively across settings, with the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p being 194 FPS (335 versus 141). This wide spread indicates that the GPU has substantial headroom to handle increased graphical loads, but also that the Ultra preset introduces enough additional work to significantly reduce frame rates. The GPU’s 9728 shading units and 304 TMUs handle the game’s particle effects and texture filtering efficiently, while the 112 ROPs ensure that pixel fill rates do not become a bottleneck at 4K resolutions.

The PassMark G3D score of 34457 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 provide synthetic benchmarks that align with the measured in-game performance. The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 86 confirms it is a top-tier part, and the nearest rival data shows it is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (deltaPct of 0.1%), meaning users are not losing meaningful performance by opting for the non-SUPER variant. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 is more than capable of driving Evolve at high frame rates, and the 16 GB VRAM provides future-proofing for titles that demand larger memory pools.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p with the Medium preset delivers 260 FPS average, while the Low preset reaches 335 FPS. For competitive play, the Low preset offers the highest frame rates, but the Medium preset still provides a substantial advantage over 144 Hz displays, making it a strong choice if visual clarity is also desired.

Q: Can this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, the measured data shows that the 4K Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. To achieve 60 FPS at 4K, users must drop to the High preset (78 FPS) or the Medium preset (99 FPS).

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The benchmark data shows the RTX 4080 has an average score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, resulting in a deltaPct of 0.1% in favor of the RTX 4080. This difference is negligible, indicating that the two GPUs perform nearly identically in practice.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The combo rank of 222 out of 3700 and the CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 85 suggest that the processor is well-matched with the GPU. The measured FPS values, particularly the 335 FPS at 1080p Low, indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to achieve very high frame rates without creating a significant bottleneck.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 174 FPS, while the High preset averages 137 FPS. This represents a 37 FPS difference, which is a meaningful drop that may impact smoothness on high refresh rate displays.

*Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM on the RTX 4080 provide any advantage in Evolve?*

A: The 16 GB memory size combined with the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the game’s large textures and complex scenes do not cause memory-related stuttering. The data shows consistent frame rates across settings, and the VRAM capacity supports the game’s demands at all tested resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear resolution scaling pattern that highlights the GPU’s role as the primary performance constraint. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at the Medium preset reduces the average FPS from 260 to 174, a drop of 86 FPS or approximately 33%. This is a significant decline, but it is consistent with the increased pixel count that the GPU must render. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at the same preset shows a further drop from 174 to 99 FPS, a 75 FPS reduction or about 43%, which is even steeper due to the exponential increase in pixel workload.

The Low preset demonstrates the most dramatic scaling, with 335 FPS at 1080p dropping to 225 FPS at 1440p (a 110 FPS decline) and then to 128 FPS at 4K (a 97 FPS decline). This suggests that at lower settings, the GPU is heavily utilized, and the resolution increase directly translates to lower frame rates. In contrast, the Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute drops, from 141 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 1440p (46 FPS decline) and then to 54 FPS at 4K (41 FPS decline). This pattern indicates that at Ultra settings, the GPU is already near its limits, and the additional resolution has a proportionally smaller impact on FPS.

The data implies that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component across all resolutions, as the FPS drops align with the expected workload increase from higher pixel counts. The CPU’s influence is less apparent, as even at 1080p Low with 335 FPS, the system does not appear to hit a CPU-bound ceiling. This suggests that users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would benefit more from a more powerful GPU than a CPU upgrade.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225, with its 10 cores and 10 threads, provides the processing foundation for this gaming system. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz, combined with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded performance that is critical for game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and multi-core score of 25891 indicate that the CPU is well-suited for both gaming and productivity tasks, with the single-core performance being particularly relevant for Evolve, which relies on tracking multiple AI entities.

The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 4412 and multithread score of 30459 further confirm its capability. In Evolve, the game’s AI-driven monster and hunter behavior places demands on CPU resources, but the measured FPS data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 225 is not a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 335 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that indicates the CPU can process game state updates quickly enough to keep the GPU fed. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 85 places it above the vast majority of processors, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, shows a deltaPct of 0, meaning they perform nearly identically in average benchmark scores.

The 10-core, 10-thread configuration, without hyper-threading, is a deliberate design choice that prioritizes single-core efficiency. This is advantageous for Evolve, as the game’s core simulation likely runs on a limited number of threads, and the high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures that these threads execute rapidly. The data indicates that the CPU provides more than enough processing headroom for the RTX 4080, as the combo’s rank of 222 out of 3700 suggests that the overall system performance is limited by the GPU rather than the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the data shows a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 335 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset and indicates that the system is not constrained at this resolution and settings combination. The Medium preset delivers 260 FPS with a min of 221 and max of 299, providing a stable and high frame rate. The High preset drops to 204 FPS, while the Ultra preset falls to 141 FPS. This 194 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates the significant impact of graphical settings on performance.

At 1440p, the FPS values scale down predictably. The Low preset averages 225 FPS, still an excellent result for high refresh rate gaming. The Medium preset delivers 174 FPS with a min of 148 and max of 200, which is well-suited for 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors. The High preset averages 137 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 95 FPS. The 130 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is smaller than at 1080p, reflecting the increased GPU load at higher resolutions.

At 4K, the performance becomes more demanding. The Low preset averages 128 FPS, which is still smooth for most displays. The Medium preset delivers 99 FPS with a min of 84 and max of 114, maintaining a playable experience. The High preset drops to 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS target. The 74 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of the three resolutions, indicating that the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor as resolution increases. The data shows that the Medium preset is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience across all resolutions, with the min FPS at 4K (84) still exceeding the 60 FPS threshold.