Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetrical FPS, is a demanding title that stresses both CPU and GPU heavily, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 shows a combination that is capable of high frame rates at mainstream resolutions but begins to buckle under the weight of 4K. The benchmark results, taken across three resolutions and four quality presets, reveal a system that is well-balanced at 1080p, increasingly GPU-bound at 1440p, and firmly limited by the graphics card at 2160p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to show exactly where this combo excels, where it struggles, and what settings provide the best experience for the user.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 tells a clear story about the balance of this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 190 FPS, which is an excellent result for competitive play. Moving to High settings at the same resolution drops the average to 115 FPS, a 39.5% reduction, while Ultra settings further reduce performance to 80 FPS. These figures indicate that at 1080p, the system has ample headroom, and the frame rate is still relatively high even on the most demanding preset.

Scaling up to 2560x1440 shows the first signs of the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS is 127, which is a 33.2% drop from the 1080p Low result. The High preset at 1440p yields 77 FPS, and Medium produces 99 FPS. The drop from 1080p High (115 FPS) to 1440p High (77 FPS) represents a 33.0% performance loss. This is a significant reduction, but the system remains playable at High settings, just above the 60 FPS threshold.

The transition to 3840x2160 is where the RTX 4060’s limitations become starkly apparent. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 72, which is a 43.3% drop from the 1440p Low result and a 62.1% drop from the 1080p Low result. The High preset at 4K manages only 44 FPS, while Medium achieves 56 FPS. Ultra settings at 4K are nearly unplayable, with an average of just 31 FPS. The scaling pattern from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 42.9% performance loss (from 77 FPS to 44 FPS). This data strongly suggests that at 4K, the GeForce RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus, is the sole limiting factor, as the CPU's role diminishes at higher pixel counts.

The data shows that the most significant frame rate penalty occurs between 1440p and 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is noticeable but manageable, but the jump to 4K represents a cliff. For example, the Medium preset shows 147 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p (a 32.7% drop), and 56 FPS at 4K (a 43.4% drop from 1440p). This non-linear scaling is a classic sign of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution increases. The 115W TDP of the RTX 4060 is a key indicator; it is a power-efficient card but not a high-end performer, and the 4K results reflect that.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the central component in this system's gaming performance, and its specifications directly explain the observed frame rates. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and the AD107 chip, this GPU features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines. Its boost clock is rated at 2460 MHz, while the base clock is 1830 MHz. The memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. These specs position the card in the mid-range segment, and the benchmark data confirms this.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor for Evolve at higher resolutions. At 4K with Ultra settings, the card produces an average of 31 FPS, which is not just a matter of raw compute power but also memory capacity and bandwidth. The 128-bit memory bus, while efficient for 1080p, becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where the demand for texture data and frame buffer memory increases exponentially. The measured data shows that the 4K Medium preset, with its 56 FPS average, is the highest setting that remains playable at that resolution, suggesting that the GPU can handle the workload only when textures are not at their maximum quality.

The GPU's performance relative to other tested cards, as indicated by its percentile ranking of 61, shows that it is an average performer in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which has an average score of 17666 (a 0.2% difference), and the AMD Radeon 780M, with an average score of 17588 (a 0.3% difference). This places the RTX 4060 in a specific performance tier, and the Evolve results are consistent with this positioning. The card's FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are respectable for its class, but they are not sufficient to drive 4K Ultra settings in a demanding title like Evolve.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 is a synthetic benchmark that reflects the card's DirectX 12 capabilities, and it aligns with the gaming results. The RTX 4060's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures it can handle modern APIs, but the raw performance at 4K is limited. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU can keep up, allowing the GPU to stretch its legs. The boost clock of 2460 MHz is the key to its 1080p performance, where it can maintain high utilization and deliver frame rates above 115 FPS on High settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players using a 1920x1080 monitor, the High preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 115 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for a high refresh rate display. The Ultra preset at 1080p, with an average of 80 FPS, is also playable, but the 30.4% drop in performance from High to Ultra (from 115 to 80 FPS) may not be worth the visual gain in a fast-paced FPS. The Low preset at 1080p, at 190 FPS, is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is paramount over visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, with an average of 99 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining a reasonable level of visual quality. The High preset at 1440p, at 77 FPS, is also viable, but the drop to below 100 FPS may be noticeable to some players. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 54 FPS, is not recommended, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and would result in a less responsive experience. For 1440p, the data suggests that High is the maximum playable preset, with Medium offering a safer margin above 60 FPS.

For 3840x2160, the options are limited. The Low preset, at 72 FPS, is the only setting that provides a consistently playable frame rate. The Medium preset, at 56 FPS, is borderline, but the minimum FPS of 48 in the measured data for this setting indicates that it can dip below acceptable levels during intense scenes. The High preset at 4K, at 44 FPS, and the Ultra preset, at 31 FPS, are not recommended for general play. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires sacrificing visual quality, and even then, the experience is not ideal. The 1440p Medium or High presets are the best overall balance of performance and visual fidelity for this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Evolve, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1533 out of 2872 combos. This places it in the 53rd percentile of all tested systems for this specific game. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the individual components' performance tiers. The CPU, with a percentile rank of 89 among all CPUs, is a strong performer, but the GPU, with a percentile rank of 61 among all GPUs, drags the overall combo ranking down. This suggests that the system is somewhat CPU-heavy compared to its GPU, and the frame rates in Evolve are primarily constrained by the graphics card.

The combo rank of 1533 out of 2872 indicates that there are many faster systems in the database, but also that this combo outperforms a significant number of alternatives. The ranking is heavily influenced by the 4K results, where the RTX 4060's limitations are most apparent. At 1080p, the combo would likely rank much higher, as the CPU can push the GPU to its limits. The data implies that this system is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming but is not competitive at 4K. The delta between the CPU's high percentile (89) and the GPU's lower percentile (61) highlights a potential imbalance, but in practice, the combo works well at mainstream resolutions.

The ranking also reflects the age of the game. Evolve was released in 2015, and modern hardware like this combo is capable of high frame rates, but the game's engine and optimization still stress the GPU heavily at high resolutions. The fact that the RTX 4060, a modern mid-range card, cannot achieve 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in a 2015 title confirms the game's demanding nature. The 1533rd rank out of 2872 is a solid, but not outstanding, result. It means that for users with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, this combo will provide a very good experience, but for 4K enthusiasts, it is not the right choice.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU features 24 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel interface, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. These specifications indicate a modern, high-performance desktop processor, and its benchmark scores confirm this. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14769 in multi-core and 2085 in single-core. Its Passmark multithread score is 37816, and its single-thread score is 4516.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is to handle the game's physics, AI, and game logic, while the GPU handles the rendering. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 190 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at that resolution. Even at 1080p Ultra, with 80 FPS, the CPU is likely still providing enough data to the GPU. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and Passmark single-thread score of 4516, is crucial for a game like Evolve, which relies heavily on a single main thread for game logic.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is noteworthy. It is within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which has an average benchmark score of 46030, and within 0.1% of the Intel Core i9-13900HX, with an average score of 46098. This places the Ultra 5 235 in the same performance tier as some of the best mobile and desktop processors. The 14 cores and 14 threads are a departure from Intel's previous hybrid designs, but they provide ample multi-threaded performance for modern games and applications. The 24 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which can improve game performance.

The CPU's passmark physics score of 2570 is a direct measure of its game physics performance, and it is a strong result. The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, except perhaps at very low resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 190 FPS. At 4K, the CPU's role is diminished, and the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The 65W TDP of the CPU is low for a desktop processor, indicating high power efficiency, which is a benefit for system thermals and power consumption. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports the conclusion that it is a top-tier performer, and it provides a solid foundation for the RTX 4060.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The detailed measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance in Evolve. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 190 FPS, Medium settings produce 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169, High settings produce 115 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 80 FPS. This shows a consistent scaling across presets, with a 24.7% drop from Low to Medium (from 190 to 147 FPS), a 21.8% drop from Medium to High (from 147 to 115 FPS), and a 30.4% drop from High to Ultra (from 115 to 80 FPS). The 1080p results are all playable, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are: Low at 127 FPS, Medium at 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 114, High at 77 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 22.0% drop (from 127 to 99 FPS), from Medium to High is a 22.2% drop (from 99 to 77 FPS), and from High to Ultra is a 29.9% drop (from 77 to 54 FPS). The 1440p results show that the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable. The minimum FPS of 84 on Medium settings indicates that the system can maintain frame rates well above 60 FPS during gameplay, which is important for smooth motion.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 72 FPS, Medium at 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 65, High at 44 FPS, and Ultra at 31 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 22.2% drop (from 72 to 56 FPS), from Medium to High is a 21.4% drop (from 56 to 44 FPS), and from High to Ultra is a 29.5% drop (from 44 to 31 FPS). The 4K data shows that only the Low preset provides a consistently smooth experience, with the Medium preset hovering near the 60 FPS boundary and the High and Ultra presets being too slow for practical use. The minimum FPS of 48 on Medium settings at 4K is a clear indicator that the GPU is struggling, as frame rates can dip into the 40s during demanding scenes.

The complete dataset shows a clear pattern: the combo is excellent at 1080p, good at 1440p, and poor at 4K. The measured FPS values align perfectly with the component specifications. The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are insufficient for 4K Ultra, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures high frame rates at lower resolutions. The data also shows that the Medium preset is often the best balance, providing a significant improvement over Low settings without the severe performance penalty of Ultra. For users of this hardware, the recommended settings are 1080p Ultra for maximum quality, 1440p High for a good balance, and 4K Low for playability.