Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 produces a striking FPS curve in Evolve, one that shifts character dramatically as resolution climbs. At 1080p the combo posts triple-digit averages across every preset, yet at 4K Ultra it collapses to just 35 FPS. The data suggests a system where the GPU becomes the decisive bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock keep frame rates from being the limiting factor at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured rows, the component-level benchmarks, and what the composite ranking implies about this pairing's place among 2,872 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 215 FPS at 1080p to 144 FPS at 1440p, then to 82 FPS at 4K — a reduction of roughly 33% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 43% from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario: each pixel count increase directly taxes the renderer, and the RTX 3070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder as resolution grows.

The High preset tells a similar story with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p High, the combo averages 131 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 88 FPS; at 4K High, it falls to 50 FPS. The percentage drops are 33% and then 43%, mirroring the Low preset's scaling almost exactly. This consistency indicates that the GPU's workload scales linearly with pixel count, and the CPU is not introducing variable overhead that would distort the curve.

Medium settings show the same trend with measured minimums and maximums available for analysis. At 1080p Medium, the average is 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 and maximum of 192. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 112 FPS (min 95, max 129), and at 4K Medium, it drops to 64 FPS (min 54, max 73). The spread between minimum and maximum narrows slightly at higher resolutions — from a 50 FPS range at 1080p to a 19 FPS range at 4K — suggesting that frame time consistency improves when the GPU is more fully saturated, though the average takes a significant hit.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling. The combo delivers 91 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 61 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and just 35 FPS at 4K Ultra. That is a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The ultra preset appears to introduce effects that are particularly expensive at high pixel counts, and the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is below the playable threshold for most competitive FPS titles.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. The CPU's benchmark scores — a PassMark multithread score of 38,706 and single-thread score of 4,394 — indicate it has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The fact that FPS scales almost perfectly with pixel count, rather than plateauing due to CPU limits, confirms the RTX 3070 is the constraining factor across all four presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 brings 14 cores and 14 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its L3 cache is 24 MB shared, and it uses a 3 nm process from TSMC with 17,800 million transistors. These specifications position it as a modern desktop part, and its benchmark results back that up: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 32,924, while single-core scores 4,648. PassMark single-thread performance is 4,394, and the CPU sits in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs.

In Evolve, a game released in 2015, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the combo reaches 215 FPS — a figure that suggests the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see FPS plateau at a similar value regardless of resolution, but instead the averages climb substantially as resolution drops.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49,196 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49,228 (0.5% higher), and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at 48,698 (0.6% lower). The Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48,618, which is 0.8% lower. These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the Ultra 5 245 sits in a tightly contested performance band. For Evolve, this level of CPU performance is more than adequate; the game's engine from 2015 is unlikely to stress 14 modern cores.

The thread count of 14 with no hyperthreading (14 threads total) is an interesting design choice. Evolve was released before many games could efficiently use more than 4-8 threads, so this CPU's resources are largely underutilized in this title. The PassMark physics score of 2,569 and data compression score of 400,942 indicate strong general-purpose performance, but these are not directly relevant to Evolve's rendering workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p High settings?

A: The combo delivers 131 FPS on average at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra result compare to 4K Medium?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average is 35 FPS, while 4K Medium averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 73. The Ultra preset demands nearly twice the GPU resources.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The FPS scales almost linearly with pixel count across all presets, and the CPU's high benchmark scores (90th percentile) indicate it has headroom to spare.

Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining 144 FPS?

A: Only 1080p Low achieves an average of 215 FPS, while 1440p Low averages 144 FPS exactly. No other resolution and setting combination reaches or exceeds 144 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This pairing ranks 1,191 out of 2,872 combos tested in Evolve, placing it in the upper portion of the field.

Q: Does the game show consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions?

A: At Medium settings, the minimum-to-maximum spread narrows from 50 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 4K, suggesting more consistent frame times when the GPU is fully loaded.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1,191 out of 2,872 tested configurations in Evolve, placing it in the 58th percentile of all combos. This is a mid-to-upper tier position, reflecting that the RTX 3070 is a capable but not top-end GPU in 2025, while the Ultra 5 245 is a strong modern CPU.

Breaking down the ranking, the GPU's average benchmark score is 17,208, which puts it in the 61st percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT at 17,083 (0.7% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17,037 (1% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M at 17,019 (1.1% higher). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17,468, which is 1.5% lower. These deltas are small, suggesting the RTX 3070 sits in a crowded performance tier.

The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile, which is significantly higher than the GPU's 61st percentile. This imbalance explains why the combo's overall rank in Evolve (58th percentile) is closer to the GPU's percentile than the CPU's — the game's performance is dominated by graphics hardware.

In the context of Evolve's 2015 release, this combo is overkill for the CPU side but appropriately matched on the GPU side for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The 4K results, particularly Ultra at 35 FPS, drag the overall ranking down, as 4K Ultra is the most demanding scenario in the measured data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process with 17,400 million transistors. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores.

Clock speeds are a base of 1500 MHz and a boost of 1725 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 20.31 TFLOPS. These specifications are reflected in the benchmark scores: PassMark G3D scores 22,214, while Geekbench OpenCL scores 112,821 and Vulkan scores 21,022.

In Evolve, the GPU's role is central to explaining the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the 215 FPS average suggests the GPU is not fully saturated — the CPU could likely push even higher frame rates if the engine allowed. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the FPS drops accordingly. The 8 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for Evolve at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra may be pushing against memory capacity or bandwidth limits, contributing to the 35 FPS result.

The GPU's 61st percentile ranking versus all GPUs indicates it is a solid mid-range performer in 2025. Its nearest rival, the RX 7600 XT, is only 0.7% higher in average benchmark score, meaning these two cards are nearly interchangeable in synthetic tests. However, in Evolve specifically, the measured FPS data suggests the RTX 3070 handles this older title well, with playable frame rates at all settings up to 1440p Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings average 215 FPS. Medium settings average 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 and maximum of 192. High settings average 131 FPS. Ultra settings average 91 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 124 FPS, indicating that the preset choice has a massive impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. Low settings average 144 FPS — exactly the refresh rate of many gaming monitors. Medium settings average 112 FPS (min 95, max 129). High settings average 88 FPS. Ultra settings average 61 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 83 FPS, slightly narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall below the 60 FPS threshold for most presets. Low settings average 82 FPS. Medium settings average 64 FPS (min 54, max 73). High settings average 50 FPS. Ultra settings average 35 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 47 FPS, showing that at 4K, even the lowest preset cannot fully relieve the GPU pressure.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. The minimum FPS values are 142 at 1080p, 95 at 1440p, and 54 at 4K. These minimums are all above the 30 FPS playability floor, but the 4K minimum of 54 FPS means there will be occasional dips below 60 FPS, which can be noticeable in a fast-paced FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

For 1080p, the High preset at 131 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and fluidity. Ultra at 91 FPS is also playable, but the 40 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual gains, especially in a competitive FPS where higher frame rates provide a tangible advantage. Medium at 167 FPS is the choice for players prioritizing frame rate above all else, while Low at 215 FPS is excessive for most displays.

For 1440p, Medium at 112 FPS (min 95) is the strongest recommendation. It maintains an average above 100 FPS with a minimum that never drops below 95, ensuring smooth gameplay. High at 88 FPS is a reasonable alternative for better visuals, but the 24 FPS penalty is significant. Ultra at 61 FPS is borderline — it stays above 60 on average, but the lack of min/max data means dips below 60 are possible. Low at 144 FPS is ideal for players with 144 Hz monitors who want to maximize smoothness, but the visual compromise is substantial.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. Medium at 64 FPS (min 54) is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming. Low at 82 FPS offers more headroom but sacrifices visual fidelity. High at 50 FPS is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced shooter, and Ultra at 35 FPS should be avoided for competitive play — it is best reserved for screenshots or single-player exploration.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience, as evidenced by the available min/max data showing tighter frame time distributions. The data suggests that players should start at Medium and adjust upward only if their display and tolerance for frame rate dips allow it.