Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS, presents an interesting stress profile for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. The measured data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the GPU emerging as the primary bottleneck at higher loads. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all resolution and settings combinations, contextualizes the combo’s standing against other tested systems, and examines the specific roles of the CPU and GPU in generating these results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-bound scaling curve. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 226 at 1920x1080 to 152 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 74 FPS, and then further down to 86 at 3840x2160. This represents a 62% decrease in average FPS from 1080p to 4K on Low settings, indicating that the rendering load increases dramatically with pixel count, a signature of the GPU being the limiting factor.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets, though the absolute drop differs. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 138 at 1080p to 92 at 1440p and finally to 53 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 46 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 39 FPS. This near-linear degradation suggests the GPU is saturated even at 1440p High, with each resolution increase requiring proportionally more pixel shading work.

At Medium settings, the measured averages are 175 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS data available for Medium settings further illustrates the pressure: at 1080p the minimum is 149 FPS, at 1440p it is 100 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 57 FPS. These minimums show that frame pacing remains stable even as the average decreases, but the gap between average and minimum widens at 4K, indicating occasional heavier frames that challenge the GPU.

Ultra settings produce the steepest scaling curve. The average FPS plummets from 95 at 1080p to 64 at 1440p, a 31 FPS drop, and then to 36 at 4K, a further 28 FPS drop. The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS is below the 53 FPS seen at 4K High, highlighting how Ultra settings add a significant pixel and shading workload on top of the resolution increase. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 3070 Ti is fully saturated, and any improvement would require reducing either resolution or settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 989th out of 2872 tested combos for Evolve. This places the system in the upper third of all tested configurations, indicating a capable pairing for this title. The percentile ranking for the GPU is 75, meaning it outperforms 75% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU sits in the 90th percentile.

The combo’s rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is drastically mismatched for the other. A lower rank would suggest a bottleneck, but the measured scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, which is typical for a mid-to-high-end graphics card paired with a strong modern processor. The CPU’s high percentile suggests it is not holding back the GPU in most scenarios, especially at 1080p where the CPU has more headroom.

Comparing the individual components to their nearest rivals provides context. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 48995 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which scores 49196, a delta of -0.4%. It is also on par with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228, a delta of -0.5%. For the GPU, the RTX 3070 Ti’s average score of 29945 is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile, and it trails the AMD Radeon RX 6800 by just 0.5%. These tight deltas suggest that the combo’s rank is not due to an outlier component, but rather the specific interaction of this CPU and GPU with Evolve’s engine.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience at 1920x1080, the data supports using High settings. The measured average of 138 FPS is well above the threshold for high refresh rate monitors, and even the jump to Ultra at 95 FPS remains playable. However, the increase from High to Ultra costs 43 FPS, a significant drop for marginal visual gains in a fast-paced FPS. Medium at 175 FPS offers a large headroom for competitive play, but High provides a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 2560x1440, the recommended setting is Medium. The average of 118 FPS is solid, with a minimum of 100 FPS ensuring consistent frame delivery. High settings at 1440p drop to 92 FPS, which is still respectable, but the 26 FPS penalty from Medium to High may not be worth the visual upgrade for all users. Ultra at 64 FPS is below the 60 FPS baseline and risks feeling less fluid.

For 3840x2160, the only viable option is Low. The average of 86 FPS at Low is surprisingly high for a 4K resolution, but Medium drops to 67 FPS, High to 53 FPS, and Ultra to a stuttering 36 FPS. Low settings at 4K are the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming. Pushing to Medium or High would require accepting a sub-60 FPS experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS ranges from 226 at Low to 95 at Ultra. The Medium preset produces an average of 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. High settings yield an average of 138 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium to High to Ultra shows a consistent drop of roughly 50 FPS per tier, with the largest single drop being 80 FPS from Low to Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages compress. Low scores 152 FPS, Medium scores 118 FPS with a minimum of 100 FPS and maximum of 135 FPS, High scores 92 FPS, and Ultra scores 64 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 88 FPS, but the step from Medium to High is the largest at 26 FPS, indicating that High settings introduce a significant workload increase at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 86 FPS for Low, 67 FPS for Medium with a minimum of 57 FPS and maximum of 77 FPS, 53 FPS for High, and 36 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 19 FPS, from Medium to High is 14 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 17 FPS. The 4K Medium result, with a minimum of 57 FPS, is the closest to a playable 60 FPS experience, but it still falls short.

The data shows that the RTX 3070 Ti is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K gaming requires a compromise on settings. The measured minimums at 4K Medium (57 FPS) and the absence of minimum data for other 4K presets suggest that the GPU is consistently under heavy load, and frame drops are likely more frequent at higher settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. This bandwidth is sufficient for the pixel data required at 4K, but the 8 GB capacity may become a limiting factor in texture-heavy scenes. The measured FPS at 4K High (53 FPS) and 4K Ultra (36 FPS) suggests that the GPU’s compute resources, not just memory, are being stretched.

The GPU’s boost clock of 1770 MHz and base clock of 1575 MHz are typical for this class of card. Its FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS is substantial, yet Evolve’s engine at 4K Ultra still overwhelms it, as evidenced by the 36 FPS average. The GPU’s 6144 shading units and 192 texture mapping units are responsible for the pixel and texture throughput, and the scaling from 1080p to 4K shows these units are saturated.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 29945 and its percentile rank of 75 indicate a strong mid-range performer, but in Evolve, the resolution scaling reveals that it is not a 4K Ultra-capable card. The measured results show that the RTX 3070 Ti is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where its raw compute power translates into high frame rates. At 4K, the card’s limitations are exposed, and the user must rely on lower settings to maintain playable performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its architecture, Arrow Lake-S, is built on a 3 nm process. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes a large 24 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB per core L2 cache, which helps reduce memory latency in gaming workloads.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (226 FPS) suggests that the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates without bottlenecking the GPU. The fact that the FPS drops consistently with resolution and settings indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as the workload increases, not the CPU.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 48995 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 48618, a delta of 0.8% in favor of the Ultra 5 245. This high single-thread and multi-thread performance ensures that Evolve, which may rely on a few cores for game logic, runs smoothly. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz is particularly relevant for FPS, as higher clocks reduce frame time latency.

The data does not show any scenario where the CPU limits performance. Even at 1080p Low, the average FPS of 226 is high, and the lack of minimum FPS data for that setting suggests stable frame delivery. The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads (no Hyper-Threading) are sufficient for this title, and its memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides adequate data transfer to the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 226, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this setup run Evolve at 4K resolution smoothly?

A: At 3840x2160, the only preset with an average above 60 FPS is Low, scoring 86 FPS. Medium drops to 67 FPS, High to 53 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K’s score of 48618.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS for Medium settings is 149 at 1920x1080, 100 at 2560x1440, and 57 at 3840x2160.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. As resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, average FPS drops significantly across all settings, while the CPU’s high benchmark scores suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s, provided by 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus.