Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetrical FPS, shows a dramatic scaling curve with this Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 pairing. The data indicates that the Ultra preset is the only setting that delivers a challenging workload for the GPU at 4K, while lower presets push frame rates into territory that far exceeds display refresh rates. The combination of a 14-core Arrow Lake CPU and the GB203-based RTX 5080 yields a top-tier experience, ranking in the 95th percentile of all tested combos for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy across the four presets, with the relationship between resolution and settings being the primary factor in choosing the optimal experience. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset produces an average of 56 FPS, which is the only setting where the GPU is consistently stressed to its limits. The High preset at 4K delivers 81 FPS average, which is a significant jump but still below the 90 FPS threshold that many players target for competitive shooters. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 103 FPS average with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS, providing a balanced experience that stays above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes.

For players with high-refresh-rate 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the standout choice. It produces an average of 181 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS and a maximum of 208 FPS, meaning the frame rate never dips below 150 FPS. This is a far more consistent experience than the High preset at this resolution, which averages 142 FPS but lacks recorded minimum and maximum values to confirm its stability. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 98 FPS, which is playable but represents a substantial 46% reduction in frame rate compared to Medium.

At 1920x1080, the story is about raw headroom. The Low preset achieves an extraordinary 347 FPS average, while Medium delivers 269 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS. The High preset at 1080p averages 211 FPS, and even Ultra manages a very playable 146 FPS. The recommendation for 1080p is to use the High preset, as it provides a 211 FPS average that will saturate virtually any gaming monitor while still offering better visual fidelity than Medium or Low. The Ultra preset at 1080p, while producing 146 FPS, does not provide a meaningful competitive advantage over High given the high baseline frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features 14 cores and 14 threads, a configuration that is unusual for a desktop processor as it lacks Hyper-Threading. The base clock is 3.50 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and the processor has a TDP of 65 watts. This Arrow Lake-S architecture chip is built on a 3 nm process from TSMC, containing 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is substantial given the game's reliance on physics and AI-driven monster behavior. The benchmark results show that the processor's performance is well above average, with a percentile rank of 90 compared to all CPUs. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate strong multi-threaded capability that aligns with Evolve's need to manage multiple AI entities simultaneously. The PassMark multi-thread score of 38706 and single-thread score of 4394 further confirm this, showing a balanced profile that can handle both the game's simulation threads and the rendering thread without bottlenecking the RTX 5080.

The nearest rivals for this CPU, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49196 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49228 (0.5% higher), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H at 48698 (0.6% lower), and the Intel Core i5-14600K at 48618 (0.8% lower). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the Ultra 5 245 performs essentially on par with these alternatives in synthetic workloads. For Evolve specifically, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions where CPU-bound behavior would typically manifest. The 1080p Low preset achieving 347 FPS average demonstrates that the CPU is not a limiting factor, as this frame rate is far beyond what most displays can show.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, with memory running at 1875 MHz for an effective speed of 30 Gbps. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s, which is a crucial asset for Evolve's large texture sets and particle effects.

The GPU features 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, along with 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 293.1 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 879.3 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 56.28 TFLOPS. This specification set places the RTX 5080 in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757 (0.6% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698 (0.7% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (2.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 57367 (2.2% lower).

In Evolve, the GPU's role scales predictably with resolution and settings. The measured frame rates show that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, producing a 56 FPS average. This is the only configuration where the GPU is pushed to its limits, as the 4K High and Medium presets yield 81 and 103 FPS respectively. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor at any resolution, as the maximum memory usage would not be exceeded even at 4K Ultra. The 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not cause stuttering, which is particularly important for Evolve's large maps with dense vegetation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 146 out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve. This places the pairing in the top 5% of all configurations, indicating that it is a very strong match for this game. The high ranking is attributed to the balance between the CPU's strong single-core and multi-core performance, and the GPU's high-end rasterization capabilities.

The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs combine to create a system that excels in Evolve. The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is nearly identical, with all deltas within 1%, meaning that the choice of CPU has minimal impact on the overall ranking. The GPU, however, shows more variation, with the closest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE at 2.2% lower average score, which would likely translate to a few frames per second difference in Evolve.

This ranking suggests that the combo is well-suited for Evolve's specific workload, which is a mix of CPU-bound AI simulation and GPU-bound rendering. The high frame rates at lower resolutions confirm that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, while the 4K Ultra result of 56 FPS indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at maximum settings. For players seeking the highest visual fidelity, this combo delivers acceptable performance at 4K Ultra, but the Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot for balanced frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a 144Hz monitor?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal choice, delivering an average of 181 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays above the 144Hz refresh rate at all times.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Ultra, the average is 56 FPS, while dropping to High yields 81 FPS and Medium produces 103 FPS. The Medium preset is recommended for a smooth 4K experience.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 performs within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, AMD Ryzen 9 7900, Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, and Intel Core i5-14600K in average benchmark scores, making the choice of CPU nearly irrelevant in this context.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking?

A: The RTX 5080 is in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083, placing it well above the median.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Evolve?

A: Yes, the 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for Evolve at any resolution and settings, as the game does not push memory usage beyond this capacity.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 211 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors, providing a highly responsive experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset produces an average of 56 FPS with no recorded minimum or maximum values. The High preset at this resolution achieves an average of 81 FPS, while Medium delivers 103 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS. The Low preset at 4K yields an average of 133 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle this resolution well when settings are reduced.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 98 FPS. The High preset produces 142 FPS, and Medium delivers 181 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS and a maximum of 208 FPS. The Low preset at this resolution achieves 233 FPS, which is the highest recorded average for any 1440p configuration.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 146 FPS. The High preset produces 211 FPS, and Medium delivers 269 FPS with a minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 347 FPS, which is the highest frame rate measured across all resolutions and settings. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at the same settings shows a consistent pattern: High drops from 211 to 81 FPS (a 62% reduction), Medium drops from 269 to 103 FPS (a 62% reduction), and Low drops from 347 to 133 FPS (a 62% reduction). The Ultra preset shows a slightly different pattern, dropping from 146 to 56 FPS (a 62% reduction as well). This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions, with the CPU maintaining its performance headroom even at 4K.