Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 multiplayer FPS, places very different demands on its two main components than a modern AAA title. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination shows a system with immense headroom, where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor outside of the most demanding presets. The measured frame rates across all resolutions indicate that this pairing is capable of pushing the game's engine to its limits, with performance scaling almost linearly with resolution and settings, a hallmark of a well-optimized but aging title that is far more dependent on raw throughput than on modern features like ray tracing or mesh shaders.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This configuration provides a substantial amount of parallel processing power, which is reflected in its synthetic benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. In the context of Evolve, a game from 2015, this CPU is vastly overqualified. The game's engine was designed for the 4-core and 8-thread era, meaning that the Ultra 5 245's 14 cores are likely underutilized in many scenarios, but the high boost clock ensures that the few threads the game does use are executed exceptionally fast.

The benchmark results support this interpretation. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 401 FPS. This is a scenario where the GPU is not heavily taxed, and the frame rate is often limited by the CPU's ability to process the game's draw calls and physics calculations. The fact that the CPU is able to push the frame rate this high, without the GPU becoming a bottleneck, demonstrates its exceptional single-threaded performance, which is crucial for older game engines that rely on a primary "main thread." The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 4394 and its 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs further confirm its strength in this area.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ultra 5 245 shows a near-tie in overall average benchmark score. It is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (deltaPct -0.4) and AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (deltaPct -0.5), and it is only slightly ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (deltaPct 0.6) and Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.8). This means that while the CPU is a top-tier performer, its raw processing power is not unique. However, in Evolve, the specific architecture and clock speeds matter more than the multi-core aggregate score. The 5.10 GHz boost clock is likely the key driver behind the exceptional frame rates at low resolutions, where the CPU's single-thread speed is the main arbiter of performance.

The data suggests that the CPU's role in this pairing is to provide an unshakeable foundation. It ensures that even in the most chaotic on-screen moments, with multiple monsters and hunters using abilities, the game logic and AI calculations are never a source of stutter or frame drops. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache also help reduce latency, keeping data flowing to the cores efficiently. For a game like Evolve, where the action is fast-paced and unpredictable, this consistent processing power translates to a stable and responsive experience, even if the frame rate is ultimately capped by the GPU at higher resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a monstrous graphics card, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and the GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a staggering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Its compute power is equally immense, with 21760 shading units and a FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS. With a boost clock of 2407 MHz, this card is designed to obliterate any modern game at 4K, so its performance in Evolve is more proof of the game's age than the card's capability. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 44065 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are a mix of mobile and datacenter parts, like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct -1.6) and NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe (deltaPct -2.1 to -2.4), which are not direct desktop gaming competitors.

In the measured data, the GPU's role becomes the primary limiting factor only when the settings and resolution are cranked up. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 65 FPS, which is still very playable but shows a significant performance hit compared to the 4K High result of 94 FPS. This indicates that the game's Ultra preset likely includes effects that are particularly heavy on the GPU's shading and fill-rate capabilities. The RTX 5090 D's 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs are tasked with pushing a massive number of pixels at 3840x2160, and the 32 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient to handle any texture or asset the game can throw at it, eliminating any concerns about memory capacity or bandwidth bottlenecks.

The GPU's raw power is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 401 FPS, a figure that is almost certainly beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. This shows that the RTX 5090 D is not being stressed at all in this scenario; it is merely keeping up with the CPU. The GPU's role here is to be a passive conduit, efficiently processing the frames sent by the CPU without introducing any latency. As the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU begins to work harder, with the frame rate dropping from 271 FPS at 1440p Low to 154 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling is a direct result of the increased pixel count, which requires more work from the ROPs and the memory subsystem. The 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth ensures that the GPU can feed its cores with texture data at 4K without becoming a bottleneck, a task that would cripple lesser cards.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is largely irrelevant for Evolve, which was released in 2015 and likely uses DirectX 11. The card is running the game in a compatibility mode, using only a fraction of its architectural capabilities. This means that the performance is not a measure of the card's modern features but rather its brute-force rendering speed. The RTX 5090 D is so fast that it turns Evolve into a test of the CPU and memory subsystem, and it is only at 4K Ultra where the GPU's workload becomes significant enough to lower the average frame rate to a level that is more typical of a modern game. The card is effectively idling in this title, making it a massive overkill for the task, but the data shows that it delivers a flawless experience nonetheless.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D overkill for a game like Evolve?

A: Yes, the data indicates significant overkill. At 1080p Low, the system averages 401 FPS, and at 1440p High, it averages 165 FPS. The GPU is so powerful that it only becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 65 FPS, suggesting that the game's engine or the CPU is holding it back in most other scenarios.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995. This is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, -0.4%) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, -0.5%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, 0.6%) and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, 0.8%).

Q: What is the best resolution to play Evolve with this hardware for a high refresh rate experience?

A: For a high refresh rate, 1440p is the sweet spot. The system achieves 165 FPS at High and 271 FPS at Low settings. At 4K, the frame rate drops to 94 FPS on High, which is still smooth but may not saturate a 144Hz or higher refresh rate monitor.

Q: Is the 32 GB of VRAM on the RTX 5090 D necessary for Evolve?

A: No. The data does not suggest any VRAM limitation. The 32 GB GDDR7 frame buffer is vastly more than any 2015 game requires. The game's textures and assets are likely using a small fraction of this memory, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures there are no performance hits related to memory capacity or bandwidth.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The GPU. The average frame rate drops to 65 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra, a significant decrease from the 94 FPS at 4K High. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects that heavily tax the RTX 5090 D's shading and pixel processing capabilities, making it the primary limiting factor at this specific configuration.

Q: How does the CPU's thread count affect performance in Evolve?

A: The CPU likely has more cores than the game can use. Evolve, being from 2015, was designed for fewer threads. The 14 cores of the Ultra 5 245 are probably underutilized, but the high 5.10 GHz boost clock and strong single-core performance are the primary drivers for the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions, where the CPU is the main bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combination reveal a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. The data includes average FPS for all configurations, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded only for the Medium preset at each resolution.

At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 401 FPS on Low settings. This is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset, indicating a CPU-bound scenario where the GPU is not under significant load. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 314 FPS, with a minimum of 267 FPS and a maximum of 361 FPS. The High preset yields 246 FPS average, and the Ultra preset brings the frame rate down to 170 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 231 FPS, a 57.6% reduction, showing the significant impact of the higher fidelity settings on the rendering pipeline.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. The Low preset averages 271 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. The Medium preset averages 210 FPS, with a minimum of 179 FPS and a maximum of 242 FPS. The High preset delivers 165 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 114 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings is consistent, with a roughly 32-33% reduction in frame rate across Low, High, and Ultra presets, which aligns with the increased pixel count of 77% more pixels, indicating the GPU is starting to take on more work.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain playable but show the most significant drop. The Low preset averages 154 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. The High preset averages 94 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the only configuration to dip below the 100 FPS mark, averaging just 65 FPS. The progression from 1440p to 4K shows a similar relative drop, with the frame rate roughly halving from the 1440p results for the Low and High presets. The 4K Ultra result of 65 FPS is the only metric that suggests the GPU is being pushed to a level where its raw power is truly being tested, requiring a significant reduction in settings to achieve higher frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates as resolution increases provides insight into the bottleneck dynamics of this system. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by about 32-34% for the Low, High, and Ultra presets. For example, the Low preset goes from 401 FPS to 271 FPS, a 32.4% drop, while the Ultra preset goes from 170 FPS to 114 FPS, a 32.9% drop. This scaling is almost perfectly proportional to the increase in pixel count, which is 77% more pixels at 1440p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as its workload is expanding with the resolution, while the CPU's load remains relatively constant.

The transition from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 shows a more pronounced drop. The Low preset falls from 271 FPS to 154 FPS, a 43.2% reduction, while the High preset falls from 165 FPS to 94 FPS, a 43.0% reduction. This steeper decline indicates that the GPU is now working much harder, and its fill-rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily. The 4K resolution has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, and the frame rate drops are not perfectly linear, indicating that the game's rendering effects are becoming more expensive at this resolution.

The scaling pattern reveals that at 1080p and 1440p, the system is partially CPU-bound. The frame rates are so high that the GPU is not the primary constraint, and the CPU's processing speed is allowing it to push frame rates that are far beyond what a typical GPU would permit. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting component. The fact that the 4K Ultra setting yields only 65 FPS, a 61.8% drop from the 1440p Ultra result of 114 FPS, shows that the GPU's workload at this setting is immense. The data suggests that to maintain a high refresh rate at 4K, the user must drop to High or Medium settings, as the Ultra preset is the only one where the GPU's performance is insufficient to maintain a frame rate above 100 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For users with a 1080p monitor with a 144Hz or 240Hz refresh rate, the High preset is recommended, as it delivers an average of 246 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most displays. The Ultra preset at 1080p still yields 170 FPS, which is also suitable for high refresh rate gaming, but the jump to High provides a significant 44.7% increase in frame rate with likely a minor visual difference in a game of this age. The Medium preset is also viable, but the High setting offers a better balance of visual quality and performance, as the frame rate is still far above the threshold for a smooth experience.

For 1440p gaming, the High preset is again the best choice, delivering an average of 165 FPS. This is ideal for a 144Hz or 165Hz monitor, providing a smooth and responsive experience. The Ultra preset at 114 FPS is also playable, but the drop to 165 FPS on High is a significant improvement, and the visual differences between High and Ultra in Evolve are likely to be subtle. The Low preset at 271 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 240Hz+ monitor, but it shows the system's capability to push extreme frame rates if desired.

At 4K, the recommendations change. The Ultra preset is only playable at 65 FPS, which is acceptable for a 60Hz display but not ideal for a high refresh rate panel. For a smoother experience, the High preset is recommended, delivering 94 FPS. This is a substantial 44.6% improvement over Ultra and is much better suited for 4K gaming. The Medium preset at 120 FPS is the best option for a 120Hz 4K monitor, providing a high frame rate while maintaining a good level of visual fidelity. The data suggests that the Ultra preset is too demanding for 4K, and the marginal visual improvements it offers are not worth the significant performance penalty. The Medium or High presets offer the best experience at this resolution, ensuring that the frame rate remains high and the gameplay stays fluid.