Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the AMD Radeon 890M is a mobile combination built around a powerful processor and a capable integrated GPU. In the 2015 FPS title Evolve, this setup produces playable frame rates at 1080p with medium settings, but it struggles at higher resolutions and demanding presets. The data shows a system where the integrated graphics are the clear performance ceiling, even though the CPU has ample headroom for this older game.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for playing Evolve with this hardware?*

A: According to the measured FPS data, the sweet spot is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which yields an average of 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. This is the only tested configuration that balances smoothness and visual quality. At 1080p Low, the average rises to 79 FPS, but the visual downgrade is significant. At 1440p, even Medium settings drop to 41 FPS average, which is below the ideal for a fast-paced FPS.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Evolve?*

A: No, not at playable frame rates. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 30, which is borderline. With Medium settings, it falls to 23 FPS (minimum 20, maximum 27). High settings produce 18 FPS, and Ultra drops to 13 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is not a viable option for this game with the AMD Radeon 890M, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has an average benchmark score of 34083. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H, scores 33989, which is 0.3% lower. The AMD EPYC 4244P scores 34220 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 scores 34222 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X scores 34260 (0.5% higher). This places the Ultra 7 165H in a very tight competitive cluster, with all four rivals within half a percent of its score.

Q: Is the Radeon 890M a strong integrated GPU compared to dedicated cards?

A: The Radeon 890M has an average benchmark score of 9210 and sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221, 0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273, 0.7% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294, 0.9% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (9302, 1% higher). This shows the 890M performs roughly on par with older entry-level dedicated graphics cards, which explains its limitations in Evolve at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the CPU in this combo?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has a launch MSRP of $460. This information is provided for reference; the total system cost depends on the motherboard, RAM, and other components, which are not covered in this data.

Q: Does the GPU have dedicated VRAM?

A: No, the AMD Radeon 890M uses System Shared memory. Its memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," and its memory bandwidth is "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies on the system's DDR5 RAM, and performance can vary based on the memory configuration of the host laptop.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 890M combination ranks 2711 out of 2872 tested combos for Evolve. This places it in the bottom 6% of all systems tested for this specific game. The ranking reflects the GPU's integrated nature; while the CPU is a strong mobile processor, the Radeon 890M cannot keep pace with dedicated graphics solutions in a demanding FPS title.

The data shows a clear disparity between the CPU's processing power and the GPU's rendering capability. The Core Ultra 7 165H sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34083. In contrast, the Radeon 890M sits at the 45th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 9210. This combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-tier integrated GPU results in a system that is bottlenecked by graphics performance in Evolve. The ranking of 2711 out of 2872 indicates that most other tested configurations, likely including those with dedicated GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this game.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within 0.5% of its performance, meaning the processor is not a differentiator in this combo's ranking. The GPU, however, is the limiting factor. Its nearest rivals include the GeForce GTX 960 and GTX 850M, which are older dedicated cards. Even those older cards are slightly faster, with deltaPct values of -0.7% and -1% respectively, meaning the 890M is marginally behind them. This explains why the combo ranks so low: the integrated GPU is the bottleneck, and no amount of CPU performance can overcome that in a GPU-bound title like Evolve.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture and uses the Strix Point chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It has 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 raster output pipelines, and 16 ray tracing cores. The GPU's base clock is 400 MHz, with a boost clock of 2900 MHz. Its pixel rate is 92.80 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 185.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 5.939 TFLOPS, which is the same as its FP16 performance (1:1 ratio).

The GPU's memory configuration is entirely system-dependent. It uses System Shared memory, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM. The memory type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This is a critical factor for Evolve, as the game's texture and geometry data must be stored in system RAM and transferred over the memory bus. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support of the CPU (with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s) is the practical limit for the GPU's memory performance.

In Evolve, the GPU's role is definitive. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 79. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 61 FPS. At 1080p High, it drops further to 48 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it falls to 33 FPS. This scaling demonstrates that the GPU is the primary constraint. The Radeon 890M's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is irrelevant for this 2015 game, which was designed for older DirectX versions. Its PassMark DirectX 11 score is 73, while its DirectX 12 score is 37, and its DirectX 9 score is 97. These scores suggest the GPU is relatively stronger in legacy APIs, which is consistent with Evolve's release era.

The GPU's TDP is 15 W, and it is an integrated part (IGP) with no power connectors. This low power envelope means it must share thermal and power resources with the CPU, which can affect sustained performance. However, the data does not include any thermal throttling measurements. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 590, and its Geekbench OpenCL score is 37254, with a Vulkan score of 40808. These synthetic benchmarks align with its PassMark G3D score of 8076, which places it in the 45th percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-range integrated solution, and Evolve's results reflect that.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 79, which is smooth for a fast-paced FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 61 FPS, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. This is the most balanced configuration, offering a solid frame rate with improved visual fidelity. High settings drop the average to 48 FPS, which is still playable but may feel less responsive. Ultra settings produce an average of 33 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable competitive play.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades significantly. Low settings produce an average of 53 FPS, which is acceptable. Medium settings drop to 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. This is borderline playable, but the frame rate dips can be noticeable. High settings yield an average of 32 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 22 FPS. Neither of these is ideal for a game like Evolve, where quick reactions are essential.

At 3840x2160, the system is not viable for gaming. Low settings produce an average of 30 FPS, which is at the edge of playability. Medium settings drop to 23 FPS (minimum 20, maximum 27), High settings yield 18 FPS, and Ultra settings produce just 13 FPS. The data shows that 4K resolution is simply too demanding for the Radeon 890M, regardless of the settings used.

The frame rate data also reveals the GPU's performance scaling with settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 18 FPS (79 to 61), between Medium and High is 13 FPS (61 to 48), and between High and Ultra is 15 FPS (48 to 33). This indicates that each settings tier places additional load on the GPU, with no single setting causing a disproportionate drop. At 1440p, the same pattern holds, but the absolute numbers are lower. At 4K, the GPU is already struggling at Low, so further settings increases have a smaller absolute impact (30 to 23 to 18 to 13 FPS).

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p to 4K is steep and consistent, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound system. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 79 at 1080p to 53 at 1440p to 30 at 4K. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 61, 41, and 23 FPS, respectively. The percentage drops are similar.

This scaling behavior indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would not change as dramatically with resolution. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has 16 cores and 22 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14551, and its single-core score is 1759. These scores are far above what Evolve requires, as the game was released in 2015 and is not particularly CPU-intensive by modern standards.

The GPU, on the other hand, is clearly overwhelmed as resolution increases. The Radeon 890M's memory bandwidth is "System Dependent," which means it shares the CPU's dual-channel DDR5 memory. At 1080p, the GPU can manage to fill the frame buffer with enough data to produce 79 FPS at Low. At 4K, the pixel count quadruples, requiring four times the fill rate and memory bandwidth. The GPU's pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s becomes a hard limit, and the data shows that the system cannot sustain even 30 FPS at 4K Low.

The resolution scaling also shows that the GPU's performance is not linear with pixel count. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 78%, but the FPS drops by 33% at Low settings. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 125%, but the FPS drops by 43%. This suggests that the GPU is not purely fill-rate limited; other factors like memory bandwidth and shader throughput also play a role. The Radeon 890M's FP32 performance of 5.939 TFLOPS is modest, and its texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s is sufficient for 1080p but not for higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It has 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU's TDP is 28 W, and it supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In processor benchmarks, this CPU is strong. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14551, and its single-core score is 1759. Its PassMark multi-thread score is 25933, and its single-thread score is 3509 (listed twice in the data). The CPU's average benchmark score is 34083, placing it at the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within half a percent, with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X being 0.5% faster, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 being 0.4% faster, and the AMD EPYC 4244P being 0.4% faster. The Intel Core Ultra 5 338H is 0.3% slower.

For Evolve, the CPU has more than enough power. The game was released in 2015, and its system requirements are modest by modern standards. The CPU's single-core performance, which is critical for game logic and physics, is excellent. Its PassMark single-thread score of 3509 is high, and its Cinebench R20 single-core score is 1303. The CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads are overkill for this game, which likely uses only a handful of threads.

The data confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck. If it were, we would see frame rates that are similar across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, which points directly to the GPU. The CPU's role in this combo is to provide ample headroom for the Radeon 890M to operate without being starved for data. The system's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is shared between the CPU and GPU, but at 1080p Medium, the system achieves 61 FPS, indicating that the memory subsystem is sufficient for this workload.

The CPU's integrated graphics, the Arc Xe-LPG 128EU, is separate from the AMD Radeon 890M. However, in this data, the Radeon 890M is the active GPU. The CPU's performance in PassMark physics (1806) and integer math (89415) suggests it can handle any physics calculations Evolve throws at it. The CPU's boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures that even the most demanding single-threaded tasks in the game will be processed quickly. In summary, the Core Ultra 7 165H is a high-end mobile CPU that is wasted on this GPU pairing for Evolve, as the game is entirely GPU-limited at all tested settings and resolutions.