Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built around asymmetric multiplayer combat, places heavy demands on both processor and graphics hardware. For the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, the measured data reveals a system that is capable of solid 1080p performance at high settings, but which requires significant compromises at higher resolutions. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface become the primary constraint at 4K, where even Medium settings only produce a 50 FPS average. This combination ranks 1740th out of 2872 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, a position driven more by the GPU’s limitations than by the CPU’s capable 16-core, 22-thread design.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Evolve?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where the combo achieves consistently high frame rates across all settings. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 71 on Ultra to 169 on Low, while at 2560x1440 the range drops to 48–114 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 27–65 FPS. For a smooth experience, 1080p is the clear choice.

Q: How does the RTX 4060’s VRAM affect Evolve at 4K?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields only 27 FPS average, and High produces 39 FPS, indicating that the memory capacity and bandwidth are insufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures and effects. Medium is the highest playable setting at 4K, with a 50 FPS average and a 43 FPS minimum.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H a bottleneck in Evolve?

A: Benchmark data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ultra 7 165H has 16 cores and 22 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and scores 14,551 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. In the measured results, the frame rate scales predictably with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, especially at 1440p and 4K.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers a 114 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 48 FPS. This represents a 66 FPS difference, or about 58% lower performance on Ultra. High settings provide a middle ground at 69 FPS, which is still below the 88 FPS achieved on Medium.

Q: How does this combo’s rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1740th out of 2872 tested combinations, placing it in the 60th percentile of all combos. This rank reflects the RTX 4060’s 61st percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, indicating the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

Q: Can this system handle Evolve at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset produces a 50 FPS average with a 43 FPS minimum, making it the only 4K setting that approaches playability. Low settings achieve 65 FPS, but Ultra and High fall to 27 and 39 FPS respectively, which are below smooth gameplay thresholds.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the data points to 1920x1080 with High settings as the optimal balance. At this resolution and preset, the average FPS is 103, which provides smooth gameplay without the visual degradation of Low settings. The High preset at 1080p delivers nearly 50% more performance than Ultra (103 vs 71 FPS), while offering much better visuals than Low (169 FPS), which sacrifices too much detail. The Medium preset at 1080p, at 131 FPS average with a 112 FPS minimum, is also a strong choice for players who prioritize frame rates over graphical fidelity, but High is the sweet spot for most users.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to Medium settings, which produce an 88 FPS average with a 75 FPS minimum. High at 1440p drops to 69 FPS, which is still playable but closer to the edge of smoothness, while Ultra falls to 48 FPS, which is too low for a fast-paced FPS. Low at 1440p offers 114 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. For 4K gameplay, only the Medium preset is viable, with a 50 FPS average and a 43 FPS minimum. Low at 4K reaches 65 FPS, but the graphical downgrade is severe, and High at 39 FPS and Ultra at 27 FPS are not recommended for competitive play.

The data shows a clear pattern: the combo performs best when the GPU is not overloaded. At 1080p, the RTX 4060 has enough headroom to run High settings comfortably, while at higher resolutions, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors. Players with 1440p monitors should accept Medium as the ceiling for stable performance, and 4K users should consider Low or Medium only. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer across all resolutions, with frame rates that are 30–40% lower than High, making it unsuitable for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the observed performance in Evolve. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2460 MHz, and it contains 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 and the Passmark G3D score of 19545 place the GPU in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, which is modest for a modern discrete card.

In Evolve, the RTX 4060’s memory configuration is the most critical factor. At 1920x1080, the 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for all settings, allowing the GPU to reach 169 FPS on Low and 103 FPS on High. However, at 3840x2160, the higher resolution demands more memory bandwidth and capacity. The Ultra preset at 4K yields only 27 FPS, which is a 62% drop from the 71 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This steep decline indicates that the 128-bit memory interface cannot keep up with the pixel throughput required at 4K. The Medium preset at 4K, with a 50 FPS average, is the highest playable setting, and it still falls short of the 88 FPS achieved at 1440p Medium.

The GPU’s compute capabilities are sufficient for Evolve’s DirectX 12 workload, as evidenced by the Passmark DirectX 12 score of 76 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2302. The RTX 4060’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for the game’s effects, but the memory subsystem is the bottleneck. The 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is the same as the RTX 4060’s predecessor, and at 4K, the game’s large textures and shadow maps exceed what the 8 GB buffer can efficiently handle. The result is that the GPU’s performance scales poorly with resolution, with 4K High being 62% slower than 1080p High (39 vs 103 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are strong: Low settings achieve a 169 FPS average, Medium delivers 131 FPS with a 112 FPS minimum and 151 FPS maximum, High reaches 103 FPS, and Ultra falls to 71 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 98 FPS, which indicates that the RTX 4060 has significant headroom at this resolution. The 1080p Medium data, with its 112 FPS minimum, shows consistent frame delivery, making it a reliable choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings produce a 114 FPS average, Medium achieves 88 FPS with a 75 FPS minimum and 101 FPS maximum, High drops to 69 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48 FPS. The 1440p results show a 66 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, and the Medium preset’s 75 FPS minimum indicates some frame pacing issues under load. The High preset at 69 FPS is borderline for a competitive FPS, while Ultra at 48 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings reach a 65 FPS average, Medium produces 50 FPS with a 43 FPS minimum and 58 FPS maximum, High drops to 39 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27 FPS. The 4K data reveals a 38 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, and even the best setting (Low) only achieves 65 FPS, which is below the 1080p High result. The Medium preset’s 43 FPS minimum is particularly problematic, as it falls below the 50 FPS average and indicates dips into unplayable territory. The step from 1440p to 4K is harsh: at High settings, the frame rate drops from 69 to 39 FPS, a 43% reduction. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the most balanced performance, with a 131 FPS average at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos, this pairing of Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1740th out of 2872 total combinations. This places the combo in the 39th percentile from the top, meaning roughly 61% of tested systems perform better. The rank is influenced by both components: the CPU ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34,083, while the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile, with an average score of 17,639. The GPU’s lower percentile is the primary reason the combo does not rank higher.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H, which scores 33,989 (a 0.3% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4244P at 34,220 (a 0.4% difference). These rivals are within 1% of the Ultra 7 165H’s score, indicating that the CPU is competitive with other mid-range mobile processors. The GPU’s nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17,666 (a 0.2% difference), the AMD Radeon 780M at 17,588 (a 0.3% difference), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17,551 (a 0.5% difference). The RTX 4060’s score of 17,639 is essentially tied with these older or integrated options, which underscores its modest standing in the current GPU landscape.

The combo’s rank of 1740 means it sits in the middle of the pack, but the context matters. The CPU is a strong performer, capable of handling Evolve’s CPU demands without issue, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,551 and Passmark multithread score of 25,933. The GPU, however, is the limiting factor, and its 61st percentile ranking is reflected in the 4K performance, which drops below 60 FPS on all settings except Low. For players using this combo, the rank suggests that 1080p is the intended resolution, and that higher resolutions will require significant setting reductions. The data shows that the combo is better suited for 1080p competitive play than for 4K cinematic experiences.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on a 7 nm process at Intel. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it has a 24 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: it achieves 2,641 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 9,233 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 14,551 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. Single-core scores are 257, 1,303, and 1,759 in the same tests, respectively. The Passmark multithread score of 25,933 and single-thread score of 3,509 further confirm its capability.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, which are substantial in a multiplayer FPS. The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallelism, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34,083, places it well above the GPU’s 61st percentile. This disparity is key: the CPU is never the bottleneck in the measured results. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (33,989, +0.3%) and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (34,260, -0.5%), show that the Ultra 7 165H is competitive with desktop-class processors from a few generations ago. Its Passmark data compression score of 291,161 and floating-point math score of 66,273 indicate strong compute throughput, which helps with game loading and background tasks. The 24 MB L3 cache is sufficient for Evolve’s data access patterns, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support, with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, provides enough memory throughput for the CPU’s needs.

The measured FPS data confirms the CPU’s adequacy. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 169 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors, and even at 4K Ultra, the 27 FPS result is more attributable to the GPU’s memory limitations than to CPU performance. The CPU’s 28 W TDP, while low for a performance processor, does not appear to cause throttling issues in the benchmark results, as the frame rates are consistent across repeated tests. Overall, the Ultra 7 165H is a capable partner for the RTX 4060, but its performance is underutilized in Evolve due to the GPU’s constraints at higher resolutions. Players with this combo should focus on GPU settings rather than CPU settings, as the data shows the CPU has ample headroom.