Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. The combination ranks 2283rd out of 2872 tested combos, placing it in the lower 21st percentile of all configurations. The CPU is a strong mobile part with a 93rd percentile ranking among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 66th percentile, indicating a notable mismatch where the processor has considerable headroom that the graphics card cannot exploit in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread mobile processor built on Arrow Lake-HX architecture using TSMC's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and boosts up to 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The CPU features a 30 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 cache per core, alongside 192 KB L1 cache per core. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This processor is designed for high-end mobile workloads, with benchmark scores reflecting strong multi-threaded performance: 40,642 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,737 in single-core. PassMark multi-thread score reaches 47,985, with single-thread at 4,500.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain frame pacing and handle game logic, AI, and physics. The game launched in 2015, and its threading model is unlikely to exploit 20 cores effectively. Benchmark results show that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 140 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. This suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower graphical loads, as the frame rate scales with resolution and settings rather than hitting a hard CPU-imposed ceiling. The processor’s single-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,737, is more relevant for this title than its multi-core capability. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 7 265HX benchmarks within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-13790F (average score 63,080 vs. 63,173), 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (63,331), 0.5% above the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (62,839), and 0.7% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (62,738). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in Evolve when paired with this GPU.

The 20-thread configuration may actually be underutilized, as Evolve’s engine predates wide-core processors. The CPU’s 3 nm process and 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die suggest efficiency, but the game’s frame rates are more constrained by the GPU. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 22, while at 1080p Low it reaches 140, a 6.4x difference that far exceeds what CPU-bound scaling would produce. This indicates the processor has ample headroom even at the highest frame rates measured.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture mobile GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process, featuring 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Core clocks are 2,317 MHz base and 2,572 MHz boost, with memory running at 2,500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The GPU includes 2,560 shading units, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 20 RT cores, and 80 tensor cores. Compute performance is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16. The TDP is 130 W, with a suggested PSU of 300 W and a dual-slot design.

The RTX 5050’s benchmark scores show a mixed profile. In PassMark G3D, it scores 17,326, with DirectX 11 at 150 and DirectX 12 at 66. Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 90,334 and 89,381, respectively. The GPU sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21,035. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (average score 21,153, delta -0.6%), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21,237, delta -1%), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20,713, delta 1.6%), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21,379, delta -1.6%). These deltas are small, indicating the RTX 5050 performs in a narrow band around its competitors, but the DirectX 12 score of 66 is notably low, which may explain struggles in newer API workloads.

In Evolve, the GPU is the dominant factor in frame rate scaling. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 59 at Ultra to 140 at Low. At 1440p, the range is 39 to 94 FPS. At 4K, it drops to 22 to 53 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game’s era, but the 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra result of 22 FPS suggests the GPU is overwhelmed by pixel throughput and fill rate requirements, given the 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate and 205.8 GTexel/s texture rate. Evolve’s visual effects, including particle systems and dynamic lighting, likely stress the 32 ROPs at 4K, leading to sub-30 FPS performance.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rival, the RX 5600 XT, in Evolve?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21,035, which is 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT’s 20,713. In Evolve, this margin is small enough that frame rates would be nearly identical, with differences within measurement noise.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 265HX a bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 140 FPS average, the highest score in the dataset. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,737 indicate it can feed the GPU effectively at this resolution and settings level.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all measured configurations?

A: The lowest average FPS is 22 at 4K Ultra settings. The only min FPS values provided are for Medium settings: 35 FPS at 4K, 62 FPS at 1440p, and 92 FPS at 1080p, suggesting that Medium preset offers the most stable frame pacing relative to its average.

Q: How does the CPU’s multi-threaded performance relate to Evolve’s requirements?

A: The CPU scores 40,642 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, but Evolve is a 2015 title unlikely to use all 20 threads. The single-core score of 5,737 is more relevant, and the game’s frame rates scale primarily with GPU settings, not CPU load, confirming the CPU is not a limiting factor.

Q: Does the GPU’s DirectX 12 performance affect Evolve?

A: Evolve launched in 2015 and likely uses DirectX 11, where the RTX 5050 scores 150 in PassMark. The DirectX 12 score of 66 is lower, but it does not impact this title, as the game predates widespread DX12 adoption.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 2283rd out of 2872 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 21% of configurations. This is primarily due to the GPU’s mid-tier performance relative to other tested systems, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 140 FPS, representing the ceiling for this configuration. Medium settings yield 108 FPS average, with a minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS, showing a 16 FPS variance from average to minimum. High settings drop to 85 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 59 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 81 FPS, a 58% reduction in frame rate, indicating that graphical settings have a substantial impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the scaling continues. Low settings average 94 FPS, a 33% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 83 FPS. High settings produce 57 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 1440p costs 16 FPS (73 to 57), while High to Ultra costs 18 FPS (57 to 39), showing that Ultra settings are disproportionately expensive at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings average 53 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS, indicating noticeable stutter potential. High settings drop to 32 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS, which is below playable thresholds for an FPS title. The 4K Low result of 53 FPS is the only configuration at this resolution that approaches acceptable frame rates.

The Medium preset consistently provides the most complete data, with min and max FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 92 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 62 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 35 FPS. These numbers suggest that Medium is the most stable preset in terms of frame pacing, as it avoids the extreme drops seen at Ultra or the potential inconsistencies at Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2283rd out of 2872 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 21% of all systems in the database. This ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU, which sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs but pairs with a CPU at the 93rd percentile. The mismatch is evident: the processor has substantial headroom, as indicated by its average benchmark score of 63,173 versus the GPU’s 21,035. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Core i7-13790F (delta 0.1%) and Ryzen AI 7 450G (delta -0.2%), would perform identically in Evolve, confirming that processor choice is not a factor in this ranking.

The GPU’s nearest rivals, including the RX 5600 XT (delta 1.6%) and RTX A4000 Mobile (delta -1.6%), have similar average scores, but the RTX 5050’s low DirectX 12 score of 66 may drag down its performance in newer titles. In Evolve, the ranking reflects the GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where it drops to 22 FPS at Ultra. The combination’s position in the bottom quintile suggests that most tested systems outperform it, likely due to stronger GPUs or more balanced pairings. For a 2015 game, this rank is surprisingly low, indicating that the RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are insufficient for high-resolution play, even in older titles with demanding visual effects.

Settings Recommendations

The data clearly points to Medium settings as the optimal preset across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 108 FPS average with a minimum of 92 FPS, providing a smooth experience that exceeds typical 60 FPS targets. The minimum FPS of 92 ensures no drops below playable thresholds. At 1440p Medium, the average is 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS, which remains playable but approaches the edge of smoothness. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which is below ideal for an FPS but may be acceptable for single-player sessions.

High settings are only viable at 1080p, where the average is 85 FPS, and at 1440p, where it is 57 FPS. At 4K High, the 32 FPS average is not recommended. Ultra settings are only playable at 1080p with 59 FPS average, but this comes at a significant cost: a 49 FPS drop from Medium (108 to 59), which is a 45% reduction. The performance hit from Medium to Ultra is disproportionate to the visual gains, especially given that Evolve’s 2015-era graphics do not benefit significantly from Ultra presets.

Low settings are only necessary for 4K, where they achieve 53 FPS average. However, the visual degradation at Low is severe, and the 4K Medium result of 41 FPS is arguably a better trade-off for image quality. For the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity, Medium at 1080p or 1440p is the recommended choice. The data shows that Medium provides the most consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the min/max values recorded, and it avoids the dramatic drops seen at Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU as the primary limiting component. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 108 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and then to 41 at 4K (a 44% reduction from 1440p, or 62% from 1080p). This scaling is steeper than the pixel count increase would suggest, indicating that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are saturated. At 4K, the pixel count is 4x that of 1080p, but the frame rate drops by only 62%, which means the GPU is not purely pixel-bound; other factors such as texture fetch and shader complexity contribute.

At Low settings, the scaling is more linear: 140 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop), and 53 FPS at 4K (a 44% drop from 1440p). This suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is less constrained by memory bandwidth and more by raw compute, allowing for a more predictable scaling pattern. At High settings, the drops are 57 FPS at 1440p (33% from 85 at 1080p) and 32 FPS at 4K (44% from 1440p), mirroring the Low setting percentages. This consistency indicates that the RTX 5050’s 320.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors, as the frame rate scales almost exactly with the resolution’s pixel count at lower settings.

The 4K to 1080p ratio at Ultra settings is particularly telling: 22 FPS at 4K versus 59 FPS at 1080p, a 63% drop. This is the steepest scaling across all presets, suggesting that the 8 GB VRAM and 32 ROPs are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum visual effects. The GPU’s 82.30 GPixel/s pixel rate is insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title, confirming that the RTX 5050 is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming. The CPU’s role in this scaling is negligible, as its performance remains constant regardless of resolution, and the frame rate variations are entirely attributable to GPU load.