Evolve

# Evolve — Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile

The benchmark data for Evolve with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile shows a system that handles 1080p gaming comfortably but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The measured scores across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a clear performance hierarchy, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions. This combination ranks 2960th out of 3700 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-mid portion of the database.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 140 FPS at 1920x1080 to 53 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 87 FPS, or roughly 62% of the 1080p score. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor as resolution increases, since the CPU workload per frame does not change with resolution, while the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at High settings, the average drops from 57 FPS to 32 FPS, a 44% decrease. The Medium preset shows a similar proportional decline: 73 FPS at 1440p down to 41 FPS at 4K, which is a 44% reduction. These consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the rendering pipeline is uniformly bound by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than by any specific setting causing a bottleneck.

The Low preset at 1080p reaches 140 FPS, which is more than 2.6 times the 4K Low score of 53 FPS. At Ultra settings, the gap is even more pronounced in relative terms: 59 FPS at 1080p versus 22 FPS at 4K, meaning the 4K score is only 37% of the 1080p figure. This widening gap at higher settings reinforces that the RTX 5050 Mobile's 8 GB GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus are saturated when pushing 8.3 million pixels at 4K with complex effects enabled.

The data shows that 1440p represents a compromise zone. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 73 FPS, which is 78% of the 1080p Medium score of 108 FPS. However, at Ultra settings, 1440p drops to 39 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth. The resolution scaling analysis indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p viable only at lower quality presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 1020 MHz and a boost clock of 1500 MHz, which are modest figures that explain why the measured frame rates at 4K are relatively low. The GPU's memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This bandwidth figure is directly relevant to the 4K results, where texture streaming and high-resolution buffers demand substantial memory throughput.

The RTX 5050 Mobile's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2365 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 84171 place it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 43268 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (43223, 0.1% delta). The RTX 5050 Mobile sits just 0.9% below the RTX 4090 Mobile in average score, which indicates that in synthetic benchmarks, this mobile GPU punches above its modest clock speeds.

In Evolve specifically, the GPU's role becomes evident when comparing the Low and Ultra presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset (59 FPS) delivers only 42% of the Low preset's 140 FPS. This 81 FPS gap at a single resolution demonstrates that the GPU's shading units (2560), texture mapping units (80), and raster output units (32) are heavily taxed by the Ultra settings' additional visual effects. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s provide the theoretical ceiling, but the measured 4K Ultra score of 22 FPS suggests that Evolve's Ultra preset includes effects that exceed what this GPU can sustain at high pixel counts.

The 50 W TDP with an IGP slot width and no power connectors indicates this is a low-power mobile part, which explains the conservative clock speeds. The 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the raw compute figure, but in practice, the 4K results show that memory bandwidth and fill rate are the more binding constraints.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor from the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 45 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB shared L3. This processor outperforms its nearest rivals in the database: it is 0.1% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, 0.2% faster than the Intel Core 7 250H, 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, and 0.7% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X in average benchmark score.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17984.5 and single-core score of 1810.5 demonstrate strong multi-threaded capability, which matters for Evolve's game logic and physics simulation. The Geekbench multi-core score of 11657 and single-core score of 1794 reinforce that this CPU has both the thread count and per-core performance needed to avoid becoming a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios.

Evolve is a 2015 FPS title, and its engine was designed for CPUs that are now several generations old. The Core Ultra 9 185H's 5.10 GHz boost clock provides ample single-thread performance for the game's main simulation thread. The 22 threads handle background tasks efficiently, but the measured frame rates across resolutions show that the CPU is not the limiting factor — the GPU is. This conclusion is supported by the fact that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 140 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it maintains 108 FPS. These high frame rates indicate the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity.

The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support are adequate for Evolve's requirements. The 24 MB shared L3 cache reduces memory latency for frequently accessed game data. The processor's position in the 85th percentile of all CPUs further confirms that it is a high-end mobile part that should not constrain gaming performance in a title like Evolve.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS. This is the only measured row at 1080p that includes min/max values, and the 92 FPS minimum indicates the frame pacing stays above the 60 FPS threshold even during intense scenes. The High preset at 1080p drops to 85 FPS, which is still smooth, but the Medium preset's 23 FPS advantage over High makes it the better choice for maintaining high frame rates.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset produces 73 FPS (min 62, max 83). This is the sweet spot for this resolution because the Low preset (94 FPS) sacrifices visual quality significantly, while the High preset (57 FPS) and Ultra preset (39 FPS) fall below what most players would consider ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The Medium preset's 62 FPS minimum stays above the 60 FPS line, making it the recommended configuration for 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 53 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 50 FPS. The Medium preset comes in at 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), which is playable but not smooth. The High preset (32 FPS) and Ultra preset (22 FPS) are below the threshold for responsive gameplay. Therefore, the recommendation for 4K is to use the Low preset if visual fidelity is less important than frame rate, or to accept Medium for a richer image at the cost of smoothness.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution based on the data. At 1080p it achieves 59 FPS, which is barely playable, but the 81 FPS penalty compared to Low is substantial. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra produces 39 FPS and 22 FPS respectively, both of which are too low for an FPS game. The data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + RTX 5050 Mobile combination ranks 2960th out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the 20th percentile from the bottom. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, despite the CPU's strong benchmark scores. The combo's position in the lower half of the database is primarily due to the RTX 5050 Mobile's performance ceiling in this specific game.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 43268 is nearly identical to the Quadro M6000 24 GB and RTX 4070 SUPER, but those desktop-oriented GPUs have different thermal and power characteristics. In Evolve, the mobile RTX 5050's 50 W TDP and IGP slot design mean it cannot sustain the same clock frequencies as a full-size desktop card. The 4K Ultra score of 22 FPS is particularly telling — it shows that this combo is not designed for extreme resolutions with maximum settings.

The CPU's strong relative performance (85th percentile, 0.1% to 0.7% ahead of its nearest rivals) does not compensate for the GPU's constraints in this game. The combo ranking of 2960 out of 3700 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in Evolve, likely due to more powerful GPUs. However, the ranking also reflects that this is a newer mobile GPU that trades raw performance for efficiency, as indicated by its 50 W TDP and lack of power connectors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 140 FPS, which is the highest measured score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset delivers 108 FPS (min 92, max 124), offering a 32 FPS reduction from Low but with improved visual quality. The High preset drops to 85 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 59 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 81 FPS range, with each successive preset reducing performance by roughly 20-25%.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset reaches 94 FPS, which is 46 FPS lower than the same preset at 1080p. The Medium preset achieves 73 FPS (min 62, max 83), representing a 35 FPS penalty from 1080p Medium. The High preset scores 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 39 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 55 FPS, which is smaller than the 81 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more constrained at this resolution regardless of settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 53 FPS, which is a 87 FPS drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset achieves 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), the High preset scores 32 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 22 FPS. The 4K results show a 31 FPS range from Low to Ultra, which is the smallest spread across all resolutions. This compression of the performance range at 4K confirms that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck, and no amount of settings reduction can bring the frame rate to 60 FPS at this resolution.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data at all three resolutions. The min FPS values — 92 at 1080p, 62 at 1440p, and 35 at 4K — show how the frame time variance increases with resolution. At 1080p, the minimum stays well above 60 FPS. At 1440p, it just clears 60 FPS. At 4K, the minimum of 35 FPS indicates significant frame pacing issues that would be noticeable during gameplay.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most suitable resolution. At Medium settings, it delivers 108 FPS average with a 92 FPS minimum. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 73 FPS, and at 4K, the same preset drops to 41 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 Mobile compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43268. It is exactly matched with the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, 0% delta), 0.1% above the RTX 4070 SUPER (43223), and 0.9% below the RTX 4090 Mobile (43667).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Evolve?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU performs strongly with a 5.10 GHz boost clock and scores in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The frame rate drops consistently across resolutions, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the Ultra preset performance at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 59 FPS average. This is considerably lower than the Medium preset's 108 FPS and the Low preset's 140 FPS, making Ultra the least efficient setting for this combo.

Q: Does the combo rank well in the database for Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 2960th out of 3700 tested combinations. This places it in the lower portion of the database, which is consistent with the GPU's 50 W TDP and modest clock speeds limiting high-resolution performance.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the GPU and how does it affect results?

A: The RTX 5050 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 4K results, particularly the 22 FPS Ultra score, indicate that this bandwidth is insufficient for high-resolution texture streaming.