Evolve

Settings Recommendations

For Evolve, the measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 263 FPS average, while Medium drops to 204 FPS, High to 160 FPS, and Ultra to 111 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 22% of the frame rate, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 22%, and High to Ultra costs 31%. Given that this is a fast-paced FPS, the data indicates that the Medium preset provides the best balance—it maintains a 204 FPS average at 1080p, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end displays, while still offering noticeably better visual quality than Low.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds. Medium shows 137 FPS average, which remains highly playable, while High drops to 107 FPS and Ultra falls to 74 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for this resolution, keeping frame rates comfortably above 120 FPS. At 3840x2160, however, the story changes. Medium yields 78 FPS average, High yields 61 FPS, and Ultra drops to 42 FPS. For 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice—61 FPS is playable, and the visual improvement over Medium justifies the 22% frame rate reduction. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as 42 FPS falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a competitive FPS.

The data also provides min and max FPS only for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 174 to 235 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it spans 116 to 157 FPS; at 4K Medium, it spans 66 to 90 FPS. These ranges indicate that the Medium preset maintains consistent frame pacing with no severe drops, further supporting its recommendation as the default choice for most users.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 137 FPS average, which is sufficient to drive a 144Hz display. High drops to 107 FPS, which would leave headroom unused, so Medium is the optimal choice for this refresh rate.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using in Evolve?

A: At 1080p, Ultra still delivers 111 FPS average, which is playable on 100Hz+ monitors. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 74 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 42 FPS. The data suggests Ultra is only viable at 1080p for high-refresh-rate play, and even then, the visual gains over High may not justify the 44% frame rate reduction.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 263 FPS average, which is far beyond typical display refresh rates. This indicates the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX with 24 cores and 24 threads is not a bottleneck at this resolution—the GPU is still delivering the frames, but the CPU's high single-core performance (2204 in Cinebench R23 single-core) keeps the frame pipeline saturated.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 61 FPS average at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is a playable frame rate for most titles, though competitive players may prefer the Medium preset at 78 FPS for additional headroom.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM matter for Evolve?

A: Evolve is a 2015 title, and the data shows no VRAM-related issues at any resolution or settings preset. The 24 GB GDDR6X memory is far more than this game requires, so VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any measured configuration.

Q: Why does the combo rank 833rd out of 3700 combos if it performs so well?

A: The combo rank reflects the specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX with the RTX 4090, not the raw performance of either component alone. In Evolve, many other CPU-GPU pairings may achieve similar or better frame rates due to the game's age and relatively low system requirements at the time of its release.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This is an Arrow Lake-HX architecture part built on a 3 nm process, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache. In Evolve, a game from 2015, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 263 FPS average, which suggests the CPU is capable of sustaining extremely high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35589 and single-core score of 2204 indicate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads. Evolve is not heavily multithreaded by modern standards, but the 24-core CPU still provides ample headroom for background tasks and any game engine threads that can utilize multiple cores. The PassMark physics score of 3338 reflects the CPU's capability in physics simulations, which are relevant in a game like Evolve where environmental interactions and monster abilities can stress the CPU.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's relative importance diminishes. The frame rate drop from 1080p Medium (204 FPS) to 1440p Medium (137 FPS) is a 33% reduction, which is consistent with the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The CPU's 24 threads ensure that even at 4K, where the GPU is heavily loaded, there is no evidence of CPU-induced frame drops—the 4K Medium min FPS of 66 is proportionate to the average of 78.

The memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support are adequate for this workload. The CPU's 5.40 GHz boost clock is particularly valuable for single-threaded game logic, which often cannot utilize multiple cores effectively. In a game like Evolve, where the monster AI and player interactions require rapid decision-making, the high boost clock helps maintain consistent frame times.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 833rd out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 23% of all configurations. This ranking is notable because both components individually score in the 94th and 88th percentiles among all CPUs and GPUs, respectively. The discrepancy between component-level and combo-level ranking suggests that Evolve does not fully utilize the extreme capabilities of either part.

The CPU alone has an average benchmark score of 67469, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (67673, delta -0.3%), AMD EPYC 4484PX (67822, delta -0.5%), AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (67868, delta -0.6%), and Intel Xeon 6515P (67006, delta +0.7%). These deltas show that the Core Ultra 9 275HX is well within 1% of its closest competitors in general CPU benchmarks, indicating that CPU choice among these top-tier parts has minimal impact on Evolve's performance.

The GPU has an average benchmark score of 60347, with nearest rivals including the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326, delta 0%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140, delta +0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61896, delta -2.5%), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58657, delta +2.9%). The RTX 4090's deltaPct values show it is virtually identical to the Arc Pro A60 in synthetic benchmarks, yet the RTX 4090 delivers vastly higher frame rates in Evolve—263 FPS at 1080p Low versus what a lower-tier GPU would achieve. This underscores that synthetic benchmark averages do not always translate directly to game performance.

The combo's 833rd rank out of 3700 means there are 832 configurations that achieve higher frame rates in Evolve. Given that Evolve is a 2015 title with modest requirements, many older or lower-end GPUs paired with strong CPUs may match or exceed this combo's performance, particularly at lower resolutions where the game is less demanding.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear resolution scaling behavior for this combo. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 204 FPS at 1080p to 137 FPS at 1440p (a 33% reduction), and further to 78 FPS at 4K (a 43% reduction from 1440p). This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the drop is from 263 FPS at 1080p to 177 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and 101 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). At High settings, the drop is from 160 FPS at 1080p to 107 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and 61 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the drop is from 111 FPS at 1080p to 74 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and 42 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p).

The consistent 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 43% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings presets indicates that the scaling is purely resolution-driven, not settings-driven. This is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario—the RTX 4090 is the bottleneck, and the CPU has sufficient headroom to maintain frame rates as pixel count increases. The fact that the percentage drops are identical whether the game runs at Low or Ultra settings confirms that the CPU is not introducing any variable bottleneck at different quality levels.

At 4K, the frame rates range from 42 FPS (Ultra) to 101 FPS (Low). The 4K Low result of 101 FPS is remarkable, showing that even at maximum resolution, this combo can achieve triple-digit frame rates when visual quality is reduced. The 4K High result of 61 FPS is the minimum recommended for smooth gameplay, while 4K Ultra at 42 FPS is borderline for a competitive FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 263 FPS, Medium 204 FPS (min 174, max 235), High 160 FPS, and Ultra 111 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a min-to-max spread of 61 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but no catastrophic drops. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent reduction: Medium is 22% slower than Low, High is 22% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 31% slower than High.

At 2560x1440, the measured average FPS values are: Low 177 FPS, Medium 137 FPS (min 116, max 157), High 107 FPS, and Ultra 74 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a min-to-max spread of 41 FPS. The percentage reductions between settings at 1440p mirror those at 1080p: Medium is 23% slower than Low, High is 22% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 31% slower than High.

At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS values are: Low 101 FPS, Medium 78 FPS (min 66, max 90), High 61 FPS, and Ultra 42 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a min-to-max spread of 24 FPS. The percentage reductions are: Medium is 23% slower than Low, High is 22% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 31% slower than High.

The consistency of these percentage reductions across all three resolutions is striking. Regardless of whether the game runs at 1080p or 4K, the relative cost of each settings tier remains constant. This indicates that the game's rendering pipeline scales uniformly with pixel count and quality settings, and that neither the CPU nor the GPU introduces any non-linear behavior in this combo.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU with 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. It has a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. These specifications make it an exceptionally powerful GPU, and the measured FPS data in Evolve confirms that it is the primary driver of frame rates in this combo.

At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 263 FPS average, which represents the upper bound of this combo's performance in Evolve. The fact that this is achievable at Low settings suggests the GPU is not fully saturated—there is likely headroom for even higher frame rates if the CPU could keep up, but the 24-core Core Ultra 9 275HX appears sufficient at this level. The GPU's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are more than adequate for a 2015 title.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 24 GB is far beyond Evolve's requirements. Even at 4K Ultra, the game would not approach this limit, as the title's textures and geometry are modest by modern standards. The memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and frame buffer operations never become bottlenecks, even at 4K with high settings.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and PassMark G3D score of 38194 provide context for the RTX 4090's raw compute capability. In Evolve, which uses DirectX 11-era rendering techniques, the GPU's performance is limited by the game's engine rather than its own capabilities. The 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that the RTX 4090 is in the top tier, but in Evolve specifically, the game's age means that many less powerful GPUs can achieve comparable frame rates.

The GPU's 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design suggest it is a high-power part, but the measured FPS data shows that Evolve does not push it to its thermal limits—the consistent frame rates across all settings presets indicate stable performance without throttling. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are underutilized in this title, as Evolve does not support ray tracing or DLSS, but they contribute to the GPU's overall compute capacity.