Evolve

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but not overwhelming experience in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. The measured data shows this combination sits in the lower-mid range of tested system configurations, with performance that varies significantly depending on resolution and quality preset. This analysis breaks down the measured frames per second to determine the optimal settings, the role of each component, and how the combo stacks up against other tested hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The sweet spot for this CPU and GPU pairing is the Medium preset, regardless of resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS. This is a strong result that keeps framerates well above the typical 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while the minimum frame time data suggests consistent performance without severe dips. The Low preset at 1080p nets 137 FPS average, but the jump from Low to Medium costs only 31 FPS while providing a noticeable visual quality improvement, making Medium the better trade-off for most players.

At 2560x1440, Medium again stands out. The average drops to 71 FPS, with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS. That 60 FPS floor is exactly at the standard refresh rate boundary, meaning the experience remains fluid in most scenes, though there is less headroom for demanding moments. High at this resolution runs at 56 FPS average, which is still playable but starts to feel less smooth on a 60 Hz display. The data indicates that Medium at 1440p is the highest quality setting that keeps the average comfortably above 60 FPS.

For 4K (3840x2160), the picture changes. Medium delivers a 40 FPS average with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. This is borderline for a first-person shooter, as the framerate will occasionally dip below 40 FPS during intense combat. High drops to 32 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS, both of which feel sluggish for the genre. Low at 4K produces 52 FPS average, which is the only preset that approaches a smooth experience, but even that has no minimum or maximum data provided, suggesting the variance might be significant.

The recommendation hierarchy is clear: at 1080p and 1440p, use Medium for the best balance of visual fidelity and framerate stability. At 4K, you must accept compromises; Low is the only preset that stays above 50 FPS on average, while Medium is playable only if you tolerate occasional sub-40 FPS drops. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields only 58 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, all of which represent a poor experience relative to the visual gains over Medium.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary determinant of performance in Evolve, and the data shows it behaves like a mid-range graphics card with a specific VRAM and bandwidth profile. The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base and boost clocks are both listed at 2500 MHz, which is a modest operating frequency for a modern GPU. The chip itself, BMG-G21, is built on a 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors and a die size of 272 mm².

In the context of Evolve, the GPU’s memory configuration is sufficient for the game’s era, but the raw compute throughput limits high-resolution performance. The Arc B570 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, which translates to 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These figures place it in a performance class that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well, but the 4K results confirm that the GPU is the bottleneck at that resolution. The measured FPS drop from 137 at 1080p Low to 52 at 4K Low is a 62% reduction, which is consistent with a GPU that lacks the pixel throughput for 8.3 million pixels.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (avg score 20534, deltaPct 0.1), the Intel Arc A750 (avg score 20582, deltaPct -0.1), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (avg score 20662, deltaPct -0.5). The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, which is nearly identical to the RTX 3070 Mobile and the Arc A750. This tells us the GPU performs in the same ballpark as a mobile RTX 3070, which is a capable 1080p card but not a 4K powerhouse. The percentile ranking of 65 against all GPUs reinforces this, placing the Arc B570 in the upper-mid tier of the database.

In Evolve specifically, the GPU’s role becomes evident when comparing presets. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS (137 to 58), showing that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the game’s rendering demands but struggles with the highest quality settings. The VRAM usage is not directly measured in the FPS data, but the fact that the game runs at 40 FPS average on Medium at 4K suggests that the 10 GB capacity is not the limiting factor; rather, it is the memory bandwidth and rasterization throughput that cap performance.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 on Medium is the optimal choice, yielding an average of 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium still maintains a 71 FPS average but the minimum drops to 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, even Low only achieves 52 FPS, making 1080p the most consistent experience.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform compared to Medium?

A: Ultra is significantly worse. At 1080p, Ultra averages 58 FPS versus 106 FPS on Medium, a 45% reduction. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 39 FPS compared to 71 FPS on Medium, and at 4K, Ultra sits at 22 FPS versus 40 FPS on Medium. The visual upgrade does not justify the framerate loss.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU is an Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with 24 cores and 24 threads, boosting to 5.80 GHz, and it ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU, however, ranks in the 65th percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 137 to 52 FPS on Low) is a 62% drop, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in Evolve?

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings. The measured average at 2560x1440 Medium is 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, which is playable. High at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, and Ultra to 39 FPS, so you must stick to Medium for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p across all settings?

A: The measured averages are 137 FPS on Low, 106 FPS on Medium, 83 FPS on High, and 58 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset offers the best combination of high average and stable minimum (90 FPS) for competitive play.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: In Evolve, this combo ranks 2294 out of 2872 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 20% of all tested systems. This is lower than the individual component percentiles would suggest, indicating that the pairing is not ideal for this specific game title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in Evolve is 2294 out of 2872 tested combinations. This places the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + Intel Arc B570 in the 20th percentile of all tested systems for this game, which is a poor showing given the individual component strengths. The CPU alone is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 96th percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (avg score 83807, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD EPYC 4584PX (avg score 83090, deltaPct 1.1), showing it performs nearly identically to the 285K and slightly ahead of several EPYC server chips.

The GPU, on the other hand, ranks in the 65th percentile against all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct -0.1), confirming that the Arc B570 is a mid-range card. The combination of a top-4% CPU with a mid-60s percentile GPU results in a system that is heavily CPU-bottlenecked in non-gaming workloads but GPU-limited in gaming.

In Evolve specifically, the rank of 2294 out of 2872 means that roughly 80% of tested combos perform better. This is a surprising result when you consider that the CPU is one of the fastest available. The data suggests that Evolve is a title that does not benefit from the CPU’s 24 cores or 5.80 GHz boost clock; instead, it leans almost entirely on the GPU. The Arc B570’s 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is simply not enough to push high framerates at higher resolutions, and the game’s engine does not seem to scale with the CPU’s immense multithreading capability.

The delta between the combo’s component percentiles and its game-specific rank highlights a mismatch. A system with a CPU in the 96th percentile and a GPU in the 65th percentile would be expected to rank higher than the 20th percentile in a game. This indicates that Evolve is either poorly optimized for Intel Arc GPUs or that the game’s rendering workload is heavily dependent on GPU features that the Arc B570 lacks. For context, the GPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, has a nearly identical average score (20582 vs 20556), but the overall combo rank suggests that other pairings with similar GPUs achieve better results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 137 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 92 FPS, a 33% reduction, and at 4K Low, it falls to 52 FPS, a 62% reduction from 1080p. This scaling is consistent with a GPU that has a fixed pixel throughput; as the pixel count increases from 2.07 million (1080p) to 3.69 million (1440p) to 8.29 million (4K), the framerate drops proportionally to the pixel count increase.

The Medium preset shows the same trend: 106 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 33% from 1080p to 1440p and 62% from 1080p to 4K, which are nearly identical to the Low preset drops. This consistency indicates that the GPU is the limiting component across all settings, and the CPU has no trouble feeding the GPU at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the framerate to remain flat or even increase at lower resolutions, but the data shows a steady decline that mirrors the pixel count growth.

The High preset follows the same pattern: 83 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset drops from 58 FPS at 1080p to 39 FPS at 1440p to 22 FPS at 4K. In all cases, the 1080p to 1440p drop is approximately 33%, and the 1080p to 4K drop is approximately 62%. This uniform scaling is a textbook example of a GPU with insufficient pixel fill rate for high resolutions. The GPU’s pixel rate is listed at 200.0 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, which are mid-range figures that explain why 4K performance is so weak.

The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 90 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 60 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 34 FPS. The minimum FPS values scale similarly to the averages, with the 4K minimum being only 38% of the 1080p minimum. This indicates that the GPU’s frame time variance also increases with resolution, which could lead to stutter in fast-paced scenes at 4K. The 1440p Medium minimum of 60 FPS is borderline; it is exactly at the 60 FPS refresh threshold, so any scene complexity spike could cause a noticeable hitch.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: 22 FPS average. This is unplayable for a first-person shooter, with framerates that will feel like a slideshow during combat.
• High: 32 FPS average. Still too low for smooth gameplay; only suitable for slow-paced exploration.
• Medium: 40 FPS average, 34 FPS minimum, 47 FPS maximum. The minimum is concerning, as it indicates the game can drop well below the average during intense moments.
• Low: 52 FPS average. This is the only 4K preset that exceeds 50 FPS, but it lacks minimum/maximum data, so stability is unknown.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: 39 FPS average. Not recommended; the framerate is below 40 FPS, which is too low for fast-paced action.
• High: 56 FPS average. Playable on a 60 Hz display, but with no headroom for demanding scenes.
• Medium: 71 FPS average, 60 FPS minimum, 82 FPS maximum. This is the sweet spot at 1440p, providing a solid 60 FPS floor.
• Low: 92 FPS average. Smooth and responsive, but the visual quality is significantly reduced compared to Medium.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: 58 FPS average. This is the weakest preset at 1080p, and the visual gains over High are minimal.
• High: 83 FPS average. Good performance, but Medium offers a better balance.
• Medium: 106 FPS average, 90 FPS minimum, 122 FPS maximum. The best overall experience, with high averages and a strong minimum.
• Low: 137 FPS average. The highest framerate measured, but the visual downgrade is noticeable.

The data shows that the combo’s performance in Evolve is heavily dependent on resolution and settings. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience. At 1440p Medium, it remains playable with a 60 FPS minimum. At 4K, only Low reaches a playable framerate, and even then, the lack of minimum/maximum data leaves some uncertainty. The Ultra preset is consistently poor across all resolutions, and there is no scenario where it provides a better experience than Medium. For players with this hardware, the practical advice is to run Medium at 1080p or 1440p and avoid 4K unless you are willing to accept Low settings and sub-60 FPS performance.