Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, presents an interesting benchmark scenario for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the Intel Arc B580. The measured data shows this combination achieving its most fluid gameplay at 1080p, with performance scaling predictably as resolution and settings increase. The CPU provides a robust foundation with its 24 cores and 24 threads, while the GPU’s 12 GB of VRAM and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth prove to be the primary drivers of frame rate changes across different quality presets.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on a 3 nm process with an Arrow Lake Refresh codename. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and can boost up to 5.80 GHz, which are the key frequencies for single-threaded workloads. The processor has 24 cores and 24 threads, a configuration that provides substantial parallel processing capability. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 36 MB of L3 cache. This large L3 cache is beneficial for games that reuse data sets, as it reduces the need to access slower system memory.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI for the monster and hunters, and physics calculations. The benchmark results show that this processor is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 94 FPS, but at Low settings, it jumps to 155 FPS. This significant increase indicates that the GPU is being relieved of work, allowing the CPU to push more frames. The processor’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303, ensures that the game’s main thread is well-served. The multi-core score of 51731 in the same test also shows that background tasks and multi-threaded game systems have ample headroom.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has an average benchmark score of 83807, which is 0.2% lower than the 290K Plus's 84003. The AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83090, a 1.1% difference, and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82980, a 1.2% difference. These small deltas suggest that the 290K Plus is at the top of its performance tier. However, in Evolve, the differences between these CPUs are unlikely to manifest as large FPS swings, as the game is more dependent on the GPU at higher settings. The data shows that the CPU's high boost clock and substantial cache are sufficient to feed the Arc B580 at 1080p Low, where the 155 FPS result reflects the processor's ability to handle high frame rates without becoming a limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data for this combo provides a clear picture of how settings affect performance. At 1080p, the Low preset yields an average of 155 FPS, which is the highest of any configuration tested. This setting is ideal for competitive play where maximum frame rates are prioritized. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. This is a more balanced option, offering a significant visual upgrade over Low while still maintaining a high refresh rate experience. The High preset at 1080p averages 94 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 26 FPS drop from Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 65 FPS, which is playable but begins to show the strain on the GPU.

For a more immersive experience at higher resolutions, the data suggests that Medium is the best compromise. At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for most users and provides a good balance between visual fidelity and performance. The High preset at 1440p drops to 63 FPS, which is still acceptable, but the gap between High and Medium is 17 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only option that provides a playable experience, averaging 46 FPS. The Low preset at 4K averages 59 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. The High preset at 4K averages 36 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and the Ultra preset averages 25 FPS, making it unsuitable for general play.

The recommendation is to use the Medium preset for the best overall experience. It provides a 120 FPS average at 1080p and an 80 FPS average at 1440p, which are both strong results. The frame time consistency, with a 102 FPS minimum at 1080p and a 68 FPS minimum at 1440p, indicates that the experience is stable. The Low preset is recommended only for users prioritizing frame rate above all else, as the jump from 120 to 155 FPS at 1080p is noticeable but comes at the cost of visual detail. The Ultra preset is not recommended due to its significant performance penalty, with the 65 FPS at 1080p being the only viable result, and that is still a substantial drop from the High preset.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. For the High preset, the average FPS drops from 94 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p, a 33% reduction, and then to 36 at 4K, a further 43% reduction. This scaling is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. The Arc B580 is the primary limiting component at these higher resolutions, as the number of pixels to render increases dramatically.

At the Low preset, the scaling is even more pronounced. The 155 FPS at 1080p falls to 104 FPS at 1440p, a 33% drop, and then to 59 FPS at 4K, a 43% drop from 1440p. This shows that even with less demanding settings, the GPU's raw fill rate and memory bandwidth are the constraints. The CPU, with its high clock speeds and large cache, is not the bottleneck here, as the frame rate scales consistently with the pixel count.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 120 FPS at 1080p, 80 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS also scales proportionally, from 102 at 1080p to 68 at 1440p and 39 at 4K. This indicates that the GPU is consistently the limiting factor across all settings. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 65 FPS at 1080p falling to 44 FPS at 1440p and 25 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that the GPU's 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 456.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the quality preset. The system is clearly GPU-limited in Evolve, with the CPU providing ample headroom to push frames as long as the GPU can keep up.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a 120 FPS average?

A: The only resolution and settings combination that achieves a 120 FPS average is 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. The 1440p Medium preset averages 80 FPS, while the 1080p High preset averages 94 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580's performance compare to the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus's nearest CPU rival?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 23021, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP's score of 23061 and 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080's score of 22895. The CPU's average score is 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's score of 83807.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: The Ultra preset is only playable at 1920x1080, where it averages 65 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 44 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it averages 25 FPS, which is not a smooth experience.

Q: What is the frame rate range for the Medium preset at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 has an average of 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. This indicates a stable frame time distribution.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This is sufficient for the game's textures at all tested settings.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock and how does it relate to its single-thread performance?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its single-thread performance is strong, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4823, which helps in games that rely on a single primary thread.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, specifically the Battlemage generation, and uses the BMG-G21 chip. It has a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, which is a high frequency for a GPU. The card is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is crucial for Evolve, as the game's textures and geometry data need to be accessed quickly. The 12 GB capacity is more than enough for the game's requirements, and the bandwidth ensures that data transfer is not a bottleneck.

The GPU's compute resources include 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It also has 20 ray tracing cores, although Evolve does not use ray tracing. The pixel rate is 213.6 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 427.2 GTexel/s. These figures determine how quickly the GPU can fill the screen and apply textures. In the measured results, the GPU's performance is the main driver of FPS differences between settings. For example, at 1080p, moving from Low to Medium reduces the average FPS from 155 to 120. This 35 FPS drop is due to the increased load on the shading units and TMUs from higher-quality textures and effects.

The GPU's overall performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 23021, places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, which is 0.2% slower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, which is 0.6% slower. The data shows that the Arc B580 is a capable mid-range card, but it is not designed for high-refresh-rate 4K gaming. In Evolve, the 4K results are consistently below 60 FPS, even at Low settings. This indicates that the GPU's raw compute power, 13.67 TFLOPS, is the limiting factor at 4K resolutions. The card's 190 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 155 FPS. The Medium preset averages 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. The High preset averages 94 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 65 FPS. This shows a steady decline in performance as visual quality increases, with the most significant drop occurring between Medium and High, which is a 26 FPS difference.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 104 FPS. The Medium preset averages 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. The High preset averages 63 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 44 FPS. The pattern is similar to 1080p, with each setting tier costing a consistent amount of performance. The difference between Low and Medium is 24 FPS, and between Medium and High is 17 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 59 FPS. The Medium preset averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. The High preset averages 36 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 25 FPS. At this resolution, even the Low preset is unable to maintain a 60 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium is 13 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 10 FPS. The Ultra preset is not a viable option, as the 25 FPS average is well below a playable threshold.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual fidelity at all resolutions. At 1080p, it provides a high-refresh-rate experience. At 1440p, it maintains a smooth 80 FPS average. At 4K, it falls to 46 FPS, which is still playable for slower-paced games. The High and Ultra presets are only recommended for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, and even then, only at 1080p for the Ultra preset.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Intel Arc B580 ranks 2156 out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the lower half of all systems tested, which is a reflection of the GPU's performance tier rather than the CPU's capabilities. The CPU is a high-end processor, ranking in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, but the GPU is in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. This imbalance means that the combo's overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU's mid-range performance.

The rank of 2156 indicates that a significant number of other CPU/GPU combinations can achieve higher frame rates in Evolve. This is likely due to other systems using more powerful GPUs that can better handle the game's rendering demands, especially at higher resolutions. The data shows that the Arc B580 is the limiting factor in this combo. While it provides acceptable performance at 1080p and 1440p, it struggles at 4K, which prevents the combo from ranking higher.

The CPU's high performance, however, ensures that it will not be a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios. This means that if a user were to upgrade the GPU in the future, the 290K Plus would be able to support a more powerful graphics card without holding it back. The combo's ranking is a direct result of the GPU's 13.67 TFLOPS of compute performance and its 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, which are the primary determinants of its frame rate output. In summary, this combo is a solid mid-range gaming system that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but its ranking reflects its limitations at 4K resolutions.