Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 to deliver consistently high frame rates in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. The measured data shows this combination handles the game at every resolution tested, with the 1080p Low preset reaching 335 FPS average. The combo ranks in the 94th percentile among 3,700 tested configurations, indicating strong overall performance for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p High, the system produces 204 FPS average. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 137 FPS — a 32.8% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 78 FPS, which is a 43.1% drop from the 1440p result and a 61.8% decline from 1080p. This scaling curve is typical for a high-refresh-rate GPU that becomes increasingly constrained as pixel count rises.

The Low preset tells a similar story. At 1080p Low, the system hits 335 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it drops to 225 FPS (a 32.8% reduction), and at 4K Low, it reaches 128 FPS (a 43.1% decline from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets indicates that resolution scaling follows a predictable pattern regardless of graphical load.

The Medium preset provides the only measured minimum and maximum FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 FPS and maximum of 299 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 174 FPS with a range of 148 to 200 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 99 FPS with a range of 84 to 114 FPS. These ranges show that frame time consistency scales with resolution — the spread between minimum and maximum grows proportionally with the average.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 141 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 95 FPS (a 32.6% reduction), and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 54 FPS (a 43.2% decline from 1440p). This pattern confirms that the limiting component at higher resolutions is the GPU, as the CPU's capability remains constant while the render load increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average is 335 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset perform compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra average is 54 FPS, while 1080p Ultra averages 141 FPS, representing a 61.7% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions, but the very high FPS at 1080p (204 FPS on High, 335 FPS on Low) suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates.

Q: What frame rate can users expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average at 2560x1440 Medium is 174 FPS, with a minimum of 148 FPS and maximum of 200 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Evolve?

A: It ranks 222nd out of 3,700 tested combos, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's performance close to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209, a negligible difference.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 222 out of 3,700 tested configurations places this system in the 94th percentile for Evolve performance. This means only 221 other combinations deliver higher frame rates in this game. The ranking reflects the strong synergy between the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the RTX 4080.

The CPU's own benchmark standing supports this result. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 84,003 on average across all benchmark tests, which places it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83,807 — a difference of just 0.2%. The AMD EPYC 4584PX trails by 1.1% with a score of 83,090, and the AMD EPYC 9135 is 1.2% behind at 82,980. The AMD EPYC 7F72 leads slightly at 85,072, which is 1.3% ahead.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 achieves an average benchmark score of 54,247, placing it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 — just 0.1% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828, which is 1.1% ahead, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S score 55,698 and 55,757 respectively, putting them 2.6% and 2.7% ahead.

Given that the CPU outperforms 96% of all processors and the GPU outperforms 86% of all graphics cards, the resulting 94th percentile ranking in Evolve is slightly below what either component achieves individually. This suggests that Evolve's specific rendering demands do not fully utilize the strengths of both components simultaneously.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings presets deliver the best experience. For users with 1080p displays, the High preset at 204 FPS average is well above any common refresh rate threshold, including 144Hz and 165Hz panels. The Medium preset at 260 FPS offers additional headroom for competitive play, while the Ultra preset at 141 FPS remains highly playable and provides maximum visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 137 FPS average, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors up to 144Hz. The Medium preset at 174 FPS provides even more headroom, while the Ultra preset at 95 FPS remains smooth for 60Hz displays and most 100Hz panels. The Low preset at 225 FPS is unnecessary for typical gaming but demonstrates the system's capability.

At 4K, the High preset produces 78 FPS average, which is comfortable for 60Hz displays but not ideal for higher refresh rates. The Medium preset at 99 FPS is the best balance between visual quality and smoothness for 4K gaming. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold and is not recommended for consistent gameplay. The Low preset at 128 FPS offers the smoothest 4K experience but sacrifices visual fidelity.

The data suggests that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience across all resolutions, offering a substantial improvement over Low in visual quality while maintaining frame rates well above playable thresholds. At 1080p and 1440p, even the Ultra preset remains viable, but at 4K, users should choose between High and Medium depending on their preference for visual quality versus frame rate consistency.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset averages 335 FPS, the Medium preset averages 260 FPS with a range of 221 to 299 FPS, the High preset averages 204 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 141 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 57.9% reduction in frame rate, reflecting the increasing graphical demands of each preset.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 225 FPS, the Medium preset averages 174 FPS with a range of 148 to 200 FPS, the High preset averages 137 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 95 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 57.8%, nearly identical to the 1080p reduction, indicating consistent scaling behavior.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 128 FPS, the Medium preset averages 99 FPS with a range of 84 to 114 FPS, the High preset averages 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is also 57.8%, matching the pattern seen at other resolutions. The 4K Medium minimum of 84 FPS is notably above the 60 FPS threshold, while the 4K Ultra average of 54 FPS falls below it.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the relative performance gap between presets remains consistent. The Medium preset delivers approximately 77.6% of the Low preset's frame rate at every resolution. The High preset delivers approximately 60.9% of Low, and the Ultra preset delivers approximately 42.1% of Low. This consistency suggests that the rendering cost of each preset tier scales uniformly regardless of resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides 24 cores and 24 threads, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This processor, built on a 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors, achieves strong synthetic benchmark scores: 51,731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7,303 in single-core. The PassMark multithread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 further demonstrate its capability.

In Evolve, the CPU's high single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The game, released in 2015, relies heavily on a limited number of threads for its core game logic. The 5.80 GHz boost clock ensures that these primary threads execute with minimal latency, which is reflected in the high frame rates at 1080p where the GPU is less likely to be the bottleneck.

The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample capacity for game data. The dual-channel DDR5 memory with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth delivers data to the cores efficiently. The PassMark data encryption score of 52,563 and data compression score of 698,346 indicate strong memory subsystem performance, though these are not directly game-related.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors means it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs available. Its nearest rival, the Core Ultra 9 285K, is virtually identical in performance, differing by only 0.2%. This close margin suggests that the 290K Plus offers no meaningful advantage over its direct predecessor in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory operating at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). The AD103 chip contains 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units.

In Evolve, the GPU's raw rasterization performance is the primary factor determining frame rates at higher resolutions. The 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and 761.5 GTexel/s texture rate provide substantial rendering capability. The 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate directly impacts how quickly the GPU can fill the screen at 4K resolution.

The RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper tier of graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, performs nearly identically with a 0.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% faster respectively.

The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Evolve, even at 4K Ultra settings. The game's 2015 release date means it was designed for hardware with far less memory, so VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor. The GDDR6X memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and geometry data are delivered without stuttering.

The triple-slot cooler and 320 W TDP indicate the thermal requirements of this GPU, though the measured FPS data suggests it operates within acceptable parameters during Evolve gameplay. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides adequate bandwidth for data transfer between the CPU and GPU.