Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetric FPS, shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combo. The data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU's strong single-threaded performance only becoming a factor as resolution drops. The measured frame rates indicate that this pairing is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, but struggles to maintain playable performance at 4K with maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and tells a classic story of GPU limitation. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 115 FPS, but at 1440p that number falls to 77 FPS, a 33% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings brings another significant decline to 44 FPS, a 43% drop. This steep curve indicates that the RTX 4070's rendering pipeline is the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The scaling behavior is even more pronounced at lower settings, which removes some of the shading workload and exposes the raw fill-rate limits. At Low settings, the system achieves 190 FPS at 1080p, drops to 127 FPS at 1440p, and then falls to 72 FPS at 4K. The 4K to 1080p ratio here is roughly 2.6x, meaning that for every doubling of resolution, the frame rate is nearly halved. This is a textbook GPU-bound scenario.

The Medium settings row shows the same trend with more granular data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. At 1440p Medium, those figures drop to 99 FPS average (84 min, 113 max). At 4K Medium, the average falls to 56 FPS with a 48 FPS minimum and 65 FPS maximum. The consistency of the frame pacing at 1440p Medium suggests the GPU is keeping up with the workload, but the 4K numbers show the GPU is nearing its limits.

What the data does not show is any evidence of CPU bottlenecking at lower resolutions. The jump from 1440p Low (127 FPS) to 1080p Low (190 FPS) is a 50% increase, which is a larger relative gain than the resolution change alone would suggest. This indicates the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames at 1080p, and the GPU still has headroom to spare. The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, with its 16 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock, appears to be doing its job without becoming the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The data shows 4K Low produces 72 FPS, and 4K Medium produces 56 FPS. At 4K High, the average drops to 44 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 31 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a fast-paced FPS.

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

A: 1440p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1440p High, the system produces 77 FPS, while 1440p Medium reaches 99 FPS. Both are well above the 60 FPS mark, and the 1440p Medium row shows good frame consistency with a 84-113 FPS range.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4, 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, and 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile. It also sits 1.3% above the AMD Radeon PRO W6400.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H a strong performer for gaming workloads?

A: Yes. The CPU has a percentile ranking of 88 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44466. It performs within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, Intel Core i9-13950HX, and AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, showing it is competitive with top-tier gaming and productivity chips.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at different settings?

A: The data only provides minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the range is 125-169 FPS, a 44 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 84-113 FPS, a 29 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 48-65 FPS, a 17 FPS spread. The tighter range at 4K suggests more uniform frame pacing, though at lower overall speed.

Q: Does the CPU's 16-core configuration help in this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests the CPU has ample headroom. The single-core performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 at 2200.5 points, is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p, where the system still achieves 190 FPS on Low settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the clear performance driver in this pairing for Evolve. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's textures and effects at 1440p. The 4K Ultra setting, which likely demands the most VRAM and memory bandwidth, shows the GPU's limits with a 31 FPS average.

The card's clock speeds are key to understanding its behavior. The base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz allow the GPU to scale its performance dynamically based on thermal and power headroom. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is able to maintain higher clock speeds at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 190 FPS at 1080p Low, but at 4K Ultra the workload is so heavy that the average drops to 31 FPS, suggesting the GPU is hitting its power and thermal limits.

The RTX 4070's 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units are put to work heavily in Evolve. The game's particle effects and lighting systems scale with these resources. The 64 ROPs handle the final pixel output, and at 4K the 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate is simply not enough to maintain high frame rates with Ultra settings. The 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is also a factor, as the game's physics and AI calculations are offloaded to the GPU.

The GPU's position in the market is solid. With an 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs, it sits comfortably above average. Its average benchmark score of 37648 places it within 1.3% of the RTX 4080 Mobile, which is a notable comparison given the 4080 Mobile is typically found in larger laptops with higher power budgets. This suggests the RTX 4070 is well-optimized for its intended power class.

The memory subsystem is worth noting. The 12 GB capacity is not likely to be fully utilized at 1080p or 1440p in Evolve, but at 4K with High or Ultra settings, the game could be approaching the limit. The 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth is a more critical factor, as high-resolution textures require rapid data transfer. The data suggests that at 4K Medium, the GPU is still able to maintain 56 FPS, indicating the memory bandwidth is adequate for that workload.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth gameplay experience, the data points clearly to 1440p as the optimal resolution for this system in Evolve. At 1440p High, the 77 FPS average provides a solid foundation for competitive play, while 1440p Medium pushes that to 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, ensuring that frame drops are less noticeable. The 1440p Medium setting appears to be the sweet spot, offering a 28% performance increase over High while likely maintaining most of the visual quality.

At 1080p, the system has significant headroom. The 115 FPS at High settings and 147 FPS at Medium are both excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The 190 FPS at Low settings shows that the system is capable of pushing extreme frame rates for competitive play, but the visual sacrifices may not be worth it unless the player is using a 240Hz or higher display.

The 4K options are limited. The 44 FPS at High and 31 FPS at Ultra are not ideal for a fast-paced FPS where quick reactions matter. The 56 FPS at Medium could be playable for some, but the 48 FPS minimum suggests occasional stutters. The 72 FPS at Low is the only 4K setting that provides a consistently smooth experience, but the visual quality will be noticeably diminished.

The Ultra settings at all resolutions show a significant performance cost. At 1080p Ultra, the 80 FPS average is a 30% drop from High. At 1440p Ultra, the 54 FPS average is a 30% drop from High. At 4K Ultra, the 31 FPS average is a 30% drop from High. The consistent 30% penalty for Ultra versus High suggests that the Ultra preset applies a uniform set of demanding effects that are not well-optimized for this GPU.

The practical recommendation is to play at 1440p with Medium settings for the best balance of frame rate and visual quality. If a higher frame rate is desired, dropping to 1080p High will provide a 17% improvement over 1440p Medium. If visual quality is the priority, 1440p High is still acceptable, but the frame rate consistency at Medium is better based on the available min/max data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a thorough picture of performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. Low settings produce an average of 190 FPS. Medium settings achieve 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. High settings yield 115 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 80 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in frame rate, which is expected given the increasing graphical demands.

At 2560x1440, the performance is still strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings produce 127 FPS. Medium settings achieve 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 113 FPS. High settings yield 77 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 54 FPS. The Medium settings row shows a tighter frame range than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is working harder but still maintaining consistent output.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low settings produce 72 FPS. Medium settings achieve 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS. High settings yield 44 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 31 FPS. The Medium settings range of 48-65 FPS is notable because the minimum is close to the average, indicating that the GPU is not experiencing severe frame drops, but the overall performance is limited.

The data reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 110 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 73 FPS. At 4K, the difference is 41 FPS. This is because at higher resolutions, the GPU is already saturated, so the additional workload from Ultra settings has a relatively smaller absolute impact, but a larger percentage impact.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H plays a supporting role in this benchmark, but it is a capable one. With 16 cores and 16 threads, it provides ample parallel processing power for the game's background tasks. The lack of hyperthreading is notable, but the high core count compensates for this in multi-threaded workloads.

The CPU's clock speeds are its most important asset for gaming. The base clock of 2.10 GHz is modest, but the boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides the single-threaded performance that Evolve relies on for its main game logic. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2200.5 points confirms this strength, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4280 further validates the CPU's ability to handle the game's primary thread.

The 18 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant advantage. This allows the CPU to keep frequently accessed game data close at hand, reducing memory latency. The LPDDR5X memory support with 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU quickly, though the GPU's own 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is the more critical path in this game.

The CPU's performance relative to its peers is strong. With an average benchmark score of 44466, it sits just 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, a chip that is widely regarded as excellent for gaming. It also outperforms the Intel Core i9-13950HX by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 by 0.4%. This level of performance means the CPU is not a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios.

The evidence for the CPU's sufficiency is in the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Low, the system produces 190 FPS. If the CPU were limiting performance, this number would be lower, and the gains from lowering resolution would be less pronounced. The fact that the system gains 63 FPS when moving from 1440p Low to 1080p Low indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

The CPU's 25 W TDP is remarkably low for a chip with this level of performance, which reflects the efficiency of the 3nm Panther Lake architecture. This low power draw means the CPU is unlikely to cause thermal throttling in a laptop chassis, allowing it to maintain its boost clock for extended periods. This is a subtle but important factor in sustained gaming performance, as a CPU that throttles would eventually become a bottleneck even if it has theoretical headroom.