Evolve

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers a wide performance envelope in Evolve, ranging from a locked-feeling 224.5 FPS at 1080p Low to a demanding 39 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data indicates a system that is overwhelmingly capable at mainstream resolutions, with clear limitations only when pushing maximum settings at 4K. Benchmark results show the combination ranks 1327th out of 3700 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all hardware pairings for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces exceptional frame rates across all presets. Low settings yield an average of 224.5 FPS, which is more than triple the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 174.6 FPS, while High settings still deliver a very smooth 136.9 FPS. Even the most demanding Ultra preset maintains an average of 97.9 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS target and leaving substantial headroom for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the system remains highly capable but shows the expected performance cost of additional pixels. Low settings average 152.3 FPS, a 31.9% reduction from the 1080p Low figure. Medium settings produce 119.9 FPS, while High settings achieve 90.7 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding configuration tested, still clears the 60 FPS threshold with an average of 62.6 FPS. This indicates that 1440p Ultra is playable, though it leaves less than 3 FPS of margin above the target.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low settings average 87.2 FPS, which remains playable but represents a 61.2% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings fall to 65.6 FPS, still clearing 60 FPS but with a slim margin. High settings drop to 51.5 FPS, falling below the playable threshold, and Ultra settings plummet to 39 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The data shows a clear pattern: 4K is only viable with Low or Medium presets for this hardware combination.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals how the workload shifts between the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. At 1080p, the CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are more likely to be a limiting factor, yet the frame rates remain extremely high, indicating the processor handles Evolve's engine demands without bottlenecking the GPU. The 224.5 FPS at Low settings suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at this resolution.

As resolution increases to 1440p, the GPU becomes progressively more dominant. The drop from 152.3 FPS at Low to 62.6 FPS at Ultra demonstrates that the RTX 3070 Ti's shading units, texture units, and ROPs are the primary determinants of performance. The CPU's role diminishes because each frame requires more pixel processing, reducing the number of draw calls the CPU must issue per second. The 1440p results show only a 32.4% reduction from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra, which is less than the pixel count increase, suggesting the CPU still contributes meaningfully at these settings.

At 4K, the GPU is almost entirely responsible for frame delivery. The 87.2 FPS at Low settings versus 39 FPS at Ultra settings shows a 55.3% reduction, far more severe than the previous resolution step. This indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are being heavily taxed. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and single-thread performance of 1674 in Cinebench R23 are sufficient to avoid becoming the primary constraint, but the GPU's raw throughput limits the system at this resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, achieving an average of 97.9 FPS. This is the optimal choice for visual fidelity while maintaining a significant performance buffer.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is also the best playable setting, with an average of 62.6 FPS. This is the highest preset available, and while it clears the 60 FPS target, the margin is narrow. Players seeking more headroom could step down to High at 90.7 FPS, but the data confirms Ultra is technically playable.

For 3840x2160, the best setting that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, averaging 65.6 FPS. Low settings are also playable at 87.2 FPS, but Medium offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. High and Ultra presets fall below the threshold at 51.5 FPS and 39 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The Verdict

The verdict data is unambiguous: this PC can run Evolve at 60 FPS or higher across all tested settings at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p, every preset from Low to Ultra clears the threshold, with Ultra delivering 97.9 FPS. At 1440p, all four presets also remain playable, with Ultra achieving 62.6 FPS. The system is fully capable for these two resolutions without any compromises.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The system can run Evolve at 60 FPS or above only on Low (87.2 FPS) and Medium (65.6 FPS) settings. High settings at 51.5 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS do not meet the playable threshold. Therefore, the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB VRAM and Ampere architecture are sufficient for 4K gaming only when visual quality is dialed down. The Core i3-12100F does not appear to be the limiting factor here, as the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth are the bottlenecks at this resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core 3 N355 with a score of 13492 and a 0% delta, the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 with a 0.3% delta, and the Intel Core 5 120UL at 13594 with a -0.7% delta. The Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, a 1.1% delta. These processors would behave nearly identically to the i3-12100F in Evolve, meaning the frame rates at all resolutions would be within a fraction of a percent. A system with any of these CPUs paired with an RTX 3070 Ti would deliver the same playability verdicts.

On the GPU side, the RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile with an average score of 29928 (0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6800 at 30095 (-0.5% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 29783 (0.5% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 at 30433 (-1.6% delta). These graphics cards would produce nearly identical frame rates in Evolve. For instance, swapping the RTX 3070 Ti for an RTX 2080 Ti would likely yield an average FPS within 0.5% of the measured results, meaning the 4K Medium setting would still hover around 65.6 FPS, and 1440p Ultra would remain at approximately 62.6 FPS. The RX 6700, being 1.6% faster on average, might push 4K Medium slightly higher, but the playability thresholds would remain unchanged.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 1327th out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the 64th percentile of all systems. This indicates that while the pairing is not at the top tier, it outperforms the majority of tested configurations. The ranking reflects the strong 1080p and 1440p performance, where the system competes with higher-end CPUs due to the GPU's dominance in most scenarios. However, the 4K results, particularly the 39 FPS at Ultra, likely drag the ranking down relative to combos with more powerful GPUs or additional VRAM. The rank of 1327 suggests that approximately 2373 other combinations deliver either higher average frame rates or more consistent performance across all presets, but the i3-12100F and RTX 3070 Ti remain a solid mid-to-upper tier choice for this game.