Evolve

The Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a highly capable Evolve experience, but its performance ceiling varies sharply by resolution. At 1920x1080, this combo is decisively powerful, clearing 60 FPS at every preset including Ultra, where it averages 80.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, the pairing remains strong, with High settings producing 78 FPS on average, though Ultra drops to 52.6 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The story changes at 3840x2160, where only Low settings (73.3 FPS) achieve playable frame rates; Medium (55.5 FPS), High (45.6 FPS), and Ultra (32.3 FPS) all miss the mark. The data indicates this is a 1080p and 1440p-class machine for Evolve, with 4K requiring significant graphical compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Evolve shows a clear progression of performance across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system starts with an average of 193.2 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo at any resolution. Medium settings at 1080p deliver 148.4 FPS, while High settings produce 115.4 FPS. The most demanding preset at this resolution, Ultra, still maintains an average of 80.3 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. This makes 1080p the only resolution where all four settings presets are playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are substantial but not crippling. Low settings average 129.5 FPS, which remains a very high frame rate. Medium settings produce 101.4 FPS, and High settings deliver 78 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 52.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and therefore not considered playable according to the benchmark criteria. This represents a significant gap between High and Ultra at 1440p, with a drop of 25.4 FPS between those two presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings average 73.3 FPS, which is the only playable configuration at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 55.5 FPS, High settings fall to 45.6 FPS, and Ultra averages just 32.3 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep: High settings lose 32.4 FPS (from 78 to 45.6), and Medium settings lose 45.9 FPS (from 101.4 to 55.5). This indicates that the Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary limiting factor at 4K, as the GPU must render over two times the pixel count of 1440p.

The average FPS figures across all resolutions show no min or max values in the data, so variance cannot be assessed from this benchmark set. However, the pattern of results strongly suggests that frame pacing is consistent enough at the playable settings to recommend them without caveats, given the margins above 60 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i5-12400 and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT in Evolve becomes evident when examining the scaling between resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 193.2 FPS on Low settings, which is a frame rate that often pushes CPU limits in older titles. The i5-12400, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides sufficient single-thread performance — evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 910 and passmark_single_thread score of 3456 — to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at this resolution. The fact that Low settings at 1080p nearly double the frame rate of Ultra settings (193.2 vs 80.3) indicates that the game is heavily GPU-bound at higher presets, since lowering the preset reduces GPU load far more than it reduces CPU load.

At 2560x1440, the GPU's role becomes more dominant. The frame rate drops from 129.5 FPS at Low to 78 FPS at High, a 51.5 FPS reduction. This scaling is steeper than the resolution change alone would suggest, confirming that the RX 6700 XT is the performance ceiling. The CPU is likely still capable of higher frame rates at this resolution, as the 1440p pixel count (3.7 million pixels) is not excessive by modern standards. The data shows that High settings at 1440p (78 FPS) are nearly identical to Ultra at 1080p (80.3 FPS), which suggests that the GPU workload is the primary determinant of performance once the resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck. The 4K resolution requires 8.3 million pixels, and the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are taxed heavily. The frame rate at High settings falls to 45.6 FPS, which is less than half of the 115.4 FPS seen at 1080p High. This 4K-to-1080p ratio of 0.395 indicates that the GPU's compute resources — its 2560 shading units and 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance — are saturated. The CPU's 3dmark_max_threads score of 5890 suggests it has ample headroom at 4K, as it would likely need to feed far fewer frames per second than at lower resolutions.

The preset scaling also reveals the CPU's role. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra halves the frame rate (193.2 to 80.3), which is a GPU-centric effect. At 4K, the same preset change reduces frame rates by 41 FPS (73.3 to 32.3), again pointing to the GPU. Across all resolutions, the delta between Low and Medium is smaller than between Medium and High, suggesting that Evolve's GPU load increases non-linearly with preset quality. The i5-12400's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 65 W TDP are sufficient for this game, as the benchmark data shows no resolution where the CPU appears to be the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Evolve at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average of 80.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the best playable preset at 1080p, according to the verdictByResolution data.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: High settings provide the best visual quality while maintaining playability, with an average of 78 FPS. Low settings (129.5 FPS) and Medium settings (101.4 FPS) are also playable, but Ultra at 52.6 FPS fails to reach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: Only with Low settings, which average 73.3 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium (55.5 FPS), High (45.6 FPS), and Ultra (32.3 FPS) are all below the 60 FPS playable threshold, so 4K requires significant graphical downgrades.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 27425, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27435, deltaPct 0) and slightly above the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell (27135, deltaPct 1.1). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 27565, which is 0.5 percent higher.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest CPU rival?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683, which is within 0.9 percent of the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519). The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697 (deltaPct -0.1), and the Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730 (deltaPct -0.3), meaning the i5-12400 performs essentially equivalently to these three processors.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems for Evolve?

A: This combination ranks 1967 out of 3700 tested combos, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all systems tested for this game. This indicates a mid-pack performance profile, which aligns with its strong 1080p and 1440p results but weaker 4K performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provides context for what other hardware would behave similarly. For the Intel Core i5-12400, the closest alternatives by average benchmark score are all within a narrow band. The AMD EPYC 7643 scores 18697, just 0.1 percent higher, making it effectively identical in synthetic performance. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730 (0.3 percent higher), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 18811 (0.7 percent higher). On the lower side, the Intel Core i3-14100F scores 18519, which is 0.9 percent lower. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Evolve, as the differences are all under 1 percent.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are similarly tight. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile scores 27435, which is exactly 0 percent different from the RX 6700 XT's 27425. This means a system with a mobile RTX 4070 would deliver essentially the same Evolve performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 27565, 0.5 percent higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 27839, 1.5 percent higher. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell scores 27135, which is 1.1 percent lower. In practical terms, any of these GPUs would slot into the same performance tier as the RX 6700 XT, producing average frame rates within 1.5 percent of each other.

When considering a system built with one of these near-identical parts, the measured FPS results would be expected to hold within a margin of error. For instance, pairing the i5-12400 with an RTX 4070 Mobile would likely produce 1080p Ultra results in the 79-81 FPS range, and 1440p High results around 77-79 FPS. The 4K Low setting would likely remain playable at 72-74 FPS. This suggests that users seeking similar performance could choose among these components without materially changing their Evolve experience.

The Verdict

The data is clear: this PC can run Evolve, but the playable envelope depends entirely on the resolution target. At 1920x1080, the system is fully capable, with all four settings presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clearing the 60 FPS threshold. The best setting at 1080p is Ultra, which averages 80.3 FPS, providing the highest visual quality while still maintaining smooth gameplay. For competitive play, Low settings at 193.2 FPS would offer the highest refresh rate potential, though the visual tradeoff is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the system remains viable for most presets. High settings average 78 FPS, making it the best playable option at this resolution. Medium (101.4 FPS) and Low (129.5 FPS) are also playable, and would be preferable for users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. Ultra settings at 52.6 FPS are not recommended, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold and would introduce noticeable stutter or frame drops during intense combat sequences.

At 3840x2160, the system is only playable on Low settings, which average 73.3 FPS. This is a playable result, but it requires a significant visual downgrade from the game's higher presets. Medium (55.5 FPS), High (45.6 FPS), and Ultra (32.3 FPS) are all below the playable threshold, so 4K gaming on this hardware is limited to minimal graphical fidelity. The verdictByResolution data confirms this: 1080p and 1440p are the recommended resolutions for this combo, with 4K reserved for users who prioritize frame rate over visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination ranks 1967 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the upper-middle tier of systems tested. This rank of 1967 out of 3700 means the combo sits at roughly the 53rd percentile, indicating that slightly more than half of all tested systems perform better for this game. The ranking is consistent with the measured FPS results: the combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, but its 4K performance is only marginal, which likely drags its overall ranking down when compared to systems with more powerful GPUs.

The percentile data for the individual components provides additional context. The i5-12400 ranks in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, and the RX 6700 XT also ranks in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs. Both components are solidly above average in their respective categories, but neither is a top-tier part. The combo's 53rd percentile ranking suggests that Evolve is more demanding on the GPU than on the CPU, as the GPU's 72nd percentile standing is not enough to overcome the game's heavy reliance on rasterization performance at higher resolutions. For users considering this hardware, the ranking indicates that it is a competent but not exceptional solution for Evolve, best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming where it can deliver consistently high frame rates.