Evolve

The Intel Core i5-12400F (launch MSRP $174) paired with the Intel Arc B570 (launch MSRP 219 USD) delivers playable framerates in Evolve at 1080p and 1440p, but falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K. Benchmark data measured across three resolutions and four quality presets shows the combo's strongest result at 1080p High with an average of 83 FPS, while the GPU's rasterization ceiling becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs. The CPU, which sits at the 73rd percentile among all tested CPUs with an average benchmark score of 19039, provides enough single-thread throughput to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the Arc B570's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 380 GB/s memory bandwidth cap performance at higher pixel counts. The CPU's six cores and twelve threads, boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and 18 MB shared L3 cache are well matched to this 2015 FPS title's demands, while the GPU's 10 GB GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus and 2304 shading units define the graphical ceiling.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, averaging 83 FPS. Ultra drops to 58 FPS, just below the playable threshold, so High is the ceiling for smooth play. Medium delivers 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS and a maximum of 122 FPS, offering a comfortable margin for users who prefer extra headroom over visual fidelity, but High is the maximum quality that stays playable.

At 2560x1440, Medium is the best playable preset at 71 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS. High falls to 56 FPS, and Ultra to 39 FPS, so Medium represents the highest quality that stays at or above the 60 FPS line. Low reaches 92 FPS, but Medium is the most demanding preset that remains playable, making it the recommended choice for 1440p.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 52 FPS, Medium 40 FPS, High 32 FPS, and Ultra 22 FPS. The best available result is Low at 52 FPS, which is below the playable threshold, so 4K is not viable for this combo in Evolve. Even the least demanding preset cannot sustain the framerate needed for smooth gameplay, and the gap between the 52 FPS Low result and the 60 FPS threshold indicates that no settings adjustment will recover playability at this resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates the GPU is the dominant constraint at all three resolutions, but the degree shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the spread between Low (137 FPS) and Ultra (58 FPS) is 79 FPS, showing that the Arc B570's workload scaling directly drives framerate. The i5-12400F's single-thread performance — Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1680 and Passmark single-thread score of 3481 — is sufficient to avoid CPU bottlenecks at this resolution, allowing the GPU to express its full range of performance across presets.

At 1440p, the spread narrows to 53 FPS (Low 92, Ultra 39), and at 4K it narrows further to 30 FPS (Low 52, Ultra 22). This compression of the settings spread at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound operation: the GPU's raw throughput ceiling (11.52 TFLOPS FP32, 380 GB/s bandwidth) limits even Low presets at 4K, so raising quality settings yields diminishing returns. The GPU's pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s become the limiting factors as pixel count increases.

The CPU's relative strength — 73rd percentile versus the GPU's 65th percentile — means that in CPU-light scenes the i5-12400F has headroom. But Evolve's FPS scaling across resolutions shows that the Arc B570's fillrate and bandwidth become the bottleneck well before the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are saturated. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12380, Passmark multithread score of 19433, and Geekbench multicore score of 9472 indicate ample compute for this title's demands. Even the 3DMark max-threads score of 5912 and 16-thread score of 5895 confirm the CPU can sustain high instruction throughput. The single-thread 3DMark score of 909 and 2-thread score of 1699 further support that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full preset ladder shows a wide performance envelope. Low averages 137 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS and maximum of 122 FPS, High averages 83 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 31 FPS, from Medium to High costs 23 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 25 FPS, showing relatively even scaling between presets.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 92 FPS, Medium averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS, High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 21 FPS, Medium to High costs 15 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 17 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of exactly 60 FPS means the combo sits precisely at the playable threshold in worst-case frames at that setting.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS, High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS show a tight band of performance, indicating the GPU is consistently saturated. The drop from Low to Medium costs 12 FPS, Medium to High costs 8 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 10 FPS — a much shallower scaling curve than at 1080p, confirming the GPU's throughput ceiling at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Evolve at 4K?

A: No. The best 4K result is Low at 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium averages 40 FPS, High 32 FPS, and Ultra 22 FPS, so no settings combination reaches playable framerates.

Q: What is the best quality setting at 1080p?

A: High, which averages 83 FPS. Ultra drops to 58 FPS, just under the 60 FPS threshold, so High is the highest preset that stays playable. Medium offers a safer margin at 106 FPS with a 90 FPS minimum.

Q: What is the best quality setting at 1440p?

A: Medium, averaging 71 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum. High falls to 56 FPS, so Medium is the most demanding playable preset at this resolution. Low reaches 92 FPS but sacrifices visual quality.

Q: Which component limits performance in Evolve?

A: The GPU. The Arc B570's throughput ceiling is evident from the settings spread: at 1080p, Low delivers 137 FPS while Ultra delivers 58 FPS, and at 4K even Low only reaches 52 FPS. The CPU's single-thread score of 1680 (Cinebench R23) and Passmark single-thread score of 3481 are strong enough to avoid being the primary constraint.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2971 out of 3700 tested combos, placing it better than 729 combinations. This is a below-median result overall, but for Evolve specifically, the playable framerates at 1080p and 1440p show the combo is functional for this title.

Q: Is the 1440p Medium preset stable?

A: Yes. The recorded minimum is 60 FPS and the maximum is 82 FPS, with an average of 71 FPS, so the combo stays at or above the playable threshold throughout the measurement. The minimum exactly matches the playable threshold, indicating tight worst-case performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals by average benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (avg 19047, 0% delta), Intel Core 3 201E (avg 19056, -0.1% delta), Intel Core i5-1335U (avg 18982, 0.3% delta), and AMD EPYC 7773X (avg 18979, 0.3% delta). These processors deliver essentially identical CPU-side performance, so swapping the i5-12400F for any of them would not meaningfully change Evolve's framerates in CPU-bound scenarios. The tight delta range of -0.1% to 0.3% means all four alternatives would produce framerates within a fraction of a percent of the i5-12400F in any CPU-limited situation.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (avg 20534, 0.1% delta), Intel Arc A750 (avg 20582, -0.1% delta), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (avg 20480, 0.4% delta), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (avg 20662, -0.5% delta). These GPUs have average benchmark scores within half a percent of the Arc B570's 20556 average, so they would produce nearly identical FPS results in Evolve at the same settings and resolutions. The Arc A750, being another Intel discrete GPU with a -0.1% delta, would be the closest drop-in alternative in terms of both performance and architectural family.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2971 out of 3700 tested combinations, meaning it outperforms 729 other combos and sits in the lower portion of the field. In context, this is a below-average pairing for the broader benchmark database, but the measured FPS data for Evolve shows it clears the 60 FPS playable bar at 1080p High (83 FPS) and 1440p Medium (71 FPS). The gap between the combo's low overall rank and its adequate Evolve-specific performance highlights how game-specific optimization and the GPU's architectural strengths — Xe2-HPG, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility — matter more than raw aggregate benchmark position for this title. The CPU's 73rd percentile standing and the GPU's 65th percentile standing both contribute to the pairing's middling aggregate position, yet the measured results demonstrate that this particular game is well within the combo's capabilities at mainstream resolutions.