Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a wide spread of frame rates in Evolve, ranging from a demanding 50.1 FPS average at 4K Ultra to a blistering 293.7 FPS average at 1080p Low. The data shows this is a high-refresh-rate capable system for most scenarios, with the primary limitation appearing only at the most extreme preset and resolution pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system is overwhelmingly GPU-bound in the sense that frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 293.7 FPS, while Medium drops to 226.2 FPS. High settings still deliver 177 FPS, and even the most demanding Ultra preset maintains a 123.5 FPS average. None of these figures approach the playable threshold of 60 FPS, leaving massive headroom for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling pattern remains consistent but frame rates tighten. Low settings average 198.7 FPS, Medium drops to 154 FPS, and High produces 117.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution yields 80.1 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows an expected performance cost: Ultra drops from 123.5 to 80.1 FPS, a reduction of roughly 35%, while Low falls from 293.7 to 198.7 FPS, a similar proportional decline.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. Low settings still manage a strong 112.9 FPS average, and Medium follows at 89 FPS. High settings drop to 67.8 FPS, which remains playable. However, the Ultra preset falls to 50.1 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS playable threshold. This is the only configuration in the measured data that fails to maintain smooth gameplay, indicating that 4K Ultra is beyond this combination's comfortable operating range. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is notable: a 17.7 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a substantial additional load at that resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the dominant performance factor at 1080p, but the CPU's influence grows as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is 170.2 FPS (293.7 vs. 123.5), demonstrating that the GPU has substantial headroom when settings are reduced. This pattern suggests that at lower resolutions, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary constraint, as reducing graphical load yields massive frame rate gains.

At 2560x1440, the scaling between presets becomes more moderate but still shows GPU dominance. The spread from Low to Ultra is 118.6 FPS (198.7 vs. 80.1), proportionally similar to 1080p. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for 1440p even at Ultra, as the 80.1 FPS result indicates no memory capacity or bandwidth bottleneck.

The 3840x2160 results shift the balance. At 4K, the Ultra preset's 50.1 FPS average versus High's 67.8 FPS shows that the GPU is now the clear limiting factor, but the CPU's role becomes more relevant. The Core i5-14400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, provides sufficient processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck even at 4K Low, where 112.9 FPS is achieved. However, the data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the combination of increased pixel count and complex effects overwhelms the GPU's compute capacity, as evidenced by the 17.7 FPS drop from High to Ultra.

The scaling between resolutions reinforces this interpretation. At a fixed preset, moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows consistent performance degradation, which is typical of GPU-bound workloads. For example, High settings produce 177 FPS at 1080p, 117.3 FPS at 1440p, and 67.8 FPS at 4K. This linear relationship indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor; if it were, the frame rates would plateau at higher resolutions. The Core i5-14400F's Geekbench multicore score of 11268 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 are more than adequate for this game's requirements.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database provide context for its performance level. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores an average of 32233, which is 0.1% below the Core i5-14400F's 32279 average. The Intel Core i9-11900 is similarly close at 32226, a 0.2% difference. On the other side, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32354, putting it 0.2% ahead of the i5-14400F. The Intel Core i7-12800H rounds out the group at 32121, which is 0.5% behind. These deltas are all within noise margins, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver virtually identical performance in Evolve.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show similar clustering. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43262, just 0.1% below the RTX 4070 SUPER's 43223. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile matches at 43268, also 0.1% lower. The Quadro M6000 (non-24GB variant) scores 43301, 0.2% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile leads the group at 43667, which is 1% ahead of the RTX 4070 SUPER. This 1% gap is the largest among the listed rivals, but still indicates that a gamer would see no meaningful difference between these GPUs in Evolve.

In practical terms, a system built with any of these CPU or GPU alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates to the measured data. The 0.1-0.5% CPU deltas and 0.1-1% GPU deltas translate to sub-1-FPS differences in real gameplay, which is imperceptible. The RTX 4090 Mobile's 1% advantage might yield an extra 0.5-1.2 FPS at 4K Ultra, but this would not change the verdict that 4K Ultra falls short of 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with maximum settings?

A: No. The measured Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 50.1 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at 4K achieves 67.8 FPS, so you must drop from Ultra to High to maintain smooth gameplay at that resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 120 FPS, with Low hitting 293.7 FPS and Ultra reaching 123.5 FPS. Even at 2560x1440, every preset clears 80 FPS, with Low at 198.7 FPS. For 144Hz or 165Hz displays, 1440p with Medium or High settings provides ample headroom.

Q: How does the 4K Low preset compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: 4K Low produces 112.9 FPS, while 1440p Ultra delivers 80.1 FPS. The 4K Low result is 32.8 FPS higher, indicating that reducing graphical quality at a higher resolution can yield better performance than maximizing quality at a lower resolution, though the visual tradeoff is significant.

Q: Is the Core i5-14400F sufficient for this game, or does it bottleneck the RTX 4070 SUPER?

A: The CPU's benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore: 21645, singlecore: 3055) and the linear performance scaling across resolutions indicate no CPU bottleneck. The Core i5-14400F's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U, scores within 0.1%, and any of these CPUs would perform identically in Evolve.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured average is 117.3 FPS, which is 57.3 FPS above the playable threshold. This setting combination provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, with substantial headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: Does the system meet the playable threshold at all resolutions and presets?

A: No. The verdict data shows that at 3840x2160, only Low, Medium, and High are playable, with Ultra at 50.1 FPS being the sole exception. At both 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) maintain averages above 60 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC configuration can absolutely run Evolve, and it does so with considerable authority at most settings. The verdict by resolution shows that at 1920x1080, every preset is playable, with Ultra averaging 123.5 FPS and Low reaching 293.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets also clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra at 80.1 FPS being the lowest result. The system's capability extends to 3840x2160, where High settings average 67.8 FPS and remain playable, but Ultra drops to 50.1 FPS, failing the 60 FPS requirement.

The Core i5-14400F and RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 596th out of 3700 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the top 16% of systems. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's matching 83rd percentile ranking indicate a well-balanced pairing. For gamers targeting high refresh rates, the 1080p and 1440p results are exceptional. For 4K enthusiasts, the system is viable but requires a compromise from Ultra to High settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 123.5 FPS. This provides the maximum visual quality while still delivering more than double the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Ultra, averaging 80.1 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable 20.1 FPS margin, making it the optimal choice for 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS is High, with an average of 67.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 50.1 FPS is not playable by the established threshold, so High represents the maximum visual fidelity while retaining smooth performance.