Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti produces a clear, resolution-dependent performance curve in Evolve. At 1920x1080, the combination delivers an average of 195.5 FPS on Low settings, 153.4 FPS on Medium, 119.8 FPS on High, and 85.6 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, averages drop to 134.6 FPS (Low), 100.9 FPS (Medium), 84.0 FPS (High), and 54.9 FPS (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the averages fall further to 76.3 FPS (Low), 56.5 FPS (Medium), 45.1 FPS (High), and 32.2 FPS (Ultra). The data shows no minimum or maximum FPS values recorded for any configuration, so the analysis relies entirely on average frame rates. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 109.9 FPS, which narrows to 79.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 44.1 FPS at 4K, indicating that the performance cost of higher presets scales with resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across all three resolutions: each step up in settings from Low to Medium to High to Ultra reduces the average frame rate by a substantial margin. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 195.5 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium brings that down to 153.4 FPS, a reduction of 42.1 FPS. High further reduces it to 119.8 FPS, a drop of 33.6 FPS from Medium. Ultra settles at 85.6 FPS, which is 34.2 FPS below High. The step-downs are relatively uniform, with each preset tier costing roughly 30-40 FPS at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the same settings sequence produces 134.6 FPS (Low), 100.9 FPS (Medium), 84.0 FPS (High), and 54.9 FPS (Ultra). The difference between Low and Medium here is 33.7 FPS, between Medium and High is 16.9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 29.1 FPS. Notably, the Medium-to-High transition at 1440p costs only 16.9 FPS, which is the smallest single-step penalty in the dataset, while the High-to-Ultra step at 1440p costs 29.1 FPS, nearly double that. At 3840x2160, the averages are 76.3 FPS (Low), 56.5 FPS (Medium), 45.1 FPS (High), and 32.2 FPS (Ultra). The step costs at 4K are 19.8 FPS (Low to Medium), 11.4 FPS (Medium to High), and 12.9 FPS (High to Ultra), showing that the absolute FPS penalty per preset tier shrinks as resolution rises because the baseline frame rate is already lower.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset at 4K (76.3 FPS) is faster than the Ultra preset at 1440p (54.9 FPS) by 21.4 FPS, which illustrates how much resolution affects performance independently of settings. Similarly, the High preset at 1440p (84.0 FPS) nearly matches the Ultra preset at 1080p (85.6 FPS), with only a 1.6 FPS difference. The 1080p Low result of 195.5 FPS is more than double the 4K Low result of 76.3 FPS, a factor of approximately 2.56. For context, the 4K Ultra result of 32.2 FPS is less than one-sixth of the 1080p Low result. These numbers indicate that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the i5-14600K provides ample headroom at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1830 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the 49th percentile of all tested configurations. This means roughly half of all tested CPU-GPU pairs perform better in this specific title, and half perform worse. The rank is a composite measure that accounts for the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, so a mid-pack ranking reflects the fact that this combo handles 1080p and 1440p well but struggles at 4K Ultra. The data shows that the combo is not a top-tier performer for Evolve, but it is also far from the bottom. The 3700 total combos tested include a wide range of hardware, so a rank of 1830 suggests this pairing sits near the median of what users are likely to have.

The CPU itself ranks in the 90th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avg score 48698, delta -0.2%), the AMD EPYC 4345P (avg score 48470, delta +0.3%), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (avg score 48287, delta +0.7%), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (avg score 48995, delta -0.8%). These deltas are all within 0.8% of the i5-14600K's average score, meaning the CPU's synthetic performance is essentially tied with these four alternatives. In contrast, the RTX 3060 Ti ranks in the 59th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16129. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (avg score 16014, delta +0.7%), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (avg score 16351, delta -1.4%), the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (avg score 16361, delta -1.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 370X (avg score 15862, delta +1.7%). The GPU's deltas are slightly larger than the CPU's, but still within 1.7% of the nearest competitors.

The divergence between the CPU's 90th percentile ranking and the GPU's 59th percentile ranking is significant. In Evolve, the combo's overall rank of 1830 out of 3700 suggests that the GPU's lower percentile relative to the CPU drags the combined performance down. If the GPU were replaced with a stronger model, the combo rank would likely improve substantially, whereas upgrading the CPU would yield smaller gains because the CPU is already near the top of the synthetic benchmark distribution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the GPU becomes the dominant performance limiter as resolution increases, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom at lower resolutions. Evidence for this comes from the scaling between 1080p and 1440p, and then between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 195.5 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU quickly. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 134.6 FPS, a 31% reduction that correlates with the increased pixel count. At 4K Low, the average falls to 76.3 FPS, another 43% reduction. The consistent decline from 1080p to 4K at the same settings points to the GPU's rendering capacity being the binding constraint, since the CPU workload does not scale linearly with resolution in the same way that GPU fill rate does.

The settings scaling provides further evidence. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 109.9 FPS, which is a large absolute gap. At 1440p, that gap narrows to 79.7 FPS, and at 4K it narrows to 44.1 FPS. This pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario: at lower resolutions, the GPU can render more frames, so turning up settings has a larger absolute impact. At higher resolutions, the GPU is already near its limits, so the incremental cost of higher settings is smaller in absolute terms. The CPU's role is more apparent at 1080p, where the combo can exceed 150 FPS on Medium and 190 FPS on Low, indicating that the i5-14600K's 14 cores and 20 threads are more than adequate for Evolve's engine at this resolution.

At 1440p, the combo still clears 100 FPS on Medium and 84 FPS on High, which suggests a balanced workload between CPU and GPU. However, the Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 54.9 FPS, below the 60 FPS playability threshold, indicating that the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates with maximum settings at this resolution. At 4K, even the Low preset drops to 76.3 FPS, which is playable but not far above the threshold, and all higher presets fall below 60 FPS. These results show that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU is sufficient even at the highest frame rates measured.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Evolve?

A: The highest average FPS is 195.5, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: At what resolution and settings does this combo fall below 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium (56.5 FPS), High (45.1 FPS), and Ultra (32.2 FPS) all fall below 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra (54.9 FPS) falls below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129, while the RX 5700 XT scores 16361, a delta of -1.4%, meaning the RX 5700 XT is approximately 1.4% faster in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Which is stronger relative to its peers, the CPU or the GPU?

A: The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, indicating the CPU is much stronger relative to its peers.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 2560x1440 that stays above 60 FPS?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 84.0 FPS, which is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS at that resolution.

Q: How many tested combos rank below this CPU-GPU pairing in Evolve?

A: This combo ranks 1830 out of 3700 tested combos, meaning 1870 combos rank below it.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (avg score 48698, delta -0.2%) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 (avg score 48995, delta -0.8%) would perform nearly identically in synthetic CPU benchmarks, with deltas under 1%. The AMD EPYC 4345P (avg score 48470, delta +0.3%) and Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (avg score 48287, delta +0.7%) are also within 0.7% of the i5-14600K's average score. In practice, any of these CPUs paired with the RTX 3060 Ti would likely produce very similar FPS results in Evolve, because the game is GPU-bound at most settings and resolutions tested.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (avg score 16014, delta +0.7%) is the closest match, scoring just 115 points lower than the RTX 3060 Ti. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (avg score 16351, delta -1.4%) and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (avg score 16361, delta -1.4%) are slightly faster on average, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X (avg score 15862, delta +1.7%) is slightly slower. Swapping the RTX 3060 Ti for any of these would result in FPS differences of less than 2% in synthetic benchmarks, which would translate to roughly 1-3 FPS differences in the measured Evolve results. For example, the RX 5700 XT might achieve around 86.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra (compared to 85.6 FPS for the RTX 3060 Ti), while the R9 370X might achieve around 84.2 FPS.

If a user were to pair the i5-14600K with a different GPU from this rival list, the overall combo ranking in Evolve would shift only slightly, since the GPU deltas are all within 1.7%. Conversely, pairing the RTX 3060 Ti with a different CPU from the rival list would also produce minimal changes, given the CPU deltas are all within 0.8%. The data suggests that all these combinations would land within a narrow band of performance, with the RTX 3060 Ti's 59th GPU percentile being the primary determinant of the combo's mid-pack rank.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 85.6 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and the data shows that all four presets at 1080p exceed 60 FPS, with Low at 195.5 FPS, Medium at 153.4 FPS, and High at 119.8 FPS. At 2560x1440, the best settings that maintain at least 60 FPS are High, producing an average of 84.0 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p achieves 100.9 FPS and Low achieves 134.6 FPS, but Ultra falls to 54.9 FPS, which is below the threshold. At 3840x2160, the only preset that clears 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 76.3 FPS. Medium drops to 56.5 FPS, High to 45.1 FPS, and Ultra to 32.2 FPS, all below the playable threshold.

The data shows that the margin above 60 FPS shrinks as resolution increases. At 1080p Ultra, the margin is 25.6 FPS above the threshold. At 1440p High, the margin is 24.0 FPS. At 4K Low, the margin is 16.3 FPS. These margins indicate that while the combo can play Evolve at 4K, it has very little headroom, and any scene complexity beyond the average could push frame rates closer to the threshold. At 1080p, the margin is large enough that frame rate drops would be unlikely to cause noticeable stutter, while at 4K, the lower margin suggests more variability in real-world gameplay.

The Verdict

This PC can run Evolve, but the playable settings depend heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the verdict is clear: all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) exceed 60 FPS, with the best playable setting being Ultra at 85.6 FPS. This means a user can run the game at maximum settings with a comfortable frame rate margin. At 2560x1440, the playable settings are High, Medium, and Low, with High being the best at 84.0 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not playable, as it drops to 54.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, achieving 76.3 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra at 4K all fall below 60 FPS, with averages of 56.5 FPS, 45.1 FPS, and 32.2 FPS respectively.

The overall verdict is that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Evolve, with the ability to max out settings at 1080p and use High settings at 1440p. For 4K, the system is limited to Low settings, and even then the margin above 60 FPS is modest. The data indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the i5-14600K provides sufficient CPU performance across all tested configurations. The combo's mid-pack rank of 1830 out of 3700 reflects this split personality: strong at lower resolutions, but not competitive at 4K Ultra. For users targeting 1080p or 1440p, this is a capable setup for Evolve. For 4K, it will run the game but requires significant settings compromises to maintain playable frame rates.