Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers a decisive performance envelope in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. Measured data shows this combination is not merely playable but overwhelmingly capable, with average frame rates that consistently exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold across every tested resolution and preset. The dataset reveals a clear hierarchy: 1080p and 1440p produce triple-digit averages even at Ultra, while 4K Ultra remains comfortably above the target. This analysis breaks down the exact measured FPS values, identifies optimal settings, contextualizes the combo's rank among 3,700 tested configurations, and examines the division of labor between CPU and GPU at each resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates scale predictably with preset quality. Low settings produce an average of 154 FPS, which represents the ceiling for this resolution. Medium settings deliver 120 FPS on average, with a recorded minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, indicating a stable frame time distribution. High settings drop to 94 FPS average, and Ultra settings yield 65 FPS average. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 89 FPS, showing that the RTX 5090 D has substantial headroom even when the render load is at its highest. Notably, only the Medium preset reports min/max values (102/138); the other presets lack those data points, but the averages alone suggest the GPU maintains a consistent output.

At 2560x1440, performance increases markedly. Low settings reach 271 FPS average, while Medium averages 210 FPS with a min of 179 FPS and a max of 242 FPS. High settings average 165 FPS, and Ultra averages 114 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 157 FPS, which is a larger absolute difference than at 4K (89 FPS), indicating that the lower pixel count allows the GPU to translate preset changes into larger frame rate swings. The Medium preset's min/max range (179–242) spans 63 FPS, which is tighter than the 4K Medium range of 36 FPS, suggesting less frame time variance at 1440p.

At 1920x1080, the combo reaches its peak output. Low settings average 372 FPS, Medium averages 314 FPS with a min of 267 FPS and a max of 361 FPS, High averages 246 FPS, and Ultra averages 170 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra delta is 202 FPS, the largest of all resolutions, reinforcing that at 1080p the CPU and GPU are rarely the bottleneck. The Medium preset min/max spread (267–361) is 94 FPS, which is wider than at 1440p (63 FPS) but still far above any playability concern. Across all resolutions, the only preset that approaches the 60 FPS threshold is 4K Ultra at 65 FPS average; every other configuration clears it by a wide margin.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 65 FPS. This is a narrow margin of 5 FPS over the threshold, but it is sufficient. The data shows that High (94 FPS), Medium (120 FPS), and Low (154 FPS) also clear the bar, but Ultra is the recommended choice for maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing playability. The average of 65 FPS leaves little room for transient drops, though the lack of min/max data for Ultra means the worst-case frame time is unmeasured.

For 2560x1440, Ultra is again the best setting, averaging 114 FPS. This provides a 54 FPS buffer over the 60 FPS threshold, making it a safe choice for high-refresh-rate displays. High (165 FPS), Medium (210 FPS), and Low (271 FPS) are all viable, but Ultra offers the best image quality at a frame rate that still exceeds the threshold by nearly double.

For 1920x1080, Ultra averages 170 FPS, which is the highest Ultra result across all resolutions. This clears the 60 FPS threshold by 110 FPS, making it the unequivocal choice for this resolution. Even if the display is a 144 Hz panel, the 170 FPS average provides headroom for most of the refresh cycle. Low (372 FPS), Medium (314 FPS), and High (246 FPS) are all far above any practical need, so the only reason to drop below Ultra would be to target extremely high refresh rates beyond 170 Hz.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 21st out of 3,700 tested combinations in Evolve. This places it in the top 0.57% of all tested configurations, which is an exceptional result given the game's age and the hardware's modern specifications. The percentile data reinforces this: the CPU sits at the 90th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 92nd percentile against all GPUs. The combination of a top-decile CPU and a top-decile GPU produces a system that is near the apex of the benchmark database for this title. While the rank is not #1, the measured FPS values show that the gap to the top is likely small—at 4K Ultra, the 65 FPS average is already at the playability edge, but at lower resolutions the frame rates are so high that only a handful of even more powerful combos could outpace it meaningfully.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Evolve at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 65 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. This is the only preset at 4K that comes close to the threshold, but it still clears it.

Q: What is the best preset at 1440p for this combo?

A: Ultra is the best preset, averaging 114 FPS at 2560x1440. This is the most demanding setting that stays well above the 60 FPS floor, with a 54 FPS buffer.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Ultra compared to 4K Ultra?

A: 1080p Ultra averages 170 FPS, while 4K Ultra averages 65 FPS. The 1080p result is 105 FPS higher, a 161.5% increase.

Q: What are the min and max FPS for Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 179 FPS and the maximum is 242 FPS, with an average of 210 FPS.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 1% of tested systems?

A: Yes. It ranks 21st out of 3,700 combos, which is the top 0.57% of the database.

Q: Is there any preset at any resolution that fails to hit 60 FPS?

A: No. Every measured preset—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—at every resolution—1080p, 1440p, and 4K—averages above 60 FPS. The lowest recorded average is 65 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases, with the CPU's role diminishing at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 372 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability for this game; the GPU is underutilized at this resolution because the pixel count is low. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 271 FPS, a 27.2% reduction, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 154 FPS, a 43.2% reduction from 1440p. This scaling directly tracks the pixel count increase: 1080p to 1440p is a 1.78x pixel increase, and 1440p to 4K is a 2.25x increase. The measured FPS drops are smaller than the pixel count increases, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to absorb some of the added load without a proportional frame rate loss.

At Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is similar but with a lower baseline. 1080p Ultra averages 170 FPS, 1440p Ultra averages 114 FPS (a 32.9% drop), and 4K Ultra averages 65 FPS (a 43.0% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets suggests that the GPU is the dominant factor at all resolutions, but the CPU's influence becomes more apparent at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the 372 FPS average is likely close to the game engine's single-threaded draw call limit or the CPU's multi-core throughput ceiling; the RTX 5090 D is capable of far more than 372 FPS in a less CPU-limited scenario. As resolution rises, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, which is why the frame rate drops align with pixel count increases.

The CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, provide ample single-thread and multi-thread performance for a 2015 FPS title. The Geekbench single-core score of 2445 and multi-core score of 17085 indicate strong performance in both domains. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth are far beyond what Evolve requires, which is why the GPU is only fully stressed at 4K Ultra. At lower resolutions, the data shows that the CPU likely becomes the limiting factor, but even then, the frame rates are so high that the distinction is academic rather than practical.

The Verdict

The verdict is unambiguous: this PC can run Evolve at every tested resolution and preset, with all configurations clearing the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra with an average of 170 FPS, which is over 2.8x the playability threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 114 FPS, providing a comfortable 1.9x margin. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 65 FPS, which is the only configuration within 10 FPS of the threshold, but it still clears it. For players prioritizing maximum visual quality at 4K, the 65 FPS average is serviceable, though it leaves minimal headroom for demanding scenes. For 1440p and 1080p, the combo is effectively overkill, delivering frame rates that would satisfy even the most demanding high-refresh-rate displays. The data does not include any preset that fails the 60 FPS requirement, making this a definitive "yes" for Evolve across the board.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, provide a clear picture of comparable hardware. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900 has an average score of 49,228, which is 0.3% lower than the i5-14600KF's 49,394 average. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49,196, a 0.4% deficit, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995, a 0.8% deficit. On the higher side, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49,796, which is 0.8% higher. These deltas are all within 1%, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Evolve, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU matters more. The Ryzen 9 7900, in particular, would be a direct substitute with negligible performance difference.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT averages 76,904, which is 1.1% lower than the RTX 5090 D's 77,712 average. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, a 1.6% higher result, and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79,396, a 2.1% higher result. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is 2.4% higher at 79,605. These deltas are small enough that in a game like Evolve, the frame rate differences would be within the margin of measurement error. The RX 6850M XT, for instance, would likely produce nearly identical FPS values at 1080p and 1440p, though the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory provides more capacity for future titles. For Evolve specifically, any of these GPUs would deliver a playable experience at all resolutions, with the 4K Ultra preset being the only potential point of differentiation.