Evolve

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 run Evolve at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The recorded data shows 76.8 FPS average at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium settings drop to 58.6 FPS, just below the threshold, while High runs at 48 FPS and Ultra at 30.4 FPS.

Q: Is this system capable of 1440p or 4K gameplay in Evolve?

A: No. At 2560x1440, the highest average FPS recorded is 48.8 on Low settings, and every preset at 3840x2160 falls below 28 FPS. The verdict data lists no playable settings for either resolution, meaning no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How demanding is Evolve on the GPU versus the CPU?

A: The performance scaling indicates a heavy GPU load. Dropping resolution from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings reduces average FPS from 76.8 to 48.8, a roughly 36% performance loss. At 4K Low, it falls further to 27.8 FPS. The CPU, which sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, provides enough headroom that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

Q: What are the best playable settings for this hardware?

A: The only configuration that clears 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, delivering 76.8 FPS average. At 1440p and 4K, no settings are considered playable, and the database lists no best settings for those resolutions.

Q: How close are the nearest rival components in performance?

A: The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 0.2% below the i5-9400 in average benchmark score, while the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 0.4% higher and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 0.4% lower. On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 0.3% higher, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 scores 0.4% higher, and the Intel Arc A310 scores 1% higher than the GTX 1650.

Q: How does this combo rank for Evolve specifically?

A: The combination ranks 3613 out of 3700 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower percentile of all systems measured. Given that ranking, users should expect marginal performance headroom at 1080p and no realistic path to higher resolutions without sacrificing playable frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded FPS data across resolutions reveals a system where the GPU dominates the performance conversation. The i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It posts a multicore score of 6629 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 935. Its average benchmark score of 2254 places it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs. For a 2015 FPS title like Evolve, this processor provides more than enough compute headroom, as evidenced by the fact that the performance cliff appears when resolution increases, which loads the GPU harder rather than the CPU.

The GTX 1650 is a Turing-based GPU with 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. It delivers 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 128.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth across a 128-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. Its average benchmark score of 7472 places it at the 40th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU is the clear bottleneck in this pairing, particularly when moving from 1080p to higher resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the scaling from Low to Medium to High to Ultra shows a steady erosion of frame rate: 76.8, 58.6, 48, and 30.4 FPS respectively. The jump from High to Ultra costs 17.6 FPS, which is the steepest single-step drop at this resolution. This pattern indicates that Evolve's Ultra preset includes effects that heavily tax the GTX 1650's compute and memory bandwidth.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 48.8 FPS, Medium produces 39 FPS, High produces 33.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 22.7 FPS. The delta between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 28 FPS, a substantial penalty for roughly 1.78 times the pixel count. This confirms that the GTX 1650's 128.1 GB/s bandwidth and 4 GB frame buffer become increasingly strained as resolution climbs.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes untenable. Low settings yield 27.8 FPS, Medium yields 24.9 FPS, High yields 15.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 9.6 FPS. The 4K Low result is less than half of the 1440p Low result, and the Ultra preset at 4K is essentially unplayable. The GPU's pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s are insufficient to feed a 4K display at acceptable frame rates in this title.

The CPU's role becomes more relevant at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity. At 1080p Low, the 76.8 FPS average suggests the i5-9400 can keep up with the GTX 1650's output without becoming a limiting factor. The processor's 47th percentile ranking, while not exceptional, is adequate for a game released in 2015. The data does not show a scenario where CPU limitation manifests as a measurable FPS cap or stutter pattern distinct from GPU-bound scaling.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, which delivers 76.8 FPS average. Medium comes close at 58.6 FPS, but it misses the 60 FPS threshold by 1.4 FPS, making it technically below the playable line. High runs at 48 FPS and Ultra at 30.4 FPS.

At 2560x1440, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 48.8 FPS, followed by Medium at 39 FPS, High at 33.5 FPS, and Ultra at 22.7 FPS. The database records no playable settings for this resolution, meaning users should not expect a smooth experience at any quality level.

At 3840x2160, the situation is worse. Low produces 27.8 FPS, Medium produces 24.9 FPS, High produces 15.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 9.6 FPS. None of these approach the 60 FPS threshold, and the verdict data confirms no playable settings exist at 4K.

The practical takeaway is straightforward: 1080p Low is the single viable configuration. Users who want higher visual quality at 1080p can try Medium at 58.6 FPS, but the data places it below the playable threshold. For anyone running a 1440p or 4K display, this hardware will require either a significant resolution reduction or a GPU upgrade to achieve playable frame rates.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals to the i5-9400 provide useful context for CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average score of 2259, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-9400's 2254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3% higher than the i5-9400. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4% lower. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning any of these processors would behave nearly identically to the i5-9400 in Evolve. Users upgrading from one of these chips to the i5-9400, or vice versa, would see no meaningful FPS difference in this game.

On the GPU side, the GTX 1650's nearest rivals are similarly close. The AMD Radeon HD 8850M scores 7447, 0.3% higher than the GTX 1650's 7472. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 scores 7441, 0.4% higher. The AMD Radeon R7 350 scores 7425, 0.6% higher. The Intel Arc A310 scores 7550, 1% higher. These differences are small enough that swapping between these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Evolve. However, it is notably the GTX 1650's 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are shared characteristics that define the performance envelope, and the rivals listed are all in the same performance class.

For a system builder looking at this benchmark data, the implication is that the i5-9400 and GTX 1650 sit in a crowded performance tier. The CPU has six physical cores at a 2.90 GHz base clock, and the GPU has 896 shading units at a 1485 MHz base clock. Neither component is an outlier in its class, and the measured FPS numbers reflect that middle-of-the-pack positioning. The combo rank of 3613 out of 3700 confirms that this pairing is near the bottom of the distribution for Evolve specifically, despite being a reasonable general-purpose setup.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database provides average FPS measurements for twelve configurations spanning three resolutions and four quality presets. No minimum or maximum FPS values are recorded, so the analysis relies on average frame rates alone.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: High settings produce 15.6 FPS, Low settings produce 27.8 FPS, Medium settings produce 24.9 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 9.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 18.2 FPS, and even the best result at this resolution falls far below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The 4K data shows that the GTX 1650 cannot handle Evolve at this resolution under any preset.

At 2560x1440, High settings produce 33.5 FPS, Low settings produce 48.8 FPS, Medium settings produce 39 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 22.7 FPS. The Low preset comes closest to playability but still misses the threshold by 11.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution shows a 26.1 FPS drop, which mirrors the pattern seen at 1080p but at consistently lower absolute values.

At 1920x1080, High settings produce 48 FPS, Low settings produce 76.8 FPS, Medium settings produce 58.6 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 30.4 FPS. This is the only resolution where any preset clears 60 FPS. The Low preset delivers 76.8 FPS, which is 16.8 FPS above the threshold. Medium falls 1.4 FPS short, High falls 12 FPS short, and Ultra falls 29.6 FPS short.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution costs roughly 28 to 30 FPS at Low settings, and each step up in quality costs roughly 10 to 18 FPS depending on the preset. The GTX 1650's 4 GB memory capacity and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth appear to be the limiting factors at higher resolutions, while the i5-9400's six cores and 9 MB of shared L3 cache keep the CPU from becoming a bottleneck.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Evolve? Yes, but only under a narrow set of conditions. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, no playable settings exist, and the best average FPS is 27.8 on Low. At 2560x1440, no playable settings exist either, with Low being the closest at 48.8 FPS. At 1920x1080, Low is the only playable preset, delivering 76.8 FPS average.

The i5-9400 and GTX 1650 combination ranks 3613 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the bottom 3% of all systems measured. That ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's inability to maintain playable frame rates at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 47th percentile ranking and 6-core configuration, is adequate for this workload.

Users with a 1080p display and a willingness to run Low settings will get a playable experience with 76.8 FPS average. Those who want Medium quality will face 58.6 FPS, which is marginally below the 60 FPS threshold and may be acceptable to some players depending on their sensitivity to frame rate dips. High and Ultra presets at 1080p are not recommended, as they drop to 48 and 30.4 FPS respectively.

For 1440p or 4K displays, this system is not suitable for Evolve. The data shows no preset at either resolution clears 60 FPS, and the best case scenario is 48.8 FPS at 1440p Low. The GTX 1650's 75 W TDP and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory are simply not enough for this game at those resolutions. A GPU upgrade would be required, and given that the nearest GPU rivals all score within 1% of the GTX 1650, the upgrade path would need to target a significantly higher performance tier to make a meaningful difference.