Evolve

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a thoroughly capable Evolve experience, with benchmark data showing that the pairing clears the 60 FPS playability threshold at every tested resolution, though the margin of comfort narrows considerably at 4K with maximum settings. The measured frame rates reveal a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p, where it can push Ultra settings well past 60 FPS, while 4K demands a settings compromise to maintain smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset achieves an average of 65 FPS, making it the most demanding playable option. The Medium preset runs at 83 FPS, while Low reaches 107 FPS, but Ultra drops to 45 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440 the Ultra preset delivers an average of 79 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold. This makes 1440p the resolution where the full visual fidelity of Evolve can be experienced without compromise.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, scores 35403, a negligible 0.1% difference, while the Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700K score 35305 and 35287 respectively, putting them 0.2% behind.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, scores 40318, which is only 0.1% lower, indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 280 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 118 FPS. This represents a substantial 162 FPS gap, showing that the GPU workload scales heavily with visual fidelity even at lower resolutions.

Q: Which resolutions have all four settings presets marked as playable?

A: Both 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 have all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) scoring above 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, only three presets are playable, with Ultra being the sole exception at 45 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, but the CPU remains sufficiently strong to avoid limiting frame rates even at 1080p. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 280 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high frame rate that suggests the CPU is feeding frames efficiently without becoming a constraint. The Intel Core i7-12700KF's multithreaded benchmark score of 34092 in PassMark and its 20 threads provide ample headroom for Evolve's FPS workload.

When examining scaling between presets at each resolution, the GPU's dominance becomes clear. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average frame rate from 280 to 118 FPS, a 57.9% drop. This substantial scaling indicates that the RTX 5070's render workload, rather than CPU limitations, dictates performance. The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are the resources being taxed by increased settings.

The transition from 1440p to 4K further emphasizes the GPU-centric nature of performance scaling. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 79 FPS at 2560x1440 to 45 FPS at 3840x2160, a 43% reduction. This aligns with the pixel count increase of 2.25 times between these resolutions, confirming that the rendering pipeline is the limiting factor. The CPU's role remains static across resolutions, as its benchmark scores do not change with display output, yet the frame rates scale inversely with pixel density.

Interestingly, the Medium preset at each resolution shows the smallest relative drop from Low, suggesting that the RTX 5070 handles moderate settings efficiently. At 1080p Medium, the average is 217 FPS versus 280 FPS at Low, while at 4K Medium, the average is 83 FPS versus 107 FPS at Low. The percentage drop from Low to Medium is 22.5% at 1080p and 22.4% at 4K, indicating consistent scaling behavior regardless of resolution.

The data implies that for this game, the RTX 5070 is the decisive component for achieving high frame rates, particularly at 1440p and above. The i7-12700KF, with its 85th percentile ranking and 28838 Cinebench R23 multicore score, provides sufficient processing power to avoid becoming the bottleneck, but the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking and 29137 PassMark G3D score are what ultimately determine playability at each settings level.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, with an average frame rate of 65 FPS. This leaves minimal headroom above the playability threshold, as the Medium preset runs at 83 FPS and Low at 107 FPS, but Ultra drops to an unplayable 45 FPS. For users prioritizing smooth gameplay at 4K, High is the recommended maximum, though Medium offers a more comfortable margin.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is the best playable setting, achieving an average of 79 FPS. This is a notable achievement, as it demonstrates that the RTX 5070 has sufficient rendering power to handle maximum visual fidelity at this resolution while remaining 19 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset runs at 114 FPS, Medium at 145 FPS, and Low at 188 FPS, all of which provide even greater headroom.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is again the best playable setting, with an average of 118 FPS. This nearly doubles the playability threshold, ensuring a highly responsive experience. The High preset averages 170 FPS, Medium averages 217 FPS, and Low averages 280 FPS, making every preset at this resolution viable for competitive or high-refresh-rate play.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-12700KF's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, are four processors that deliver nearly identical synthetic performance. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, just 0.1% higher, making it a direct substitute in terms of processing capability. The Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700K both score 35305 and 35287 respectively, each 0.2% lower, indicating that any of these CPUs would produce comparable Evolve frame rates in this system.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070's nearest rivals are all AMD Radeon Pro workstation cards, which is an unusual comparison grouping. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 40318, just 0.1% lower, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40063, 0.8% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 40870, 1.2% higher, and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile scores 39568, 2% lower. These delta values are all within a narrow band, suggesting that in synthetic benchmarks, these GPUs would show similar raw throughput, though real-world Evolve performance could differ due to driver optimizations and architecture-specific features.

The proximity of these rival scores, all within 2% of the RTX 5070, means that swapping to any of these alternatives would likely produce frame rates within a few FPS of the measured results. However, the workstation-oriented nature of the AMD rivals may affect gaming performance differently than the synthetic benchmarks suggest.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 758th out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the top 20.5% of all configurations in the database. This ranking reflects the strong performance of both components, particularly given that the game is from 2015 and may not fully utilize modern hardware capabilities.

The percentile rankings of the individual components provide context for this combo ranking. The CPU sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. The combined ranking of 758th out of 3700 suggests that the pairing performs slightly better than what the individual percentiles might predict, indicating good synergy between the processor and graphics card for this workload.

Within the context of the database, this combo outperforms 79.5% of all tested configurations for Evolve, which is a strong result given that many combos likely feature higher-end components. The data indicates that this mid-to-high-range pairing is more than sufficient for this title, with the primary limitation being the 4K Ultra preset's 45 FPS average.

The Verdict

The benchmark data clearly indicates that this PC can run Evolve with strong performance across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, all four settings presets clear 60 FPS, with Ultra achieving 118 FPS and Low reaching 280 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets also clear 60 FPS, with Ultra at 79 FPS providing the maximum visual quality while maintaining smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, three presets clear 60 FPS, with High at 65 FPS being the recommended maximum, while Ultra falls short at 45 FPS.

The verdict is straightforward: this system is fully playable at every resolution, but 4K users must avoid the Ultra preset to maintain 60 FPS. The most demanding playable configuration is 4K High at 65 FPS, which offers a good balance of visual quality and performance. For users with 1440p monitors, the Ultra preset at 79 FPS is the optimal choice, providing the best visual experience without any performance concerns.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings. The Low preset averages 107 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 95 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but remaining well above the playability threshold. The High preset averages 65 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded, providing just 5 FPS of headroom above 60. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS, which is 15 FPS below the playability threshold, with no minimum or maximum recorded.

At 2560x1440, the performance improves significantly. The Low preset averages 188 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded, making it more than triple the playability threshold. The Medium preset averages 145 FPS, with a minimum of 124 FPS and a maximum of 167 FPS, demonstrating consistent frame delivery. The High preset averages 114 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Ultra preset averages 79 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded, providing a 19 FPS margin above 60.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. The Low preset averages 280 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded, indicating the system is not stressed by this configuration. The Medium preset averages 217 FPS, with a minimum of 184 FPS and a maximum of 249 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. The High preset averages 170 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Ultra preset averages 118 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded, nearly doubling the playability threshold while delivering maximum visual fidelity.