Evolve

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a dominant performance profile in Evolve, clearing the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution tested. The data shows that the most demanding preset, Ultra, remains playable at both 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra falls just short of the playability target. This combination is a high-end pairing that excels at high refresh rates, with the 1080p Low preset reaching 335 FPS average, indicating significant headroom for competitive play or future content.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of 60 FPS or higher is High, which produces an average of 78 FPS. The data shows that Ultra settings at this resolution dip to an average of 54 FPS, which is below the playable threshold of 60 FPS, making High the optimal choice for a smooth 4K experience. Medium settings at 4K yield a higher average of 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS, but High provides a better balance of visual fidelity and performance, staying well above the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that still clears the 60 FPS bar, achieving an average of 95 FPS. This is a significant result, as it means the hardware can run the game at maximum settings at 1440p without compromising frame rates. The High preset at this resolution reaches 137 FPS, and Low settings hit 225 FPS, but since Ultra remains comfortably playable, it is the recommended setting for users prioritizing visual quality on 1440p displays.

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is again the most demanding that stays above 60 FPS, delivering an average of 141 FPS. This is more than double the playable threshold, showcasing the CPU-GPU combo's ability to handle the game at its highest settings with substantial headroom. The High preset at 1080p reaches 204 FPS, and Medium hits 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 FPS, confirming that even at 1080p, the system is not constrained by the game's demands.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals that the GPU becomes the dominant factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's role is more pronounced at lower resolutions where frame rates are exceptionally high. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low to Ultra settings shows a drop from 335 FPS to 141 FPS average, a reduction of 194 FPS. This wide gap suggests that at lower resolutions, the system is capable of producing very high frame rates, and the settings overhead is directly tied to GPU load, but the CPU must be strong enough to feed those frames, which the i7-13700K does effectively.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same Low-to-Ultra comparison shows a drop from 225 FPS to 95 FPS, a difference of 130 FPS. The percentage reduction from Low to Ultra is 57.8% at 1440p, compared to a 57.9% reduction at 1080p, indicating that the relative GPU load scaling is nearly identical between these resolutions. This consistency implies that the CPU is not a bottleneck at either resolution, as the frame rate drops are proportionally similar.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 128 FPS, while Ultra drops to 54 FPS, a reduction of 74 FPS or 57.8%. The absolute frame rates are lower across the board at 4K, which is expected due to the increased pixel count. The fact that the percentage drop from Low to Ultra remains consistent across all three resolutions strongly suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter when pushing higher settings, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom to keep up with the GPU's demands even at 1080p Low where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for all tested configurations, as no resolution or setting combination reports a memory-related bottleneck in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K)

At 4K, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 128 FPS, Medium settings produce 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, High settings produce 78 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 54 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with a reported minimum and maximum, showing a range of 30 FPS between its lowest and highest frames, which indicates some variance but remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is the only configuration across all resolutions that fails to meet the playable threshold, making it the single non-viable setting tested.

2560x1440 (1440p)

At 1440p, the performance is substantially higher. Low settings deliver 225 FPS average, Medium settings deliver 174 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 200 FPS, High settings deliver 137 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 95 FPS. The Medium preset's frame range of 52 FPS (from 148 to 200) is the largest variance recorded in the dataset, but even the minimum stays far above the 60 FPS playable target. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent reduction in average FPS, with each step up in settings costing roughly 40-50 FPS on average.

1920x1080 (1080p)

At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 335 FPS, Medium settings produce 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 FPS and a maximum of 299 FPS, High settings produce 204 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 141 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p has a variance of 78 FPS between its minimum and maximum, which is the largest absolute spread in the entire dataset, yet the minimum of 221 FPS is still more than three times the playable threshold. The Low preset's 335 FPS average indicates that the game's engine is not heavily CPU-limited at this resolution, as the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads are sufficient to drive such high frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: No, the data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 54, which is below the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The best playable 4K preset is High, which achieves an average of 78 FPS.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 achieves an average of 95 FPS, making it the most demanding setting that remains above the 60 FPS threshold. All four settings tested at this resolution (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 204 at 1920x1080 to 78 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 126 FPS or 61.8%. At Low settings, the drop is from 335 to 128 FPS, a reduction of 207 FPS or 61.8%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for high frame rates at 1080p?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor when increasing settings, as the percentage drop from Low to Ultra is nearly identical across all resolutions (approximately 57.8%). At 1080p Low, the system reaches 335 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU is not a bottleneck even at very high frame rates.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings across all resolutions?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings is 84 FPS at 3840x2160. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 148 FPS, and at 1920x1080, the minimum is 221 FPS. All of these values are above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among other tested configurations for Evolve?

A: This combination ranks 222nd out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the top 6% of all tested systems, which is consistent with its ability to run the game at high or ultra settings at all resolutions except 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination holds the 222nd rank out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the top 6% of all systems evaluated. This ranking is driven by the GPU's strong performance, as the RTX 4080 sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 89th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average benchmark score that is 0.1% higher, indicating that the two cards are effectively performance peers. The CPU's closest competitor, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, has an average score 0.2% lower, showing that the i7-13700K is well-matched against its direct rivals.

The high rank in Evolve is corroborated by the measured frame rates, which show that the system can achieve 141 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 95 FPS at 1440p Ultra, both of which are well above the playable threshold. The only configuration that fails to meet the threshold is 4K Ultra at 54 FPS, which is a minor shortfall given the resolution's extreme demands. The combination's performance is consistent with its percentile rankings, as the GPU's compute capabilities (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) and the CPU's multi-threaded strength (30,745 in Cinebench R23 multicore) align with the observed in-game results.

The Verdict

This PC can run Evolve at a playable level across nearly all tested configurations. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 1920x1080, all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable, with the best playable setting being Ultra at 141 FPS average. At 2560x1440, all presets are also playable, with Ultra achieving 95 FPS average. At 3840x2160, the High preset is the most demanding playable option at 78 FPS average, as Ultra falls to 54 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold.

For users seeking the highest visual fidelity, the system delivers a fully playable experience at 1080p and 1440p with Ultra settings. At 4K, users must compromise by selecting High settings, which still provides a smooth 78 FPS average. The data indicates that the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM is sufficient for all tested settings, as no memory-related performance issues are reported. The i7-13700K provides ample CPU headroom, as evidenced by the consistent scaling of frame rates across resolutions and the high minimums at Medium settings. Overall, this combination is a top-tier performer for Evolve, suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p and 1440p, and capable of a solid 4K experience with a modest settings adjustment.