Evolve

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. Across all tested resolutions and presets, the system never drops below the 60 FPS playable threshold, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra setting averaging 56.8 FPS. The data shows a hardware pairing that is significantly overqualified for this game, providing headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors at 1440p and smooth 4K experiences at High settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: At Full HD, the combo produces staggering frame rates that far exceed any display's refresh rate. The Low preset averages 333.3 FPS, while Medium reaches 257.5 FPS. High settings still deliver 200.7 FPS, and even the Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, maintains an average of 142.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU-GPU pairing is not the limiting factor at this resolution; the game's engine and the monitor's refresh rate are the only constraints.

2560x1440: Stepping up to Quad HD, the performance remains overwhelmingly high. Low settings yield 223.9 FPS, and Medium drops to 171.8 FPS. High settings still produce a very smooth 137.7 FPS. The Ultra preset, which at 4K dips below 60 FPS, maintains a robust 93.9 FPS at 1440p. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a performance reduction of roughly 33-35% across presets, which is a typical resolution scaling factor for a GPU with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory.

3840x2160: At 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER begins to show its limits with the most demanding settings. The Low preset averages 130.2 FPS, Medium drops to 98.7 FPS, and High still clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably at 74.4 FPS. However, the Ultra preset falls to 56.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable mark. The gap between High (74.4 FPS) and Ultra (56.8 FPS) at 4K is a 23.7% performance hit, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces a significant load increase over High.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rival for the Intel Core i9-14900K is the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which has an average benchmark score of 79371, a negligible 0.3% difference from the i9-14900K's 79097. This means the KF variant, which lacks integrated graphics, would deliver virtually identical frame rates in Evolve. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574 avg score, 0.6% slower) and AMD EPYC 7413 (80041 avg score, 1.2% slower) are also within a 1.2% performance band, meaning any of these CPUs would produce the same results in this GPU-bound scenario. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% faster in average benchmark score, but this margin is imperceptible in actual gaming.

On the GPU side, the closest alternative is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which has an average score of 54247, just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209. In practical terms, these two cards are identical for Evolve. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828 avg score, 1.1% faster) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698 avg score, 2.7% faster) show slightly higher average benchmark scores, but these differences are within the noise of real-world testing. The data suggests that a system with an RTX 4080 instead of the 4080 SUPER would produce nearly identical FPS numbers, within 1-2 frames at most.

Best Settings per Resolution

1920x1080: The best setting is Ultra, which averages 142.5 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves ample headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. Since all presets exceed 200 FPS except Ultra, there is no reason to compromise on visual quality at this resolution.

2560x1440: The best setting is also Ultra, with an average of 93.9 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and provides a smooth experience on 144Hz monitors. The drop from 1080p Ultra (142.5 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (93.9 FPS) is substantial, but the result remains highly playable.

3840x2160: The best setting that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average of 74.4 FPS. While Ultra (56.8 FPS) is technically below the playable threshold, High offers a 23.7% performance improvement over Ultra while still delivering excellent visual fidelity. For players prioritizing frame rate over maximum detail, Medium (98.7 FPS) is also a viable option.

The Verdict

The data confirms that the Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is fully capable of running Evolve at all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, all presets including Ultra (142.5 FPS) clear the 60 FPS threshold, making this an ideal pairing for 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. At 2560x1440, the same holds true: Ultra averages 93.9 FPS, well above the playable threshold. At 3840x2160, the system can run High settings at 74.4 FPS and Medium at 98.7 FPS, but Ultra drops to 56.8 FPS, which is 3.2 FPS short of the 60 FPS mark. The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p are fully playable at maximum settings, while 4K requires a slight reduction to High settings for a consistent 60+ FPS experience.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals the GPU's dominant role in Evolve. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (333.3 FPS on Low) that the CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU. The i9-14900K's single-core performance, evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2655 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5, ensures that even the highest FPS scenarios do not create a CPU bottleneck.

As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The transition from 1080p Ultra (142.5 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (93.9 FPS) represents a 34.1% drop, and from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (56.8 FPS) another 39.5% drop. This is a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 736.3 GB/s memory bandwidth are the determining factors at 4K.

The CPU's influence is most apparent when comparing Low to Ultra presets at the same resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (333.3 FPS) and Ultra (142.5 FPS) is 190.8 FPS, a 57.2% reduction. At 4K, the same preset transition results in a 73.4 FPS drop (from 130.2 to 56.8), a 56.4% reduction. This consistent proportional drop suggests that the CPU's role in handling game logic and draw calls remains proportional across resolutions, while the GPU's workload scales with pixel count.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 260th out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 7% of all systems. This high percentile reflects the hardware's capability to run this game at maximum settings with high frame rates. The i9-14900K's 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the RTX 4080 SUPER's 86th percentile among all GPUs combine to form a system that is in the upper echelon of gaming performance. The rank of 260 out of 3700 indicates that there are 259 other combinations that perform better, but these would primarily consist of newer or more specialized hardware, such as the RTX 4090 or upcoming 50-series cards, that offer marginal improvements in this particular title.

FAQ

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

A: No, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 56.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best 4K setting is High, which averages 74.4 FPS.

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset is fully playable at 1440p, with an average of 93.9 FPS, which is 33.9 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 SUPER compared to the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The benchmark scores are nearly identical: the RTX 4080 averages 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER averages 54209, a difference of only 0.1%. In Evolve, the FPS would be within 1-2 frames between the two cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1920x1080?

A: At 1080p, the CPU's single-core performance is sufficient to keep frame rates extremely high (up to 333.3 FPS on Low), but the GPU still determines the scaling between presets, with Ultra dropping to 142.5 FPS.

*Q: Does the i9-14900K bottleneck the RTX 4080 SUPER in Evolve?*

A: The data does not indicate a bottleneck. The i9-14900K's nearest rival, the i9-14900KF, performs within 0.3%, and the CPU's high benchmark scores (39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore) suggest it can keep up with the GPU at all tested resolutions.

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Medium settings?

A: The 3840x2160 Medium preset averages 98.7 FPS, which is 38.7 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a strong balance between visual quality and frame rate.