Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers a playable experience in Evolve, but the data shows a steep performance cliff when pushing beyond 1080p. This pairing, ranking 1501 out of 1695 tested combos, is clearly optimized for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates, but it struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this setting, the combo achieves an average of 94.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a smooth experience. This is a significant improvement over the High preset, which yields 72.5 FPS, representing a 30% increase in performance. While the Ultra preset might be tempting, it drops the average to 50.7 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for a fast-paced FPS.

For users with 1440p monitors, the Low preset is the only viable option for high refresh rates. The data shows an average of 83.5 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings. Choosing Medium at this resolution drops the average to 66 FPS, which is still playable, but the gap between Low and High is vast, with High averaging only 51.3 FPS. Attempting to run Ultra at 1440p results in a sub-optimal 34 FPS average.

At 4K, the situation is dire for this hardware. The data indicates that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Evolve. The highest average FPS recorded at 3840x2160 is 46.5 on the Low preset. The High preset yields a near-unplayable 29.5 FPS average, and Ultra drops to a slideshow-like 21.7 FPS. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p for the best experience, or be prepared to use the Low preset at 1440p. The Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, providing a fluid experience without the visual compromises of the Low preset.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Evolve at 4K?*

A: Not at playable frame rates. The highest average FPS recorded at 3840x2160 is 46.5 on the Low preset. The High preset averages 29.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 21.7 FPS, making the game effectively unplayable at this resolution.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the best balance, with an average of 94.2 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over High (72.5 FPS) and much smoother than Ultra (50.7 FPS).

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 72.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 51.3 FPS at 2560x1440 on the High preset. This is a significant decrease of about 29%, indicating the GPU is struggling with the increased pixel count.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The frame rate scales dramatically with resolution, dropping from 126.1 FPS at 1080p Low to 46.5 FPS at 4K Low. This strong dependence on resolution indicates the GTX 1660 SUPER is being pushed to its limits.

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

A: The difference is substantial. The Low preset averages 126.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 50.7 FPS. This represents a 60% reduction in average frame rate when switching from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Is this a good combo for competitive play?

A: Yes, at 1080p. With the Low preset delivering 126.1 FPS and Medium at 94.2 FPS, this setup provides the high frame rates needed for a competitive edge in a fast-paced FPS like Evolve.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Evolve. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit memory bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p textures, but the data shows they are not enough for 4K. The GPU's performance is the primary driver of the FPS differences across resolutions.

The card is based on the Turing architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 6,600 million transistors. Its boost clock of 1785 MHz and 1408 shading units contribute to the raw processing power. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU's performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 14286, is close to rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which is only 0.7% faster. This suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER is a solid, mid-range performer.

However, the measured FPS in Evolve tells a specific story. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. The drop from 46.5 FPS on Low to 21.7 FPS on Ultra shows that the card's compute and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the high pixel count and complex shaders at that resolution. The 6 GB VRAM buffer is also likely a limiting factor at 4K with higher texture quality settings. In contrast, at 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to deliver excellent performance, even on High settings. The data confirms that this GPU is best suited for 1080p gaming, with acceptable performance at 1440p on lower presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Evolve, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1501 out of 1695 combos. This places it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems, indicating it is a lower-tier configuration for this specific game. The rank suggests that most other CPU/GPU pairings will outperform this one in Evolve.

The CPU itself, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600, is a capable processor with a 77th percentile ranking against all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 19616 is competitive, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i5-1345U and AMD Ryzen 5 7530U showing only a 0.4% and 0.6% score difference, respectively. This indicates the CPU is not a weak link in the chain. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU.

The GTX 1660 SUPER has a 55th percentile ranking against all GPUs, which is significantly lower than the CPU's ranking. This discrepancy highlights that the GPU is the limiting factor in this combo. The GPU's average benchmark score of 14286 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which is just 0.7% faster. The combination of a strong CPU and a mid-range GPU results in a system that is held back by its graphics card, particularly in a demanding game like Evolve at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across resolutions clearly illustrates the scaling behavior of this combo. At 1080p, the system performs admirably, but performance degrades rapidly as resolution increases. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 126.1 at 1920x1080, to 83.5 at 2560x1440, and then to 46.5 at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 44% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is more severe on higher settings. For instance, on the High preset, the FPS drops from 72.5 at 1080p to 51.3 at 1440p (a 29% decrease) and then to 29.5 at 4K (a 43% decrease from 1440p).

This steep decline in FPS as resolution increases is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The GTX 1660 SUPER is simply not powerful enough to maintain high frame rates when the number of pixels increases dramatically. The CPU, with its 12 threads and high multithreaded performance, is likely not the limiting factor here, as the FPS is so dependent on resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would be more consistent across resolutions. The data suggests that for a smoother 1440p experience, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, while the CPU could remain the same.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the exact average FPS measurements for the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination in Evolve.

At 1920x1080, the performance is strong across the board:

• Low: 126.1 FPS
• Medium: 94.2 FPS
• High: 72.5 FPS
• Ultra: 50.7 FPS

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly:

• Low: 83.5 FPS
• Medium: 66.0 FPS
• High: 51.3 FPS
• Ultra: 34.0 FPS

At 3840x2160, the system is unable to maintain playable frame rates on most settings:

• Low: 46.5 FPS
• Medium: 36.3 FPS
• High: 29.5 FPS
• Ultra: 21.7 FPS

These figures illustrate a clear trend: the GTX 1660 SUPER is a capable 1080p card, a marginal 1440p card, and an unsuitable 4K card for Evolve. The 1080p Medium and High presets offer the most balanced experience, while the 1440p Low preset is the only way to get close to 60 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly low, confirming that this resolution is not a realistic option for this hardware.