Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Evolve across the three tested resolutions paint a clear picture of a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti produces an average of 123 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU at this resolution, and the bottleneck has not yet shifted entirely to the graphics processor. Moving to 2560x1440 on the same Low preset, the average drops to 83 FPS, a reduction of roughly one-third. This is a substantial hit, but the frame rate remains highly playable, suggesting the GPU is starting to work harder while the CPU still has headroom.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when pushing to 3840x2160. At 4K with Low settings, the average frame rate falls to 47 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is about 43%, which is a severe penalty that points directly at the GTX 1660 Ti as the limiting factor. The data shows a consistent trend: as resolution increases, the frame rate falls off faster than the pixel count alone would suggest, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. The Ryzen 5 5600G's six cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost of 4.40 GHz, are not the constraint here; the graphics processor's raw throughput is.

Looking at the High preset, the scaling tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 75 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 50 FPS, a 33% decrease. At 4K High, the system manages only 29 FPS, which is a 42% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across different presets reinforces that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p. The GTX 1660 Ti, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, simply runs out of pixel-pushing capability as the render target grows.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution also highlights GPU dependency. At 1080p, the spread is from 123 FPS at Low down to 52 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, the spread narrows slightly, from 83 FPS at Low to 35 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the spread is from 47 FPS at Low to 20 FPS at Ultra. The fact that even the Low preset at 4K cannot hold 60 FPS confirms that the graphics card is the decisive component in this pairing. The CPU's strong multi-threaded scores, such as 10,551 in Cinebench R23 multicore, are essentially irrelevant to the frame rate at higher resolutions because the GPU saturates first.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience, the measured data suggests that 1920x1080 is the only viable resolution with the Medium preset. At 1080p Medium, the average is 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This is the sweet spot in the dataset, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS even during intense scenes. The High preset at 1080p also delivers a respectable 75 FPS average, which is playable, but the Medium preset offers a larger safety buffer against frame drops. The 1080p Low preset, at 123 FPS average, is obviously the performance king, but it does so by sacrificing visual fidelity that the Medium preset restores.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS. This is borderline for a 60 FPS target, as the minimum dips below the threshold. The data indicates that 1440p Medium is acceptable for players who can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS, but it is not a locked 60 FPS experience. The High preset at 1440p, averaging 50 FPS, is smoother than the 4K options but still falls short of the ideal target. The Low preset at 1440p, at 83 FPS average, is the only 1440p option that provides a consistently high frame rate, but it negates the visual benefits of the higher resolution.

For 4K gaming, the data is unequivocal: this combination is not suited for high frame rates. The best 4K result is 47 FPS at Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and only slightly above the 30 FPS minimum for playability. The Medium preset at 4K averages 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS, which is a playable but compromised experience. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to a 20 FPS average, which is not recommended for any serious gameplay. The GTX 1660 Ti's 6 GB VRAM and its 41st percentile ranking among all GPUs make it clear that 4K is a stretch goal, not a practical setting for this game.

The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Medium. It balances the average frame rate of 95 FPS with the visual improvements over Low, and the minimum of 81 FPS ensures that the game never stutters to an unplayable level. Players with high-refresh-rate monitors could opt for 1080p Low to push past 120 FPS, but the Medium preset offers the most consistent and visually pleasing experience without sacrificing performance. The Ultra preset, at any resolution, provides diminishing returns and significant frame rate penalties, making it the worst choice for competitive or smooth play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing for Evolve, and the benchmark data reflects its capabilities and limitations. The GPU is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 284 mm² and 6,600 million transistors. It operates at a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. These clocks are relatively modest by modern standards, but they are sufficient to drive the card to a Passmark G3D score of 12,871. This score places the GPU at the 41st percentile among all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer that sits below the top half of the market.

The memory subsystem is a critical factor in this game's results. The GTX 1660 Ti has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The memory clock is listed at 1500 MHz, with 12 Gbps effective. In Evolve, the 6 GB capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data shows that the frame rate drops more steeply from 1440p to 4K than from 1080p to 1440p, which is consistent with the GPU running out of memory bandwidth rather than raw compute power.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities are defined by its 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. It achieves a pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 5.437 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 10.87 TFLOPS due to a 2:1 ratio. These figures explain why the card can handle 1080p Medium at 95 FPS but struggles to maintain 30 FPS at 4K High. The game's rendering demands at higher resolutions overwhelm the GPU's pixel throughput and texture fill rate, resulting in the observed frame rate collapse.

The GTX 1660 Ti's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon 540, which scores 7,673 in average benchmarks, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 at 7,580. The GTX 1660 Ti's average benchmark score of 7,723 puts it just 0.7% ahead of the Radeon 540 and 1.9% ahead of the Radeon Pro WX 3100. This narrow margin indicates that the card is not a standout performer in its class, and its 41st percentile ranking reflects a mid-pack position. The 6 GB VRAM is a notable advantage over some older cards, but it does not compensate for the lack of ray tracing cores or tensor cores, which are absent from this Turing-based design.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Evolve provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings deliver an average of 123 FPS, Medium delivers 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS, High delivers 75 FPS, and Ultra delivers 52 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a clear step-down in performance, with Ultra being 58% slower than Low. The Medium preset's minimum of 81 FPS is notably high, indicating that the frame pacing is stable even under load.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across all presets. Low settings average 83 FPS, which is a 33% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. This minimum is the lowest recorded for any 1440p preset, suggesting that the GPU is struggling to maintain consistent frame delivery at this resolution. High settings average 50 FPS, and Ultra settings average 35 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is nearly half the speed of the Low preset, showing a severe penalty for maximum visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations are fully exposed. Low settings average 47 FPS, which is a 43% drop from the 1440p Low result. Medium settings average 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with recorded minimum and maximum values, and the 31 FPS minimum is just above the edge of playability. High settings average 29 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 20 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest average in the entire dataset, representing a 84% reduction from the 1080p Low result.

The data also includes the combo's overall rank in the game at 3,185 out of 3,700 combinations, which places it in the lower 14% of tested systems. This ranking is consistent with the GPU's 41st percentile performance and the CPU's 74th percentile performance. The combination of a strong CPU and a mid-range GPU creates a bottleneck that is evident in the measured FPS across all resolutions. The 1080p Medium preset, with its 95 FPS average and 81 FPS minimum, is the only configuration that consistently exceeds the 60 FPS threshold without sacrificing too much visual quality.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 47 on Low settings. The Medium preset averages 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS, which is technically playable but below the 60 FPS standard. Ultra settings at 4K drop to a 20 FPS average, which is not recommended.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a 60 FPS target?

A: The only measured configuration that guarantees an average above 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS. The 1080p High preset at 75 FPS is also above 60 FPS, but the Medium preset provides a larger safety margin.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 7,723. It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540, 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, and 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 250. It sits at the 41st percentile among all GPUs.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p. The frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases, and even the Low preset at 4K cannot reach 60 FPS. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10,551, is not the constraint.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for any preset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 31 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. The 1440p Medium preset has a minimum of 54 FPS, and the 1080p Medium preset has a minimum of 81 FPS. No minimum values are provided for other presets.

Q: How much VRAM does the GTX 1660 Ti have, and does it matter?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the bandwidth limitation is evident in the steep frame rate drops at 4K resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G plays a supporting role in this configuration, and the benchmark data shows it is more than adequate for Evolve. The CPU is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Codenamed Cezanne. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10,551 and a single-core score of 1,409. The Geekbench multicore score is 8,428, and the single-core score is 1,801. These scores place the CPU at the 74th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it outperforms a majority of processors on the market.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the Intel Core i3-1220P, which scores 21,066 in average benchmarks, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, which scores 21,112. The Ryzen 5 5600G's average benchmark score is 21,088, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Core i3-1220P and 0.1% behind the Core Ultra 7 256V. This tight grouping shows that the CPU is competitive with modern mobile and low-power desktop parts, despite being a few generations old. The CPU's passmark multi-thread score of 19,717 and single-thread score of 3,177 reinforce its capability in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 123 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The 3DMark scores show strong scaling from 2 threads (1,705) to 8 threads (4,694), with the max threads score of 5,455 being only slightly higher than the 8-thread score. This suggests that the game can utilize multiple cores effectively, and the Ryzen 5 5600G's 12 threads provide ample headroom. The CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game performance.

However, the CPU's performance is largely irrelevant at higher resolutions because the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 4K, the frame rates are nearly identical whether the game is set to Low or High, which would not be the case if the CPU were struggling. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s from dual-channel DDR4 is sufficient for this game, and the PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes provides adequate bandwidth for the GTX 1660 Ti. The integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics on the CPU are not used in this configuration, but they do not impact discrete GPU performance. Overall, the Ryzen 5 5600G is a capable partner for the GTX 1660 Ti in Evolve, ensuring that the GPU receives a steady stream of frames without any CPU-induced stuttering.