Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve on this AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + AMD Radeon RX 6600 combination shows a steep performance gradient as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 148.5 FPS, which drops to 99.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 59.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This progression represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 40% reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The pattern is consistent across all quality presets, though the percentage drops become more severe at higher settings.

Moving to High settings, the frame rates are 88.7 FPS at 1080p, 62.9 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The 1440p figure is 29% lower than 1080p, while the 4K figure is 49% lower than 1440p. This widening gap indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as resolution climbs. At Ultra settings, the trend is even more pronounced: 63.2 FPS at 1080p, 43.2 FPS at 1440p, and 22.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is barely above a slideshow threshold, suggesting that this configuration is not viable for maximum quality at that resolution.

The data reveals that the transition from 1440p to 4K consistently produces larger relative drops than the 1080p to 1440p transition across all settings. For instance, at Medium settings, 1080p yields 115.8 FPS, 1440p yields 75.8 FPS (a 35% drop), and 4K yields 44.3 FPS (a 42% drop from 1440p). This accelerating degradation is characteristic of a system where the GPU's rendering throughput—its pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s—becomes saturated at higher pixel counts. The CPU, with its 4.70 GHz boost clock, has ample headroom at lower resolutions, but the scaling curve suggests that by 4K, the Radeon RX 6600 is the dominant constraint.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Evolve, this memory configuration appears sufficient for the measured settings, as there are no anomalous frame rate collapses that would indicate VRAM overflow. The GPU's boost clock of 2491 MHz and game clock of 2044 MHz provide the raw speed, while the 1792 shading units handle the pixel and compute workloads. The FP32 throughput of 8.928 TFLOPS places this card in a mid-range tier, and the benchmark results confirm this positioning.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 69 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25235, aligns closely with its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon 890M scores 25246 (a delta of 0%), the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 25287 (-0.2%), the AMD Radeon RX 6700M scores 25180 (+0.2%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 25120 (+0.5%). These near-identical aggregate scores suggest that the RX 6600's performance envelope is well-established, and Evolve's frame rates reflect this tier.

At 4K Ultra, the 22.8 FPS average indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings. The 4K High result of 32 FPS is marginally better but still below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Interestingly, the 4K Low result of 59.1 FPS nearly hits that target, showing that the GPU can deliver playable performance when quality settings are reduced. The DirectX 12 benchmark score of 51 and DirectX 11 score of 152 from Passmark provide context for the GPU's API-level performance, though these are synthetic metrics rather than game-specific data.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Phoenix codename) on a 4 nm process. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, combined with 16 MB of shared L3 cache, provide solid single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The CPU's percentile ranking of 82 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064, places it just above the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25057, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24993, +0.3% delta), while remaining essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099, -0.1%) and AMD EPYC 9474F (25103, -0.2%).

In Evolve, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the 148.5 FPS average suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficiently, as this frame rate is well above typical display refresh rates. The single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 2943 in Cinebench R23 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for a game like Evolve that likely relies on a few primary threads. The multi-thread score of 6165 in 3DMark max threads and 20851 in Cinebench R23 show that the 6-core/12-thread configuration has ample headroom for background tasks.

However, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern, with the CPU's contribution remaining relatively constant. At 1080p Ultra, the 63.2 FPS result is higher than the 4K Low result of 59.1 FPS, which demonstrates that the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide a balanced platform, though the memory bandwidth is unlikely to be a constraint in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Evolve?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent performance across all settings, with frame rates ranging from 63.2 FPS at Ultra to 148.5 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, High settings deliver 62.9 FPS, which is playable, but 4K only reaches 32 FPS at High.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in aggregate?

A: The RX 6600 scores 25235 in average benchmarks, which is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon 890M (25246, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287, -0.2%). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180, +0.2%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120, +0.5%).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F a capable CPU for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads at up to 4.70 GHz boost clock are sufficient. Its 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average score of 25064, places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, both of which are within 0.3% in aggregate performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 99.4 FPS, while Ultra settings achieve 43.2 FPS. This represents a 56.2 FPS difference, with Medium at 75.8 FPS and High at 62.9 FPS falling between the extremes.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 59.1 FPS. Medium drops to 44.3 FPS, High to 32 FPS, and Ultra to 22.8 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark is relatively modest, but the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 indicates strong per-core speed. The multi-thread score of 6165 in 3DMark and 20851 in Cinebench R23 show that the 12 threads scale well, though Evolve's frame rates suggest the game does not heavily leverage all cores.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the Evolve experience. At 1920x1080, all settings are playable, but the best balance of visual quality and performance is found at High settings with 88.7 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold while providing significantly better visuals than Medium (115.8 FPS) or Low (148.5 FPS). Ultra at 1080p drops to 63.2 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 62.9 FPS represent the optimal choice. This maintains smooth gameplay while delivering higher resolution detail. Medium at 75.8 FPS is a viable alternative for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, while Low at 99.4 FPS is available for competitive play. Ultra at 43.2 FPS is not recommended, as the frame rate drops below the generally accepted smoothness threshold.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 59.1 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, and even this is borderline. Medium at 44.3 FPS and High at 32 FPS are too low for comfortable gaming, while Ultra at 22.8 FPS is effectively unplayable. Players with 4K displays should either reduce the resolution or accept Low settings for this configuration.

The overall recommendation is to use High settings at 1080p or 1440p for the best experience. The 88.7 FPS at 1080p and 62.9 FPS at 1440p both exceed the minimum for smooth gameplay, and High settings provide a substantial visual upgrade over Medium without the performance penalty of Ultra. The data supports High as the sweet spot for this hardware combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 148.5 FPS, which is the highest result across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings yield 115.8 FPS, representing a 22% reduction from Low. High settings deliver 88.7 FPS, a 23% reduction from Medium. Ultra settings produce 63.2 FPS, a 29% reduction from High. This linear progression shows that each quality step costs approximately 25-30 FPS at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across the board. Low settings achieve 99.4 FPS, which is 49.1 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings produce 75.8 FPS, a 40 FPS drop from 1080p Medium. High settings reach 62.9 FPS, a 25.8 FPS drop from 1080p High. Ultra settings yield 43.2 FPS, a 20 FPS drop from 1080p Ultra. The absolute differences shrink as settings increase, indicating that the GPU is being stressed more heavily at higher quality levels.

At 3840x2160, the results are substantially lower. Low settings produce 59.1 FPS, which is 40.3 FPS below the 1440p Low result. Medium settings achieve 44.3 FPS, a 31.5 FPS drop from 1440p Medium. High settings deliver 32 FPS, a 30.9 FPS drop from 1440p High. Ultra settings yield 22.8 FPS, a 20.4 FPS drop from 1440p Ultra. The 4K Low result is the only one that approaches playable territory, while all other 4K settings fall below 45 FPS.

The full dataset shows a consistent pattern: performance scales with resolution and settings as expected, with the GPU being the primary constraint. The combination ranks 1348 out of 1695 tested combinations for this game, indicating that while this system is not top-tier, it sits in a workable mid-range position. The measured data confirms that this configuration is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming in Evolve, with High settings providing the optimal balance of visual quality and frame rate.