Evolve

Settings Recommendations

For Evolve, the measured data shows a clear hierarchy across the four available presets, and the optimal choice depends heavily on your target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 141 FPS on average, which is sufficient for high-refresh gaming, but the jump to High at 204 FPS represents a massive 44.7% improvement in frame rate while likely retaining most of the visual fidelity. Given that the GPU is ranked in the 86th percentile of all GPUs and the CPU in the 77th percentile, this combination has substantial headroom at 1080p. The Medium preset at 260 FPS and Low at 323 FPS are far beyond the refresh rate of most mainstream monitors, making them less practical for visual quality. The best experience at 1080p is the High preset—it balances a smooth, well-above-144Hz experience with higher visual quality than the lower presets.

At 2560x1440, the story shifts slightly. High preset produces 137 FPS, which is still excellent for 144Hz displays, while Ultra drops to 95 FPS, a 30.7% reduction from High. Medium at 174 FPS and Low at 225 FPS are again overkill for most monitors. The data indicates that High is the sweet spot at 1440p, providing a 44.2% improvement over Ultra while maintaining a frame rate that comfortably exceeds standard 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rates. If you have a 240Hz display, the Medium preset at 174 FPS might be more attractive, but the visual trade-off from High is significant for a marginal gain in smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. High preset yields 78 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play on high-refresh 4K displays. Ultra drops to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most gamers consider the minimum for a smooth experience. Medium at 99 FPS is the best balance for 4K, offering a 26.9% improvement over High while maintaining much better visual quality than Low. Low at 128 FPS is the only preset that breaks past 120 FPS at 4K, but it sacrifices nearly all graphical enhancements. For 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice—it delivers a playable, smooth experience without the severe visual compromises of Low. The frame time data supports this: Medium at 4K shows a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, indicating a consistent range without major stutters.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align closely with the measured performance in Evolve. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than adequate for Evolve, a 2015 title, at any resolution—the VRAM capacity alone eliminates any possibility of memory capacity being a bottleneck, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The memory clock runs at 1400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective speed, which supports the high texture loads and particle effects common in the game's monster-hunting action.

The GPU's core configuration is substantial: 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. These translate to a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s. For Evolve, this means the GPU can handle the game's dense jungle environments and dynamic lighting effects without breaking a sweat at lower resolutions. The base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz are relatively high for the Ada Lovelace architecture, and the FP32 throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS provides ample compute headroom.

The benchmark results confirm the GPU's strength. The PassMark G3D score of 34457 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, and it sits just 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER in average benchmark scores. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% slower) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.6% slower). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779 further demonstrate its DirectX 12 and Vulkan capability, which is relevant for a game like Evolve that can leverage modern APIs.

The measured FPS data shows how the GPU scales with resolution. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 323 FPS, suggesting that even at this low preset, the GPU is not fully saturated—the CPU likely becomes a limiting factor at such extreme frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, dropping to 54 FPS. The RTX 4080's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with Evolve's rendering paths, though the game's age means it likely uses older feature sets. The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design are significant, but the performance justifies the power draw for high-refresh gaming.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 99 FPS on average, with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that combines playable performance with reasonable visual quality—High drops to 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in this game's performance context?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, putting it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828 is actually higher, so the 4080 is 1.1% slower than that rival). The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% faster with a score of 55698.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p in Evolve?

A: At 1080p Low, the system produces 323 FPS, which is extremely high. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 suggest it can handle high frame rates, but the GPU's 86th percentile ranking compared to the CPU's 77th percentile indicates the CPU is more likely to become the limiting factor at such extreme frame rates.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 137 FPS, while Ultra averages 95 FPS. This represents a 30.7% reduction in frame rate when moving from High to Ultra, which is a substantial drop for the additional visual features that Ultra enables.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 have enough VRAM for Evolve at maximum settings?

A: The RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth. Evolve is a 2015 title, and this memory configuration is far beyond what the game can utilize, even at 4K Ultra. The 16 GB capacity ensures no memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in at any resolution.

Q: How consistent are frame times at 4K Medium settings?

A: The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 84 and maximum of 114, with an average of 99 FPS. The spread of 30 FPS between minimum and maximum indicates generally consistent frame times, though the minimum of 84 FPS suggests occasional dips during intense combat sequences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of presets was measured. The Low preset produces the highest average FPS at 323, followed by Medium at 260 FPS with a minimum of 221 and maximum of 299. High drops to 204 FPS, and Ultra sits at 141 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 56.3%, representing the cost of enabling all visual features. The Medium preset's frame time range of 221-299 shows tight consistency, while the other presets lack min/max data in the measurement.

At 2560x1440, the scaling pattern continues. Low leads at 225 FPS, Medium follows at 174 FPS with a range of 148-200, High achieves 137 FPS, and Ultra drops to 95 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 57.8%, slightly larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a factor as resolution increases. The Medium preset's frame time range of 52 FPS (148 to 200) is wider than at 1080p, suggesting slightly less consistency at higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low yields 128 FPS, Medium averages 99 FPS with a range of 84-114, High drops to 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is now 57.8%, consistent with 1440p but with lower absolute values. The Medium preset's frame time range of 30 FPS (84 to 114) shows better consistency than at 1440p, likely because the GPU is more uniformly utilized at higher resolution. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the only preset that fails to deliver a baseline smooth experience.

The progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at each preset shows a clear pattern. For High, the FPS drops from 204 to 137 to 78—a reduction of 32.8% from 1080p to 1440p, then 43.1% from 1440p to 4K. For Medium, the drops are 260 to 174 to 99, representing 33.1% and 43.1% reductions. For Low, 323 to 225 to 128, a 30.3% drop then 43.1% drop. For Ultra, 141 to 95 to 54, a 32.6% drop then 43.2% drop. The consistent percentage drops between resolutions indicate a well-behaved scaling curve.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how Evolve scales with resolution on this hardware. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the High preset reduces performance by 32.8%, from 204 FPS to 137 FPS. This is a significant drop, but the absolute frame rates remain high enough for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset shows a similar 33.1% reduction from 260 to 174 FPS, and Low drops 30.3% from 323 to 225 FPS. Ultra is the steepest at 32.6%, falling from 141 to 95 FPS.

The transition from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 is more punishing. High drops by 43.1% from 137 to 78 FPS, Medium by 43.1% from 174 to 99 FPS, Low by 43.1% from 225 to 128 FPS, and Ultra by 43.2% from 95 to 54 FPS. The consistent 43.1% reduction across all presets when moving from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at these higher resolutions. The pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K is 2.25x, and the performance drop is roughly proportional to this increase, confirming that the RTX 4080 is rendering these frames with full GPU utilization.

The scaling behavior suggests a component bottleneck shift. At 1080p, the 323 FPS on Low and 260 FPS on Medium indicate that the CPU is likely constraining performance—the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a 3DMark single-thread score of 951, which is strong but not unlimited. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 77th percentile supports this interpretation. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the CPU has more headroom to feed frames. The fact that the percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is nearly identical across all presets (43.1-43.2%) suggests that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K regardless of settings.

The data also shows that the CPU can keep up with the GPU at higher resolutions. At 4K Low, the system still produces 128 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration of the Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 16 MB of L3 cache, provides adequate processing power for Evolve's game logic and physics at 4K. The memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s for the CPU's DDR5 support is sufficient, though the GPU's 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is clearly the dominant factor at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for Evolve's game engine. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943 demonstrate its capability in lightly-threaded workloads. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1874 and 4-thread score of 3563 show solid scaling for games that use multiple threads.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role varies by resolution. At 1080p Low, where the GPU produces 323 FPS, the CPU is likely the limiting factor. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6091 and max-thread score of 6165 indicate that the CPU has respectable multi-threaded performance, but it cannot sustain frame rates beyond what the GPU can generate. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 5275 is particularly relevant, as Evolve likely uses 4-8 threads for its main game logic and physics simulation.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25005. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-11850H (0.3% faster), and Intel Core i7-13620H (0.4% faster). The AMD EPYC 9474F is 0.4% slower. This positioning means the 8400F is competitive with mid-range desktop and high-end mobile processors, providing enough headroom for Evolve at all resolutions.

The CPU's cache hierarchy—64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 16 MB shared L3—is adequate for Evolve's data access patterns. The PassMark data compression score of 288158 and integer math score of 74021 show the CPU can handle the game's asset loading and simulation tasks. The floating-point math score of 46217 and extended instructions score of 22175 further demonstrate its compute capabilities. For a game like Evolve, where the AI-driven monsters and environmental interactions require consistent CPU throughput, the 8400F's 12 threads provide sufficient parallelism.

At 4K Ultra, where the GPU drops to 54 FPS, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck—it has ample headroom to keep the GPU fed. The CPU's TDP of 65 W and support for DDR5 memory (dual-channel, 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) make it an efficient partner for the RTX 4080. The CPU's PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes ensures the GPU can communicate at full bandwidth, though Evolve is unlikely to saturate even PCIe Gen 3. The lack of integrated graphics is irrelevant in this configuration, as the discrete RTX 4080 handles all rendering duties. Overall, the Ryzen 5 8400F provides sufficient processing power to avoid becoming the primary limiting factor except at extreme frame rates above 300 FPS at 1080p Low.