Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Evolve, with performance scaling that clearly shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K. The data shows this combo ranks in the 82.5th percentile (296 out of 1695 tested combos), making it a top-tier pairing for this title. The measured frame rates remain highly playable across nearly every resolution and preset, with the only sub-60 FPS result appearing at 4K Ultra, where the GPU’s limits become the defining factor.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but predictable, revealing a classic bottleneck transition. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 290.5 FPS, which falls to 198.5 FPS at 1440p (a 31.7% reduction) and further to 111.4 FPS at 4K (a 61.6% reduction from 1080p). This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary constraint—the 6-core Ryzen 5 9600X with its 5.40 GHz boost clock is able to feed the GPU, but the frame rate ceiling is reached well before the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 2475 MHz boost clock is fully utilized.

Moving to High settings, the scaling is more moderate: 175.6 FPS at 1080p drops to 118.9 FPS at 1440p (32.3% lower) and 67.8 FPS at 4K (61.4% lower). The consistent ~32% drop from 1080p to 1440p across Low, Medium, and High settings (31.7%, 33.8%, and 32.3% respectively) suggests the GPU begins to take over as the limiting factor at 1440p, while the CPU still holds significant influence. At 4K, the GPU is clearly dominant: the gap between Low (111.4 FPS) and High (67.8 FPS) is 39.1%, showing that the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on the RTX 4070 SUPER and its 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily by higher fidelity.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo still achieves 122.7 FPS, but 4K Ultra drops to 48.4 FPS—a 60.6% reduction. This demonstrates that Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately stress the GPU’s 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs, making 4K Ultra the only configuration where the combo falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The data clearly shows that 1440p is the sweet spot for this pairing, offering 84.5-198.5 FPS depending on settings, with no major bottleneck issues.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 296 out of 1695 tested combos, this pairing sits in the top 17.5% of all configurations tested in Evolve. This places it well ahead of the median, and the measured frame rates confirm that it is a high-end setup for this 2015 FPS title. The combo’s performance is strong enough that at 1080p, every preset except Ultra exceeds 175 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most displays. At 1440p, the combo still delivers 84.5 FPS at Ultra and 118.9 FPS at High, making it viable for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution.

The rank becomes more impressive when considering the CPU’s 85th percentile ranking (vs all CPUs) and the GPU’s 84th percentile (vs all GPUs). Both components are above-average performers individually, and their pairing in Evolve yields results that are greater than the sum of their parts. The nearest CPU rivals (Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230, both within 0.3% of the 9600X’s average benchmark score) would likely produce similar frame rates, but the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 84th percentile GPU score ensures that the graphics pipeline is not holding back the CPU. The combo’s rank of 296 suggests that only 17.5% of tested configurations outperform it in this specific game, which is a strong showing for a 6-core processor paired with a 12 GB GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on TSMC’s 4 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz are critical for Evolve, a game that relies heavily on single-thread performance. The CPU’s benchmark results support this: a PassMark single-thread score of 4570 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3603 are both strong indicators of high per-core performance. In a game like Evolve, which was released in 2015 and thus has a lower thread ceiling than modern titles, the 9600X’s 12 threads are more than sufficient, and the high boost clock ensures that the game’s primary thread is never starved.

The CPU’s L3 cache of 32 MB shared across 6 cores provides ample fast memory for game assets, while the 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth (dual-channel DDR5) is more than enough for this title. The 9600X’s 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it an efficient yet overclockable part, though the data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is already delivering 290.5 FPS—a figure that suggests the game engine, not the processor, is the limiting factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and 2-thread score of 2456 further confirm that the CPU excels in the low-thread-count scenarios that Evolve presents. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes as the GPU takes over, but at 1080p, the 9600X ensures that frame rates stay above 290 FPS even at Low settings, leaving headroom for higher presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across 12 configurations (4 resolutions × 3 presets). At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 290.5 FPS on Low, 225.3 FPS on Medium, 175.6 FPS on High, and 122.7 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a consistent 22.4% drop from Low to Medium, a further 22.1% drop to High, and a 30.1% drop from High to Ultra. The 1080p results are uniformly excellent, with even Ultra settings exceeding 120 FPS, making this resolution suitable for 120 Hz or higher displays with any preset.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 198.5 FPS on Low, 149.1 FPS on Medium, 118.9 FPS on High, and 84.5 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 57.4% reduction, which is steeper than at 1080p (57.8% reduction from Low to Ultra), indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the load. Notably, 1440p High (118.9 FPS) is nearly identical to 1080p Ultra (122.7 FPS), suggesting that the GPU’s workload at these settings is similar. At 4K (3840x2160), the results are 111.4 FPS on Low, 86.6 FPS on Medium, 67.8 FPS on High, and 48.4 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show a 56.5% reduction from Low to Ultra, and the gap between High and Ultra (28.6% drop) is the largest across any resolution pair, highlighting the extreme cost of Ultra settings at 4K.

The data reveals that 4K Low (111.4 FPS) is playable, but 4K Ultra (48.4 FPS) is not. The sweet spot for 4K is Medium (86.6 FPS) or High (67.8 FPS), both of which provide smooth frame rates. Across all resolutions, the jump from Medium to High costs roughly 20-25% performance, while High to Ultra costs 30-40%, making Ultra the most demanding preset per frame.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture (AD104 chip) using TSMC’s 5 nm process. It features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, with a base clock of 1980 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for Evolve’s texture-heavy environments at 4K. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance (and 35.48 TFLOPS FP16) indicates substantial compute capability, while the 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores offer headroom for ray tracing and DLSS, though these features are not directly measured in the FPS data.

The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 29995 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 place it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% faster) and AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% faster), showing that the 4070 SUPER is competitive with much more expensive workstation cards. In Evolve, the GPU’s role becomes dominant at 4K, where the 12 GB VRAM is fully utilized. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is sufficient for 4K High (67.8 FPS) but the 48.4 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that the GPU’s 80 ROPs are the bottleneck for the most demanding settings. The 220 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are reasonable for a card of this class, and the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures no bandwidth limitations.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Evolve?*

A: The data shows 1440p is the sweet spot, delivering 84.5 FPS at Ultra and 118.9 FPS at High, with 198.5 FPS at Low. This balances visual quality and frame rate, avoiding the 4K Ultra drop below 60 FPS.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Evolve?*

A: Yes, but only at lower presets. 4K Low achieves 111.4 FPS, Medium gets 86.6 FPS, and High reaches 67.8 FPS. Ultra drops to 48.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU perform relative to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X has an average benchmark score of 28246, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Core i5-13490F (28173) and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 230 (28164). It is 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (28369).

Q: What is the GPU’s performance ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a percentile rank of 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 42576, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723).

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K in this game?

A: The measured data shows that 4K High (67.8 FPS) and 4K Medium (86.6 FPS) are playable, indicating the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is adequate for up to High settings. The 48.4 FPS at Ultra suggests the GPU compute, not just VRAM, is the limiting factor.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 290.5 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the GPU’s capability. At 1440p and 4K, the frame rate drops indicate the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, so the CPU is only a constraint at 1080p with lower presets.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, Ultra settings are recommended, as the combo still delivers 122.7 FPS, which is smooth for most monitors. This setting provides the best visual experience without sacrificing playability. At 1440p, High settings (118.9 FPS) offer the best balance of fidelity and performance, with Ultra (84.5 FPS) still viable for 60 Hz displays. For 4K, Medium settings (86.6 FPS) are the recommended choice, as they provide a solid frame rate while retaining acceptable visuals; High (67.8 FPS) is also playable but begins to approach the lower boundary of smoothness. Avoid 4K Ultra (48.4 FPS) and consider 4K Low (111.4 FPS) only if frame rate is the absolute priority. Overall, the measured data indicates that Medium or High presets are the most versatile, offering strong performance across all resolutions without the steep cost of Ultra.