Evolve

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and Radeon RX 6600 XT combination delivers a solid, if not spectacular, experience in Evolve, a 2015 FPS that is more demanding than its age might suggest. The benchmark data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is a 1080p champion, a capable 1440p performer, and struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. The 8-core CPU provides more than enough headroom, leaving the GPU as the definitive bottleneck in nearly every scenario.

Settings Recommendations

The measured results point decisively to the High preset as the optimal balance for most users. At 1920x1080, High yields an average of 94.8 FPS, which is an excellent target for smooth gameplay on standard 60Hz or even 144Hz monitors. Jumping to Ultra at the same resolution only provides a marginal visual improvement but costs a significant 25.6 FPS, dropping the average to 69.2 FPS. This trade-off is rarely worth it, as the performance hit is substantial while the visual gains are typically subtle in a fast-paced game like Evolve.

For those chasing maximum refresh rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers a blazing 160.3 FPS average, making it the only preset that fully saturates high-refresh-rate 144Hz panels. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The Medium preset offers a happy middle ground at 123 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High costs only 28.2 FPS while likely providing a more polished visual experience. Given the data, High is the recommended starting point for its combination of performance and quality.

At 2560x1440, the story changes slightly. The High preset maintains a respectable 63.1 FPS average, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. This makes High the recommended preset for 1440p gaming. The Medium preset is also viable at 83.4 FPS if you prefer extra headroom. Ultra, however, falls to 43.4 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most action titles. At 3840x2160, the GPU is overmatched. Even the Low preset only manages a 60.8 FPS average, while High drops to 39.3 FPS and Ultra becomes unplayable at 28 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the primary determinant of performance in this pairing. The data shows the GPU's capabilities are the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest it is overwhelmed by the data requirements at that resolution.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These high frequencies help the card achieve its strong 1080p performance, but the architecture's raw throughput is still constrained. The card has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, which translates to a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s. This hardware configuration explains the significant performance drops when moving from 1440p to 4K; the card simply runs out of fill rate and memory bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce this view. Its Passmark G3D score of 16461 places it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27985. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores a nearly identical average of 27956, a delta of just 0.1%. This puts the RX 6600 XT in the same performance class as a high-end card from the previous generation, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing it is not a 4K-capable card for demanding titles.

FAQ

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

A: Not at playable frame rates for most presets. The data shows that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 28 FPS, and High averages 39.3 FPS. Only the Low preset manages to cross the 60 FPS mark, with an average of 60.8 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this setup?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 1920x1080 is the sweet spot. At this resolution, all presets achieve an average above 69 FPS. At 2560x1440, you can still get a good experience with the High preset at 63.1 FPS, but the margin for error is smaller.

Q: How much of a performance hit is the Ultra preset?

A: The jump from High to Ultra is severe across all resolutions. At 1080p, the average drops from 94.8 FPS to 69.2 FPS, a loss of 25.6 FPS. At 1440p, it drops from 63.1 FPS to 43.4 FPS. At 4K, it drops from 39.3 FPS to 28 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor here?

A: The data strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 5700 has 8 cores and 16 threads, which is ample for a game from 2015. The GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1265th out of 1695 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower third of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range status, despite the strong CPU.

Q: Is the RX 6600 XT a better performer than the GTX 980 Ti?

A: According to the average benchmark scores, they are effectively tied. The RX 6600 XT has an average score of 27985, while the GTX 980 Ti has an average score of 27956, a delta of just 0.1%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance. At 1920x1080, the system is clearly in its element. The Low preset produces an average of 160.3 FPS, which is exceptional. The Medium preset drops to 123 FPS, while the High preset remains highly playable at 94.8 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that dips below 100 FPS, with an average of 69.2 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scaling is consistent. The Low preset averages 105.7 FPS, providing a smooth experience. The Medium preset delivers 83.4 FPS, which is also solid. The High preset drops to 63.1 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset falls to 43.4 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play in a fast-paced FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU starts to struggle. The Low preset is the only one that achieves a playable average, hitting 60.8 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45.4 FPS, and the High preset falls to 39.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable, with an average of only 28 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a drop of 32.8 FPS, indicating that the GPU's resources are severely taxed by the higher resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1265 out of 1695 tested combinations in Evolve puts it in the 25th percentile, meaning roughly three-quarters of all tested systems perform better. This is a low ranking, but it is important to contextualize it. The ranking includes systems with much more powerful and expensive GPUs. This specific pairing of a mid-range GPU with a high-end CPU is not optimized for raw frame rate supremacy; it is a balanced build for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

The ranking is more a reflection of the GPU's position in the market. The RX 6600 XT has a percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs, but its average benchmark score of 27985 puts it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i9-9900K, a rival to the CPU, has an average score of 27043, just 0.7% lower than the Ryzen 7 5700's 27220. This indicates that the CPU is performing at the top of its class, but the combined system score is dragged down by the GPU's limitations in this specific title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a formidable processor that is not the bottleneck in this system. It features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This configuration provides substantial multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20655 and a Passmark multithread score of 24303. The single-thread performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2916.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates. The data indicates that the CPU is more than capable of this task. The 16 MB of L3 cache helps with game data locality, and the dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s ensures sufficient data transfer rates. The CPU's percentile rank of 84 among all CPUs confirms its high standing, and its average benchmark score of 27220 is within 0.8% of the Intel Core i7-12700H.

The CPU's performance is so strong that it effectively eliminates any CPU-induced frame rate dips. The measured FPS data shows a consistent drop in performance as resolution increases, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions. Instead, the data shows a clear and expected decline, proving that the Ryzen 7 5700 is providing a solid foundation for the RX 6600 XT to operate.