Evolve

# Evolve with AMD Ryzen 7 5700X + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

This pairing combines an eight-core Zen 3 processor with a Turing-based GPU that shipped well before the game’s 2015 release window, and the measured results show a system that can handle Evolve at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K. The Ryzen 7 5700X sits in the 79th percentile of all CPUs tested, while the GTX 1660 Ti lands in the 41st percentile of all GPUs — a clear imbalance that the frame data confirms.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where every preset except Ultra stays above 60 FPS on average. At 2560x1440, Low and Medium are playable, but High drops to 50 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X has an average benchmark score of 27578, exactly matching the Intel Core i5-12600K (0% delta). It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, while trailing the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X by 0.2%.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti averages 7723 in GPU benchmarks. It leads the AMD Radeon 540 by 0.7%, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 by 1.9%, the AMD Radeon R7 250 by 2.2%, and the Intel Arc A310 by 2.3%.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking in Evolve?

A: This CPU/GPU pair ranks 3185 out of 3700 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 14% of all tested systems.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 123, which suggests the CPU is keeping up. The bigger constraint appears at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 20 FPS — a GPU-bound scenario given the 1660 Ti’s modest 5.437 TFLOPS FP32 throughput.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of each component?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X had a launch MSRP of $299. The GTX 1660 Ti had a launch MSRP of 279 USD.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 Ti is built on the TU116 chip using a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. It packs 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its base clock runs at 1500 MHz with a boost of 1770 MHz. Memory consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 12 Gbps effective. The GPU’s pixel rate is 84.96 GPixel/s, texture rate is 169.9 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute is rated at 5.437 TFLOPS. FP16 performance doubles to 10.87 TFLOPS via a 2:1 ratio, but that is irrelevant for Evolve’s workload.

The 1660 Ti’s role in Evolve is straightforward: it is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. In a game from 2015, the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU, but the 1660 Ti’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are modest by modern standards. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to push frame rates into triple digits on Low settings, but once resolution climbs to 1440p and 4K, the pixel throughput demand outpaces what the 1660 Ti can deliver.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 support (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 mean it can run Evolve’s API without issue, but the raw shading power is the constraint. PassMark G3D score of 12871 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 reflect a mid-range part. The 1660 Ti is 41st percentile among all GPUs, meaning roughly 59% of tested GPUs outperform it. In Evolve, that shows up as steep frame rate drops when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: every preset loses roughly 40-45% of its average frame rate when going from 1080p to 1440p, and another 40-45% when going from 1440p to 4K. At Low settings, the drop is from 123 FPS at 1080p to 83 FPS at 1440p (a 32.5% loss), then to 47 FPS at 4K (a 43.4% loss). At Medium, the sequence is 95 → 64 → 36 FPS, with losses of 32.6% and 43.8%. High goes 75 → 50 → 29 FPS, losing 33.3% then 42%. Ultra goes 52 → 35 → 20 FPS, losing 32.7% then 42.9%.

The consistent ~33% drop from 1080p to 1440p is typical of a GPU-bound scenario — the pixel count increases by 78%, but the frame rate falls less than that, suggesting some CPU headroom is being absorbed. The ~43% drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p and the GPU’s fill rate becomes the dominant factor. At 4K, even Low settings only muster 47 FPS, which indicates the 1660 Ti is overwhelmed.

The fact that 1080p Low hits 123 FPS while 1080p Ultra only reaches 52 FPS shows that the GPU’s shading units and ROPs are the bottleneck, not the CPU. The Ryzen 7 5700X’s 8 cores and 16 threads at 3.40 GHz base / 4.60 GHz boost are far more than Evolve needs; the game’s AI and physics are unlikely to stress a Zen 3 part. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13184 and single-core of 1499 confirm it is not the weak link.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 123 FPS. Medium averages 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 and maximum of 110. High averages 75 FPS. Ultra averages 52 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 28 FPS, and between Medium and High is 20 FPS, while High to Ultra costs another 23 FPS. The Medium preset’s frame time variance (81-110 FPS) suggests some scenes are more demanding than others, but the average stays well above 60.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 83 FPS. Medium averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 and maximum of 74. High averages 50 FPS. Ultra averages 35 FPS. Medium is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS on average, and its minimum of 54 FPS means occasional dips below 60 are possible. High at 50 FPS is borderline for fast-paced FPS play, while Ultra at 35 FPS is not viable for competitive use.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 47 FPS. Medium averages 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42. High averages 29 FPS. Ultra averages 20 FPS. No preset reaches 60 FPS, and even Low dips below 30 FPS territory. Medium’s minimum of 31 FPS is the only preset with a recorded floor above 30, but the overall experience is stutter-prone. The jump from 1440p High (50 FPS) to 4K High (29 FPS) is a 42% loss, confirming the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

In Evolve’s tested combination database, this CPU/GPU pair ranks 3185 out of 3700 combinations. That places it in the 13.9th percentile of all tested systems — meaning roughly 86% of tested combos perform better in this specific game. Given that the 1660 Ti was already a mid-range GPU at its 2019 release, and Evolve launched in 2015, this result is not surprising.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 79 among all CPUs shows it is well above average, but the GPU’s 41st percentile drags the combo down. The nearest GPU rivals — Radeon 540, Radeon Pro WX 3100, Radeon R7 250, and Arc A310 — are all low-end or entry-level parts, and the 1660 Ti only beats them by 0.7% to 2.3%. That means the 1660 Ti is at the bottom of the mid-range stack, and in a game like Evolve that is sensitive to raw fill rate, it shows.

The combo’s rank of 3185 out of 3700 is consistent with the measured FPS: at 1080p, it can deliver smooth gameplay on Medium, but at 1440p and 4K, it falls behind. A system with a stronger GPU — even a 20% faster one — would likely move up hundreds of positions in the ranking. The CPU is not the problem; the GPU is.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, Medium is the sweet spot. It averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. High at 75 FPS is also acceptable if you prefer visual fidelity, but the 20 FPS drop from Medium to High is steep. Ultra at 52 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive matches. If you want maximum frame rates, Low at 123 FPS leaves plenty of headroom, but the visual quality loss is significant.

At 2560x1440, Medium is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS (64 FPS), but its minimum of 54 means you will see dips. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, you are better off at 1080p. High at 50 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 35 FPS is only for screenshots. Low at 83 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, though the visual downgrade is noticeable.

At 3840x2160, no preset is recommended for actual gameplay. Low at 47 FPS is the best you can do, but even that feels sluggish in a fast-paced FPS. Medium at 36 FPS and High at 29 FPS are not viable. Ultra at 20 FPS is unplayable. If you own a 4K monitor, you should either drop the resolution to 1440p or upgrade the GPU.

The best overall experience is 1080p Medium: it offers a 95 FPS average, a minimum of 81 FPS, and retains enough visual detail to enjoy Evolve’s monster designs. If you prefer higher visual fidelity, 1080p High at 75 FPS is a reasonable trade-off. For 1440p users, 1440p Low at 83 FPS is the only way to stay above 60 FPS consistently, but the visual hit may not be worth it. In all cases, the data shows this combo is a 1080p machine for Evolve, with 1440p possible only on Low or Medium presets.