Evolve

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a classic high-refresh-rate 1080p pairing that also holds its own at 1440p, but it runs out of steam at 4K with maxed-out settings. For most users, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, delivering an average of 94 FPS. If you are strictly on a 1920x1080 display, High is the sweet spot at 110.1 FPS, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium while still comfortably exceeding 100 FPS. Avoid the Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p, as the performance hit is steep and the visual gains are not worth the frame rate sacrifice.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear pattern: this combo scales well with settings until you hit the top tier. At 1920x1080, the jump from Medium (141.8 FPS) to High (110.1 FPS) costs 31.7 FPS, but the visual quality improvement is substantial. The subsequent jump to Ultra (78.7 FPS) costs another 31.4 FPS, which is a massive drop for diminishing returns. At 2560x1440, the story is similar; High (75.8 FPS) is playable, but Medium (94 FPS) is the better choice for maintaining a smooth experience on higher refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p is problematic, dropping to 50.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many consider the minimum for action games.

For 4K, the combination is only viable on Low settings, hitting 67.7 FPS. Medium drops to 55.4 FPS, and High falls to 42.5 FPS, which is borderline unplayable for a fast-paced FPS. Ultra at 4K is effectively a slideshow at 29.8 FPS. Therefore, the practical recommendation is to stick with High at 1080p, Medium at 1440p, and Low at 4K. The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings, but the CPU's four cores may also limit performance at very high frame rates in 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the i3-12100F and GTX 1080 Ti ranks 1007th out of 1695 tested combos for Evolve. This places it in the bottom 40% of all configurations, which might seem surprising given the performance numbers. The ranking reflects the fact that many modern high-end CPUs and GPUs can achieve much higher frame rates in this game. The benchmark results indicate that while this pairing is competent, it is not a top-tier performer. The CPU itself sits at the 72nd percentile against all CPUs, but its average benchmark score of 13516 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (deltaPct -0.1%) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (deltaPct 0.4%). The GPU, however, is less impressive, ranking at the 61st percentile against all GPUs, with its average score of 19402 being virtually tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (deltaPct 0%).

The low combo rank is more a function of the GPU's age than the CPU's capability. The combo's performance is what it is, but the data shows that the GTX 1080 Ti is being compared against much newer and faster cards. In the context of this game, the data suggests that while the i3-12100F provides a solid foundation, the GTX 1080 Ti is the limiting factor, preventing the combo from climbing higher in the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing for Evolve. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for feeding the GPU's 3584 shading units at high resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1481 MHz and boost clock of 1582 MHz are respectable for its generation, but the architecture is showing its age. The GPU's benchmark scores support this; its Passmark G3D score of 18600 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2231 are modest by today's standards.

The GPU's role is most evident in the scaling of FPS with settings. At 1080p, dropping from High (110.1 FPS) to Low (183.6 FPS) shows a massive 73.5 FPS gain, indicating that the GPU is heavily loaded even at lower resolutions. This trend continues at 1440p, where the same settings drop yields a 42.6 FPS gain (from 75.8 to 118.4). At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as even the Low preset (67.7 FPS) struggles to hit high refresh rates. The 11 GB VRAM is ample for this game, as none of the measured data suggests a memory capacity limitation, but the raw compute power of the GP102 chip is what dictates the frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results across the board. Low settings produce an average of 183.6 FPS, which is exceptional for competitive play. Medium settings yield 141.8 FPS, and High settings drop to a still-very-smooth 110.1 FPS. Ultra settings are the only outlier, falling to 78.7 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance is more balanced. Low settings hit 118.4 FPS, which is great for 1440p. Medium settings provide 94 FPS, offering a solid experience. High settings drop to 75.8 FPS, which is acceptable for most gamers. Ultra settings, however, fall to 50.4 FPS, which is a significant drop and may feel stuttery in fast-paced action.

At 3840x2160, the limits of the GPU are fully exposed. Low settings manage 67.7 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings drop to 55.4 FPS, and High settings fall to 42.5 FPS. Ultra settings are unplayable at 29.8 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K is only feasible with the Low preset, and even then, it is not a high-refresh-rate experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, revealing the GPU's workload. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 110.1 at 1080p to 75.8 at 1440p (a 31.2% decrease) and then to 42.5 at 4K (a 61.4% decrease from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario; the GTX 1080 Ti's pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s is simply not enough to handle 4K with high-quality textures and effects.

At Low settings, the scaling is less severe but still significant. The average FPS goes from 183.6 at 1080p to 118.4 at 1440p (a 35.5% decrease) and then to 67.7 at 4K (a 63.1% decrease). This consistent drop at all settings indicates that the limiting component is the GPU's rendering throughput, not the CPU or memory bandwidth. The data shows that the i3-12100F is capable of feeding the GPU frames at 1080p, but as resolution increases, the GPU's workload becomes the sole bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a four-core, eight-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz are strong for a budget chip, and its 12 MB of shared L3 cache helps with game performance. The CPU's single-threaded performance is excellent, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 and 3DMark single-thread score of 893. This is critical for Evolve, which is an FPS that likely relies on strong single-core performance for game logic and physics.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is adequate, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912 and a 3DMark 8-thread score of 4026. However, in gaming, the CPU's role is to maintain a high enough frame rate ceiling. The data suggests that the i3-12100F is not the primary bottleneck in this combo. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 183.6 FPS, which is high but not exceptionally so. The CPU's 4 cores and 8 threads are likely sufficient to keep up with the GTX 1080 Ti, as the GPU is the component that scales the most with resolution and settings changes. The CPU's passmark single-thread score of 3444 and its percentile ranking of 72nd against all CPUs show that it is a capable gaming processor, but it is not in the same league as higher-core-count rivals like the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which it matches in average score but not in raw multi-threaded capabilities.