Evolve

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a wide range of performance across Evolve’s quality presets, with results that clearly separate the GPU-bound high-resolution scenarios from the CPU-bound lower-resolution ones. The data shows that the Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the most balanced experience, delivering 92 FPS on average with a minimum of 78 FPS, while the High preset at the same resolution reaches 72 FPS. For users prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 2560x1440 jumps to 118 FPS, but the Medium preset’s combination of frame rate and visual quality makes it the recommended baseline. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset hits 137 FPS average with a 116 FPS minimum, which is exceptionally fluid, but the High preset’s 107 FPS average is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, drops to 74 FPS at 1080p and 50 FPS at 1440p, making it less ideal for competitive play but viable for slower-paced sessions.

Settings Recommendations

The best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 2560x1440, which produces a 92 FPS average with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 105 FPS. This combination offers a substantial improvement over the High preset’s 72 FPS at the same resolution, while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1920x1080 also stands out, delivering 137 FPS average with a 116 FPS minimum, making it the best choice for high-refresh-rate displays if the user prefers 1080p. However, the 1440p Medium setting provides a sharper image without sacrificing playability, as the 78 FPS minimum ensures consistent performance during intense firefights.

For users who cannot tolerate any frame rate drops, the Low preset at 2560x1440 offers 118 FPS average, which is 26 FPS higher than Medium, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra headroom for most players. The High preset at 1920x1080, with 107 FPS average, is a strong alternative for those who want better textures and lighting without dropping to Medium, though the 30 FPS gap between High and Medium at 1080p suggests that Medium’s optimizations are more efficient for this hardware. The Ultra preset is the least recommended, as it produces only 28 FPS at 4K and 50 FPS at 1440p, indicating that the GPU struggles with the highest settings, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay outside of 1080p where it still only manages 74 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 176 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is followed by 137 FPS at 1920x1080 on Medium and 118 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 28 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for playability. The High preset at 4K improves to 41 FPS, while Medium reaches 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS.

Q: Is there a preset that maintains a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 2560x1440 achieves 118 FPS average, but the minimum FPS is not listed. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 78 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, while the High preset’s minimum is not provided but its average is 72 FPS.

Q: Which resolution and settings combo offers the best balance between performance and visual quality?

A: Based on the data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the best balance, providing 92 FPS average with a 78 FPS minimum. This is significantly higher than the High preset’s 72 FPS at the same resolution, while still offering better visuals than the Low preset.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 176 FPS average, which is 102 FPS higher than the Ultra preset’s 74 FPS. This represents a 138% increase in frame rate when switching from Ultra to Low.

Q: What is the frame rate drop when moving from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: On the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 107 FPS at 1920x1080 to 72 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 41 FPS at 3840x2160. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 66 FPS, indicating a significant GPU load increase at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with the Medium preset, the combo achieves 137 FPS, but this drops to 92 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 52 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 1440p and a 62% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent across all presets, with the Low preset showing the most dramatic drop: 176 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The fact that the Low preset still manages 67 FPS at 4K suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as lowering the settings has a proportionally larger impact on frame rate than reducing resolution.

The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling curve, with 74 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The 46 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K on Ultra is a 62% reduction, which is nearly identical to the Medium preset’s 62% drop. This indicates that the RX 9060’s 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the highest settings at 4K, where the pixel count overwhelms the GPU’s shading units and ROPs. The data implies that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate drops are directly proportional to the increase in pixel workload, a hallmark of GPU-bound performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. The Low preset leads with 176 FPS average, followed by Medium at 137 FPS (with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 157 FPS), High at 107 FPS, and Ultra at 74 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 39 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 30 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase. The Ultra preset’s 74 FPS is 33 FPS lower than High, indicating that the jump from High to Ultra imposes a significant performance penalty, likely due to increased shadow and post-processing effects.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low achieves 118 FPS, Medium reaches 92 FPS (78 FPS minimum, 105 FPS maximum), High drops to 72 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p reduces the Low preset by 58 FPS, Medium by 45 FPS, High by 35 FPS, and Ultra by 24 FPS. The smaller absolute drop on Ultra suggests that the GPU is already struggling at 1080p, so the additional pixel load has less relative impact. At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal: Low produces 67 FPS, Medium 52 FPS (44 FPS minimum, 60 FPS maximum), High 41 FPS, and Ultra 28 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only one that maintains a minimum above 40 FPS, making it the only viable option for 4K gaming on this hardware, though the 44 FPS minimum may cause noticeable stutters in fast-paced scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1664 out of 2872 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking suggests that while the hardware is capable of running the game, it is not among the top performers, with many other CPU-GPU pairings achieving higher frame rates. The rank is likely dragged down by the 4K Ultra result of 28 FPS, which is below the playable threshold, and the fact that the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM may cause texture streaming issues at higher resolutions. However, the 1080p Medium result of 137 FPS places it in a competitive position for mainstream gaming, as this is the resolution and settings most users would employ.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 16014 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 16129 with a deltaPct of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 is slightly slower. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 14185 puts it close to the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163, 0.2% faster) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.5% faster). These rival comparisons indicate that the combo is balanced, with neither component being a severe bottleneck. The ranking of 1664 out of 2872 suggests that this system is better than 58% of tested combos, which is respectable given the CPU’s 68th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 59th percentile ranking. The data implies that the combo is well-matched for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but falls short of being a top-tier 4K solution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This Comet Lake architecture processor, built on a 14 nm process, has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Evolve, which is a FPS title that relies heavily on single-thread performance for game logic and physics, the CPU’s boost clock of 4.30 GHz is critical. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (176 FPS) shows that the CPU can feed the GPU at high frame rates, but the drop to 137 FPS on Medium and 107 FPS on High suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at these settings.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reveal its strengths: a single-thread score of 688 in 3dmark, 146 in Cinebench R15, and 1451 in Cinebench R23. These scores are modest compared to newer processors, but they are sufficient for Evolve’s engine, which was released in 2015 and does not require massive multi-threaded performance. The 12 threads help with background tasks and streaming, but the game’s core loop is likely limited to 2-4 threads, as indicated by the 3dmark scores of 1350 for 2 threads and 2560 for 4 threads. The CPU’s 68th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms that it is a mid-range part, but the data shows it does not hold back the GPU at 1440p and 4K, where frame rates are clearly GPU-bound. At 1080p Low, the CPU’s 4.30 GHz boost clock is sufficient to push 176 FPS, but the frame rate ceiling may be higher with a faster processor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, with a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications are directly reflected in the Evolve results, particularly at higher resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM is a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 28 FPS, likely due to memory capacity and bandwidth constraints as the game loads higher-resolution textures.

The GPU’s benchmark scores show a DirectX 12 score of 44 in Passmark, which is low, but its overall Passmark G3D score of 17631 places it near the RTX 3060 Ti (deltaPct of -0.7%). The GPU’s 59th percentile ranking versus all GPUs indicates it is a mid-range card, and the Evolve data confirms this: it can handle 1080p at high frame rates but struggles at 4K. The 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is substantial, but the 64 ROPs and 128-bit memory bus limit pixel throughput, which explains the steep frame rate drops as resolution increases. The GPU’s 2990 MHz boost clock helps at lower resolutions, where the 107 FPS at 1080p High shows good single-frame performance, but the 288.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where the pixel fill rate required exceeds what the memory subsystem can deliver. The data suggests that the RX 9060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being playable only on Low settings at 67 FPS.