Evolve

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination delivers playable performance for Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, with the data indicating a strong pairing for 1080p and 1440p gaming. Benchmark results show that this combo ranks 3185th out of 3700 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet the measured frame rates reveal a system capable of exceeding 60 FPS at high settings in the most common resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems in Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 3185 out of 3700 tested combinations, placing it in the 14th percentile of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 123 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate for any resolution or settings combination in the data.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo averages 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS, indicating it can hold above 60 FPS on average.

Q: What is the frame rate at 3840x2160 with High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with High settings, the combo averages 29 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163) and 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), while being 0.3% lower than the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232).

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark percentile relative to all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti falls in the 41st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 7723.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is positioned at rank 3185 out of 3700 tested combos for Evolve. This places the system in the lower 14% of all configurations tested. The low rank is somewhat misleading given the game's age and the specific demands of Evolve, which appears to be more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The percentileVsAllCpus for the CPU is 68, indicating it performs better than most other processors in general computing tasks, while the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 41, showing it is a below-average performer in the broader GPU landscape. In the context of this specific game, the rank reflects that many other combos, likely with higher-tier GPUs, achieve better frame rates.

The rank suggests this is not a high-end gaming system, but the measured FPS data shows it is far from inadequate. The gap between the combo’s rank and its playable performance at 1080p highlights that Evolve is not an exceptionally demanding title. The data indicates that the combo's position is driven by the GPU's mid-range standing, as the CPU’s percentile is notably higher. For a game released in 2015, this hardware pairing provides a baseline experience that is functional, but it will not be competitive with modern high-refresh-rate setups.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. Memory support is for DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The processor is unlocked for overclocking, a feature that is not relevant to its performance in this benchmark.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The 3dmark scores show a single-thread score of 688 and a max-threads score of 4735, indicating that the processor scales well with additional threads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and single-core score of 1451 demonstrate solid computational performance for a 10th-gen part. The PassMark multi-thread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 further reinforce this, with the CPU's avgBenchmarkScore of 14185 placing it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs.

For Evolve, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are likely sufficient, as the game is not known for extreme CPU demands. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps maintain high FPS in less demanding scenes. The data does not show a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions; for instance, at 1080p Low, the system hits 123 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would stress CPU limits. The CPU’s performance relative to its rivals is marginal, with a 0.2% lead over the Intel Xeon 6756E and a 0.5% lead over the AMD EPYC 7552, but a 0.3% deficit against the Intel Core 7 160UL.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a clear progression across settings. With Low settings, the average FPS is 123. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 and a maximum of 110 FPS. High settings produce an average of 75 FPS. The most demanding preset, Ultra, brings the average down to 52 FPS. This data shows that the combo can easily handle 1080p at High settings, providing a smooth experience above 60 FPS, while Ultra settings will require compromises for a consistent frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low settings yield an average of 83 FPS. Medium settings drop to an average of 64 FPS, with a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 74 FPS, showing that the system can still maintain near-60 FPS performance. High settings reduce the average to 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Ultra settings bring the average down to 35 FPS, indicating that this resolution is best suited for Medium or Low settings for a fluid experience.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 47 FPS, which is marginal. Medium settings average 36 FPS, with a minimum of 31 and a maximum of 42 FPS. High settings drop to 29 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 20 FPS. The data clearly indicates that 4K gaming is not viable with this hardware for Evolve, as even the lowest settings cannot consistently hit 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at an effective speed of 12 Gbps. The chip contains 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The GPU's compute power is rated at 5.437 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, and its pixel rate is 84.96 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s.

The GPU's performance in Evolve is the primary factor limiting frame rates at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows that the GPU's compute capabilities are the bottleneck at 4K. The PassMark G3D score of 12871 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 provide insight into its raw performance. The GPU's avgBenchmarkScore of 7723 places it in the 41st percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is a mid-to-low-tier part.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the GTX 1660 Ti is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540 (7673), 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (7580), and 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 250 (7557), but 2.3% behind the Intel Arc A310 (7550). These small deltas show that the GPU is closely matched with other budget-oriented parts. In Evolve, the GPU’s 6 GB of VRAM is not a limiting factor, but the shader and texture processing rates are what cause the FPS to decline significantly as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset provides an average of 75 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This is the recommended setting for a balanced experience, as it offers better visual fidelity than Medium while maintaining a high frame rate. The Ultra preset, at 52 FPS, is not recommended for competitive play, but could be used for slower-paced exploration if the user prioritizes visual quality over frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS. This provides a playable experience, though there may be occasional dips below 60 FPS. The High preset at 50 FPS is acceptable for less demanding scenarios, but the Medium preset is the safest option for consistent performance. Low settings at 83 FPS offer the highest frame rates, but the visual fidelity is significantly reduced.

At 3840x2160, the data shows that no settings preset provides a consistently smooth experience. The Low preset at 47 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it will not be suitable for fast-paced action. For this reason, it is recommended to avoid 4K resolution with this combo for Evolve. The measured data suggests that the system is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where it can provide a satisfying gaming experience with appropriate settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial, highlighting the GPU as the primary limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 75 at 1920x1080 to 50 at 2560x1440, a 33% decrease, and then to 29 at 3840x2160, a 61% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is indicative of a GPU that is being saturated by the increasing pixel count. The CPU's performance is less of a factor, as the frame rate scales down consistently with resolution, suggesting that the GTX 1660 Ti's processing power is the bottleneck.

At Low settings, the trend is similar but with higher absolute numbers: 123 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 32.5% and 61.8%, respectively, showing that the GPU is still the limiting factor even at the lowest quality settings. The data reveals that the system is not CPU-bound in this game, as the frame rate is consistently limited by the GPU's ability to render frames at higher resolutions. This is expected, as the CPU's 68th percentile ranking suggests it has more headroom than the GPU’s 41st percentile.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a roughly 30-33% reduction in frame rates across all settings, which is a typical penalty for a 77% increase in pixel count. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with a 42-43% reduction in FPS, despite a 125% increase in pixel count. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling, and the 4K resolution demands more memory bandwidth and compute throughput than the GTX 1660 Ti can provide, particularly in Evolve's rendering engine.