Evolve

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a wide performance envelope in Evolve, depending entirely on the resolution and quality preset selected. The data shows a system that can deliver triple-digit frame rates at 1080p on lower settings, yet drops below 30 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as the rendering load increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a steep performance curve across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 163 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 106 FPS, a reduction of approximately 35%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 59.4 FPS, another 44% decline from the 1440p result. This pattern demonstrates that even at the lowest quality preset, the GPU is the primary scaling factor as pixel count rises.

The High preset tells a similar story with slightly different magnitudes. The 1080p High result is 99.1 FPS, which falls to 65.9 FPS at 1440p High (a 33.5% drop) and then to 38.8 FPS at 4K High (a 41% drop from 1440p). These consistent percentage reductions across settings indicate that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component at every resolution above 1080p Low, rather than the CPU.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most dramatic scaling penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 69 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 42.5 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it collapses to 28.7 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K Ultra is a 32.5% reduction, while the 1080p to 1440p step costs 38.4%. This progressive degradation suggests that the game's Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's 8 GB framebuffer and 256-bit memory interface at higher resolutions.

Interestingly, the scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is not uniform. At 1080p, the spread from Low (163 FPS) to Ultra (69 FPS) is a 57.7% performance loss. At 1440p, the same spread is from 106 to 42.5 FPS, a 59.9% loss. At 4K, the spread is from 59.4 to 28.7 FPS, a 51.7% loss. The narrower relative penalty at 4K indicates that resolution constraints begin to dominate over settings-driven effects, as the GPU becomes saturated with raw pixel throughput.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Evolve?*

A: The highest measured average is 163 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system run Evolve at 4K smoothly?*

A: At 4K Medium, the average is 46.9 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. At 4K High, it falls to 38.8 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 28.7 FPS, which is below typical playability thresholds.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 19774. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scores 19706, a delta of 0.3%. The RTX 2070 scores 19680, a 0.5% delta, meaning the 2060 SUPER is marginally ahead of both.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F sits in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168.

Q: Which preset at 1440p provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 yields 85.8 FPS, which is well above the High preset's 65.9 FPS and only slightly below the Low preset's 106 FPS, making it the most balanced option.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the 163 FPS result suggests the CPU is handling the workload comfortably. The i5-10400F has a PassMark multithread score of 12115 and a single-thread score of 2541, indicating sufficient headroom for this older FPS title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the dominant factor in determining Evolve's performance across all measured configurations. Its Turing architecture, built on TSMC's 12 nm process, contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The 8 GB GDDR6 framebuffer is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p in this game, but the 4K Ultra result of 28.7 FPS indicates that capacity and bandwidth limits are being approached. The GPU's 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s. These figures support the observed scaling: at 4K, the pixel rate becomes the binding constraint, especially with Ultra settings that likely increase overdraw and post-processing effects.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's PassMark G3D score is 16462, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the GTX TITAN, scores 19706 (0.3% delta), while the RTX 2070 scores 19680 (0.5% delta). This positioning suggests the 2060 SUPER is competitive with higher-tier cards from the same generation, but its memory configuration and clock speeds limit its 4K capability. The GPU's DirectX 12 score of 61 in PassMark is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 130, which may explain why Evolve, a 2015 title likely optimized for DX11, performs relatively well at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1695 tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1177th in Evolve. This places it in the lower third of all combos, which is somewhat surprising given the individual component scores. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking do not translate to a top-tier gaming result, likely due to the game's age and its specific optimization patterns.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (avg score 14115, 0.4% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (avg score 14277, -0.8% delta). The Intel Core i5-8500 scores 14332, a -1.1% delta, meaning the i5-10400F is slightly behind these processors in synthetic benchmarks. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are all NVIDIA and professional-grade cards: the GTX TITAN, RTX 2070, Quadro K5200, and Tesla K40m, with deltas ranging from 0.3% to 1.3%. This clustering indicates the RTX 2060 SUPER is well-positioned among its contemporaries, but the combo ranking suggests that Evolve does not fully utilize this hardware's capabilities.

The rank of 1177 out of 1695 means that roughly 30% of tested combos perform worse, while 70% perform better. This is a below-median result for a CPU-GPU pair that individually rank above the 60th percentile. The discrepancy points to Evolve being more sensitive to single-thread performance or specific GPU features that this combo does not excel at, despite the i5-10400F's 6-core, 12-thread configuration with a 4.30 GHz boost clock.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset averages 163 FPS, Medium averages 123.6 FPS, High averages 99.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 69 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 39.4 FPS (24.2%), while the step from High to Ultra costs 30.1 FPS (30.4%). This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive relative to their visual benefit.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 106 FPS (Low), 85.8 FPS (Medium), 65.9 FPS (High), and 42.5 FPS (Ultra). The relative penalties between presets are more consistent here: Low to Medium is a 19% drop, Medium to High is a 23.2% drop, and High to Ultra is a 35.5% drop. The increasing penalty at higher quality settings indicates that the GPU's shader and texture resources are being consumed more aggressively as settings scale.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 59.4 FPS (Low), 46.9 FPS (Medium), 38.8 FPS (High), and 28.7 FPS (Ultra). Notably, the gap between Low and Medium is 12.5 FPS (21%), while the gap between High and Ultra is 10.1 FPS (26%). The 4K Low result of 59.4 FPS is the only 4K configuration that approaches smooth playability, while 4K Ultra falls below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for cinematic frame pacing but not for responsive gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 99.1 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a substantial improvement over Medium's 123.6 FPS in visual fidelity while maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 69 FPS is also viable for users who prioritize image quality over raw speed, as it remains above the 60 FPS threshold.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 85.8 FPS offers the best experience. The High preset at 65.9 FPS is acceptable, but the 23% performance penalty relative to Medium may not justify the visual gains. The Low preset at 106 FPS is excessive for most users, as the extra frames beyond 100 FPS are rarely perceptible on standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz monitors without adaptive sync.

For 4K, the Low preset at 59.4 FPS is the only configuration that meets standard playability criteria. The Medium preset at 46.9 FPS is borderline, suitable for slower-paced gameplay or for users who prioritize resolution over smoothness. The High preset at 38.8 FPS and Ultra at 28.7 FPS are not recommended for competitive play, as the low frame rates will introduce noticeable input lag and visual stutter.

Across all resolutions, the data indicates that the Medium preset provides the most efficient use of the RTX 2060 SUPER's capabilities. At 1080p Medium, the 123.6 FPS result shows the GPU is not fully saturated, while at 1440p Medium, the 85.8 FPS result balances quality and performance. The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K entirely, as the 28.7 FPS average falls below the threshold where the game remains responsive.