Evolve

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a robust performance profile in Evolve, placing the combo at rank 797 out of 1695 tested configurations. This mid-table positioning reflects a balanced partnership where the CPU’s six-core, twelve-thread Comet Lake architecture and the GPU’s Ampere-based GA104 chip each contribute to frame rates that scale predictably with resolution and settings. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that requires careful settings management to maintain playability at 4K, with the RTX 3070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth acting as key factors in the higher-resolution results.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in Evolve follows a clear pattern: frame rates drop progressively as pixel count increases, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly depending on the chosen settings preset. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces the average FPS from 216 to 145.3, a decline of 70.7 FPS or roughly 32.7%. Moving further to 3840x2160 yields 80.7 FPS, which is another 44.5% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling curve at Low settings indicates that the system is not bottlenecked by the CPU at lower resolutions; instead, the GPU is being pushed harder as resolution increases, with the RTX 3070’s 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becoming the limiting factor.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend but with a slightly shallower slope. From 164.8 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 110.3 FPS at 1440p (a 33.1% reduction) and then to 66.6 FPS at 4K (a 39.6% reduction from 1440p). This pattern suggests that the additional shading work from Medium settings—which likely increases texture detail and effects complexity—puts more stress on the GPU’s 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units, making the resolution scaling more pronounced than at Low.

High settings introduce a more dramatic cliff. The 1080p result of 128.4 FPS falls to 85.5 FPS at 1440p (a 33.4% drop) and then to 50.8 FPS at 4K (a 40.6% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling: 88.6 FPS at 1080p, 58.5 FPS at 1440p (34.0% lower), and 37.4 FPS at 4K (36.1% lower than 1440p). The fact that Ultra at 4K produces less than half the frame rate of Low at 1080p (37.4 vs 216 FPS) confirms that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM buffer and 256-bit memory bus are being saturated, with the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to feed the render pipeline at high resolutions with maxed-out settings.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU’s 2.90 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clocks are sufficient to keep up with the GPU, as evidenced by the 216 FPS Low result. However, at 4K with Ultra settings, the frame rate plummets to 37.4 FPS, which points squarely at GPU and VRAM limitations rather than CPU throughput—the i5-10400F’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are not the bottleneck in this scenario.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070’s average benchmark score of 28238 places it slightly below the AMD FirePro S7150, which scores 28409 (a 0.6% delta), and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X at 28541 (a 1.1% delta). It sits marginally above the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, a 0.9% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956, a 1% delta), indicating near-parity with these competitors in general compute workloads.

Q: What is the i5-10400F’s position relative to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) but 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277). It trails the Intel Core i5-8500 by 1.1% (14332) and the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 by 1.2% (14336), putting it in a tight cluster where single-digit percentage differences separate the contenders.

Q: Which resolution provides the highest frame rate for this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 216 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 164.8 FPS at 1080p Medium and 145.3 FPS at 2560x1440 Low, showing that lower resolutions and reduced settings unlock the full potential of the i5-10400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads.

Q: Does the i5-10400F’s single-thread performance hold up in gaming workloads?

A: The CPU’s 3dmark single-thread score of 688 and Geekbench single-core score of 1454 indicate solid single-thread capability, which is critical for game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453 further confirms this, though the 4.30 GHz boost clock is the more relevant metric for sustained single-core loads in Evolve.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity of the RTX 3070, and does it suffice for 4K gaming?

A: The RTX 3070 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Evolve, the 4K Ultra result of 37.4 FPS suggests that this capacity is barely adequate, as the frame rate drops sharply compared to 1440p Ultra (58.5 FPS), indicating that higher resolutions are consuming the available VRAM.

Q: How does the RTX 3070’s boost clock affect in-game performance?

A: The GPU’s boost clock of 1725 MHz, combined with its base clock of 1500 MHz, allows it to reach 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This clock headroom is what enables the 216 FPS result at 1080p Low, though the 220 W TDP suggests thermal throttling could be a factor in sustained sessions, potentially reducing the effective boost frequency.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high refresh rates at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the best experience with an average of 216 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most 144 Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 164.8 FPS is also viable for 1080p, offering a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate that remains comfortably above 60 FPS. High settings at 1080p still provide 128.4 FPS, which is playable for competitive scenarios, but Ultra drops to 88.6 FPS, which may introduce noticeable frame pacing issues on high-refresh displays.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset’s 145.3 FPS is the standout choice for smooth gameplay, while Medium at 110.3 FPS remains excellent for most users. High settings at 85.5 FPS are acceptable for slower-paced game modes, but Ultra at 58.5 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it a less desirable option unless visual quality is the absolute priority. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p provides the best compromise, with a 110.3 FPS average that preserves detail while maintaining fluid motion.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (80.7 FPS) achieves a comfortable playable frame rate above 60 FPS. Medium at 66.6 FPS is borderline, and High at 50.8 FPS falls short of smoothness standards. Ultra at 37.4 FPS is not recommended for gameplay, as the frame rate drops below what most players would consider acceptable for a fast-paced FPS. The recommendation for 4K is to use Low or Medium settings, with the understanding that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset reveals a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 216 FPS, which is the highest recorded value for this combo. Medium follows at 164.8 FPS, High at 128.4 FPS, and Ultra at 88.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 127.4 FPS, a 59% reduction that underscores how much the Ultra preset taxes the GPU’s 184 texture mapping units and 96 raster output pipelines.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 145.3 FPS, which is the second-highest overall result. Medium drops to 110.3 FPS, High to 85.5 FPS, and Ultra to 58.5 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level shows a consistent 33-34% reduction, indicating that the RTX 3070’s pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s is being utilized near its limits as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 80.7 FPS, which is still a solid result for 4K gaming. Medium produces 66.6 FPS, High drops to 50.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 37.4 FPS. The step from 1440p to 4K at Low settings represents a 44.5% reduction, while at Ultra it is a 36.1% reduction, showing that the Ultra preset’s heavier shading load compresses the resolution scaling curve because the GPU is already saturated at lower resolutions.

The data also shows that the i5-10400F is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 12115 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 provide sufficient throughput for Evolve’s engine, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low. Only at 4K Ultra does the combo’s rank of 797 out of 1695 reflect the GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates under maximum load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 plays a central role in determining Evolve’s performance across the measured resolutions. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical resource for texture streaming and geometry processing at higher resolutions. The 256-bit bus width allows the GPU to move data efficiently, but the 4K Ultra result of 37.4 FPS suggests that the VRAM capacity is being stretched, as the frame rate drops disproportionately compared to the 1440p Ultra result of 58.5 FPS.

The GPU’s clock speeds—1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost—enable a peak FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS, which is sufficient to drive the 216 FPS result at 1080p Low. The 5888 shading units handle the bulk of the pixel processing, while the 184 texture mapping units and 96 ROPs manage texture filtering and rasterization. The 46 ray tracing cores are present but not directly relevant to Evolve’s traditional rendering path, as the game predates widespread RT adoption.

The RTX 3070’s 17,400 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process result in a die size of 392 mm², with a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². This architecture, combined with the 220 W TDP, allows the GPU to maintain high clock speeds under load, though the 12-pin power connector (requiring a 550 W PSU) indicates that power delivery is a consideration for sustained performance. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s synthetic scores—PassMark G3D at 22214 and Geekbench OpenCL at 123479—correlate with its in-game performance, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409, a 0.6% higher score) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, a 0.9% lower score), but these synthetic comparisons do not fully capture the RTX 3070’s advantage in Evolve’s specific workload. The data indicates that the GPU is the dominant component at 4K, where the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are not the bottleneck, but at 1080p Low, the CPU’s 4.30 GHz boost clock and 12 MB L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU, resulting in the 216 FPS peak.