Evolve

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a stark study in bottlenecking within the 2015 FPS Evolve. The data reveals a system where the GPU’s raw power is frequently held in check by the six-core Comet Lake processor, yet the combination still delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second show how the performance ceiling shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 223.2 FPS, but this drops to 187 FPS at High and 156.2 FPS at Ultra. This relatively narrow spread—a 67 FPS difference between Low and Ultra—indicates that at 1080p, the Intel Core i5-10400F is the primary limiting component. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.30 GHz, simply cannot feed the RTX 4090 enough data to saturate its capabilities at lower resolutions.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates show a modest decline: 194.6 FPS at Low, 179.8 FPS at Medium, 148.5 FPS at High, and 106.1 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 88.5 FPS, suggesting the GPU begins to take on more of the rendering load as pixel count increases. Still, the 1440p Low result is only 28.6 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result, reinforcing that the CPU remains a substantial constraint even at this resolution.

At 4K (3840x2160), the dynamic shifts decisively toward the GPU. The frame rates fall to 143.6 FPS at Low, 111.8 FPS at Medium, 84.3 FPS at High, and 62.5 FPS at Ultra. The drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low is 51 FPS, a much steeper decline than the 1080p-to-1440p step. This confirms that at 4K, the RTX 4090’s rendering throughput—backed by its 16,384 shading units and 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth—becomes the dominant factor. The 4K Ultra result of 62.5 FPS is still playable, but it represents only 28% of the 1080p Low performance, a clear sign that resolution scaling exacts a heavy toll even on an Ada Lovelace flagship.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 10th-generation Comet Lake processor built on Intel’s 14 nm process. Its specifications include 6 cores, 12 threads, a base clock of 2.90 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU’s benchmark scores illustrate its multi-threaded capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10,297 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 4,735. Single-thread performance is comparatively modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,453 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 688.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions where the game’s simulation and draw-call processing cannot keep pace with the GPU. The 1080p results, capped at 223.2 FPS on Low, indicate that the processor’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth (42.7 GB/s) are insufficient to unlock the RTX 4090’s full potential. The CPU’s percentile ranking against all processors is 73, placing it above the median, but its nearest rivals show it is closely matched: it sits 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552, 0.8% below the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, and 1.1% below the Intel Core i5-8500.

At 4K, the CPU’s limitations become less critical because the GPU’s pixel-pushing workload dominates the frame time budget. The 4K Ultra result of 62.5 FPS versus the 1080p Ultra result of 156.2 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being fully exercised at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s role diminishes. The data suggests that for this game, the i5-10400F is a capable but not ideal partner for the RTX 4090, with the pairing showing a 73rd-percentile processor score against a 91st-percentile GPU score.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Evolve, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds a combo rank of 177 out of 1,695 tested combinations. This places it in the top 10.4% of all recorded combos, which is a strong showing given the CPU’s mid-range positioning. The rank reflects that while the processor is not a top-tier part, the RTX 4090’s dominance—evidenced by its 91st percentile standing among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 66,473—boosts the overall package.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (0.4% higher average score), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% lower), and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (1.3% lower). None of these competitors come close to matching the RTX 4090’s gaming performance in this data set, and the 177th rank out of 1,695 combos indicates that the majority of tested systems either pair weaker GPUs with stronger CPUs or fail to reach this performance tier.

The combo’s rank is likely pulled down by the CPU’s inability to sustain high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, where the i5-10400F’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,748 and PassMark multithread score of 12,115 are respectable but not exceptional. In contrast, a system with a higher-tier CPU would likely rank higher in 1080p scenarios, but the 4K results—where the GPU is the limiting factor—show that this pairing still delivers 84.3 FPS at High settings, which is competitive with far more balanced systems.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 223.2, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 62.5, which is the lowest recorded result in the data set.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rate difference between Low (223.2 FPS) and Ultra (156.2 FPS) is relatively small, suggesting the RTX 4090 is not fully utilized.

Q: What is this combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Evolve?

A: It ranks 177th out of 1,695 total combinations, placing it in the top 10.4% of all tested systems.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-10400F compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14,168, which is 0.8% lower than the Ryzen 3 7320C’s score of 14,277.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low settings?

A: The difference is 79.6 FPS, dropping from 223.2 FPS at 1080p Low to 143.6 FPS at 4K Low.

Settings Recommendations

For this particular hardware combination in Evolve, the measured data provides clear guidance on which settings offer the best trade-off between visual quality and frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 187 FPS, which is only 36.2 FPS lower than Low but offers substantially better visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p still achieves 156.2 FPS, and given that the CPU is the limiting factor, there is minimal performance cost to selecting Ultra over High—only a 30.8 FPS drop.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 148.5 FPS, which remains well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors. The Medium preset at 179.8 FPS offers a smoother experience but sacrifices visual quality. The Ultra preset drops to 106.1 FPS, which is still playable but represents a significant 42.4 FPS reduction from High. The data suggests that High is the optimal choice at 1440p, as it balances the GPU’s workload without pushing frame rates below the competitive threshold.

For 4K gaming, the High preset at 84.3 FPS is the recommended starting point. This setting provides a solid frame rate that is smooth on 60 Hz displays and offers substantial visual improvements over Medium (111.8 FPS) and Low (143.6 FPS). The Ultra preset at 62.5 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced play but may feel less responsive in fast-moving FPS action. Given the 4K scaling behavior, the High preset at 84.3 FPS is the sweet spot, delivering 21.8 more FPS than Ultra while maintaining a high level of detail. For players prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Medium preset at 111.8 FPS is a viable alternative, but High offers the best overall experience per the measured rows.