Evolve

The Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT pairing delivers a playable experience in Evolve, but the data reveals a sharp performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combo is firmly CPU-bound at lower settings, with average frame rates soaring to 160 FPS on Low. Crank the settings to Ultra at 1080p, and the average drops to 67 FPS, a 58% reduction that signals the GPU beginning to take on more of the load. Moving to 1440p, the trend continues: Low settings produce 107 FPS, while Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The most dramatic scaling appears at 4K, where the average frame rate collapses to 37 FPS on High and a mere 26 FPS on Ultra. The delta between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 99 FPS, which means the rendering resolution is the dominant factor in this game's performance envelope.

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at the same settings is substantial, but the pattern is not uniform across quality presets. At Low, the 4K average of 61 FPS is 62% lower than the 1080p result. At High, the 4K average of 37 FPS is 62% lower than the 1080p result of 97 FPS. This consistent proportional loss suggests that neither the CPU nor the GPU is a singular bottleneck; instead, the game's engine scales its workload predictably with pixel count. The data indicates that at 4K Ultra, the combo is severely strained, producing an average of just 26 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The limiting component at this resolution is clearly the GPU, as the RX 6600 XT's memory bandwidth and compute resources are overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels on screen. In contrast, at 1080p Low, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, allowing it to reach its maximum output of 160 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. It is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The card's 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units deliver a peak pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 10.60 TFLOPS. These specifications explain the GPU's behavior in Evolve: the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the memory capacity and bandwidth become limiting factors, particularly with high-detail textures.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's performance ceiling. At 1080p Low, the average of 160 FPS is likely near the maximum output of the card in this title, given the CPU's ability to keep up. When settings are raised to Medium, the 1080p average drops to 124 FPS, and at High, it falls to 97 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at 1080p is the most severe, with the average dropping by 30 FPS to 67 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily tax the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. At 1440p, the pattern repeats: Low yields 107 FPS, Medium 83 FPS, High 65 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The 4K results are the most telling. At 4K Low, the card manages 61 FPS, but at Medium, it drops to 47 FPS, and at High, it falls to 37 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 26 FPS is a clear indication that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as the card's 256.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot sustain the data throughput required for 4K Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The CPU features a 12 MB shared L3 cache, with 80 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 14,340 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,024 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 7,737. These numbers indicate a solid mid-range desktop processor capable of handling gaming workloads without significant bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

In Evolve, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At Low settings, the average of 160 FPS suggests the CPU is feeding the GPU efficiently, but the 6-core configuration may limit performance in scenes with many on-screen entities. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,619 and the Passmark multi-thread score of 16,908 show that the CPU has ample compute headroom for gaming. However, the single-thread performance, as indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and the Cinebench R20 single-core score of 850, is the more critical factor for frame pacing in Evolve, which is a fast-paced FPS. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz helps maintain high single-core performance, but the data shows that the CPU is not the primary limiter at 1440p or 4K, as the frame rates drop significantly more with resolution increases than they do with settings changes at a fixed resolution.

The CPU's percentile rank versus all CPUs is 71, placing it in the upper third of all tested processors. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7H12 and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, with delta percentages of 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. This indicates that the i5-11400F's overall compute capability is competitive with much more expensive and power-hungry parts. For Evolve, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for the game's engine, which is not heavily multi-threaded. The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU can sustain high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings and resolution increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2,638 out of 3,700 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the 71st percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms approximately 71% of the systems in the database for this specific game. The rank is a composite measure that considers performance across all tested resolutions and settings. Given the GPU's 70th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 71st percentile ranking, this combo lands slightly below the expected median for its components, which suggests that the pairing is well-balanced but not exceptional for Evolve's engine.

The rank of 2,638 out of 3,700 indicates that there are 1,062 combos that perform better, many of which likely feature higher-end GPUs or CPUs with more cores. However, the data shows that this combo is capable of delivering 60+ FPS at 1080p High and 1440p Low, which are common gaming targets. At 4K, the combo falls below the 60 FPS threshold at all settings, with the best result being 61 FPS at Low. The combo's rank is likely dragged down by the 4K results, where the GPU's memory bandwidth proves insufficient for high-detail 4K gaming. For a user targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo is more than adequate, but for 4K, it is a marginal performer. The data shows that the combo is better suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, where it can achieve over 100 FPS at Medium settings, rather than for 4K gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Evolve with this combo provides a detailed picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low is 160 FPS, Medium is 124 FPS, High is 97 FPS, and Ultra is 67 FPS. The Medium setting also has recorded minimum and maximum values of 105 FPS and 143 FPS, respectively, indicating a consistent frame delivery without major stutters. The step from High to Ultra at 1080p is the largest drop, with a 30 FPS difference, highlighting the significant cost of Ultra effects.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low is 107 FPS, Medium is 83 FPS, High is 65 FPS, and Ultra is 45 FPS. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS, which is a tighter range than the 1080p Medium result, suggesting that the GPU is working harder and frame times are more variable. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings is substantial: Low loses 53 FPS, Medium loses 41 FPS, High loses 32 FPS, and Ultra loses 22 FPS. This proportional scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low is 61 FPS, Medium is 47 FPS, High is 37 FPS, and Ultra is 26 FPS. The Medium setting has a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS, which is a relatively wide spread and indicates that the game can become unplayable in demanding scenes even at Medium settings. The 4K results are all below the 60 FPS target, with only the Low setting being remotely playable. The data confirms that this combo is not designed for 4K gaming in Evolve; it is a 1080p and 1440p performer. The 1080p results are strong, with all settings above 60 FPS, and the 1440p results are respectable, with Low and Medium above 60 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo in Evolve?*

A: The data shows that 1080p Medium yields 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS, while 1440p Low produces 107 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, 1080p Ultra is playable at 67 FPS, but 1440p High drops to 65 FPS, which is borderline. The most balanced experience is 1080p High at 97 FPS or 1440p Medium at 83 FPS.

*Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in Evolve?*

A: Only at Low settings, where the average is 61 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 47 FPS, and at High and Ultra, it falls to 37 FPS and 26 FPS, respectively. The 4K Medium result has a minimum of 40 FPS, which means it will dip below 60 FPS frequently.

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

A: The 1080p Low result of 160 FPS indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU can likely feed frames faster than this. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game's engine at this resolution and setting.

*Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems in Evolve?*

A: It ranks 2,638 out of 3,700 combos, placing it in the 71st percentile. This means it performs better than 71% of all tested systems in this game, but there are 1,062 combos that achieve higher frame rates.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average is 97 FPS, while at 1440p High, it is 65 FPS. This is a 32 FPS drop, or a 33% reduction in performance, which is a significant cost for the higher resolution.

Q: Does the combo's GPU memory capacity affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is a factor at 4K, but the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is more critical. The 4K Ultra result of 26 FPS suggests that the GPU's memory subsystem is overwhelmed by the data required for 4K Ultra textures and effects, leading to low frame rates.