Evolve

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB in Evolve presents a study in balance and constraint. The data shows a configuration that is firmly capable at mainstream resolutions but quickly encounters hard limits as pixel count and graphical fidelity rise. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across the tested matrix of resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers reveal about the CPU and GPU's respective roles in this 2015 FPS title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 113 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops the average to 76 FPS, a reduction of approximately 33%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at Low yields 43 FPS, which is 43% lower than the 1440p result and 62% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep, non-linear decline is a textbook indicator that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor in these scenarios; the rendering load on the GPU scales quadratically with pixel count, and the RTX 3050's 4 GB frame buffer and 192.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are progressively overwhelmed.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. With High settings, the average FPS falls from 69 at 1080p to 46 at 1440p (a 33% drop), and then to 26 at 4K (a 43% drop from 1440p and a 62% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the same trajectory, with averages of 48, 32, and 18 FPS going from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, respectively. The consistency of these percentage drops across different quality levels strongly suggests that the performance ceiling is dictated by the GPU's fillrate and memory throughput rather than any CPU-side limitation. The i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 4.40 GHz, is likely not the bottleneck here, as the frame rate deltas scale nearly perfectly with the increase in pixel workload.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, the combo can only muster an average of 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth for competitive play. At High and Ultra, 4K averages fall to 26 and 18 FPS, respectively, rendering the higher presets effectively unplayable at that resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra (48 to 18 FPS) is a 62.5% reduction, confirming that the RTX 3050's architecture, with its 32 ROPs and 128-bit memory interface, is not designed for 4K gaming, even in a title from 2015. The data suggests that this configuration is best suited for 1080p and, with some settings compromises, 1440p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the central figure in this performance story. Its specifications paint a picture of a card designed for entry-level 1080p gaming, and the Evolve data aligns perfectly with that positioning. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost clock of 1740 MHz. Its memory configuration consists of 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. This memory subsystem is the most likely culprit for the severe performance degradation at higher resolutions and settings, as the 4 GB capacity can be exhausted by texture data and high-resolution buffers.

The card's compute capabilities include 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The FP32 performance is rated at 7.127 TFLOPS. In Evolve, the role of these components is clear from the FPS deltas. At 1080p Low, the GPU is able to feed frames at 113 FPS, indicating that the pixel fillrate and shader throughput are sufficient for the low-complexity scenes. However, when settings are raised to Ultra at the same resolution, the average drops to 48 FPS. This 57.5% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Ultra is less about raw pixel count and more about the increased shader complexity, texture filtering, and memory pressure that Ultra settings impose.

The GPU's 4 GB VRAM is a critical constraint. The fact that the 4K High setting yields 26 FPS and 4K Ultra yields only 18 FPS suggests that the card is not only computation-bound but also likely hitting capacity limits, resorting to slower memory paging. The 192.0 GB/s bandwidth is also a bottleneck; at 4K, the sheer volume of pixel data being written to the frame buffer exceeds what the memory bus can efficiently handle. The data shows that the RTX 3050 provides playable performance at 1080p Medium (88 FPS) and High (69 FPS), and it can handle 1440p Low (76 FPS) and Medium (59 FPS). Anything beyond that pushes the card out of its comfort zone, with the Ultra preset at 1440p (32 FPS) and all 4K presets falling below 43 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The measured data shows a significant gap. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 113 FPS, while the Ultra preset falls to 48 FPS. This represents a 65 FPS difference, or a 57.5% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Based on the measured results, yes, but with limitations. The average FPS at 2560x1440 is 76 on Low and 59 on Medium. While Low is comfortably above 60 FPS, Medium just misses the mark. High and Ultra settings at 1440p average 46 and 32 FPS, respectively, which are not sufficient for a consistent 60 FPS experience.

Q: How does the 4K performance compare to 1080p performance?

A: The scaling is steep. At 1080p with High settings, the average is 69 FPS. At 3840x2160 with the same settings, the average drops to 26 FPS. This is a 62.3% reduction in performance. Across all presets, the 4K results are roughly 60% lower than the 1080p results, highlighting the GPU's limitation at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth experience?

A: The data suggests that 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which yields an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 75 FPS, is the sweet spot for a consistently smooth experience. The High preset at 1080p (69 FPS) is also viable. For 1440p, the Low preset (76 FPS) is the only option that maintains a high frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The FPS scaling with resolution is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain similar across different resolutions. Instead, the average FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, which points to the RTX 3050's rendering capabilities as the primary constraint.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The only preset with a reported minimum FPS is Medium. At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 75 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, it is 50 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 28 FPS. No minimum FPS data is available for the Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience is found at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This configuration produces an average of 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, offering a robust margin above the 60 FPS threshold and ensuring smooth gameplay without the risk of frequent dips. The High preset at the same resolution is a close second, with an average of 69 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For users with 1440p monitors, the data suggests that the Low preset is the only viable option for high frame rates, averaging 76 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 59 FPS, which is borderline acceptable for a less competitive environment but may feel less fluid. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, with averages of 46 and 32 FPS, respectively, are not recommended for a responsive experience.

The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo in Evolve. Even the Low preset only manages an average of 43 FPS, which falls short of smoothness. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are effectively unplayable, with averages of 26 and 18 FPS. The data clearly indicates that the RTX 3050 4 GB is not suited for 4K gaming in this title. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Medium, balancing visual quality and performance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for Evolve, this specific configuration of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is ranked 3245 out of 3700 tested combos. This places it in the lower percentiles of all tested systems, indicating that while it is not the weakest setup, it is far from the top tier. The rank of 3245 out of 3700 means that roughly 87.7% of other tested combinations deliver higher average frame rates in this game.

This ranking is a holistic view of the combo's overall performance across the tested matrix. It reflects the fact that while the system can achieve high frame rates at 1080p, its performance collapses at higher resolutions. The i5-11400F is a capable mid-range CPU, but the 4 GB RTX 3050 holds the combo back from ranking higher. The combination's percentile rank of 3245 suggests that systems with more powerful GPUs, or those with more VRAM, would dominate the top spots. The data shows that this combo is positioned for entry-level 1080p gaming, and its rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations in a game that scales heavily with resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination.

1920x1080:

• Low: 113 FPS
• Medium: 88 FPS (min 75, max 101)
• High: 69 FPS
• Ultra: 48 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 76 FPS
• Medium: 59 FPS (min 50, max 68)
• High: 46 FPS
• Ultra: 32 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 43 FPS
• Medium: 33 FPS (min 28, max 39)
• High: 26 FPS
• Ultra: 18 FPS

The progression is clear. At 1080p, the combo offers a wide range of performance from 48 to 113 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 32 to 76 FPS. At 4K, the range tightens further to 18 to 43 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with reported minimum and maximum FPS values, providing a more complete picture of frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 75 FPS suggests a stable experience. The variance increases with resolution, as the 4K Medium minimum of 28 FPS indicates significant frame drops are possible.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes an 80 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core, with a shared 12 MB L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024, indicate solid mainstream performance. Its percentile rank of 71 vs all CPUs shows it outperforms the majority of processors on the market.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The benchmark data shows that the primary constraint is the graphics card, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops with increasing resolution. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for a 2015 title like Evolve, which is unlikely to be heavily multithreaded. The high boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic is processed quickly.

The data does not provide a scenario where the CPU becomes the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across different resolutions for the same settings. However, the FPS scales consistently downward as resolution increases, which is a hallmark of a GPU-bound workload. The i5-11400F's capabilities, including its 12 MB L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, are more than adequate to feed the RTX 3050. The CPU provides a stable platform, but the measured frame rates are ultimately dictated by the GPU's ability to render frames. The processor's 65W TDP and efficient design ensure it does not introduce thermal or power constraints that would affect gaming performance.