Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline reveals important information about where the bottleneck lies in this Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 260 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 225 FPS, a reduction of 13.5%. Continuing to 4K Low yields 128 FPS, which is 43.1% below the 1080p Low result. These are large percentage drops, but the absolute FPS values remain very high, indicating that the GPU is still doing heavy lifting even at 4K Low.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically when looking at higher settings. At Ultra settings, the FPS progression is 141 (1080p), 95 (1440p), and 54 (4K). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32.6%, and from 1440p to 4K is another 43.2%. This steeper decline at Ultra compared to Low suggests that the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as both resolution and settings increase. The RTX 4080, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, is clearly the dominant factor at these higher loads.

What is particularly telling is the comparison between settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the spread from Low (260 FPS) to Ultra (141 FPS) is 45.8% — a massive gap. At 1440p, the same spread is from 225 FPS down to 95 FPS, a 57.8% reduction. At 4K, the spread widens further: 128 FPS at Low versus 54 FPS at Ultra, a 57.8% reduction. This widening spread with resolution indicates that the GPU is increasingly the limiting component as pixel count rises, while the CPU has enough headroom to keep feeding frames even at 1080p.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the i5-11400F's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to push the RTX 4080 to 260 FPS. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra only reaches 141 FPS — a 45.8% drop from Low — suggests that the GPU's rendering load, not the CPU, is what limits performance at those settings. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 9728 shading units are being fully utilized, while the CPU's 4.40 GHz boost clock appears adequate for this title.

For 4K gaming, the pattern is unambiguous. The 54 FPS average at Ultra is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset, and it represents a 79.2% drop from the 4K Low figure of 128 FPS. This is a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4080's 320 W TDP is being fully exercised. The 4K Medium result of 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, shows that even moderate settings at 4K impose substantial load on the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the High preset delivers 204 FPS average, while Medium achieves 237 FPS with a minimum of 202 FPS and maximum of 273 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, as it maintains a minimum FPS above 200 and an average that exceeds most 144Hz monitors' capabilities. Ultra at 1080p drops to 141 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 40.5% reduction from Medium.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 137 FPS average, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate 1440p panels. The Medium preset at 1440p provides 174 FPS average with a minimum of 148 FPS, making it the strongest choice for competitive play on 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 95 FPS, which is smooth but significantly lower. Given that High at 1440p is only 21.3% below Medium in average FPS, High is the recommended preset for 1440p users who want a balance of visual fidelity and speed.

For 4K, the choices are more constrained. Ultra at 4K averages only 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. High at 4K reaches 78 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced FPS action. Medium at 4K provides 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS, making it the only 4K preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS in all measured scenarios. The Low preset at 4K hits 128 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. The data clearly indicates that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot for this combo, offering more than double the FPS of Ultra while maintaining a minimum framerate that prevents stutter.

The measured min FPS values are only available for Medium settings across all resolutions: 202 (1080p), 148 (1440p), and 84 (4K). These minimums are consistently above 80% of the average FPS, indicating stable frametimes at Medium. This stability further supports Medium as the recommended preset for consistent performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the clear performance driver in this combo, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Evolve at any resolution, even 4K Ultra, where the game's textures and effects demand substantial VRAM. The data does not show any VRAM-related stutters or crashes, suggesting the 16 GB capacity is ample for this 2015 title.

Clock speeds play a significant role in the GPU's behavior. The base clock is 2205 MHz with a boost clock of 2505 MHz, and these high frequencies contribute to the 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture, with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, provides the raw compute power needed to maintain high framerates across all settings. The 9728 shading units and 304 texture mapping units are fully utilized when the game is GPU-bound, particularly at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 54.

The RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 in average benchmark performance, just 0.1% higher than this card's 54247. This near-identical performance means the RTX 4080's measured results in Evolve are representative of the entire 4080-class GPU family. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1% higher, while the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% higher respectively, but none of these rivals appear in the measured FPS data.

The GPU's memory clock of 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective) and pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s work together to handle the render targets at 4K resolution. The texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s ensures that texture-heavy scenes in Evolve do not become a bottleneck. The 112 ROPs are sufficient for the game's fill-rate requirements, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this CPU-GPU combo?

A: The Medium preset at 4K delivers 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that maintains framerates above 60 FPS in all measured instances. Ultra at 4K averages 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54247 in average benchmark performance, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, 1.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher.

Q: Is the Core i5-11400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 260 FPS average, suggesting the CPU is not a limiting factor at that setting. However, at 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 141 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as settings increase, not the CPU.

Q: What is the maximum FPS measured in the dataset?

A: The highest average FPS is 260, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The maximum FPS recorded across all measurements is 273, observed at 1080p Medium.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 363rd out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 9.8% of all configurations.

Q: Does the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM cause any issues in Evolve?

A: The measured data shows no evidence of VRAM-related performance drops. The 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for all tested settings, including 4K Ultra, which achieved 54 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 363 out of 3700 tested configurations places this system in the top 9.8% of all combinations tested for Evolve. This is a strong result, but not a top-tier ranking, which reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific title. The rank indicates that while the RTX 4080 is a powerful GPU, the i5-11400F's positioning relative to other CPUs in the database influences the overall standing.

The CPU's percentile of 71 among all CPUs means it outperforms 71% of processors in the database, while the GPU's percentile of 86 means it outperforms 86% of graphics cards. The gap between these percentiles suggests that the CPU is the weaker link in this pairing, though the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not severely limiting performance in most scenarios. The rank of 363 likely reflects the fact that many higher-ranked combos pair the RTX 4080 with more powerful CPUs, such as the AMD EPYC 7H12, which scores 17120 in average benchmark performance (0.3% higher than the i5-11400F's 17177).

The nearest CPU rivals provide context for the i5-11400F's contribution. The Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17239, 0.4% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 17278, 0.6% higher. These are all close in synthetic benchmarks, meaning the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this combo's ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17074, 0.6% lower, showing the i5-11400F is competitive with a wider range of processors.

Given that Evolve is a 2015 FPS title, the game is likely optimized for older hardware and does not heavily stress modern CPUs. This explains why the combo achieves 260 FPS at 1080p Low despite the CPU's mid-range positioning. The rank of 363 is therefore more indicative of the RTX 4080's raw power than any CPU limitation, and users can expect this combo to excel in this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides six cores and twelve threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Rocket Lake architecture CPU, built on Intel's 14 nm process with a 65 W TDP, delivers the processing power needed to keep the RTX 4080 fed with frames. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core are sufficient for Evolve's CPU demands, which are light for a 2015 FPS title.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU's capability: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 14340 and singlecore 2024, while Geekbench multicore is 7737 and singlecore 1777. Passmark multithread score is 16908 with a single-thread score of 2981. These figures place the i5-11400F in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. The nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, scores 17120, just 0.3% lower, confirming the i5-11400F's competitive positioning.

The 3DMark results reveal the CPU's scaling behavior: 2-thread score is 1691, 4-thread is 3171, 8-thread is 4691, and 16-thread is 5619. The near-doubling from 2 to 4 threads and from 4 to 8 threads indicates good scaling with thread count, while the modest increase from 8 to 16 threads (4691 to 5619, a 19.8% gain) shows diminishing returns beyond eight threads. This pattern suggests that Evolve, which likely uses fewer than eight threads, will not fully utilize the CPU's twelve threads.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 260 FPS average. This is the highest FPS in the dataset, and it indicates that the CPU can generate frames faster than the GPU can render them at low settings. The 1080p High result of 204 FPS still shows CPU headroom, but the drop to 141 FPS at 1080p Ultra suggests the GPU begins to dominate. The fact that 4K Low (128 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (141 FPS) are close in performance highlights that at higher settings, the GPU's rendering load, not the CPU's processing speed, determines the framerate.

The CPU's 4.40 GHz boost clock is likely sufficient for Evolve's single-threaded performance requirements, as evidenced by the Passmark single-thread score of 2981 and Cinebench R20 singlecore of 850. The 14 nm process and 65 W TDP mean the CPU does not generate excessive heat, allowing sustained boost clocks during extended gaming sessions. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s on dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for feeding the GPU with draw calls and game state data, and the PCIe Gen 4 interface with 20 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection.