Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, shows a dramatic performance curve when paired with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, with frame rates scaling from a very playable 94 FPS at 4K High to a blistering 260 FPS at 1080p Low. The benchmark data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the dominant component, but the i5-11400F still provides enough headroom to prevent severe bottlenecks at most settings, though the CPU's influence becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less taxed.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases, though the magnitude of the drop is heavily influenced by the chosen graphics preset. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 217 FPS at 1920x1080 to 165 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 94 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 43% reduction in performance from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 5090 D's rendering workload is scaling almost linearly with the pixel count increase.

The story changes significantly when examining the Low preset, where the frame rates are much higher but the relative drops are steeper. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 260 at 1080p, to 228 at 1440p, and down to 154 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 12%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32%. This pattern suggests that at Low settings and 1080p, the system is approaching a CPU limit, as the GPU is capable of producing frames faster than the i5-11400F can feed it. In contrast, the High preset at 4K shows the GPU working at its full capacity, with the CPU having minimal impact on the final result.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with frame rates of 237 FPS at 1080p, 208 FPS at 1440p, and 120 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is more consistent, with a 12% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 42% drop from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, sees the lowest overall frame rates: 170 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is 43%, which is nearly identical to the High preset, suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiting factor in both cases.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D is the clear bottleneck at 4K, regardless of the preset, as the frame rates are consistently lower than at other resolutions. However, at 1080p, the CPU begins to show its limitations, particularly at Low and Medium settings where the frame rates exceed 230 FPS. This indicates that for users seeking the absolute highest refresh rates at 1080p, the i5-11400F may prevent the GPU from reaching its full potential, but for all other scenarios, the combination is well-balanced.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this CPU and GPU combo in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 260 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo deliver the lowest average FPS?

A: The lowest measured average frame rate is 65 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset.

Q: How does the frame rate vary between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers an average of 165 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers an average of 114 FPS, representing a 31% reduction in performance.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D the limiting component at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the data indicates that at 3840x2160, the frame rates are significantly lower than at other resolutions, with a maximum of 154 FPS at Low and a minimum of 65 FPS at Ultra, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

Q: Does the i5-11400F bottleneck the RTX 5090 D at 1080p?

A: The evidence suggests a partial CPU bottleneck at 1080p Low, where the average FPS of 260 is only 12% higher than at 1440p Low (228 FPS), indicating that the CPU is limiting the frame rate growth more than at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440, which delivers an average of 165 FPS, is the best choice, as it exceeds the 144Hz refresh rate while providing better visual quality than the Medium preset, which delivers 208 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show a single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark and a multi-thread score of 5652 in 3dmark_max_threads, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. In Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and its performance becomes more critical at lower resolutions where the GPU can render frames faster.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 260 FPS, which is only 14% higher than the 228 FPS at 1440p Low. This small delta suggests that the CPU is nearing its limit at 1080p, as the GPU has enough headroom to produce more frames but is constrained by the CPU's processing speed. In contrast, at 4K Low, the frame rate drops to 154 FPS, a 32% reduction from 1440p, indicating that the GPU is now the limiting factor.

The i5-11400F's 12 threads are likely sufficient for Evolve, which was released in 2015 and may not be heavily optimized for multi-core processors. The 3dmark_8_threads score of 4691, which is close to the max_threads score of 5652, suggests that the processor's performance scales well up to 8 threads, but additional threads provide diminishing returns. This is consistent with a game like Evolve, which may primarily utilize a few cores for main game logic and rendering tasks.

The CPU's cache hierarchy, with 80 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3, provides sufficient memory bandwidth for the game's needs. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth over a dual-channel DDR4 interface is adequate for this title, as the data does not show any unusual performance anomalies that would indicate a memory bottleneck. Overall, the i5-11400F is a capable partner for the RTX 5090 D in Evolve, though its age is apparent at the lowest resolution and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 135th out of 2,872 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 5% of all configurations. This high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's massive compute power, as the RTX 5090 D sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 71st percentile. The data shows that this combo significantly outperforms the average system, with the GPU's strength compensating for the CPU's mid-range positioning.

When compared to other tested combos, this pairing is likely to be among the fastest for Evolve, given the RTX 5090 D's position as a top-tier graphics card. The CPU's performance, while not top-tier, is sufficient to avoid major bottlenecks in most scenarios, as evidenced by the frame rates exceeding 200 FPS at 1080p Medium and 1440p Low. The rank of 135 suggests that there are 134 other combinations that achieve higher average FPS, which likely include faster CPUs paired with the same GPU, but the difference may be small.

The i5-11400F's nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core i5-12450H, have average benchmark scores that are within 0.6% of the i5-11400F's score, indicating that the CPU is in a tight performance cluster. This means that swapping to a slightly different CPU would have a minimal impact on the combo's ranking in Evolve, as the GPU is the dominant factor. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the frame rates are consistently high across all settings, with the lowest average being 65 FPS at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship GPU based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, featuring 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. It has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. In Evolve, this GPU dominates the performance metrics, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 4K resolution.

The GPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Passmark G3D score of 44,065, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. In the measured FPS data, the RTX 5090 D is clearly the primary driver of performance, as the frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a predictable manner. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 65, which is a challenging workload for any GPU, but the RTX 5090 D still manages to deliver a playable experience.

The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Evolve, even at 4K Ultra settings, and it ensures that there are no memory-related stutters or texture pop-ins. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is also a key factor, as it allows the GPU to quickly access textures and geometry data, which is crucial for a fast-paced FPS game. The GPU's compute power, measured at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32, ensures that it can handle the game's rendering requirements with ease, even at the highest settings.

The RTX 5090 D's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and RX 6850M XT, have average benchmark scores that are within 2.4% of the RTX 5090 D's score, but these are mobile GPUs and are not directly comparable. The RTX 5090 D's performance in Evolve is exceptional, as it delivers over 150 FPS at 4K Low and over 200 FPS at 1440p Medium, making it one of the fastest GPUs for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates range from 170 FPS at Ultra to 260 FPS at Low, with High at 217 FPS and Medium at 237 FPS. The Medium preset also includes a minimum FPS of 202 and a maximum of 273, showing some variance, while the other presets only have average values.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 114 FPS at Ultra, 165 FPS at High, 208 FPS at Medium, and 228 FPS at Low. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum FPS of 177 and a maximum of 239, indicating a wider range of frame times compared to 1080p. The High and Low presets show a 27% difference in performance, while the Medium preset is 26% faster than High and 10% slower than Low.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 65 FPS at Ultra, 94 FPS at High, 120 FPS at Medium, and 154 FPS at Low. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum FPS of 102 and a maximum of 138, which is a tighter range than at lower resolutions. The drop from Medium to High is 22%, while the drop from High to Ultra is 31%, showing that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding than High.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best settings preset depends on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p users with a 240Hz monitor, the Medium preset, which delivers 237 FPS on average, is the best choice, as it provides a balance between visual quality and performance, with a minimum FPS of 202 ensuring smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 260 FPS is also viable, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the 10% performance increase.

For 1440p users with a 144Hz monitor, the High preset at 165 FPS is the optimal choice, as it exceeds the refresh rate while providing better visual fidelity than Medium at 208 FPS. The Medium preset is also excellent, offering a 26% performance headroom over High, but the visual difference may be noticeable. The Ultra preset at 114 FPS is not recommended for 144Hz displays, as it falls short of the refresh rate, but it is playable on a 120Hz monitor.

For 4K users, the High preset at 94 FPS is the best balance, as it provides a solid frame rate for 60Hz displays and is close to 90 FPS for smoother motion. The Medium preset at 120 FPS is ideal for 120Hz displays, but the visual quality is lower than High. The Ultra preset at 65 FPS is only suitable for 60Hz monitors, and the Low preset at 154 FPS, while fast, sacrifices too much visual quality to be recommended. The data clearly shows that the High preset at 4K is the sweet spot for this combo, offering a 45% performance increase over Ultra while maintaining high visual fidelity.