Evolve

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core, along with 80 KB of L1 per core. For a game like Evolve, which launched in 2015, the i5-12400's 12 threads are more than sufficient to handle the game's simulation and AI workloads, as evidenced by the benchmark data at 1080p where the CPU is not the limiting factor.

At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 246.1 FPS, which is nearly 2.6 times the frame rate seen at 4K Ultra. This massive headroom at low resolutions indicates that the CPU is feeding the GPU effectively without becoming a bottleneck. The i5-12400's single-thread performance is strong, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249 and 3DMark single-thread score of 910. These results align with the fact that Evolve's engine, being from the early 2010s, relies heavily on a few well-optimized threads for game logic and physics.

The processor's multi-threaded capabilities, demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 and a PassMark multithread score of 18747, ensure that background tasks and streaming don't interfere with frame pacing. In the measured FPS data, the jump from 1080p Medium (193.4 FPS) to 1080p High (150.1 FPS) is a 22% drop, which is fully attributable to GPU workload scaling rather than CPU limits. The i5-12400 ranks in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19850, placing it within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-11600K and 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-9700, confirming it as a solid mid-range performer for gaming.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-12400 bottleneck the AMD Radeon RX 9070 in Evolve?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 246.1 FPS, which is extremely high and indicates the GPU is still the primary performance driver. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, combined with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, are sufficient to keep up with the RX 9070's output in this game.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). It is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894) and 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928).

Q: What is the best resolution to play Evolve with this combo?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 on High settings yields 99.9 FPS, which is a strong balance of visual fidelity and smoothness. For higher refresh rates, 1920x1080 on Medium delivers 193.4 FPS, while 4K High drops to 55.9 FPS.

Q: How much FPS is lost when going from Low to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 246.1 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 103.6 FPS. This represents a 58% reduction in frame rate, showing that Ultra settings impose a heavy GPU load.

Q: Is the RX 9070's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Evolve?

A: Yes. The game's highest measured setting at 4K Ultra averages 40.3 FPS, and the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for this title's textures and geometry.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 562 out of 1695 mean?

A: This indicates that the combination of the i5-12400 and RX 9070 performs in the top third of all tested combos for Evolve, suggesting it is a well-balanced pairing for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves 150.1 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the frame rate drops to 99.9 FPS — a 33% reduction. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 55.9 FPS, which is a 63% drop from 1080p High. This scaling curve is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the RX 9070's rendering workload grows exponentially with pixel count.

The 4K Ultra result of 40.3 FPS versus 4K Low of 96 FPS underscores the same point: the GPU is the bottleneck at high resolutions and settings, not the CPU. At 1080p Low, the 246.1 FPS figure is so high that it suggests the CPU is approaching its practical limit for frame generation, but the i5-12400 still manages to keep the GPU well-fed. The data shows that from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the FPS drop is 50.2 FPS, while from 1440p to 4K at High, the drop is 44 FPS. This consistency indicates that the scaling is driven by pixel count rather than any component-specific limitation.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 stands out as the optimal balance. It delivers 126.4 FPS, which is 27% higher than the High preset at the same resolution (99.9 FPS) and still maintains a high level of visual quality. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs 26.5 FPS, which is a significant trade-off for marginal visual gains in a game from 2015.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers 193.4 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Pushing to High at 1080p reduces the frame rate to 150.1 FPS, still smooth but a 22% drop. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 103.6 FPS, which is playable but not worth the performance hit compared to High. For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 73 FPS is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, as High drops to 55.9 FPS and Ultra falls to 40.3 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold. The data clearly indicates that Medium settings provide the best performance-per-frame-rate ratio across all three resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 562nd out of 1695 tested combinations for Evolve. This places it in the 66th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly one-third of tested configurations perform better. Given the RX 9070's high-end positioning — it ranks in the 79th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 34780 — the combo's mid-tier ranking is primarily due to the CPU's relative position. The i5-12400 sits in the 77th percentile among CPUs, which is slightly lower than the GPU's percentile.

The delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles (77 vs. 79) is small, suggesting a reasonably balanced pairing. However, the combo's rank of 562 indicates that many other combinations feature higher-end CPUs that can push the RX 9070 to higher frame rates in CPU-light scenarios. In Evolve, where the CPU demands are modest, this combo still performs admirably, but the rank shows there is headroom to improve by pairing the GPU with a more powerful processor. The data suggests that for this specific game, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining overall performance, as evidenced by the large FPS swings between settings at the same resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 246.1 FPS, Medium yields 193.4 FPS, High drops to 150.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 103.6 FPS. These results show a linear progression of performance loss as settings increase, with each step from Low to Ultra reducing frame rate by roughly 50 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates are substantially lower but still smooth. Low settings average 164 FPS, Medium achieves 126.4 FPS, High reaches 99.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 72.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 91.3 FPS, which is a 56% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. Low settings still manage 96 FPS, Medium provides 73 FPS, High drops to 55.9 FPS, and Ultra produces just 40.3 FPS. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 150.1 FPS, a 61% decrease, highlighting the exponential cost of 4K rendering. Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent, with Ultra typically delivering 42-45% of the Low frame rate at each resolution. This data confirms that the RX 9070's 128 ROPs and 564.5 GTexel/s texture rate are the primary determinants of performance at higher settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a high-end GPU based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture, featuring the Navi 48 chip manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It packs 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, along with 56 ray-tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1330 MHz, a game clock of 2070 MHz, and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Memory is 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth and 20.1 Gbps effective data rate.

In Evolve, the GPU's role is dominant. The FPS data shows that at 1080p, even the most demanding Ultra setting produces 103.6 FPS, which is limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities rather than the CPU. The RX 9070's FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s are sufficient for high frame rates at 1440p, as evidenced by the 126.4 FPS at Medium settings. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor in this game, as the largest memory allocation for textures at 4K Ultra still allows the card to function without stutter.

The RX 9070 ranks in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA A2 (34866, 0.2% faster), the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34677, 0.3% slower), the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34541, 0.7% slower), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (34511, 0.8% slower). The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 and PassMark G3D score of 25381 reinforce its strong standing. Despite being a next-generation card released in 2025, its performance in Evolve is constrained by the game's older engine, which does not fully utilize the card's modern features like DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4 support.