Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 159.2 FPS at 1080p to 107.1 FPS at 1440p, then to 63.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 32.7% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 40.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The magnitude of these drops indicates that at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, though the CPU still has headroom to push higher frame rates at 1080p.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern shifts slightly. The average FPS goes from 121.5 at 1080p to 82.1 at 1440p, then to 47.4 at 4K. The percentage drops are 32.4% and 42.3% respectively. Interestingly, the relative scaling is nearly identical to Low settings, suggesting that the rendering workload scales similarly across these two presets. At High settings, we see 97.4 FPS at 1080p, 66.3 at 1440p, and 38.7 at 4K — drops of 31.9% and 41.6%. The Ultra preset shows the most aggressive scaling: 64.6 FPS at 1080p, 47.8 at 1440p, and 25.6 at 4K, with reductions of 26.0% and 46.4%.

The data reveals that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the dominant bottleneck at 4K across all settings. Even at Low, the 4K average of 63.9 FPS is barely above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 4K drops to a barely playable 25.6 FPS. At 1080p, however, the CPU's role becomes more apparent. The gap between Low (159.2 FPS) and Medium (121.5 FPS) at 1080p is 37.7 FPS, which is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (24.1 FPS). This suggests that at 1080p Low, the i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, but the GPU still limits the absolute ceiling.

The resolution scaling behavior points to a system where the GPU is the limiting component from 1440p upward, while at 1080p the combination is more balanced. At 1080p Ultra, the 64.6 FPS result is actually lower than the 4K Low result of 63.9 FPS, which is an unusual inversion that highlights how much the Ultra preset's additional graphical effects tax the GPU regardless of resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1219 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the 28th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning roughly 72% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance class; the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable but not top-tier.

The CPU itself performs admirably in synthetic benchmarks. The i5-12400 achieves an average benchmark score of 19850, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-9700 (average score 19831, delta 0.1%), Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928, delta -0.4%), and Intel Core i5-11600K (19771, delta 0.4%). The CPU's performance is essentially identical to these rivals, with deltas of less than half a percent in either direction.

On the GPU side, the RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706, delta 0.3%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (19680, delta 0.5%), NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19623, delta 0.8%), and NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19519, delta 1.3%). The RTX 2060 SUPER leads all of these rivals, but by margins of 1.3% or less.

Given that the GPU's percentile ranking (63rd) is lower than the CPU's (77th), the combo rank primarily reflects the GPU's performance ceiling. In a game like Evolve, which is a fast-paced FPS, the measured frame rates at 1080p are strong (64.6 to 159.2 FPS across settings), but at 4K the GPU's limitations become pronounced. The combo rank of 1219 out of 1695 suggests that while this pairing is competent for 1080p gaming, it is not optimized for high-resolution play.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 delivers the highest frame rates across all settings, with averages ranging from 64.6 FPS at Ultra to 159.2 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the range drops to 47.8–107.1 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 25.6–63.9 FPS.

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

A: The i5-12400's average benchmark score is 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831), 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894), 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX (19928), and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771). These are all within a fraction of a percent.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER faster than the RTX 2070?

A: No. The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, while the RTX 2070 scores 19680. The RTX 2060 SUPER leads by 0.5% according to the deltaPct of 0.5, meaning it is actually slightly faster than the RTX 2070 in these benchmarks.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 97.4 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is a comfortable frame rate for most FPS gaming scenarios.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 25.6 FPS at Ultra to 63.9 FPS at Low. Only the Low preset reaches 60 FPS or above; Medium (47.4 FPS) and High (38.7 FPS) fall below that threshold.

Q: What is this combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 1219 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it below the median performance tier.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience, the data points to specific settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 60 FPS except Ultra, which averages 64.6 FPS — still above 60 but with less headroom. The Medium preset at 121.5 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom, nearly doubling the 60 FPS target. High at 97.4 FPS is also strong, while Low at 159.2 FPS leaves significant performance on the table.

At 2560x1440, the choice narrows. Low settings average 107.1 FPS, Medium averages 82.1 FPS, and High averages 66.3 FPS — all above 60. Ultra drops to 47.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. For a 1440p monitor, High settings at 66.3 FPS provide the highest visual quality while maintaining a playable frame rate, though Medium at 82.1 FPS offers more buffer for demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 63.9 FPS. Medium (47.4 FPS), High (38.7 FPS), and Ultra (25.6 FPS) all fall below 60 FPS. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires dropping to Low settings, or accepting sub-60 frame rates with higher presets. Given the large frame rate differences, the optimal experience is likely at 1440p with High settings, which balances the GPU's capabilities with visual fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 159.2, Medium 121.5, High 97.4, and Ultra 64.6. The spread from Low to Ultra is 94.6 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant performance cost over Low.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 107.1, Medium 82.1, High 66.3, and Ultra 47.8. The spread here is 59.3 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, showing that resolution scaling compresses the differences between presets.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 63.9, Medium 47.4, High 38.7, and Ultra 25.6. The spread is 38.3 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the dominant constraint, and preset choices have less relative impact on frame rate.

Comparing across resolutions, the drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is: Low 52.1 FPS, Medium 39.4 FPS, High 31.1 FPS, and Ultra 16.8 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is: Low 43.2 FPS, Medium 34.7 FPS, High 27.6 FPS, and Ultra 22.2 FPS. The absolute FPS losses decrease as settings increase, but the percentage losses remain similar, as noted in the Resolution Scaling section.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 shows strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 15935, while the single-core score is 2249. The Cinebench R20 results are 6692 multi-core and 944 single-core, and Cinebench R15 shows 1606 multi-core and 226 single-core. In 3DMark tests, the CPU scores 5873 with 16 threads, 4745 with 8 threads, 3012 with 4 threads, 1692 with 2 threads, and 910 with a single thread. The maximum thread score is 5890.

The CPU's performance in Evolve is sufficient to avoid being a bottleneck at most settings. At 1080p Low, the game reaches 159.2 FPS, which is well above what the RTX 2060 SUPER can sustain at higher resolutions. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate for this 2015 FPS title, which was released on 2015-02-09 and does not require the high core counts found in more modern games.

The i5-12400's PassMark scores further illustrate its capabilities: multi-thread score of 18747, single-thread score of 3456, physics score of 1105, and floating-point math of 45494. The integer math score is 58366, and data encryption scores 11418. These results indicate a well-rounded processor that can handle both gaming and productivity workloads. In the context of Evolve, the CPU's clock speed of 4.40 GHz boost is more relevant than its core count, as the game's single-threaded performance will benefit from higher clocks. The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is a capable partner for the RTX 2060 SUPER, though the combo rank of 1219 out of 1695 shows that the GPU limits the overall experience in this particular game.