Evolve

# Evolve: Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

This combination delivers exceptional performance in Evolve, ranking 229th out of 1,695 tested combos, placing it in the top 13.5% of all systems. The pairing of Intel's 6-core Alder Lake processor with NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace flagship-tier GPU produces frame rates that comfortably exceed 60 FPS at every resolution and preset tested, with the only sub-60 result occurring at 4K Ultra where the GPU's raw compute limits become apparent.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot, with High settings delivering 126.9 FPS and even Ultra maintaining 90.2 FPS. At 1080p, the system exceeds 128 FPS on all presets, while 4K High achieves 69.1 FPS and 4K Ultra drops to 50.5 FPS.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 posts an average benchmark score of 19,850, placing it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-9700 (19,831) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-11600K (19,771). It trails the Intel Core i7-8700 by 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX by 0.4%.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti a bottleneck at 4K?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 50.5, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The gap between 4K Medium (89.1 FPS) and 4K Ultra (50.5 FPS) represents a 43.3% performance drop, which is substantial and points to heavy GPU load at higher presets.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average is 300.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor. Even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains 128.7 FPS, showing the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How much performance is lost moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the drop is from 185.5 FPS at 1080p to 126.9 FPS at 1440p, a 31.6% reduction. The same settings at 4K yield 69.1 FPS, which is a 62.7% decrease from 1080p High.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration hold back the GPU?

A: Benchmark data shows strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,935 and a single-core score of 2,249. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,873 suggests adequate headroom, and the measured FPS at 1080p Low (300.8 FPS) indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. Its 3DMark scores show a progression from 910 in single-thread to 5,890 in max-thread tests, indicating solid scaling across workloads.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is primarily to maintain high minimum frame rates and feed the GPU. The single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark and PassMark single-thread score of 3,456 suggest strong per-core performance, which is critical for a 2015 FPS title that likely relies on fewer threads. The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 944 and multi-core score of 6,692 demonstrate balanced capability.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 77 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,850, places it in a competitive position. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-9700, scores nearly identically (19,831, delta 0.1%), while the Intel Core i5-11600K is 0.4% behind. This means the i5-12400 provides performance on par with older i7 parts, which is notable for a mid-range processor.

The 65W TDP and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 provide flexibility, though the game's performance is more dependent on the GPU. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,692 and 4-thread score of 3,012 indicate that even at lower thread counts, the CPU maintains strong throughput, which helps avoid bottlenecks in lighter game scenes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the AD104 chip using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It features 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2,310 MHz and boosts to 2,610 MHz, with memory clocked at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Evolve's texture-heavy environments. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 31,624 places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44,900. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45,152 (0.6% higher), while the Intel Arc A730M is 1.5% ahead.

In Evolve, the GPU's compute capabilities are the primary driver of frame rates. The FP32 performance of 40.09 TFLOPS and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s directly influence how quickly the game can render scenes. The measured FPS scaling across presets shows the GPU handles Low settings with ease (300.8 FPS at 1080p) but struggles at 4K Ultra (50.5 FPS), indicating that the 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are not the limiting factors—raw compute is.

The GPU's 285W TDP and 600W suggested PSU indicate substantial power requirements, but the performance per frame justifies this in demanding titles. The 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate and 40.09 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1) capability suggest headroom for future titles, though Evolve's 2015 engine may not fully exploit these modern features.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 229th out of 1,695 tested combinations, placing it in the top 13.5% of all systems tested. This position reflects the strong synergy between the i5-12400's balanced CPU performance and the RTX 4070 Ti's high-end GPU capabilities. The rank is particularly impressive given that the CPU ranks in the 77th percentile and the GPU in the 85th percentile individually, suggesting the pairing extracts near-maximum performance from both components.

The 229th rank out of 1,695 means this system outperforms 1,466 other tested combos. This places it firmly in enthusiast territory, capable of handling Evolve at high settings across all resolutions. The data shows no major bottlenecks, as the FPS scales predictably with resolution and preset changes, indicating a well-balanced system.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing's performance is consistent with its component tier. The CPU's near-identical score to the Intel Core i7-9700 and the GPU's close match to the RTX 5090 Mobile suggest that similar combos would rank within a narrow band. The 1,695 total combos include both higher and lower-end pairings, and this system's position reflects its high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU that does not bottleneck it.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 300.8 FPS, Medium drops to 235.3 FPS, High maintains 185.5 FPS, and Ultra still achieves 128.7 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at the highest preset, the system is well above the 60 FPS threshold, with headroom for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains strong. Low settings yield 205.5 FPS, Medium hits 163 FPS, High achieves 126.9 FPS, and Ultra stays at 90.2 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction of approximately 30-38% across presets, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

At 4K, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings still deliver 114.5 FPS, Medium produces 89.1 FPS, High drops to 69.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only sub-60 FPS measurement in the entire dataset, indicating that this preset pushes the GPU to its maximum capability.

The percentage drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial: Low decreases by 61.9%, Medium by 62.1%, High by 62.7%, and Ultra by 60.8%. These consistent reductions across presets suggest that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU's performance remains constant regardless of resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K gaming, the data suggests High settings (69.1 FPS) as the optimal choice. Ultra drops to 50.5 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium (89.1 FPS) and Low (114.5 FPS) are viable but sacrifice visual quality. High provides the best balance of visual fidelity and smooth gameplay at 4K.

At 1440p, Ultra settings (90.2 FPS) are recommended for the best experience. The system maintains above 90 FPS even at the highest preset, and High (126.9 FPS) offers additional headroom for competitive play. Medium (163 FPS) and Low (205.5 FPS) are excessive for most displays, though they may appeal to users with 240Hz monitors.

For 1080p, Ultra settings (128.7 FPS) provide an excellent experience, with High (185.5 FPS) offering even more headroom. The system's 300.8 FPS at Low settings suggests that competitive players could push frame rates to extreme levels, but the visual trade-off is substantial.

The best overall experience across all resolutions is 1440p Ultra, which delivers 90.2 FPS. This combination of resolution and settings provides a sharp image with smooth gameplay, and the data shows this is a stable configuration. For users prioritizing frame rate over resolution, 1080p High (185.5 FPS) is the most balanced choice.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all presets, with reductions of 60-63%. At Low settings, the system goes from 300.8 FPS at 1080p to 114.5 FPS at 4K, a 61.9% decrease. Medium drops from 235.3 to 89.1 FPS (62.1%), High from 185.5 to 69.1 FPS (62.7%), and Ultra from 128.7 to 50.5 FPS (60.8%).

This uniform scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance remains constant as resolution increases, so the FPS drops are entirely attributable to the GPU's pixel and texture processing workload. The RTX 4070 Ti's 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate and 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate are taxed increasingly as resolution rises.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a 31.6% drop at High settings (185.5 to 126.9 FPS), while the 1440p to 4K transition shows a 45.5% drop (126.9 to 69.1 FPS). This non-linear scaling suggests that 4K presents a significantly higher workload than 1440p, consistent with the 2.25x pixel count increase.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, as evidenced by the 300.8 FPS at Low settings. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with 4K Ultra (50.5 FPS) demonstrating the GPU's limits. This system is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it delivers high frame rates without pushing the GPU to its absolute maximum.