Evolve

# Evolve: Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The Intel Core i5-12400 pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 to form a combination that delivers a broad spectrum of performance in Evolve, ranging from highly playable 4K Ultra at 54 FPS to a staggering 303 FPS at 1080p Low. This pairing ranks 301st out of 3,700 tested combinations, placing it in the top 8% of all configs tested, and the measured data reveals a system that scales predictably and consistently across all resolution and settings tiers.

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 operates on the Intel Socket 1700 platform and features an 18 MB shared L3 cache, with 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core. This desktop-class chip carries a 65 W TDP and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the game's performance data doesn't isolate memory bandwidth as a factor.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,989 and a single-core score of 2,257. Its 3DMark results range from 910 in single-thread to 5,890 in max-threads, and the Geekbench multi-core score is 8,564. The processor's percentileVsAllCpus of 72 indicates it outperforms the majority of CPUs in the database, and its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7643 (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i7-1355U (deltaPct -0.3), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (deltaPct -0.7), and Intel Core i3-14100F (deltaPct 0.9).

For Evolve, a game released in early 2015, the i5-12400's six physical cores and twelve threads provide ample headroom for the game's engine. The measured FPS at 1080p Low — 303 FPS average — suggests that at lower settings, the CPU is not the primary constraint, as the frame rate is extremely high. Even at 1080p Ultra (141 FPS), the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 910) appears sufficient to maintain high frame rates. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,456 further corroborates the CPU's strong per-core capability. Given that Evolve is a 2015 title, it likely relies more on single-thread performance than modern multi-threaded workloads, and the i5-12400's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is more than adequate for this game's demands.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture (AD103 chip) using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. Its base clock is 2205 MHz, boosting to 2505 MHz, and it features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's memory clock runs at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). With 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, 112 ROPs, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores, the RTX 4080 delivers 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The RTX 4080's percentileVsAllGpus of 86 places it well above the median GPU. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (deltaPct 0.1), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (deltaPct -1.1), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (deltaPct -2.6), and AMD Radeon 8060S (deltaPct -2.7). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 and PassMark G3D score of 34,457 highlight the GPU's raw compute capability.

In Evolve, the RTX 4080's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 54, indicating the GPU is heavily loaded — this is a 2015 game pushing a 2022 GPU to its limits at maximum fidelity. The 16 GB VRAM is far more than Evolve requires, but the sheer fill rate and shading power needed for 4K Ultra settings is what drives the frame rate down. The GPU's 112 ROPs and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are critical for high-resolution rendering, and the data shows the RTX 4080 handles 4K High at 78 FPS, suggesting that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load compared to High.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This combination of Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 301st out of 3,700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 8.1% of all configurations. This rank reflects the synergy between a strong mid-range CPU and a high-end GPU. While the i5-12400's percentileVsAllCpus of 72 is respectable, the RTX 4080's percentileVsAllGpus of 86 pulls the combo upward, as the GPU becomes the dominant factor at higher resolutions.

The rank of 301 means there are 300 other combos that outperform this pairing in Evolve, likely featuring more powerful CPUs (such as higher-core-count or higher-clocked parts) paired with similar or better GPUs. However, the delta between this combo and those above it is likely small in absolute FPS terms, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU matters more. At 1080p Low, this combo achieves 303 FPS, which is near the practical ceiling for many displays, so the rank in that scenario is less meaningful. The combo's strength is most evident at 1440p and 4K, where the RTX 4080's capabilities shine, and the i5-12400's 12 threads prevent any meaningful bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings tiers (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing 12 data points. At 1080p, the combo delivers: Low at 303 FPS, Medium at 260 FPS (with min 221 and max 299), High at 204 FPS, and Ultra at 141 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 53% drop in frame rate (303 to 141 FPS), indicating a substantial performance cost for higher settings.

At 1440p, the numbers are: Low at 225 FPS, Medium at 174 FPS (min 148, max 200), High at 137 FPS, and Ultra at 95 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 78 FPS (303 to 225, a 25.7% reduction), while at Ultra the drop is 46 FPS (141 to 95, a 32.6% reduction). At 4K, the FPS figures are: Low at 128 FPS, Medium at 99 FPS (min 84, max 114), High at 78 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 54 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS score in the entire dataset, making it the only scenario where the combo falls below the commonly accepted smoothness threshold.

The Medium settings at each resolution include min and max FPS values: at 1080p (min 221, max 299), 1440p (min 148, max 200), and 4K (min 84, max 114). These ranges indicate consistent frame pacing, with the spread between min and max FPS narrowing as resolution increases, suggesting the GPU becomes the limiting factor more uniformly at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The data reveals a clear resolution scaling pattern. From 1080p to 4K at Low settings, FPS drops from 303 to 128, a 57.8% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 260 to 99 (61.9% reduction), at High from 204 to 78 (61.8% reduction), and at Ultra from 141 to 54 (61.7% reduction). The consistency of these drops (all around 60%) is striking and indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across all settings.

This consistent percentage drop — regardless of settings tier — points to a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K would be larger at lower settings (where FPS is high and CPU-bound) and smaller at higher settings (where FPS is low and GPU-bound). Instead, the uniform ~60% drop suggests that the RTX 4080's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, and the i5-12400 is never the limiting factor even at 4K Low (128 FPS).

The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a 25.7% drop at Low (303 to 225 FPS), while from 1440p to 4K the drop is 43.1% at Low (225 to 128 FPS). This nonlinear scaling (smaller drop to 1440p, larger drop to 4K) is typical of GPU-bound rendering, where the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K (2.25x) is more demanding than from 1080p to 1440p (1.78x). The data confirms that the RTX 4080's 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key determinants of performance at 4K, and the i5-12400's role diminishes as resolution increases.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1440p offers the best balance, with all settings tiers above 95 FPS (Low 225, Medium 174, High 137, Ultra 95), while 4K Ultra drops to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER at 54,209 (deltaPct 0.1), meaning the SUPER is effectively identical in performance, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% ahead with a score of 54,828.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The consistent ~60% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests the RTX 4080's workload scales with pixel count, and the i5-12400 can sustain up to 303 FPS at 1080p Low without bottlenecking.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo delivers an average of 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS, providing a smooth experience well above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from Low to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 225 at Low to 95 at Ultra, a 57.8% reduction (130 FPS difference), showing that Ultra settings cost more than half the frame rate compared to Low.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance matter for this game?

A: The i5-12400's single-thread score of 3,456 in PassMark and 910 in 3DMark single-thread suggests strong per-core performance, which is relevant for a 2015 title like Evolve. The high FPS at 1080p (303 FPS Low) indicates the CPU handles the game's threading model effectively.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the measured data points to 1440p High as the optimal configuration. This setting delivers 137 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a significant improvement over Medium (174 FPS) in visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate high enough for smooth gameplay. At 1440p High, the FPS is 137, which is a 21.3% reduction from Medium (174 FPS) but a 44.2% increase over Ultra (95 FPS), making it the sweet spot between visual fidelity and performance.

If maximum visual quality is the priority, 4K High at 78 FPS is viable for players with high-refresh-rate 4K displays, as it stays above 60 FPS. However, 4K Ultra at 54 FPS falls short of the 60 FPS threshold, so it's not recommended for competitive play. At 1080p, Ultra at 141 FPS provides the highest fidelity at that resolution, but the marginal visual improvement over High (204 FPS) comes with a 30.9% performance penalty. For players with 1080p 60 Hz displays, 1080p High (204 FPS) is more than sufficient, and even 1080p Ultra (141 FPS) exceeds display refresh rates.

The data shows that Low settings provide the highest frame rates (303 FPS at 1080p, 225 FPS at 1440p, 128 FPS at 4K), which are useful for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. However, given the RTX 4080's capabilities, Medium settings at 1440p (174 FPS) or High settings at 1440p (137 FPS) offer a far better visual experience with minimal compromise. The 4K Medium setting (99 FPS) is also a strong option for large-screen 4K TVs, as it maintains a high frame rate while providing the visual benefits of 4K resolution.