Evolve

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a playable experience in Evolve, but the data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo produces smooth, high-refresh-rate gameplay, while 4K pushes the GPU to its limits, resulting in a dramatic performance drop. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to identify the bottleneck and provide actionable settings recommendations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep performance curve as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 97 FPS at 1080p to 65 FPS at 1440p, a 33% reduction, and then further to 37 FPS at 4K, a 43% drop from 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the RX 6600 XT's rendering throughput is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior is telling. At Low settings, the combo achieves 160 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 53 FPS, while the move to 4K costs another 46 FPS. This near-linear decline suggests the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth—specifically its 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate—are being saturated. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for this 2015 title, but the 128-bit bus width becomes a bottleneck at 4K.

The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly pronounced at Ultra settings, where the average FPS falls from 45 to 26, a 42% reduction. This is the largest relative drop across any settings-to-resolution pairing in the data. It indicates that Ultra's additional shading and texture work disproportionately taxes the GPU's 2048 shading units at 4K. Conversely, the 1080p to 1440p drop at Ultra is 33% (from 67 to 45 FPS), which is more moderate.

The data strongly suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 160 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are keeping pace. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, as the GPU would have headroom. Instead, the consistent 30-40% drops across each resolution step point squarely at the GPU as the performance ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the Medium preset emerges as the optimal choice from the measured rows. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 124 FPS average with a minimum of 105 FPS and maximum of 143 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for smooth gameplay, while still offering improved visuals over Low. The minimum FPS of 105 ensures that even intense combat sequences with multiple monsters and effects will not cause noticeable stuttering.

At 2560x1440, Medium remains the sweet spot, yielding an 83 FPS average with a 71 FPS minimum and 96 FPS maximum. This is well within the range of high-refresh-rate monitors and provides a significant visual upgrade over the 107 FPS average seen at Low settings. The 71 FPS minimum is above the 60 FPS standard, meaning the experience remains consistent even during demanding scenes.

For 4K resolution, the data does not support High or Ultra settings. At 3840x2160, High averages 37 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, while Ultra falls to 26 FPS, which is borderline unplayable for a fast-paced FPS. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 47 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum and 54 FPS maximum. While this is not ideal, it is the only playable option at 4K from the measured data. Players prioritizing frame rate over resolution should consider dropping to Low, which achieves 61 FPS at 4K.

The High preset at 1080p, which averages 97 FPS, is a reasonable alternative for those who want better shadows and textures than Medium provides, but the 27 FPS loss compared to Medium is substantial. The Ultra preset at any resolution is difficult to recommend; at 1080p it drops to 67 FPS, and at 1440p it falls to 45 FPS. The visual gains from Ultra over High are typically marginal in a game from 2015, making the performance cost prohibitive.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and a single-core score of 1680. The PassMark multi-thread score of 19433 and single-thread score of 3481 further confirm its capability.

In the context of Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The data indicates that this processor is more than sufficient for the task. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 160 FPS, which reflects the CPU's ability to process frames quickly. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 show that the processor scales well with multi-threaded workloads, which is relevant for background tasks while gaming.

The CPU's L3 cache of 18 MB (shared) and L2 cache of 1.25 MB per core provide ample storage for frequently accessed game data. The processor's 73rd percentile ranking among all tested CPUs places it comfortably above average, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (avgScore 19047) and Intel Core 3 201E (avgScore 19056), show near-identical performance with deltaPct values of 0 and -0.1, respectively. This suggests that the i5-12400F is not a weak link in this pairing.

The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 26, which is a GPU-bound scenario. At lower resolutions, the CPU has enough headroom to push frame rates above 120 FPS at Medium and High settings. The conclusion is that the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Evolve, and any performance bottlenecks in this system are squarely attributable to the GPU.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the best resolution. At Medium settings, it delivers a 124 FPS average with a 105 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth, high-refresh-rate gameplay. At 2560x1440, the same settings yield 83 FPS average, which is also playable, but 4K drops below 60 FPS on all presets except Low.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 24442, placing it in the 70th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, scores 24277, a deltaPct of 0.7. The Intel Arc A350M scores 24647, a deltaPct of -0.8. This indicates the RX 6600 XT performs on par with these cards, though the data does not include their in-game Evolve performance.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 160 FPS average, which is a high frame rate that would stress the CPU. The i5-12400F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 suggest it has ample processing power for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 107 FPS, while High settings average 65 FPS. This is a 42 FPS difference, or a 39% reduction in frame rate. The GPU's shading units and TMUs are the limiting factor as settings increase.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 6600 XT cause issues at 4K?

A: The data shows a significant FPS drop at 4K, with Ultra averaging 26 FPS and High averaging 37 FPS. While the 8 GB GDDR6 memory is not explicitly measured as a constraint, the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus width are likely contributing to the performance decline at this resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2638 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the lower portion of the ranking. This rank reflects the overall performance of the i5-12400F and RX 6600 XT pairing in this specific game, which is below the median of all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the Navi 23 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Its memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s.

The GPU's role in Evolve is clearly the dominant factor in determining frame rates. The data shows that as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops consistently across all settings. At 1080p Medium, the 124 FPS average demonstrates the GPU's capability at lower resolutions. However, the 4K Ultra result of 26 FPS highlights its limitations at extreme resolutions.

The GPU's pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are moderate figures that explain the 4K performance. At 3840x2160, the GPU must render over 8 million pixels, and the fill rate becomes a bottleneck. The FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS is sufficient for a 2015 title, but the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is likely saturated at 4K High and Ultra settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context. Its PassMark G3D score of 16461 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 place it in the 70th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, the GTX 1630 (deltaPct 0.7) and RTX 2080 SUPER (deltaPct 1.1), show that the RX 6600 XT performs within a narrow band of comparable cards. The data clearly indicates that for Evolve, the GPU is the performance ceiling, particularly at 1440p and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings achieve the highest average of 160 FPS. Medium settings produce a 124 FPS average, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. High settings drop to a 97 FPS average, while Ultra settings average 67 FPS. The 93 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution shows a wide range of GPU headroom.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 107 FPS. Medium settings deliver 83 FPS average, with a 71 FPS minimum and 96 FPS maximum. High settings average 65 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 45 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with an average reduction of approximately 33%.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low settings are the only preset to break 60 FPS, averaging 61 FPS. Medium settings average 47 FPS, with a 40 FPS minimum and 54 FPS maximum. High settings average 37 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 26 FPS. The minimum FPS of 40 at Medium indicates that even this preset can experience noticeable slowdowns during heavy action sequences.

The measured data shows that the jump from 1440p to 4K is more punishing than the jump from 1080p to 1440p. At High settings, the 1440p to 4K drop is 28 FPS, while the 1080p to 1440p drop is 32 FPS. This pattern suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth is a critical constraint, as the increased pixel count at 4K requires more data to be moved through the 128-bit bus.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination ranks 2638 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve. This places the system in the bottom 29% of all configurations tested, indicating that while it is playable, it is not a high-end setup for this title. The ranking reflects the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance is adequate.

The rank is influenced by the GPU's 70th percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU's 73rd percentile among all CPUs. However, the combination's in-game rank is lower than either component's individual percentile, suggesting that the pairing does not synergize optimally for Evolve. The GPU's end-of-life production status and the game's 2015 release date may contribute to this mismatch.

In comparison to other tested combos, this system is positioned below the median. The data shows that at 1080p, the combo can compete with higher-ranked systems, but at 4K, its performance falls off sharply. The 26 FPS average at 4K Ultra is a significant weakness, as many other combos in the benchmark database would likely achieve higher frame rates at this resolution. The rank of 2638 is a reflection of the system's overall capability across all tested resolutions and settings, weighted toward the more demanding scenarios.