Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable but mixed experience in Evolve, depending heavily on your resolution and quality expectations. This combo ranks 1480th out of 1695 tested configurations in this game, placing it well below the median. The measured data reveals a system that can handle 1080p gaming comfortably at most settings but struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at higher resolutions. The CPU is a modern 10-core, 16-thread Alder Lake part with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, while the GPU is an end-of-life Turing-based card with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory. Together, they produce a profile that is clearly GPU-limited across the board, with the GTX 1660 Ti acting as the primary bottleneck in Evolve's demanding scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The sweet spot for this combination is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, where the measured average of 95.7 FPS provides a comfortable margin above typical 60 Hz displays. This setting balances visual quality with performance headroom, allowing for smooth gameplay even during chaotic monster encounters. The High preset at 1080p drops to 74.5 FPS, which remains playable but leaves less room for frame time spikes. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest measured average of 127.3 FPS, making it the best choice for players prioritizing responsiveness over visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset still manages a respectable 66.1 FPS, but the High preset falls to 48.5 FPS, which may feel sluggish for a fast-paced FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it produces only 52.4 FPS at 1080p and drops to a nearly unplayable 20.5 FPS at 4K. For the best overall experience, stick to Medium at 1080p or 1440p; the quality-to-performance ratio is clearly the most favorable in the measured data. The data indicates that Low settings at 4K (48 FPS) are actually more playable than Ultra at 1080p (52.4 FPS), which tells you how steeply the Ultra preset taxes this GPU. If you own a 144 Hz monitor, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that consistently approaches that refresh rate territory.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 10 cores and 16 threads running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosting up to 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark results place it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27827. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27829, a delta of 0%, meaning the i5-12600KF effectively matches a flagship previous-generation part. The i5-12600K scores 27851, just 0.1% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H trails by 0.2% at 27872, and the Intel Core i7-13700H leads by 0.4% at 27716. In multithreaded workloads, the i5-12600KF posts a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309, indicating strong per-thread performance that benefits games like Evolve.

Despite this CPU capability, the measured frame rates in Evolve show that the processor is rarely the limiting factor. The 3DMark scores illustrate the thread scaling: 1995 in the 2-thread test, 3806 in the 4-thread test, 6128 in the 8-thread test, and 7956 in the 16-thread test. The game's performance scales with resolution and settings in a pattern that points squarely at GPU limitation. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system hits 127.3 FPS, which is high enough to engage the CPU more meaningfully, but even then, the GPU's PassMark G3D score of 12871 (55th percentile) suggests it is doing the heavy lifting. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for Evolve, which was released in 2015 and does not require the latest multithreading capabilities. The i5-12600KF's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 of 1.25 MB provide ample fast storage for game data, ensuring that CPU-side frame pacing is not a concern at the settings where the GPU can keep up.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the defining component in this configuration, and its characteristics explain the performance ceiling observed in the measured data. Built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip on a 12 nm process, this GPU has 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and it uses 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The GPU's PassMark G3D score is 12871, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13925. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla K10 at 14029 (0.7% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 at 13812 (0.8% lower). This places the GTX 1660 Ti in the mid-range tier, adequate for 1080p gaming but stretched at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 6 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Evolve's texture demands at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset likely exceeds both the memory capacity and the compute capability, explaining the 20.5 FPS average. The FP32 performance of 5.437 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s are modest by modern standards, and the texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s shows the card's limitations when handling high-detail scenes. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings reduces performance by roughly 35-40%, and moving from 1440p to 4K cuts it by another 40-45%. This scaling is consistent with a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution increases. The GTX 1660 Ti's DirectX 12 PassMark score of 51 and DirectX 11 score of 103 indicate that the card is better optimized for older APIs, which aligns with Evolve's 2015 release date and its likely DirectX 11 rendering path.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 60 FPS in 1080p?

A: Yes, at Medium settings the measured average is 95.7 FPS, and at High it is 74.5 FPS. Both presets exceed 60 FPS at 1920x1080, providing smooth gameplay for most users.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data clearly shows the GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-12600KF ranks in the 84th percentile of CPUs, while the GTX 1660 Ti sits in the 55th percentile. The FPS drops across resolutions follow a GPU-bound pattern, not a CPU-bound one.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 66.1 FPS, which is the only 1440p setting that maintains a playable frame rate above 60. High drops to 48.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34.6 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest CPU rival?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 27827 on average, matching the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27829 (0% delta). It trails the i5-12600K by only 0.1% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H by 0.2%, while leading the Intel Core i7-13700H by 0.4%.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: Only at Low settings, where the measured average is 48 FPS. Medium drops to 37.8 FPS, High to 30.1 FPS, and Ultra becomes unplayable at 20.5 FPS. For a consistent experience, 1080p or 1440p are the practical choices.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti's average benchmark score is 13925, which is 0.4% below the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871, 0.7% above the NVIDIA Tesla K10 at 14029, and 0.8% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 at 13812.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance decline as resolution increases, indicative of a GPU-bound system. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 127.3 FPS, which drops to 86.1 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 32% reduction) and further to 48 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 44% reduction from 1440p). The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 95.7 FPS at 1080p, 66.1 FPS at 1440p (31% drop), and 37.8 FPS at 4K (43% drop). High settings show 74.5 FPS at 1080p, 48.5 FPS at 1440p (35% drop), and 30.1 FPS at 4K (38% drop). The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 52.4 FPS at 1080p, falling to 34.6 FPS at 1440p (34% drop), and collapsing to 20.5 FPS at 4K (41% drop).

This scaling pattern is classic for a GPU-limited scenario. The percentage drops between resolutions are relatively consistent across settings, ranging from 31% to 35% for the 1080p-to-1440p transition and 38% to 44% for the 1440p-to-4K transition. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to hold more steady at higher resolutions, since the CPU workload does not scale with resolution. Instead, the consistent drops indicate that the GTX 1660 Ti's pixel processing and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The 6 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p but become strained as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The GPU's 48 ROPs and 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply not sufficient to maintain high fill rates at 4K, especially with the Ultra preset's increased shadow and effect complexity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. The Low preset averages 127.3 FPS, providing a highly responsive experience suitable for competitive play. Medium averages 95.7 FPS, offering a good balance of quality and speed. High averages 74.5 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. Ultra is the weakest at 1080p, with an average of 52.4 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering during intense action sequences.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are significant but manageable at lower settings. Low averages 86.1 FPS, maintaining smooth gameplay. Medium averages 66.1 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 48.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. Ultra averages 34.6 FPS, making it difficult to play smoothly.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. Low averages 48 FPS, barely playable. Medium averages 37.8 FPS, which is choppy. High averages 30.1 FPS, approaching the edge of playability. Ultra averages 20.5 FPS, making the game essentially unplayable at this setting. The data shows that the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting factor throughout, as the i5-12600KF's strong benchmark scores (84th percentile CPU vs. 55th percentile GPU) indicate the processor has ample headroom. For a better 4K experience, the GPU would need to be upgraded significantly; the data suggests that even a modest GPU improvement would yield substantial FPS gains at higher resolutions, while CPU upgrades would provide minimal benefit in this title.