Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve with the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER reveals a clear pattern where resolution scaling heavily influences performance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 159.5 FPS, which drops to 110 FPS at 1440p and further to 63.2 FPS at 4K. That represents a 31% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and another 42.5% drop moving to 4K. The scaling is steep, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Looking at High settings, the progression is 97.1 FPS at 1080p, 62.8 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 35.3%, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 39.5%. This consistent ~35-40% penalty per resolution step suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions. The 256-bit memory bus is adequate for 1440p but struggles to feed the pixel throughput required at 4K.

Ultra settings tell an even more telling story. At 1080p, the combo manages 70.2 FPS, which is playable but not high-refresh territory. At 1440p, that falls to 45.5 FPS, and at 4K it collapses to 25 FPS. The 64.4% drop from 1080p to 4K on Ultra is the steepest of any settings tier, demonstrating that the combination of maxed graphical features and high resolution overwhelms the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 2176 shading units simply cannot keep pace when every effect is enabled at 4K.

The data indicates that this pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming, where even Ultra settings remain above 70 FPS. At 1440p, Medium settings (81.6 FPS) provide a solid experience, while High (62.8 FPS) is borderline. At 4K, only Low settings (63.2 FPS) approach fluidity, and even then, the frame rate is far from ideal for competitive play. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than capable of feeding the GPU at all resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent scaling pattern.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER's role in Evolve is defined by its Turing architecture, which brings 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores to the table. While Evolve itself does not heavily leverage ray tracing, these specialized units contribute to the GPU's overall throughput. The base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the 175 W TDP keeps power draw reasonable for a dual-slot card.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 14 Gbps effective provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is the key constraint at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 25 FPS result shows that the memory subsystem and compute units are both maxed out. The 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s become bottlenecks at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its position. The PassMark G3D score of 16462 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 reflects its DirectX 12 Ultimate capabilities. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 87670 and Vulkan score of 83503 show strong compute performance. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, scores 19706 (0.3% higher), while the RTX 2070 scores 19680 (0.5% higher). This places the RTX 2060 SUPER squarely between older flagship and newer mid-range offerings.

In Evolve specifically, the GPU's DX12 performance (PassMark DirectX 12 score of 61) is notably weaker than its DX11 score of 130, which may explain why the game's Ultra preset, which likely uses more advanced features, sees such steep drops. The 12 nm process node from TSMC means the chip runs hot relative to newer nodes, but the 229 mm length and dual-slot design allow for adequate cooling in most cases.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the sweet spot, with all settings tiers exceeding 70 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (110 FPS) and Medium (81.6 FPS) remain consistently fluid. 4K is only playable on Low settings at 63.2 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070 (19680). These are negligible differences in synthetic tests.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: No. The Intel Core i5-12600KF's benchmark results, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and single-core score of 3309, indicate the CPU has ample headroom. The FPS scaling pattern across resolutions is consistent with GPU-bound performance.

Q: What settings should be used for 4K gaming?

A: Only Low settings (63.2 FPS) provide acceptable frame rates. Medium drops to 46.7 FPS, High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 25 FPS, all of which are below ideal playability thresholds.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 1223 out of 1695 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 28th percentile of all configurations. This reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than any CPU deficiency.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER's memory bandwidth sufficient for Evolve?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate, as evidenced by the playable frame rates. However, at 4K Ultra, the 25 FPS result suggests the memory subsystem is overwhelmed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings tiers. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 159.5 FPS on Low, 121.6 FPS on Medium, 97.1 FPS on High, and 70.2 FPS on Ultra. These figures show a clear linear progression where each settings tier costs roughly 20-25% of the previous tier's performance. The gap between Low and Ultra is 56% at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, performance drops to 110 FPS on Low, 81.6 FPS on Medium, 62.8 FPS on High, and 45.5 FPS on Ultra. The relative penalty between Low and Ultra is 58.6%, slightly steeper than at 1080p. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU's compute units are more heavily taxed by the additional effects enabled at each settings tier.

At 3840x2160, the numbers become more constrained: 63.2 FPS on Low, 46.7 FPS on Medium, 38 FPS on High, and 25 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra gap widens to 60.4%, indicating that the 4K pixel count amplifies the cost of each graphical enhancement. The absolute ceiling of 63.2 FPS at 4K Low is telling — even the most basic settings cannot push past this threshold, confirming the GPU as the primary limiter.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, 1080p to 1440p costs 31% on Low, 32.9% on Medium, 35.3% on High, and 35.2% on Ultra. The 1440p to 4K transition is steeper: 42.5% on Low, 42.8% on Medium, 39.5% on High, and 45.1% on Ultra. This non-linear scaling is a hallmark of memory bandwidth saturation, as the 448.0 GB/s becomes increasingly insufficient at higher pixel densities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank in Evolve is 1223 out of 1695 tested configurations, placing it in the lower third of all combinations. This ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 2060 SUPER's position in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-12600KF sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. The disparity between CPU and GPU performance tiers is evident in the game's frame rates.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 27827 places it nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27851, -0.1% delta). This means the i5-12600KF is effectively at parity with its direct sibling and a previous-generation flagship in synthetic tests. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700H, scores 27716 (0.4% higher), showing that the desktop chip holds its own against a newer mobile part.

On the GPU side, the RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 is only 0.3% higher than the GTX TITAN and 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070. These are essentially statistical ties, meaning the GPU's performance class is well established. The 63rd percentile ranking reflects a card that was mid-range at launch and remains so today.

In Evolve specifically, the 1223rd ranking out of 1695 combos means that 472 configurations perform worse, while 1222 perform better. This puts the combo in the 27.9th percentile of tested systems for this game. The ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data — the combo delivers playable 1080p performance and acceptable 1440p on Medium, but cannot compete with higher-end GPUs at 4K. For a game released in 2015, this modern mid-range pairing offers a solid experience at mainstream resolutions, though the GPU's age limits its ceiling.