Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060. The measured data reveals a configuration that scales predictably with resolution, ultimately landing in the upper half of all tested combos. The performance profile is defined by the relationship between the CPU's strong single-thread capabilities and the GPU's substantial rasterization power, with the bottleneck shifting decisively as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating a classic GPU-bound transition. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 123.7 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 reduces that to 81.5 FPS, a 34.1% decrease. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 45.2 FPS, which is 63.5% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern—where each step up in resolution exacts a large, predictable toll—signals that the RTX 5060 is the primary limiter at higher pixel densities.

The story changes when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the configuration reaches 201.8 FPS, which is a 63.1% improvement over High settings at the same resolution. This large gap suggests that at lower settings, the CPU has headroom to push the GPU harder, but the GPU's throughput ceiling is still the dominant factor. However, the scaling from 1080p Low (201.8 FPS) to 1440p Low (136.2 FPS) shows a 32.5% drop, nearly identical to the percentage drop seen in High settings. This consistency implies that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shader output are being taxed uniformly regardless of the visual fidelity.

The most telling data point is the 4K Ultra result: 33.5 FPS. This is less than half of the 4K High score of 45.2 FPS, and a mere 16.6% of the 1080p Low maximum. The Ultra preset imposes a rendering load that the RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus cannot sustain at playable rates. The data indicates that the Intel Core i5-12600KF, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is never the bottleneck here; even at 1080p Low where CPU overhead is highest, the system still delivers 201.8 FPS, suggesting the processor's 4.90 GHz boost clock is adequate for this title's engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 201.8, recorded at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiter. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 33.5 on Ultra to 75 on Low, with the gap between presets indicating the GPU's rendering capacity is saturated.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High yields 81.5 FPS while Ultra drops to 57.2 FPS, a 29.8% performance penalty for the higher visual quality settings.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the CPU in this test environment?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF ranks in the 84th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27827.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with any preset?

A: Yes, only with the Low preset, which produces an average of 75 FPS at 3840x2160. The Medium preset falls short at 58.1 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread benchmark score?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 3309, while the 3DMark single-thread test yields 1016.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 1695 tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 achieves a rank of 848 in Evolve. This places it just above the median, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration for this specific title, it outperforms a significant majority of alternatives. The rank is influenced by the fact that the RTX 5060, while scoring in the 73rd percentile against all GPUs, is paired with a CPU in the 84th percentile, creating a balanced system that neither component holds back the other excessively.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, shows a deltaPct of 0, meaning their average scores are virtually identical (27829 vs 27827). This suggests that for Evolve's workload, the newer architecture of the i5-12600KF offsets the i9's higher core count. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, has a deltaPct of 0 with an average score of 30097 versus the RTX 5060's 30109, indicating near-parity in synthetic benchmarks. However, the measured FPS in Evolve reflects the specific optimizations of this game engine, which may favor one architecture over the other. The rank of 848 suggests that this combo sits in the middle of the pack, meaning there are 847 combinations that deliver higher frame rates in Evolve, likely including those with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 5070 Mobile, which is only 0.6% ahead in synthetic scores but may have different real-world scaling.

Settings Recommendations

For a consistently smooth experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal balance, delivering 104.5 FPS. This provides a 28.2% improvement over High settings at the same resolution while maintaining visual fidelity that is substantially better than Low. At 1920x1080, Medium achieves 155.7 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, and it does so without the visual sacrifices of the Low preset.

If the target is 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 75 FPS. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields 58.1 FPS, which is borderline playable but may suffer from frame pacing issues in fast-paced scenes. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it drops to 57.2 FPS at 1440p and 33.5 FPS at 4K, both of which are below the threshold for competitive FPS play. At 1080p, Ultra produces 86.1 FPS, which is acceptable for single-player but marginal for online play where reaction time is critical. The data supports using Medium as the default setting, with High reserved for 1080p displays that can handle the 123.7 FPS output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration shows its full range. The Low preset achieves 201.8 FPS, which is the highest score recorded across all tests. Medium follows at 155.7 FPS, High at 123.7 FPS, and Ultra at 86.1 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 57.3% reduction in frame rate, with each preset tier exacting a significant toll.

At 2560x1440, the scores compress. Low delivers 136.2 FPS, Medium 104.5 FPS, High 81.5 FPS, and Ultra 57.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 58.0% reduction, similar to 1080p, indicating the GPU is consistently the limiting component. The 1440p High score of 81.5 FPS is close to the 4K Low score of 75 FPS, showing that resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect than preset scaling at this tier.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses under the pixel load. Low yields 75 FPS, Medium 58.1 FPS, High 45.2 FPS, and Ultra 33.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 40 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K remains above 55 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for many players. The data reveals that the RTX 5060's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 19.18 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are insufficient for high-fidelity 4K rendering in Evolve, but the card handles 1440p and 1080p with authority.