Evolve

The Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination lands at rank 1306 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This pairing demonstrates a clear capability for 1080p play, but its standing drops considerably as resolution and graphical demands increase. The combo’s rank reflects a system that is fundamentally balanced for high-refresh 1080p gaming, yet it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher settings, revealing a distinct performance ceiling defined by the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1306 out of 1695 tested combinations puts it in the 23rd percentile of all tested systems for Evolve, meaning roughly 77% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates. This is a modest result for a CPU that sits in the 82nd percentile among all processors and a GPU that ranks in the 68th percentile among all graphics cards. The data indicates that while both components are individually competent, their combined performance in this specific title is held back by the graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions.

Benchmark results show the CPU is not the bottleneck in most scenarios. The i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25236 places it within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D and just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H, showing that the processor is competitive with other mid-range options. On the GPU side, the RX 5700 XT’s average score of 24731 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, with a delta of only -0.1%, and it sits 0.6% ahead of the GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile. This parity among rivals explains why the combo’s overall rank is so dependent on the specific demands of Evolve rather than raw component strength.

The measured FPS data reinforces this middling position. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 156 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play. However, the transition to 4K Ultra yields just 22.5 FPS, a dramatic drop that pulls the overall ranking down. The system is clearly optimized for lower resolutions, and its rank reflects that bias. In the context of the full database, this is a configuration that will satisfy gamers targeting 1080p, but it does not offer the headroom required for 4K gaming at high fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p Low delivers the highest average FPS at 156, while 1080p High still produces a smooth 97.5 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and performance, 1440p High at 63.7 FPS is also viable, but 4K High drops to 34.3 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 9474F. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D by 0.5%, showing that it is effectively on par with these competing processors in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: Yes. At 4K Ultra, the system produces only 22.5 FPS, while 4K Low yields 60.9 FPS. This massive swing indicates that the RX 5700 XT is overwhelmed by the pixel count at 4K, and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance cannot compensate for the GPU’s rendering limitations.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F had a launch MSRP of $196, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT had a launch MSRP of 399 USD.

Q: How does the GPU rank against other graphics cards?

A: The RX 5700 XT is in the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Arc A350M and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, but 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile.

Q: Does the CPU’s core count help in Evolve?

A: The i5-13400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and a single-thread score of 960. Evolve is not heavily multithreaded, so the high boost clock of 4.60 GHz is more relevant than the core count for maintaining frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases, which clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 35% across all settings. For example, at High settings, the frame rate falls from 97.5 FPS at 1080p to 63.7 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 33.8 FPS. This is a significant decline, but the resulting frame rates remain playable for most users.

The transition from 1440p to 4K is far more punishing. At High settings, the average FPS plummets from 63.7 to 34.3, a 46% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is even more severe, with frame rates collapsing from 44.2 FPS at 1440p to just 22.5 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that the RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 4K, especially with higher graphical presets.

The scaling behavior also shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 156 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to stress the CPU’s single-thread performance. However, the i5-13400F’s boost clock of 4.60 GHz and strong single-thread score of 960 in 3DMark are sufficient to keep up with the GPU’s output at this resolution. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the clear constraint, and the CPU’s role diminishes further.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 156 FPS, Medium yields 121.2 FPS, and High maintains a solid 97.5 FPS. Even Ultra settings manage 68.5 FPS, which is comfortably playable. These numbers show that the system is well-suited for 1080p gaming, with headroom for high refresh rate monitors at lower settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably but remains respectable. Low settings average 107.6 FPS, Medium hits 82.4 FPS, and High dips to 63.7 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 44.2 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay but still technically playable. This resolution represents the practical sweet spot for this combination, balancing visual fidelity with frame rates above 60 FPS at High settings.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles significantly. Low settings produce 60.9 FPS, which is just playable, but Medium drops to 47.1 FPS and High falls to 34.3 FPS. Ultra settings are essentially unplayable at 22.5 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming is only viable with the lowest graphical preset, and even then, the frame rate is marginal. This breakdown confirms that the RX 5700 XT is not designed for 4K gaming in Evolve, as the GPU’s 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 64 ROPs are insufficient for the demands of this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake-S architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores show a strong balance between multi-threaded and single-threaded performance: it scores 21279 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3004 in single-core, while Geekbench results show 10971 multi-core and 2301 single-core.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but its single-thread performance is critical for maintaining high frame rates. The 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and the boost clock of 4.60 GHz allow the processor to feed the GPU efficiently at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 100 FPS. The CPU’s 16 threads are largely underutilized in this game, as the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 is only slightly higher than the 8-thread score of 5591, indicating that Evolve does not scale well beyond eight threads.

The CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking among all processors confirms that it is a capable part, but its performance is not the deciding factor in this combo’s results. The data shows that switching to a more powerful CPU would yield minimal gains, as the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p Low. The i5-13400F’s 65W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward choice for this pairing, but its potential is capped by the RX 5700 XT’s 225W TDP and RDNA 1.0 architecture, which is now end-of-life.