Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS, presents an interesting performance profile for the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination. The measured data shows this pairing is capable of high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but demands careful settings management at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the 10-core processor provides sufficient headroom to keep framerates high at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance cliff when moving from High to Ultra settings, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 108 FPS average, while High produces 169 FPS — a difference of 61 FPS that represents a 56% improvement in frame rate. The Medium preset at 178 FPS offers a more modest 9 FPS advantage over High, suggesting that High is the sweet spot for competitive play at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds. High settings produce 107 FPS, which is excellent for a 1440p experience. The Medium preset yields 112 FPS, only 5 FPS higher, while Ultra drops to 68 FPS. For most users, High at 1440p is the recommended choice, as it provides a 39 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining excellent visual quality. The data shows that the gap between Medium and High is negligible, so there is little reason to sacrifice visual fidelity for that small gain.

The 4K results are where settings choices become critical. At 3840x2160, High settings produce 56 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. Medium settings improve this to 59 FPS, a marginal gain. Low settings provide 78 FPS, which is a substantial 22 FPS improvement over High. Ultra drops to 36 FPS, which is not recommended for gameplay. The recommendation for 4K is to use Low settings to achieve a playable 78 FPS, or accept High at 56 FPS if visual fidelity is prioritized over smoothness.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset appears poorly optimized for this combination, showing disproportionate performance penalties. The data indicates that High is the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1080p and 1440p, while Low is necessary for 4K gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake processor, built on a 10 nm process, demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities that support modern gaming workloads. Benchmark results show a 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and a max-thread score of 7307, indicating consistent scaling across all cores.

The processor's single-thread performance is also noteworthy, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1996. These metrics suggest the i5-13400F can handle the primary game thread efficiently, which is crucial for FPS titles like Evolve. The Cinebench R23 results show a multicore score of 22604 and single-core score of 3191, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role appears to be providing sufficient headroom at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rates of 169 FPS on High settings suggest the processor is not the limiting factor. The 10-core configuration with 16 threads handles the game's background tasks and physics calculations without bottlenecking the RTX 4080. The data indicates that the CPU can push well beyond 200 FPS, as demonstrated by the 199 FPS Low setting result at 1080p.

The processor's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS with an average score of 25284 (0% delta), the Intel Core 5 120 with 25362 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D with 25365 (-0.3% delta). This places the i5-13400F in a competitive position within its performance class, with the average benchmark score of 25292 being nearly identical to its closest rivals.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a formidable graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring the AD103 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. With 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines, the GPU delivers substantial raw compute power. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s, which is critical for high-resolution textures and effects.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed as a base of 2205 MHz and boost of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). These specifications place the RTX 4080 in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER with a score of 54209 (0.1% delta), indicating the two cards are essentially performance equivalents in synthetic benchmarks.

In Evolve, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the RTX 4080 delivers 169 FPS on High settings, demonstrating that the GPU is not taxed heavily at this resolution. However, at 1440p, the frame rate drops to 107 FPS on High settings, showing a 62 FPS decrease that indicates the GPU is beginning to work harder. At 4K, the High setting produces 56 FPS, which is a significant 113 FPS drop from 1080p — a clear indicator that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that memory capacity is not a constraint at any resolution tested. The GPU's compute capabilities, including 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 76 ray tracing cores, provide ample headroom for the game's graphical demands. The data shows that the RTX 4080's performance in Evolve is consistent with its position as a high-end graphics card, capable of delivering excellent frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but requiring settings adjustments at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 1292 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the 65th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing, which provides strong performance but is not at the absolute top tier of tested systems.

This mid-tier ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual components' high percentiles — the CPU at 77th percentile and GPU at 86th percentile. The data suggests that Evolve's performance is not solely dependent on raw hardware capability, but also on how well the components work together. The combination's ranking indicates that there are 1291 other configurations that produce higher frame rates in this game, which could be attributed to factors such as memory configuration, motherboard quality, or specific driver optimizations.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when considering the performance data. At 1080p High settings, the combo achieves 169 FPS, which would place it in the upper echelon of performance. The 4K results, however, drag down the overall ranking, as the 56 FPS average on High settings is not competitive with systems that can maintain higher frame rates at that resolution. This suggests that the combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming but falls short at 4K when compared to more powerful configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. At High settings, the frame rates are 169 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 66.9% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling factor from 1440p to 4K is 52.3%, indicating that the GPU is becoming increasingly strained as pixel count increases.

Low settings show a similar trend: 199 FPS at 1080p, 148 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25.6% from 1080p to 1440p and 60.8% from 1080p to 4K. Medium settings produce 178 FPS, 112 FPS, and 59 FPS respectively, with drops of 37.1% and 66.9%.

The scaling analysis shows that the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p. At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are more balanced, as evidenced by the high frame rates that approach the limits of what most monitors can display. The significant drops at higher resolutions — particularly the 66.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K on High settings — indicate that the RTX 4080's performance is being constrained by the increased pixel workload rather than any CPU limitation.

The Ultra settings demonstrate even more dramatic scaling: 108 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop to 1440p and a 66.7% drop to 4K. The data suggests that Ultra settings are not viable at 4K with this combination, as the 36 FPS result falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: High settings provide 169 FPS average, which is 9 FPS lower than Medium (178 FPS) but offers better visual quality. Ultra settings drop to 108 FPS, so High is the recommended choice for visual fidelity and performance balance.

Q: Can this combination handle 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: Yes, but with limitations. High settings produce 56 FPS average, while Low settings achieve 78 FPS. Ultra settings are not recommended at 4K, as they produce only 36 FPS. For smooth gameplay, Low settings are the best option.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, showing a 0.1% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile and how does it affect gameplay?

A: The i5-13400F is in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25292. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284 with a 0% delta. The CPU provides sufficient performance to avoid bottlenecking at 1080p, where frame rates reach 199 FPS on Low settings.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM on the RTX 4080 sufficient for Evolve?

A: Yes, the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Evolve at all tested resolutions and settings. Memory capacity does not appear to be a limiting factor in any of the measured results.

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

A: This combination ranks 1292 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the 65th percentile. This ranking is lower than the individual component percentiles (CPU at 77th, GPU at 86th), indicating that other system factors influence the game's performance.