Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built on the CryEngine, responds predictably to hardware scaling, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 produces a wide range of frame rates depending on the settings preset and resolution. The measured data indicates that this combination is capable of delivering a fluid experience across most configurations, but the top-tier Ultra preset at 4K pushes the system to its limits, yielding an average of 42.6 FPS. The sweet spot for balancing visual fidelity and performance, particularly for high-refresh-rate monitors, lies in the High preset, which provides a substantial boost over Ultra while maintaining a significant visual upgrade over Medium.

Settings Recommendations

The performance hierarchy across all resolutions is consistent: Low delivers the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra demanding the most from the hardware. At 1080p, the High preset achieves an average of 170.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for competitive play on standard 144Hz displays. Moving to Medium raises the average to 220.6 FPS, a 29.5% increase over High, which could be the better choice for users with 240Hz panels who prioritize maximum fluidity over graphical details. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 284.2 FPS, but the visual sacrifices are typically too steep for a game like Evolve, where environmental clarity is important.

At 1440p, the High preset still holds up admirably with an average of 113.6 FPS, making it the recommended setting for most players at this resolution. This provides a 45% performance headroom over the Ultra preset's 78.3 FPS, allowing for smoother gameplay without dropping to the noticeably lower fidelity of Medium at 148.7 FPS. For those with 1440p 144Hz monitors, High is the clear choice. The Medium preset is a viable fallback if you want to guarantee a frame rate that never dips below the refresh rate, but the data suggests that High is the optimal balance.

At 4K, the picture changes drastically. The High preset's average of 63.7 FPS is borderline for a smooth experience on a 60Hz display, and the Ultra preset's 42.6 FPS is simply not playable for a fast-paced FPS. The Medium preset at 81.8 FPS offers a much more comfortable margin, and the Low preset at 105.9 FPS is the only way to get a truly high-refresh-rate experience at this resolution. Given the data, the best overall experience for this combo is the High preset at 1440p, offering a nearly perfect blend of speed and quality. At 4K, players should default to Medium to ensure a playable frame rate, reserving High for less demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: Can this CPU and GPU combo run Evolve at 4K?

A: Yes, but with compromises. The measured data shows the combo averages 63.7 FPS on High and 81.8 FPS on Medium at 3840x2160. The Ultra preset drops to 42.6 FPS, which is not ideal for an FPS. For a smooth 4K experience, Medium is the highest playable preset.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The High preset is the optimal choice. It averages 113.6 FPS, which is close to the 144Hz target. While the Medium preset achieves 148.7 FPS, it does so with reduced visual fidelity. The High preset offers the best trade-off between image quality and frame rate for this hardware.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance?

A: The performance cost of Ultra is steep. At 1080p, Ultra averages 119.9 FPS, which is 29.6% slower than High's 170.3 FPS. At 1440p, the gap widens, with Ultra at 78.3 FPS versus High's 113.6 FPS, a 31% drop. At 4K, the difference is less pronounced in percentage terms but more critical in playability, with Ultra at 42.6 FPS versus High's 63.7 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in this game?

A: The data suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU's performance is a limiting factor. At 1080p, the frame rates are very high (up to 284.2 FPS on Low), and the scaling from 1440p to 1080p is not linear, indicating that the CPU is reaching its limit. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as frame rates drop significantly.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K on the High preset?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 170.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 63.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 62.6% reduction in performance, showing the massive load increase on the GPU at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 5070's 12 GB of memory sufficient for Evolve?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, there are no indications of memory-related performance issues. The game runs at playable frame rates across all resolutions and presets, except for the most demanding 4K Ultra setting, which is more likely constrained by raw GPU compute power than memory capacity.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 371 out of 1695 tested combos for Evolve. This places the system in the top 21.9% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result given the game's age and the high-end nature of the GPU. The ranking indicates that while there are many faster systems, this combo is well above the median performer and will provide a high-quality gaming experience. The CPU's percentile ranking of 82 among all processors and the GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all graphics cards suggest a well-matched pair, though the system's overall rank is slightly lower than the individual component percentiles, implying that other factors, such as game-specific optimization, play a role. The data shows this is a capable combination, but not a top-tier one, leaving room for faster CPUs or a second GPU to climb the rankings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 284.2 FPS
• Medium: 220.6 FPS
• High: 170.3 FPS
• Ultra: 119.9 FPS

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 192.3 FPS
• Medium: 148.7 FPS
• High: 113.6 FPS
• Ultra: 78.3 FPS

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 105.9 FPS
• Medium: 81.8 FPS
• High: 63.7 FPS
• Ultra: 42.6 FPS

These numbers reveal a clear pattern. At 1080p, the system is capable of exceptionally high frame rates, with even the Ultra preset surpassing the 120 FPS mark. The transition to 1440p results in a significant performance cost, with the High preset dropping from 170.3 to 113.6 FPS, a 33% reduction. At 4K, the GPU is heavily taxed, and the High preset's 63.7 FPS average is the first point where the experience may feel less fluid on a high-refresh-rate display. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for competitive play.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a non-linear scaling of performance as resolution increases. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average frame rate from 170.3 to 113.6 FPS, a 33.3% decrease. This is a substantial drop, but it is still a playable experience. The more dramatic scaling occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, where the High preset falls to 63.7 FPS, a 43.9% reduction from the 1440p figure. This indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K, as the massive increase in pixel count overwhelms the RTX 5070's compute capabilities.

However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe than the jump to 4K, suggesting that the CPU is playing a more significant role at the lower resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the bottleneck, as the frame rates are extremely high and the GPU has enough headroom to render frames quickly. The ratio between resolutions shows that the game is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. This is typical behavior for a modern GPU paired with a mid-range CPU; the i5-13400F has enough power to drive high frame rates at 1080p, but it is the RTX 5070 that struggles to maintain those rates when the resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 21,279 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,004 in single-core, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. Its performance is closely matched by rivals such as the Intel Core i7-13620H and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, with a delta of less than 1%.

For Evolve, the CPU's 16 threads are more than sufficient for a game released in 2015. The game's engine is not known for heavy multi-threading, so the single-core performance and high boost clock of 4.60 GHz are more critical. The data supports this, as the system achieves excellent frame rates at 1080p across all settings. The single-thread benchmark score of 3,004 in Cinebench R23 is strong, and the high 3dmark single-thread score of 960 indicates that the CPU can handle the game's main game logic and physics without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and streaming, ensuring that the gaming experience remains consistent. The CPU's 65W TDP and 10 nm process node make it an efficient choice, but its performance in this game is clearly sufficient to feed the RTX 5070 at 1080p, as evidenced by the 284.2 FPS average on Low settings. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, and the GPU's raw power dictates the final frame rate.