Evolve

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for Evolve with the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows that the High preset delivers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, High produces an average of 161.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth competitive play. Moving to 2560x1440, High still holds at 104.5 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for immersive gameplay. Even at 3840x2160, High manages 63.7 FPS, which is playable for a slower-paced FPS title.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with average FPS dropping to 40.8 at 4K, which falls below acceptable smoothness for an action game. At 1440p, Ultra achieves 75.8 FPS, and at 1080p it reaches 111 FPS. These numbers suggest Ultra is viable only for users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate consistency, particularly at lower resolutions.

Medium settings offer a significant performance uplift over High, with 204.8 FPS at 1080p and 135.8 FPS at 1440p. However, the visual quality reduction may not justify the extra frames for most players. Low settings push performance to extreme levels—261.6 FPS at 1080p and 176.7 FPS at 1440p—but these are only relevant for esports-style play with maximum responsiveness.

The data indicates that High is the optimal preset for this combo. It provides the best compromise between visual quality and frame rate, maintaining at least 60 FPS at 4K while delivering high refresh-rate performance at 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines, along with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, delivering 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. Memory consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In the context of Evolve, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are critical. The game's environments and character models require substantial video memory, especially at higher resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient to handle Ultra settings at 1080p and 1440p without exceeding memory limits, as evidenced by playable frame rates. At 4K, the Ultra preset's 40.8 FPS average suggests the GPU is being pushed to its limits, likely due to both compute load and memory bandwidth saturation.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which scores 37507 (a -0.6% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (-2.2% delta). These comparisons show the RTX 4070 performing consistently with similarly positioned hardware.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU scales predictably with settings changes. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces average FPS from 261.6 to 111, a drop of over 57%. This indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at this resolution, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 on High settings provides the best balance, with 104.5 FPS average. This resolution leverages the GPU's capabilities while maintaining high frame rates, unlike 4K where High drops to 63.7 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings in Evolve?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 1080p, Ultra runs at 111 FPS, and at 1440p it achieves 75.8 FPS. However, at 4K, Ultra falls to 40.8 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold for an FPS title.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU scores 37283 on average, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507) and 2.2% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135). It outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 5300M by 2.5%.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 261.6 FPS, which is near the upper limit of typical display refresh rates. The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions, as FPS drops more steeply with Ultra settings.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU and CPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 had a launch MSRP of 599 USD, while the Intel Core i5-14400F had a launch MSRP of $196.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, as listed in its specifications.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 261.6, Medium at 204.8, High at 161.1, and Ultra at 111. This represents a performance span of 150.6 FPS from lowest to highest settings. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 21.7% reduction, while Medium to High drops another 21.3%, and High to Ultra falls 31.1%. The largest relative penalty comes from enabling Ultra, indicating a significant increase in GPU workload.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 176.7, Medium at 135.8, High at 104.5, and Ultra at 75.8. The difference between Low and Ultra is 100.9 FPS. The transition from Medium to High represents a 23.1% decrease, while High to Ultra drops 27.5%. Compared to 1080p, each setting sees roughly a 32-33% reduction in FPS, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 98.4, Medium at 77.2, High at 63.7, and Ultra at 40.8. The gap between Low and Ultra is 57.6 FPS. High to Ultra shows a 35.9% drop, the steepest relative decline across all resolutions. This indicates that Ultra at 4K pushes the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range.

The data reveals that the performance curve is non-linear. At 1080p, the combo delivers high frame rates even at Ultra, but as resolution increases, the Ultra preset's penalty grows disproportionately. This suggests that Evolve's Ultra settings include effects that scale heavily with resolution, such as advanced shadow rendering or post-processing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 427 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the top 25.2% of all configurations tested, indicating a strong performance tier. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing, where the CPU and GPU complement each other without significant bottlenecking.

In the context of the CPU's synthetic benchmarks, the i5-14400F scores in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, 0.2% delta). These close scores suggest the i5-14400F is competitively positioned in processing power.

The GPU's 81st percentile ranking, combined with the CPU's 88th percentile, indicates that this combo benefits from a slightly stronger CPU relative to the GPU market. This is advantageous for Evolve, which relies on both components for consistent frame delivery. The rank of 427 out of 1695 suggests that many higher-tier combos exist, but this configuration still outperforms the majority of tested systems.

The data implies that the combo's ranking is driven by its ability to maintain high FPS at 1080p and 1440p, while still being playable at 4K with adjusted settings. Users seeking higher rankings might consider a more powerful GPU, but the current setup offers a well-rounded experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It uses the Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its 65 W TDP makes it an efficient choice for gaming builds.

In Evolve, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI calculations, which are typically single-threaded or lightly threaded. The i5-14400F's single-core performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 at 3093, is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios. The multi-core score of 21914 in Cinebench R23 indicates that it can also handle background tasks without impacting frame delivery.

The CPU's benchmark data shows a PassMark multithread score of 25783 and a PassMark single-thread score of 3723. These figures place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, confirming its capability. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores nearly identically with a 0% delta, suggesting that the i5-14400F offers comparable performance to a mobile i7 part.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 261.6 FPS, which is a high frame rate that demands strong CPU performance to feed the GPU. The fact that this remains above 250 FPS indicates that the i5-14400F is not a limiting factor at this level. However, at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, the CPU's contribution is less observable.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 33%. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is roughly 40% on average. This steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting component.

At Low settings, the FPS progression is 261.6 at 1080p, 176.7 at 1440p, and 98.4 at 4K. This represents a 32.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 44.3% drop from 1440p to 4K. The larger relative decline at 4K suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capacity are stretched.

At Ultra settings, the FPS progression is 111 at 1080p, 75.8 at 1440p, and 40.8 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 46.2%, which is the largest percentage decrease across all settings. This confirms that Ultra settings at 4K are particularly demanding, likely due to resolution-dependent effects that increase the GPU's workload disproportionately.

The scaling behavior reveals that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, especially at lower settings. Instead, the consistent and significant FPS drops with resolution point to the GPU as the primary performance driver. The i5-14400F's strong single-thread performance ensures that it can keep up with the GPU's demands even at 1080p Low, where frame rates are highest.