Evolve

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT lands at rank 2342 out of 3700 tested combinations in Evolve. That places this combo in the 37th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly two-thirds of the tested configurations in the database deliver higher average frame rates in this title. For a 2015 FPS, this result is surprisingly mid-pack — the game's age does not guarantee a high rank when the hardware mix includes modern flagships and specialized esports builds.

What makes this rank particularly interesting is the asymmetry between the two components. The CPU sits at the 90th percentile among all processors tested, while the GPU ranks at only the 60th percentile among all graphics cards. When a high-end 14-core processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card, the bottleneck is almost always on the visual side, and the data for Evolve supports that interpretation. The combo's overall standing in this game is dragged down by the GPU's relative position, not the CPU's capability.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each component clarifies the picture. The i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618 is virtually identical to the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, only 0.2% higher) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48287, 0.7% lower). These are all very close performers, suggesting the CPU is not the differentiator here. Meanwhile, the RX 7600 XT's average score of 17083 sits just 0.3% above the GeForce GTX 690 (17037) and 0.4% above the Radeon HD 7970M (17019), while trailing the RTX 3070 (17208) by 0.7%. The GPU is competing in a tight band of mid-range performance, and that band determines how this combo fares in Evolve's specific rendering demands.

The measured FPS data reinforces this ranking. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 71 FPS, which is playable but not exceptional. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 27 FPS — a slideshow by modern standards. These numbers place the combo firmly in "playable at reduced settings" territory for Evolve, not as a top-tier performer.

# FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p is the sweet spot. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 130 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS, which provides a smooth experience. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS — still playable but noticeably less fluid. At 4K, even Medium settings only reach 50 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum.

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

A: The i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618 is nearly identical to its closest competitors. It trails the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by just 0.2% (48698) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 by 0.8% (48995), while leading the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.3% (48470) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX by 0.7% (48287). This indicates the CPU is performing exactly where expected for its class.

Q: What does the GPU's percentile ranking mean for gameplay?

A: The RX 7600 XT sits at the 60th percentile among all GPUs tested. In Evolve specifically, this translates to 168 FPS at 1080p Low, but only 27 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 60th percentile position suggests the card is capable for 1080p and some 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra results show its limits clearly.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The data strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and high multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core: 24491, Geekbench multi-core: 16673) far exceed what Evolve requires. The GPU's 60th percentile and the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions point to graphics processing as the constraint.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p across different settings?

A: At 1440p, the combo ranges from 113 FPS on Low to 48 FPS on Ultra. Medium settings provide 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum, which is the most balanced option for maintaining fluidity while improving visual quality over Low settings.

Q: What is the FPS penalty for enabling Ultra settings?

A: Compared to Medium settings at the same resolution, Ultra reduces average FPS by roughly 45% at 1080p (from 130 to 71), 45% at 1440p (from 87 to 48), and 46% at 4K (from 50 to 27). The consistency of this penalty across resolutions suggests it is a uniform rendering cost rather than a resolution-dependent effect.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of playable settings for Evolve with this combo. At 1080p, all four settings presets are technically playable, but the quality of the experience varies dramatically. Low settings produce 168 FPS, which is excessive for most displays — this is wasted performance that could be traded for better visuals. Medium settings at 130 FPS with a 111 FPS minimum offer the best balance: smooth frame pacing, headroom for demanding scenes, and improved visual fidelity over Low. High settings at 102 FPS remain fluid, while Ultra at 71 FPS is the threshold where responsiveness starts to feel less crisp.

At 1440p, the recommendation narrows. Low settings at 113 FPS are playable but sacrifice visual quality. Medium at 87 FPS with a 74 FPS minimum is the sweet spot — the minimum stays above 60 FPS, which is the conventional floor for smooth gameplay. High at 69 FPS dips close to that floor, and Ultra at 48 FPS falls below it, making those presets riskier for consistent performance.

At 4K, only Low settings at 64 FPS achieve playable frame rates. Medium at 50 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum will feel stuttery in action sequences, High at 39 FPS is marginal, and Ultra at 27 FPS is not viable for a fast-paced FPS. The data indicates that 4K is only feasible with the lowest preset, and even then, the experience is not ideal.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium depending on display resolution. Both configurations keep the average FPS above 85 and the minimum above 70, which provides the responsiveness that an FPS title like Evolve demands. Higher presets trade too much frame rate for visual gains that are marginal at typical viewing distances.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers four settings presets across three resolutions, providing a complete picture of this combo's behavior in Evolve.

1080p (1920x1080): Low settings produce 168 FPS average — the highest recorded for this combo. Medium settings deliver 130 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS, showing strong consistency. High settings reach 102 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 71 FPS average, which is the largest single-preset penalty at this resolution, representing a 58% reduction from Low.

1440p (2560x1440): Low settings achieve 113 FPS average, a 33% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings deliver 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 101 FPS — the tightest min/max spread across all tested configurations, indicating stable performance. High settings produce 69 FPS average. Ultra settings fall to 48 FPS average, a 45% reduction from Medium at the same resolution.

4K (3840x2160): Low settings reach 64 FPS average, which is the only 4K preset that stays above 60 FPS. Medium settings drop to 50 FPS average with a minimum of 42 FPS and maximum of 57 FPS — the minimum is notably low, suggesting occasional stutter. High settings produce 39 FPS average. Ultra settings bottom out at 27 FPS average, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low-to-Medium transitions cost roughly 23-25% of average FPS, Medium-to-High costs roughly 21-22%, and High-to-Ultra costs roughly 30-31%. The Ultra preset is disproportionately expensive relative to the visual improvements it typically provides.

# Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound configuration with predictable behavior. At Medium settings, the progression is 130 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The combined reduction from 1080p to 4K is 62% — meaning the combo loses nearly two-thirds of its frame rate when quadrupling the pixel count.

At High settings, the scaling is 102 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 32% and 43% respectively, nearly identical to the Medium scaling. This consistency suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, as the relative cost of higher resolution remains constant regardless of the quality preset.

At Ultra settings, the scaling steepens: 71 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. The drops are 32% and 44%, slightly steeper than the other presets. This indicates that Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty, likely due to increased texture memory pressure and more complex shading operations that scale super-linearly with pixel count.

The fact that 1080p-to-1440p consistently costs about one-third of the frame rate, while 1440p-to-4K costs over 40%, points to the GPU's 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth as a potential constraint. The 128-bit memory bus and 16 GB GDDR6 configuration provide ample capacity but limited bandwidth for 4K workloads. The CPU, with its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 20 threads, is unlikely to be the bottleneck at any resolution — the scaling pattern is purely characteristic of GPU limitations.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings substantial processing power to this combo. With 14 cores and 20 threads, it offers a hybrid configuration that balances high-performance cores with efficient cores. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for game logic and frame pacing in an FPS like Evolve.

The CPU's benchmark results confirm its capability. Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064 place it in the upper tier of desktop processors. Geekbench multi-core at 16673 and single-core at 2491 reinforce this position. PassMark multi-thread score of 38682 and single-thread score of 4270 further validate the CPU's strength. The 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs tested indicates that this processor is significantly more powerful than the average unit in the database.

In Evolve specifically, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, manage physics calculations, and handle AI for the monster and hunters. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing memory latency. The dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 provides flexibility, though the specific memory configuration was not part of the measured data.

The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 1% of the i5-14600K's average, suggesting that any of these processors would perform nearly identically in Evolve. The fact that the combo's rank is 2342 out of 3700 — below the median — despite this CPU performance indicates that the processor is not the limiting component. The CPU is doing its job; the frame rates are constrained by what the GPU can render.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is the component that determines this combo's performance in Evolve. With a base clock of 1980 MHz, a game clock of 2470 MHz, and a boost clock of 2755 MHz, the card has substantial frequency headroom. The Navi 33 chip on a 6 nm process from TSMC packs 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die, with a density of 65.2M transistors per mm².

The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This capacity is generous for Evolve, which was released in 2015 and was designed for GPUs with far less memory. However, the 128-bit bus limits bandwidth, which directly impacts performance at higher resolutions where the GPU must access textures and frame buffers across a wider memory footprint.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s are respectable for a mid-range card. The FP32 performance of 22.57 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same rate (1:1 ratio) indicate balanced compute throughput. The 32 ray accelerators provide some future-proofing for ray-traced titles, though Evolve does not use ray tracing.

In benchmark tests, the RX 7600 XT scores 17132 in PassMark G3D, 2348 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, and 92426 in Geekbench OpenCL. The 60th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack. Its nearest rivals — GTX 690, HD 7970M, RTX 3070, and Tesla M4 — all score within 1% of each other, indicating a crowded performance band.

The GPU's measured behavior in Evolve shows clear limits at high resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is particularly telling — this is a GPU that simply cannot handle the combined load of 4K resolution and maximum settings in a 2015 FPS title. The 1080p Low result of 168 FPS shows the card's ceiling when unconstrained by resolution, while the 1440p Medium result of 87 FPS represents a realistic balance for most players. The GPU's 190 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest it is designed for mainstream systems, and the 450 W suggested PSU requirement is modest. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides adequate bandwidth, though it is half the lanes of the CPU's PCIe Gen 5 x16 connection.