Evolve

Evolve is a 2015 FPS that still puts a surprising load on modern hardware, and the data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER shows a system that is strictly bound by its graphics card at higher settings. The benchmark results indicate a playable experience exists, but only if you are willing to adjust expectations for resolution and image quality. The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of where this combination excels and where it falls short, making it a useful case study for anyone running older titles with a contemporary CPU but a mid-range older GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the "Ultra" preset is largely a trap for this combination. At 1080p, Ultra yields an average of 53.7 FPS, which is playable, but the cost of enabling that preset is severe. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p drops the average frame rate from 74.3 FPS to 53.7 FPS, a significant 27.7% performance hit for what is likely a marginal visual gain in a game from this era. The situation worsens at higher resolutions; at 1440p, Ultra falls to 38.1 FPS, and at 4K, it becomes a slideshow at 20.6 FPS. The data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra unless you are targeting 1080p and prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate consistency.

The "High" preset appears to be the sweet spot for a balanced experience. At 1080p, it delivers a comfortable 74.3 FPS average, which is well within the range for smooth gameplay on a standard 60Hz monitor. Moving to 1440p with High settings still produces a respectable 52.4 FPS average, showing that the GTX 1660 SUPER has enough headroom for a step up in resolution if you are willing to stay in the 50-60 FPS range. The "Medium" preset is also a strong contender, offering 93.3 FPS at 1080p and 66.9 FPS at 1440p, making it the best choice for players with high refresh rate 1080p displays or those who prefer a larger performance buffer. For the best overall experience, the data indicates that High at 1080p or Medium at 1440p are the optimal configurations, providing a smooth frame rate without the steep performance tax of the Ultra preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration for Evolve. The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The 6 GB frame buffer is a critical factor here; it is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the data at 4K suggests the card is running out of both memory bandwidth and capacity. The core clocks are set to a base of 1530 MHz and a boost of 1785 MHz, which are modest by modern standards but adequate for a game of this age. The card's compute capabilities, rated at 5.027 TFLOPS for FP32, are being pushed to their limit at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS collapses to 20.6.

Looking at the relative performance of this GPU, its percentile rank is 55th among all GPUs, indicating it is an average performer in the broader market. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics, both of which are within 0.2% of its average score. This places the GTX 1660 SUPER in a tier that is decidedly entry-level for modern gaming, which is reflected in the measured FPS data. The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at any given resolution shows a clear GPU-bound pattern; for instance, at 1080p, the average FPS drops from 124.7 on Low to 53.7 on Ultra, a 57% reduction that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering load.

Resolution Scaling

The performance degradation as resolution increases is a textbook example of a GPU-bound system. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average FPS falls from 74.3 to 52.4, a reduction of 29.5%. This is a substantial drop, but the frame rate remains playable. The more dramatic collapse occurs when moving from 1440p to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS plummets from 52.4 at 1440p to 28.5 at 4K, a 45.6% decrease. This indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER simply does not have the pixel throughput or memory bandwidth to handle 4K rendering in this title, regardless of the settings.

The scaling pattern across all settings confirms that the CPU, the Intel Core i5-14600K, is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 124.7 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU is still keeping up. However, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 26 FPS (46.6 vs 20.6), while at 1080p, the gap is 71 FPS (124.7 vs 53.7). This shows that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor, and the powerful CPU's potential is left untapped. For players targeting 4K, the data suggests this combination is not viable, as even Low settings only manage 46.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Evolve at 60 FPS on a 1080p monitor?

A: Yes, but not on the highest preset. The measured data shows that the Low preset achieves 124.7 FPS, Medium achieves 93.3 FPS, and High achieves 74.3 FPS at 1920x1080. Only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS, with an average of 53.7 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600K a good match for the GTX 1660 SUPER in this game?

A: The data indicates a significant imbalance. The CPU has a percentile rank of 93rd among all CPUs, while the GPU is only in the 55th percentile. Benchmark results show the system is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, meaning the CPU's performance headroom is not being utilized.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Evolve with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the most sensible choice. It offers the highest frame rates across all settings, with even the High preset providing a comfortable 74.3 FPS average. 2560x1440 is playable on Medium (66.9 FPS) or High (52.4 FPS), but 3840x2160 is not recommended, as all presets fail to reach 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 14286. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, has an average score of 14314, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics is also 0.2% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is 0.7% higher. These are all very closely matched in synthetic tests.

Q: Does the Ultra preset offer a worthwhile performance trade-off?

A: No. The data shows that moving from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 20.6 FPS (a 27.7% drop), reducing the average from 74.3 to 53.7 FPS. At 1440p, the drop is 14.3 FPS (from 52.4 to 38.1), and at 4K, it falls to an unplayable 20.6 FPS. The visual difference is unlikely to justify this significant performance penalty.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a high-end processor that is largely overqualified for this task. With 14 cores and 20 threads, it offers immense multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881. Its single-thread performance is also strong, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2803, which is crucial for older games that often rely on one or two primary threads. The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that it can handle any single-threaded workload Evolve might present. Its benchmark scores place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 49166 is nearly identical to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which is only 0.2% faster.

However, the data from the measured FPS shows that this CPU power is mostly idle when paired with the GTX 1660 SUPER. The frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU, especially at higher resolutions. For example, at 4K Ultra, the system only manages 20.6 FPS, a score that would be the same with a far weaker CPU. The bottleneck is so pronounced that the CPU's capabilities are irrelevant to the final performance in this specific configuration. This is a classic case where a system is balanced for productivity tasks but not for gaming, where the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate. The CPU's role here is to ensure that it does not become the limiting factor at lower resolutions, and it succeeds at this, as evidenced by the 124.7 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for Evolve with this hardware is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 124.7 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combination. The Medium preset produces 93.3 FPS, and the High preset produces 74.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one at this resolution that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, with an average of 53.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops across the board. The Low preset still manages a strong 81.8 FPS, while the Medium preset achieves 66.9 FPS. The High preset falls to 52.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset takes a significant hit, dropping to 38.1 FPS, which is the lowest playable score at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. The Low preset produces 46.6 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that approaches playability. The Medium preset falls to 35.0 FPS, and the High preset drops further to 28.5 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable, with an average of only 20.6 FPS. This data reinforces that the GTX 1660 SUPER is not suited for 4K gaming in Evolve, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for a reasonable experience.