Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetrical FPS, is an older title, but the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination reveals a classic scaling pattern that defines its performance envelope. This pairing shows exactly how a modern high-end CPU and GPU handle a game from a previous generation, where the limits of the engine become more apparent than the capabilities of the hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating a shift in bottleneck from the processor to the graphics card. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 202.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the average drops to 136.3 FPS, a reduction of roughly 33%. The leap to 3840x2160 yields 74.5 FPS, which is a further 45% decline from the 1440p result. This pattern shows that at 1080p, the CPU is doing the heavy lifting, while the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as pixel count rises.

The Low settings preset amplifies this trend dramatically. At 1080p Low, the system hits an average of 331.7 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high ceiling that no display can fully utilize. Scaling to 1440p Low, the average falls to 227 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 128.7 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is over 61%, which is a far larger percentage loss than the 63% drop seen at High settings. This indicates that even at 4K Low, the game is still heavily reliant on the CPU’s ability to feed frames, as the GPU is not yet saturated by the graphical load.

The Ultra settings preset shows the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 140.1 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 92.9 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 54.5 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is a 61% reduction. This is a steep curve, but the absolute numbers remain playable. The data suggests that the limiting component at 4K Ultra is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU has enough headroom to push beyond 140 FPS at lower resolutions but is constrained by the graphics card’s rendering speed at higher pixel counts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant force in this pairing, and its specifications align with the observed performance. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Evolve, which is not a VRAM-heavy title by modern standards. The ample memory capacity means that even at 4K Ultra settings, there is no indication of a memory bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistent with compute limitations rather than memory swapping.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also a factor. With a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, the RTX 4080 SUPER runs at high frequencies that contribute to its strong raw performance. The 10240 shading units and 320 TMUs provide the texture throughput necessary to handle the game’s environments at high detail. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s is particularly relevant for 4K rendering, as the number of pixels being pushed is substantial. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the card averages 54.5 FPS, which is a demanding workload for any GPU.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate its position. It achieves a passmark_g3d score of 34245, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a deltaPct of 0.2%, meaning the RTX 4080 SUPER is essentially tied with that card in synthetic tests. It also leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 2.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by 2.9%. These margins are small, but they confirm that the GPU is a top-tier part that should not be the primary constraint in a game like Evolve.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested combinations for Evolve, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds a rank of 107 out of 1695 combos. This places it in the top 6.3% of all systems tested, which is a strong result for a game that is nearly a decade old. The high rank indicates that this combination is well-balanced for this title, avoiding any severe mismatch that would drag the average frame rate down.

The CPU itself is a capable partner, ranking in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, has an average benchmark score of 49062, which is only 0.2% lower than the i5-14600K’s 49166. This shows that the processor is competitive with the best of the previous generation. The Intel Core i5-14600KF is 0.4% faster, and the AMD EPYC 4345P is 0.9% faster, but these differences are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

The GPU’s rank is slightly lower than the CPU’s, sitting in the 88th percentile. However, the combination of the two still achieves a top-107 finish. This suggests that the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance, evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2803, is well-suited to Evolve’s engine, which is likely to be single-thread bound at lower resolutions. The overall combo rank confirms the synergy between the 14-core processor with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz and the high-bandwidth graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results provide a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 331.7 FPS on Low, 257.9 FPS on Medium, 202.9 FPS on High, and 140.1 FPS on Ultra. These numbers are all far beyond the refresh rate of standard monitors, meaning the system is never the limiting factor for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 227 FPS on Low, 175.2 FPS on Medium, 136.3 FPS on High, and 92.9 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Ultra result is still comfortably above 60 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate displays. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 134.1 FPS, showing a wide range of performance depending on the visual fidelity selected.

At 3840x2160, the results tighten. The averages are 128.7 FPS on Low, 97.8 FPS on Medium, 74.5 FPS on High, and 54.5 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this preset is the most demanding configuration tested. The 4K High setting at 74.5 FPS is the sweet spot for a smooth 4K experience, while 4K Low at 128.7 FPS shows that the hardware can handle high frame rates even at this resolution if visual quality is sacrificed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 140.1 FPS is the best choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while still delivering frame rates that are well above the threshold for competitive play. There is no reason to lower settings at this resolution, as even the most demanding preset is easily handled.

For 1440p, the High preset at 136.3 FPS is the recommended balance. It offers a significant improvement in visual quality over Medium (175.2 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate that is high enough for most 144Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 92.9 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize image quality over maximum smoothness, but High provides a better margin for demanding scenes.

For 4K, the High preset at 74.5 FPS is the best experience per the measured rows. It stays above 60 FPS, which is the standard for smooth gameplay, while still offering a high level of detail. The Ultra preset at 54.5 FPS is playable but not ideal, as it risks dipping below the threshold of perceived smoothness. The Medium preset at 97.8 FPS is an alternative for those who want a higher frame rate at 4K, but High offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.