Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a dominant performance profile in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, placing the combo in the top 20% of all tested configurations. With a combo rank of 332 out of 1695, this pairing demonstrates that the 14-core, 20-thread Raptor Lake CPU is more than sufficient to feed the Blackwell GPU, which consistently becomes the primary determinant of frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. The data indicates a system built for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and smooth 1440p experiences, with 4K Ultra being the only configuration that strains the GPU.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core processor with 20 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high boost clock is critical for Evolve, a game from 2015 that relies heavily on strong single-thread performance for game logic and physics. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this: its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642 and Geekbench single-core score of 2803 indicate headroom that prevents the processor from bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions.

In this pairing, the CPU’s role is to ensure the RTX 5070 is never starved of data. At 1080p Low settings, the system delivers 282.7 FPS, a figure that far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors and demonstrates the CPU’s ability to process frames rapidly. The processor’s multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a Passmark multithread score of 38682, are less critical for this specific title but ensure consistent performance across background tasks and game streaming. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache also helps maintain high instruction throughput, keeping the GPU fed with draw calls. The data shows that the i5-14600K’s architecture is robust enough to handle the game’s demands without becoming the limiting component until the GPU is pushed to its absolute limits.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data suggests that the "High" preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium with a relatively modest performance cost. At 1080p, High delivers 174.5 FPS, which is a 20% reduction from the Low preset’s 282.7 FPS but still maintains a fluid, high-refresh-rate experience. Moving to 1440p, the High preset achieves 116 FPS, which is ideal for 120Hz displays, while the Medium preset only provides 146.8 FPS, a difference that is less visually impactful than the jump from Medium to High.

For 4K gaming, the "Ultra" preset is the only choice that pushes the system to its knees, yielding just 45 FPS. The High preset at 4K produces 64.9 FPS, which is playable but not optimal for competitive play. The data indicates that the "High" preset is the sweet spot: it balances visual fidelity with frame rates that remain above 60 FPS at 4K and above 100 FPS at 1440p. The Ultra preset should be reserved for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate and are willing to accept the 45 FPS average at 4K or the 120 FPS at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the RTX 5070 as the dominant bottleneck in this system. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 174.5 FPS at 1080p to 116 FPS at 1440p (a 33.5% reduction) and further to 64.9 FPS at 4K (a 62.8% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline with increasing pixel count is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario, as the CPU’s workload does not scale proportionally with resolution.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low, the system falls from 282.7 FPS at 1080p to 190.8 FPS at 1440p and 109.8 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K (a 42.5% reduction) is more severe than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (a 32.5% reduction), indicating that the GPU’s fill-rate and bandwidth constraints become more pronounced as the pixel count increases. The RTX 5070’s 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s textures, but the raw shader throughput is what limits performance at 4K. The data confirms that the i5-14600K is not the constraint; even at 1080p Low, where the CPU load would be highest relative to the GPU, the system still achieves nearly 300 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 332nd out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the 80.4th percentile of all systems. This is a strong result, indicating that the pairing is well-matched for this title. The CPU’s individual benchmark scores show it sits at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 83rd percentile, suggesting the CPU has slightly more headroom relative to the GPU.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which has a nearly identical average benchmark score (49062 vs. 49166, a deltaPct of 0.2%), and the Intel Core i5-14600KF, which is 0.4% faster. The RTX 5070’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which is 0.6% slower on average, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which is 0.2% slower. The data shows that this combo sits in a performance tier where any small differences in component scores are unlikely to yield noticeable gameplay differences in Evolve, as the game’s frame rates are more sensitive to GPU clock speeds and resolution than to minor CPU benchmark deltas.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the workhorse of this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured FPS. The GPU’s boost clock of 2512 MHz and base clock of 2325 MHz, combined with 6144 shading units, provide the raw compute power needed to drive high frame rates. The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is more than adequate for Evolve’s 2015-era textures, ensuring that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor at any resolution.

The GPU’s performance is best illustrated by its frame rate scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the RTX 5070 achieves 120 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 45 FPS. This 62.5% reduction in performance is driven by the GPU’s fill-rate limits, as the 80 ROPs and 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are strained by the 4K resolution. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 29137 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, and its performance in Evolve aligns with this ranking. The RTX 5070’s 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the key metric for this game, as Evolve’s rendering pipeline is heavily shader-bound. The data confirms that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU is capable of pushing frames fast enough to keep the GPU fully utilized.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p High provides a balanced experience at 116 FPS, while 1080p High achieves 174.5 FPS for maximum smoothness. 4K is playable but only at High settings (64.9 FPS) or lower.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Evolve?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average FPS is 64.9, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. However, 4K Ultra drops to 45 FPS, which may feel less fluid.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 3090?

A: The RTX 5070 has a slightly higher average benchmark score (41687 vs. 41441), making it 0.6% faster than the RTX 3090 on average. In practical terms, this difference is negligible in-game.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600K a bottleneck for the RTX 5070?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and at 1080p Low, the system achieves 282.7 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond typical refresh rates.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The Low preset delivers 282.7 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 120 FPS. This represents a 57.5% reduction in frame rate for the maximum visual quality settings.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory bandwidth limit performance at 4K?

A: No. The 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s textures. The performance drop at 4K is attributed to the GPU’s shader throughput and pixel rate, not memory bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination is as follows:

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 282.7 FPS
• Medium: 219.1 FPS
• High: 174.5 FPS
• Ultra: 120 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 190.8 FPS
• Medium: 146.8 FPS
• High: 116 FPS
• Ultra: 77.3 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 109.8 FPS
• Medium: 86.7 FPS
• High: 64.9 FPS
• Ultra: 45 FPS

The data reveals a consistent scaling pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drop across all settings is approximately 33%, while from 1440p to 4K, the average drop is approximately 44%. The Ultra preset shows the most significant scaling challenge, dropping from 120 FPS at 1080p to 77.3 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 45 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the Ultra preset is designed for lower resolutions, while the High preset offers the most scalable experience across all three resolutions. The Low preset, with 282.7 FPS at 1080p, demonstrates the absolute ceiling of the CPU-GPU combination, showing that the system is capable of extreme frame rates when visual effects are minimized.