Evolve

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

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which places it in the upper tier of desktop CPUs for raw single-thread responsiveness. The processor includes a 24 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache, alongside 80 KB of L1 cache per core. These cache configurations are relevant for a game like Evolve, which relies on frequent data access patterns typical of fast-paced FPS titles.

In Evolve, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less likely to be the bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 373 FPS average. This high frame rate indicates that the i5-14600K's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is sufficient to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates at a rate that exceeds most display refresh capabilities. The processor's single-core performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2491, supports this interpretation.

Multi-threaded performance also plays a role, even in an FPS game. The i5-14600K's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and Geekbench multi-core score of 16673 suggest that background tasks and game engine threads that utilize multiple cores are handled efficiently. The PassMark multithread score of 38682 further corroborates that the 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallel processing capability. However, the data suggests that for Evolve specifically, single-thread speed is the more critical factor, as the jump from 1080p Low to 1080p Medium only reduces average FPS from 373 to 314, indicating that the CPU is still keeping pace even as GPU load increases.

The processor's integrated graphics, UHD Graphics 770, are present but irrelevant for this discrete GPU configuration. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory (dual-channel) mean it can be paired with high-bandwidth memory, though the measured FPS data does not specify memory configuration. The i5-14600K's percentile rank of 90 among all CPUs indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general benchmark scenarios, which aligns with its strong showing in Evolve's CPU-bound scenarios. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (0.2% lower average score) and the AMD EPYC 4345P (0.3% higher), showing that the i5-14600K sits in a competitive performance band, though those rivals are not tested in this game.

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

Examining the measured FPS across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides a balanced experience. At 1080p, Medium yields 314 FPS average with a minimum of 267 FPS and maximum of 361 FPS. This is a substantial 27.6% drop from Low (373 FPS) but still far above any refresh rate ceiling for competitive play. Moving to High at 1080p drops the average to 246 FPS, a 21.7% reduction from Medium, while Ultra falls to 170 FPS, another 30.9% decrease from High.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 210 FPS average with a minimum of 179 FPS and maximum of 242 FPS. This remains highly playable for fast-paced FPS action. High at 1440p gives 165 FPS average, Ultra drops to 114 FPS, and Low reaches 271 FPS. The pattern is consistent: Medium offers the best compromise between visual fidelity and frame rate stability, as evidenced by the narrow FPS range (179-242) compared to the wider swings at other settings.

At 4K, Medium provides 120 FPS average with a minimum of 102 FPS and maximum of 138 FPS. This is the only 4K setting with a recorded minimum FPS, indicating more consistent frame pacing. High at 4K drops to 94 FPS, Ultra falls to 65 FPS, and Low reaches 154 FPS. For 4K gaming, Medium is the recommended preset because it maintains an average above 100 FPS while offering better visual quality than Low. The minimum FPS of 102 ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate rarely dips below the 100 FPS threshold, which is critical for smooth gameplay in a shooter.

The data suggests that Ultra settings are not optimal for this combo in Evolve, as the performance penalty is steep: at 4K, Ultra achieves only 65 FPS, which is 45.8% lower than Medium. The visual gains from Ultra do not justify the frame rate loss. High is a reasonable alternative for those prioritizing image quality, but Medium offers the best overall experience across all three resolutions based on the measured rows.

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

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting bottleneck between CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 373 at 1080p to 271 at 1440p (a 27.3% decrease) and then to 154 at 4K (a 43.2% decrease from 1440p). This steep decline at 4K Low indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor, even at minimal graphical settings. The RTX 5090 D is being pushed to its limits by the 4K resolution's pixel count, despite its substantial compute resources.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more gradual: 314 FPS at 1080p, 210 FPS at 1440p (33.1% decrease), and 120 FPS at 4K (42.9% decrease from 1440p). The similar percentage drops between Low and Medium suggest that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck at higher resolutions, regardless of settings. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases because the GPU's fill rate and shading workload become dominant.

At High settings, the pattern continues: 246 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p (32.9% decrease), and 94 FPS at 4K (43.0% decrease from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p (170 FPS) to 1440p (114 FPS) is 32.9%, and from 1440p to 4K (65 FPS) is 43.0%. The consistent ~33% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~43% drop from 1440p to 4K across settings indicates that resolution scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

The fact that the percentage drops are similar across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings strongly suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller percentage drops at higher resolutions because the GPU would have more headroom. Instead, the consistent scaling pattern points to the RTX 5090 D as the primary constraint at resolutions above 1080p. At 1080p, particularly at Low settings (373 FPS), the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU could theoretically render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 18th out of 2872 tested combos in Evolve. This places the combo in the top 0.6% of all configurations tested, which is an exceptional result. The rank of 18 means that only 17 other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher average FPS in this game, out of nearly three thousand combinations.

This high ranking is noteworthy because the i5-14600K is not the absolute fastest CPU on the market, nor is the RTX 5090 D the only top-tier GPU. However, the combination of the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's massive compute capabilities creates a synergy that excels in Evolve. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 92nd percentile among all GPUs individually are strong, but the combo's 18th rank out of 2872 (99.4th percentile) shows that the pairing is particularly well-suited to this game's engine.

The ranking suggests that Evolve is not excessively demanding on either component in isolation, but rather that the combination of a fast CPU and a high-end GPU avoids any significant bottleneck. The i5-14600K's boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU is most likely to be the limiting factor, the frame rate reaches 373 FPS. Meanwhile, the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensure that 4K Ultra settings (65 FPS) remain playable, though not ideal.

Compared to the nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the i5-14600K's average score of 48618 is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, -0.2%) and AMD EPYC 4345P (48470, +0.3%). The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77712 is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904) and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940). These synthetic similarities do not translate directly to in-game performance, but they do indicate that the components are well-matched in their respective performance tiers.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures and complex scenes in Evolve.

The GPU's 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs deliver substantial raw compute power, translating to 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores are less relevant for Evolve, which was released in 2015 and likely does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS. However, the sheer rasterization throughput is what drives the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, with only 65 FPS average. This is a 45.8% drop from 4K Medium (120 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects (likely including higher-quality shadows, textures, and post-processing) heavily tax the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The 32 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Evolve, as even at 4K Ultra, the game's texture requirements are unlikely to exceed 8-10 GB, so VRAM capacity is not a constraint.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and its PassMark G3D score of 44065 confirm its high-end positioning. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% higher average score) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (2.4% higher), though these are not directly comparable in gaming workloads. The RTX 5090 D's boost clock of 2407 MHz provides the clock speed necessary to maintain high frame rates even at 4K, as evidenced by the 154 FPS at 4K Low, which is surprisingly high for such a demanding resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset offers the best balance across all resolutions. At 1080p, it achieves 314 FPS average (min 267, max 361); at 1440p, it achieves 210 FPS average (min 179, max 242); at 4K, it achieves 120 FPS average (min 102, max 138). Medium provides the only 4K setting with a recorded minimum FPS above 100.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K in Evolve?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The FPS drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently around 43% across all settings (e.g., from 210 to 120 FPS at Medium, from 165 to 94 FPS at High), which aligns with the pixel count increase. This consistency indicates GPU-bound performance, as a CPU bottleneck would show less scaling.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 18th out of 2872 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the top 0.6% of all configurations. This high rank reflects the balanced pairing of the i5-14600K's strong single-thread performance with the RTX 5090 D's massive compute resources.

Q: What is the maximum FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 373 at 1080p Low settings. The minimum FPS recorded across all tests is 102 FPS at 4K Medium, indicating that the combo never drops below 100 FPS in any tested configuration.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM necessary for Evolve?

A: The 32 GB VRAM is far more than Evolve requires, as the game's 2015 release date means texture sizes are modest by modern standards. The GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 512-bit bus are more relevant to performance, as they enable high fill rates at 4K resolution.

Q: How does the i5-14600K compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14600K's average benchmark score of 48618 is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698), 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P (48470), and 0.7% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (48287). These differences are minimal, indicating the i5-14600K is competitively positioned.

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

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 373 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: Average 314 FPS, minimum 267 FPS, maximum 361 FPS
• High: Average 246 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: Average 170 FPS (no min/max recorded)

At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. The spread from Low to Ultra is 203 FPS, with Ultra achieving only 45.6% of Low's frame rate. Medium's recorded range of 267-361 FPS shows a 94 FPS variation, indicating some scene-dependent fluctuation but still well above any display refresh rate.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 271 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: Average 210 FPS, minimum 179 FPS, maximum 242 FPS
• High: Average 165 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: Average 114 FPS (no min/max recorded)

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high, with even Ultra achieving 114 FPS average. The Medium setting's range of 179-242 FPS (63 FPS variation) is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to smooth out frame pacing. Low at 271 FPS is 29.1% lower than the 1080p Low result, reflecting the increased pixel count.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 154 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: Average 120 FPS, minimum 102 FPS, maximum 138 FPS
• High: Average 94 FPS (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: Average 65 FPS (no min/max recorded)

At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly but remain playable for most settings. Low at 154 FPS is still high, while Medium at 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS ensures consistent gameplay. High at 94 FPS and Ultra at 65 FPS are lower but demonstrate the GPU's capability to handle 4K in this game. The Medium setting's range of 102-138 FPS (36 FPS variation) is the tightest of any resolution, indicating stable performance at this setting.

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution, with the relative gaps between settings remaining consistent. The Medium preset's recorded min/max values across all resolutions provide the most complete picture of performance stability, making it the recommended choice for this combo in Evolve.