Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14600KF pairs a 14-core, 20-thread Raptor Lake-R design with a 5.30 GHz boost clock, positioning it as a high-end desktop part that sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs tested. In synthetic workloads, its average benchmark score of 49367 places it within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, while trailing the AMD EPYC 4345P by just 0.5%. For a 2015 FPS title like Evolve, this processor’s single-thread performance—a Geekbench single-core score of 2778 and a Cinebench R23 single-core result of 4643—is the dominant factor, as the game’s engine relies heavily on per-core throughput. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support further reduce latency bottlenecks, ensuring that CPU-side frame pacing remains consistent even when the GPU is not saturated. The measured frame rates confirm this: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 263.2 FPS, which is far beyond what the display pipeline typically needs, indicating the CPU is not the limiting component at lower settings. However, the data shows a clear ceiling: scaling from 1080p Low to 1440p Low drops the average to 172.8 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 98 FPS, demonstrating that the processor’s headroom is ample but ultimately subordinated to the GPU once resolution increases.

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

The i5-14600KF’s architecture is built around 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency, though the pack does not specify the split) with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost of 5.30 GHz. This configuration yields a PassMark single-thread score of 4273 and a multithread score of 38697, the latter reflecting the 20 threads available for background tasks. In Evolve, which was released in the era of quad-core dominance, the game’s logic and AI routines rarely scale beyond a few threads, so the high boost clock matters more than the core count. Benchmark results indicate that at 1080p High, the average FPS of 161.4 is nearly identical to the 1440p High result of 107.8 when accounting for resolution scaling, suggesting the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at those settings. The processor’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32889 and its 93rd percentile rank reinforce that it has substantial reserves; even in worst-case scenarios with many entities on screen, the 5.30 GHz boost prevents frame hitches. The nearest rival data shows the i5-14600KF is effectively tied with the i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.4%), meaning any performance difference in Evolve would be within noise. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are not directly relevant to game FPS, but the processor’s ability to sustain high clocks under load—evidenced by its PassMark physics score of 2449—ensures consistent frame times across the measured rows.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, built on the GA102 chip with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivers a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz and 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 throughput place it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41224. The nearest rivals show it is 0.5% behind the RTX 3090 and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, but 1.1% ahead of the RTX 5070—a tight grouping that underscores its high-end positioning. In Evolve, the GPU’s role becomes dominant as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 41.1, which is 35% lower than the 4K High result of 63.6 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional shading and texture work saturate the 10240 shading units. The 12 GB VRAM is not a constraint in this game, as even at 4K Ultra the memory footprint stays within capacity, but the 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are largely idle in a 2015 title that predates hardware ray tracing. The PassMark G3D score of 26896 and DirectX 12 score of 110 show the card’s raw rasterization strength, which is what Evolve leverages. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p Low, the GPU is underutilized (263.2 FPS), but at 4K Ultra, it becomes the sole bottleneck, with the CPU waiting on the GPU’s 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate to finish frames. The 350 W TDP and 1x 12-pin power connector are not performance metrics, but the card’s sustained boost behavior—given its 1365 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost—keeps clocks high even under extended load, as evidenced by the 4K Medium result of 74.8 FPS.

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

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a textbook GPU-bound scaling curve. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 263.2 FPS; moving to 1440p Low drops that to 172.8 FPS (a 34.3% reduction), and at 4K Low it falls to 98 FPS (a 62.8% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline is entirely attributable to the GPU’s fill-rate and shading limits, as the CPU’s workload per frame does not change with resolution. The same pattern holds at High settings: 161.4 FPS at 1080p, 107.8 FPS at 1440p (33.2% drop), and 63.6 FPS at 4K (60.6% drop). The uniformity of these percentage drops across settings—roughly a one-third loss from 1080p to 1440p and another one-third loss from 1440p to 4K—confirms that the RTX 3080 Ti’s 912.4 GB/s bandwidth is the primary limiter at higher resolutions. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is severe: 98 FPS versus 41.1 FPS, a 58% performance penalty for the Ultra preset. This indicates that Evolve’s Ultra settings introduce geometric complexity and post-processing effects that disproportionately tax the GPU’s 112 ROPs and 532.8 GTexel/s texture rate. Conversely, the CPU’s contribution is nearly constant; the 1080p Low result of 263.2 FPS suggests the i5-14600KF could push even higher if the GPU allowed, but the engine’s frame rate ceiling appears to be around that value. The data points to a balanced pairing at 1440p High (107.8 FPS), where neither component is fully saturated, and a GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking is irrelevant.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the i5-14600KF and RTX 3080 Ti ranks 437th out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 25.8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU’s 83rd percentile standing and the CPU’s 93rd percentile, but the game’s age means that many newer, higher-end GPUs (like those with more VRAM or higher bandwidth) can outperform it at 4K. The rank is driven primarily by the GPU’s 4K Ultra result of 41.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users target. At 1440p High, the combo’s 107.8 FPS would likely rank higher, but the aggregate rank across all settings and resolutions pulls it down. The nearest rival data for the GPU shows the RTX 3080 Ti is nearly identical to the RTX 3090 (deltaPct -0.5%), meaning that swapping in the 3090 would not change the combo’s rank materially. Similarly, the CPU’s proximity to the i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.4%) suggests that the combo rank is insensitive to the processor choice—both CPUs would yield the same FPS in Evolve because the GPU is the bottleneck at most settings. The rank of 437 out of 1695 indicates that this is a solid mid-to-upper-tier configuration for the game, but it is not among the elite due to the GPU’s 4K Ultra limitation. For comparison, the CPU’s percentile of 93 and GPU’s percentile of 83 suggest that the combo underperforms its component-level averages when pushed to 4K Ultra, which is a common pattern for GPU-bound titles.

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

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 161.4 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors, while Medium yields 206.1 FPS and Low hits 263.2 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 108.1 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns for the visual uplift. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p provides the highest headroom at 263.2 FPS, but the Medium preset at 206.1 FPS is a better balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, as the jump from Medium to High costs 21.7% of FPS (206.1 to 161.4) for a modest visual improvement. At 1440p, the High preset’s 107.8 FPS is the sweet spot for 60 Hz or 120 Hz displays, while Medium’s 138.5 FPS offers extra smoothness for high-refresh monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p (74.2 FPS) is playable but approaches the edge of comfort for fast-paced FPS action. At 4K, the High preset’s 63.6 FPS is the only viable option for a playable experience, as Ultra’s 41.1 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and Medium’s 74.8 FPS is acceptable but not ideal. The Low preset at 4K (98 FPS) sacrifices too much visual quality for the resolution. The data clearly shows that the High preset is the recommended default across all resolutions: it provides 161.4 FPS at 1080p, 107.8 FPS at 1440p, and 63.6 FPS at 4K, making it the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate at 4K while offering reasonable quality at lower resolutions. For users with 144 Hz monitors at 1440p, the Medium preset (138.5 FPS) is the better choice, as it stays above the refresh rate while improving over Low. The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K due to the sub-60 FPS result, and its 1080p benefit (108.1 FPS) is marginal compared to High.