Evolve

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in Evolve, a 2015 FPS title. The measured data shows this pairing handles the game with ease across all resolutions and settings. For the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, the High preset is the clear recommendation. At 1080p, it delivers 203 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 1440p, it maintains a smooth 136 FPS, and even at 4K, it produces a playable 77 FPS. While the Medium preset offers higher frame rates, the jump to High provides a significant visual improvement for a relatively modest performance cost. The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, drops frame rates considerably and is only advisable for players with 4K 60Hz displays who prioritize image quality over raw speed.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested settings. For players seeking the definitive experience, High is the optimal choice. It provides the best combination of visual quality and performance headroom. At 1080p, the 203 FPS average is more than sufficient for competitive play and high-refresh-rate displays. The 1440p result of 136 FPS is ideal for 144Hz monitors, offering a fluid experience without compromising on graphical detail. Even at 4K, the 77 FPS average is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for high-resolution gaming.

The Medium preset is a strong alternative for those who prioritize higher frame rates above all else. It delivers a substantial performance boost over High, with 258 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The trade-off is a reduction in visual fidelity, but the performance gains are substantial, particularly at higher resolutions. The minimum FPS data for Medium at 4K is 84, which ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains well above playable levels.

The Low preset is the performance king, pushing frame rates to 333 FPS at 1080p, 224 FPS at 1440p, and 127 FPS at 4K. This setting is best reserved for esports-style play where maximum responsiveness is paramount. However, given the hardware's capability, this setting is largely unnecessary for a game like Evolve, as the High preset already provides excellent performance. The Ultra preset, conversely, is the most demanding. It yields 140 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and drops to 54 FPS at 4K. This last figure is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, indicating that Ultra at 4K is too demanding for this configuration.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It features a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In the context of Evolve, a game from 2015, this CPU provides an immense amount of processing power. Its benchmark scores are exceptionally high, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594. This strong single-core performance is particularly relevant for gaming, as many titles, including older ones, rely heavily on one or two cores.

The data suggests that this CPU is not a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate drops from 203 FPS at 1080p to 136 FPS at 1440p and then to 77 FPS at 4K. This significant drop as resolution increases indicates that the graphics card is the limiting factor. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain these high frame rates, even at lower resolutions where the CPU load is typically higher. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and support for fast DDR4 or DDR5 memory further ensure that data can be fed to the GPU without delay.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals further underscores its capability. Its average benchmark score of 49394 puts it just 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G. It is 0.8% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245, while the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 is 0.8% faster. These are all extremely close scores, indicating that the i5-14600KF is at the top tier of desktop processors. Its 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms this, placing it in the top 10% of all processors tested. This headroom ensures that even in CPU-intensive scenarios, the i5-14600KF will not hold back the RTX 4080 SUPER.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Evolve at 4K with maximum settings?

A: No, not smoothly. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 54, which is below the 60 FPS target for fluid gameplay. To get a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K, you would need to use the High preset, which delivers an average of 77 FPS.

Q: What is the best setting for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset is the best choice. It produces an average of 136 FPS at 2560x1440, which is close to the 144Hz refresh rate and will provide a very smooth experience. The Medium preset offers a higher 173 FPS, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the extra frames for most players.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 SUPER compared to the standard RTX 4080?

A: The benchmark scores show that the RTX 4080 SUPER has an average score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080's score of 54247. This indicates they offer virtually identical performance in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Is the CPU strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the CPU is more than capable. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 333 FPS, and even at High settings, it reaches 203 FPS. The consistent frame rate scaling with resolution suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo in Evolve?

A: The minimum FPS is only recorded for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 220 FPS. At 2560x1440, it is 147 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it drops to 84 FPS. These figures show that even the lowest frame rates are highly playable.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest competitor?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, scores 49228, meaning the i5 is 0.3% faster. The differences are minimal, but the i5-14600KF holds a slight edge.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER holds the rank of 268 out of 3700 combos. This places it in the top 7.2% of all tested configurations, which is an impressive result. This high ranking confirms the strength of both the CPU and GPU. The i5-14600KF is a high-end processor, ranking in the 90th percentile among all CPUs. The RTX 4080 SUPER is similarly powerful, ranking in the 86th percentile among all GPUs.

The combination of these two top-tier components results in a system that is exceptionally well-suited for high-resolution, high-refresh-rate gaming. The rank of 268 indicates that only a small fraction of the tested combos can outperform it. This is likely due to the fact that only a few combinations feature a more powerful GPU, such as an RTX 4090, paired with a similarly strong CPU. For practical purposes, this combo is at the pinnacle of gaming performance for Evolve. The data confirms that it can handle the game at its highest settings at 1440p and provides an excellent experience at 4K with the High preset. This ranking gives buyers confidence that they are investing in a top-tier platform.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling across the three tested resolutions. As resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops significantly across all settings. For instance, on the High preset, the average FPS falls from 203 at 1080p to 136 at 1440p, a 33% reduction. Moving to 4K, the average further drops to 77 FPS, a 43% reduction from the 1440p figure. This trend is consistent across all presets, indicating a classic GPU-bound scenario.

This scaling behavior is the primary indicator that the limiting component is the graphics card, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU's workload (draw calls, game logic) would not change. However, the GPU's workload increases dramatically with resolution, as it must render more pixels. The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is working progressively harder as resolution increases, which is why the frame rates drop. The CPU, with its immense single and multi-core performance, is clearly able to keep up with the GPU's demands at all resolutions.

The jump from 1080p to 4K represents a 4x increase in pixel count. The observed frame rate drops are not quite 4x, but they are substantial. On the Low preset, the FPS drops from 333 at 1080p to 127 at 4K, a 62% reduction. On Ultra, it drops from 140 to 54, a 61% reduction. This consistent 60%+ performance loss when quadrupling the pixel count strongly suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are substantial, but the demand at 4K with high settings is immense. This data confirms that for maximum frame rates, 1080p or 1440p are the preferred resolutions, while 4K is best suited for the High preset if a 60 FPS target is desired.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 333 FPS average
• Medium: 258 FPS average (min 220, max 297)
• High: 203 FPS average
• Ultra: 140 FPS average

At 1080p, this combo is massively over-powered for Evolve. Even the Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, produces an average of 140 FPS, which is more than enough for a high-refresh-rate monitor. The Low preset's 333 FPS reflects the raw power of the RTX 4080 SUPER, and the Medium preset's minimum FPS of 220 ensures there are no noticeable stutters.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 224 FPS average
• Medium: 173 FPS average (min 147, max 199)
• High: 136 FPS average
• Ultra: 94 FPS average

1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware. The High preset delivers 136 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset pushes performance to 173 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 224 FPS. Even the Ultra preset maintains a highly playable 94 FPS, making 1440p the best resolution for using the highest visual settings.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 127 FPS average
• Medium: 99 FPS average (min 84, max 113)
• High: 77 FPS average
• Ultra: 54 FPS average

At 4K, the performance drops become more pronounced. The High preset is the recommended choice, providing a solid 77 FPS average that is above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset offers a better 99 FPS, but with reduced visuals. The Ultra preset's 54 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The Low preset's 127 FPS shows that this GPU has headroom even at 4K, but the visual compromises are significant.