Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built on the CryEngine, presents a demanding workload for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is consistently capable but whose performance ceiling is heavily governed by the graphics settings in play. The data indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti is the dominant performance driver, with the Core i5-9400 providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 highlights the expected scaling of GPU-bound workload. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 212.6 FPS. Moving to Medium at the same resolution reduces the average to 175.7 FPS, a 17% drop. High settings yield 137.1 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 92.4 FPS. This pattern at 1080p shows a clear 130 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets, indicating that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting even at lower resolutions.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset delivers 149.3 FPS, which is 29.7% lower than its 1080p counterpart. Medium follows with 119 FPS, and High lands at 89.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 65.3 FPS, which is 27.1 FPS below the 1080p Ultra result. The consistent reduction across all presets suggests a smooth transition where the GPU’s render load increases proportionally with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve flattens significantly. Low settings still manage 89.8 FPS, a solid result for 4K. Medium drops to 68.9 FPS, and High falls to 50.4 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K yields only 35.2 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 54.6 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p, but the relative impact is severe. This data suggests that at 4K, the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB memory buffer and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated, making the GPU the clear limiting component. The CPU’s role at 4K is minimal, as the frame rates are low enough that the 6-core processor’s clock speed is not a constraining factor.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 137.1 FPS offers an excellent balance for fast-paced FPS gameplay, providing a high refresh rate experience without the steep performance cost of Ultra, which still delivers a very playable 92.4 FPS. The Low preset at 212.6 FPS is only relevant for competitive play where maximum frame rate trumps visual fidelity, but the data shows that High is the sensible default.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 89.5 FPS remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 119 FPS is also viable for players prioritizing higher refresh rates, but the visual uplift from Medium to High is typically substantial in a game like Evolve, which relies on environmental detail. The Ultra preset at 65.3 FPS is borderline, but it does maintain a playable frame rate for those who prioritize image quality.

For 3840x2160, the recommendations shift. The Ultra preset at 35.2 FPS is not suitable for a responsive FPS, as the frame pacing is likely to feel sluggish. The High preset at 50.4 FPS is also below the ideal threshold, though it is playable for slower-paced sessions. The Medium preset at 68.9 FPS is the best balance at 4K, offering a stable frame rate that exceeds the 60 FPS target. The Low preset at 89.8 FPS is the only way to achieve a high refresh rate at 4K, but it sacrifices too much visual quality for most users. Data indicates that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the primary driver of performance in Evolve. Its benchmark scores show a strong standing, with a Passmark G3D score of 23356 and an average benchmark score of 30849. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 74 versus all GPUs indicates it sits above the median, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 with an average score of 31112, which is only a 0.8% delta, and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 at 31142, a 0.9% delta. These close scores suggest that the RTX 3070 Ti’s performance is well-established in its class.

The GPU’s specifications include a boost clock of 1770 MHz and a base clock of 1575 MHz, with 6144 shading units. The memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. The measured frame rates in Evolve show that this memory bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra preset at 35.2 FPS suggests that the 8 GB capacity is a limiting factor when high-resolution textures are combined with high detail settings. The FP32 compute rating of 21.75 TFLOPS indicates substantial raw processing power, which aligns with the strong performance at lower resolutions where the GPU is not memory-bound. The fact that the GPU’s OpenCL benchmark score of 137518 is higher than its Vulkan score of 130778 is a minor detail that does not directly affect Evolve’s results, but it does confirm the card’s compute capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core i5-9400 and RTX 3070 Ti pairing ranks 696 out of 1695 combos for Evolve. This places it in the upper half of all tested systems, indicating that it is a competent configuration for this title. The rank of 696 suggests that while this combo is not at the top tier, it outperforms a majority of alternatives. This is a reasonable position given the CPU’s age and the GPU’s mid-to-high-end status.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 2305, which places it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i3-10305 with an average score of 2300 (a 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 at 2299 (also a 0.2% delta). This proximity to lower-tier processors in pure compute benchmarks suggests that the i5-9400’s 6-core, 6-thread configuration is adequate but not exceptional. In Evolve, this rank of 696 indicates that the combination is well-matched, as the GPU is not being held back by a severely underpowered CPU, nor is the CPU overpowered for the GPU’s capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Evolve, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but it still matters. The benchmark results show that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 212.6 FPS, which is a high frame rate that begins to stress the CPU’s single-thread performance.

The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1125 shows a moderate capability for gaming workloads. The 4.10 GHz boost clock is sufficient to feed the RTX 3070 Ti at 1080p, as evidenced by the 137.1 FPS High result. However, the lack of hyper-threading means that the 6 threads are fully utilized in demanding scenes, which could lead to frame dips in heavy multiplayer scenarios, though the data does not show min FPS values to confirm this. The CPU’s percentile rank of 50 places it exactly at the median, meaning half of all CPUs are faster. This is not a bottleneck in Evolve, as the game’s engine is not heavily CPU-dependent, but it does prevent the combo from achieving the top ranks seen with newer processors. The data shows that at 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s influence wanes, and the GPU becomes the sole determinant of performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combination for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The 2560x1440 High preset at 89.5 FPS and the 3840x2160 Medium preset at 68.9 FPS are the only combinations that exceed 60 FPS while maintaining moderate visual quality. The 4K Ultra preset at 35.2 FPS is not viable.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Evolve?

A: The data indicates that at 3840x2160, the High preset produces 50.4 FPS and Ultra produces 35.2 FPS, while Medium produces 68.9 FPS. This significant drop suggests that the 8 GB VRAM is saturated at the higher presets, making Medium the practical ceiling at 4K.

Q: How does this combo compare to the average system in the database?

A: The combo ranks 696 out of 1695 tested combinations, which places it in the 59th percentile of all results. This means it outperforms the majority of tested systems for Evolve.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 Ti?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 212.6 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to indicate the CPU is keeping up. However, the CPU’s 50th percentile ranking suggests it is not a top-tier performer, but the data shows no obvious bottleneck in Evolve.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 yields 149.3 FPS, while Ultra yields 65.3 FPS. This is a difference of 84 FPS, showing the massive impact of quality settings on this GPU.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory bandwidth affect the 4K results?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s. The 4K Ultra result of 35.2 FPS, compared to the 1080p Ultra result of 92.4 FPS, shows a 57.2% drop, which is consistent with a bandwidth-limited scenario at high pixel counts.