Evolve

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER pairing in Evolve demonstrates a classic high-resolution GPU bottleneck, with the CPU holding frame rates back only at lower settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 48.6 FPS, while dropping to 1080p Low pushes the average to 211 FPS. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary driver of performance at 4K, but the 6-core i5-9400 becomes a limiting factor as resolution drops and frame rates climb past the 180 FPS mark.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p High, the average frame rate is 179.4 FPS; moving to 1440p High reduces this to 123.9 FPS, a 31% drop. Stepping up to 4K High yields 75 FPS, another 39% reduction. This steep decline at higher resolutions is consistent with the GPU being the dominant constraint, as the pixel count increases dramatically while the CPU workload per frame remains relatively static.

However, the Low settings preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 211 FPS, but at 1440p Low it only drops to 183 FPS, a modest 13% reduction. This smaller gap suggests the CPU is nearing its ceiling at 1080p Low, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs. The 4K Low result of 116.9 FPS is still a massive 45% drop from 1440p, indicating that at this resolution, the GPU is again the clear limiting component.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling. From 1440p Ultra at 88 FPS to 4K Ultra at 48.6 FPS, the frame rate falls by 45%. This is the largest relative penalty across all settings, highlighting how the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's raw compute is taxed by the combination of maximum visual fidelity and 4K resolution. The data suggests that users targeting 4K should stick to High settings, where the 75 FPS average is far more playable than the 48.6 FPS at Ultra.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 8448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines, along with 66 ray tracing cores and 264 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2340 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz. Memory is a key asset: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus provides 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Evolve, this memory configuration is more than adequate. The 4K Ultra preset, which is the most demanding scenario in the data, still averages 48.6 FPS, indicating the frame buffer and bandwidth are not causing a catastrophic collapse. The GPU's compute throughput, rated at 44.10 TFLOPS for FP32, is what drives the high frame rates at 1440p, where the combo reaches 123.9 FPS at High and 88 FPS at Ultra. The pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s help explain why the card scales well from 1080p to 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result shows that even this hardware has limits under maximum load.

The benchmark scores place this GPU in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48704. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, scores 49071, a 0.7% delta. The RTX A2000 trails by 1.6%, and the RTX A1000 Mobile is 2% behind. The Intel Arc A550M is 2.1% ahead. This competitive positioning suggests the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a solidly upper-mid-range performer, which matches its Evolve results, where it handles 1440p Ultra at 88 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake Refresh part with 6 cores and 6 threads. It runs at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boosts to 4.10 GHz. The L3 cache is 9 MB shared, with 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 per core. Memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. This CPU was released in late 2018 and is now end-of-life.

In Evolve, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the frame rate of 211 FPS is the highest in the dataset. The gap between 1080p Low (211 FPS) and 1440p Low (183 FPS) is relatively small, suggesting the CPU is limiting the GPU's output at the lower resolution. At 1080p High, the average is 179.4 FPS, which is still high but lower than Low, indicating the GPU is taking on more work. The 6-core/6-thread configuration is sufficient for the game's FPS genre, but it lacks the multi-threading headroom of higher-tier CPUs.

The CPU's benchmark scores show it sits at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 2305. Its nearest rivals are closely matched: the Intel Core i3-10305 is 0.2% ahead, the Core i3-1125G4 is 0.2% ahead, and the Xeon E-2134 is 0.4% ahead. The Core i7-8809G is 0.6% behind. This tight grouping means the i5-9400 is a middle-of-the-pack processor, which aligns with the Evolve results showing it can keep up with the GPU at 1080p Low but becomes a secondary bottleneck at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the results are: Low 211 FPS, Medium 191.8 FPS, High 179.4 FPS, and Ultra 131.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 79.1 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, but the CPU caps the top end at 211 FPS.

At 1440p, the frame rates are: Low 183 FPS, Medium 159.9 FPS, High 123.9 FPS, and Ultra 88 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 95 FPS, a larger absolute gap than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more involved. The 1440p High result of 123.9 FPS is a strong playable number for a competitive FPS.

At 4K, the results are: Low 116.9 FPS, Medium 92.4 FPS, High 75 FPS, and Ultra 48.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset, making it the worst-case scenario for this combo. The 4K High result of 75 FPS is the recommended target for smooth gameplay at this resolution. The overall combo rank in Evolve is 387 out of 1695 combinations, placing it in the top 23% of tested configurations.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this hardware in Evolve?*

A: The data shows 1440p High at 123.9 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a high frame rate with substantial visual quality. For 4K, High at 75 FPS is the best playable option, as Ultra drops to 48.6 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the frame rate is 211 FPS, which is only 13% higher than 1440p Low at 183 FPS. This small gain indicates the Intel Core i5-9400 is limiting performance at 1080p, preventing the GPU from reaching higher frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU scores 48704 on average, placing 0.7% behind the NVIDIA CMP 50HX and 1.6% ahead of the RTX A2000. The RTX A1000 Mobile is 2% behind, while the Intel Arc A550M is 2.1% ahead.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, Medium averages 92.4 FPS while High averages 75 FPS. This is a 17.4 FPS difference, showing that the step from Medium to High costs about 19% of performance.

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

A: Yes, but only at Low, Medium, or High settings. The 4K Low preset runs at 116.9 FPS, Medium at 92.4 FPS, and High at 75 FPS. The Ultra preset at 48.6 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: How does the CPU's performance rank relative to other processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile of all CPUs with an average score of 2305. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.6% of its score, indicating very tight competition in this performance tier.