Evolve

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers a playable experience in Evolve, but the data reveals a clear tension between high refresh-rate potential and visual fidelity. Across the measured settings, the combination favors high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K demands compromises. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing is best utilized at 1440p with High settings, striking the most balanced ratio of image quality to performance. At that configuration, the system produces an average of 74.5 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Lowering to Medium at 1440p pushes frame rates to 95.8 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays, the Medium preset at 142.3 FPS offers an excellent experience, while the Low preset at 178.7 FPS approaches the ceiling of what the GPU can deliver at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of presets based on resolution. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 36 FPS (from 178.7 to 142.3), but the visual improvement is substantial. High at 1080p drops further to 108.1 FPS, which remains highly fluid. Ultra at 1080p is the outlier, falling to 77.3 FPS—a 43% reduction compared to High. Given that the GPU still holds above 60 FPS at Ultra, this preset is viable for users prioritizing maximum detail over frame rate. However, the data suggests that High at 1080p is the sweet spot for most players, as it retains a 108.1 FPS average while avoiding the diminishing returns of Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. High produces 74.5 FPS, which is excellent for a 1440p panel. Medium at 95.8 FPS is even better for competitive play, but the drop to Low at 121.4 FPS shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor here—the GPU scales predictably as settings are reduced. Ultra at 1440p falls to 52.7 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS mark. This makes Ultra at 1440p a poor choice unless the user is willing to accept occasional frame dips. For 4K, the data is stark: only Low (68.9 FPS) and Medium (51 FPS) approach playability, while High (40.5 FPS) and Ultra (31.1 FPS) are too slow for smooth action.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1440p High. It delivers 74.5 FPS, which is smooth and visually rich. The alternative is 1080p High at 108.1 FPS, which offers a higher refresh rate but less spatial detail. The data does not support 4K High or Ultra as viable options, given their sub-45 FPS averages.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, built on the Pascal architecture with a GP102 chip, is the primary driver of Evolve’s frame rates in this pairing. Its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game’s textures at all measured settings. The GPU’s base clock of 1481 MHz and boost clock of 1582 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the 3584 shading units and 88 ROPs deliver raw throughput that scales predictably with resolution.

The benchmark results show that the GPU’s performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the 31.1 FPS average indicates a heavy load on the 11.34 TFLOPS FP32 compute capacity. The GTX 1080 Ti’s pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s are the likely bottlenecks at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, as evidenced by the 178.7 FPS on Low, which suggests that the CPU (Intel Core i7-12700K) is not limiting performance in those scenarios. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 61 places it in the mid-range of all tested GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 19402 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (19405, deltaPct 0), indicating that this is a mature but aging part.

In Evolve specifically, the GPU’s memory capacity of 11 GB is never a constraint, as even at 4K Ultra the game does not exceed this allocation. The limiting factor is the GPU’s compute throughput, which is why reducing settings from Ultra to High at 4K yields a 30% performance increase (from 31.1 to 40.5 FPS). The data confirms that the GTX 1080 Ti is a capable 1080p and 1440p card, but it is not designed for 4K Ultra in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 178.7, achieved at 1080p with the Low preset. This is 36.4 FPS higher than the Medium preset (142.3) and 70.6 FPS higher than High (108.1).

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 68.9. Medium at 4K drops to 51 FPS, which may be playable for some, but High (40.5) and Ultra (31.1) are not recommended due to frame rates below 45.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested combinations in Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 1025th out of 1695 tested combinations. This places it in the lower half of all tested combos, suggesting that while it is playable, many other pairings offer higher performance in this game.

Q: What is the performance delta between the GTX 1080 Ti and its nearest rival, the GTX 780?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 19402, while the GTX 780 scores 19405, resulting in a deltaPct of 0. This indicates virtually identical average performance, despite the architectural differences.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p Low, where the GPU produces 178.7 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra (31.1 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for this game.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 108.1 at 1080p to 74.5 at 1440p, and further to 40.5 at 4K. This represents a 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti combination ranks 1025th out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the 60th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning roughly 60% of other pairings perform better. The rank is a reflection of the GPU’s age—the GTX 1080 Ti’s percentile ranking of 61 versus all GPUs is consistent with this mid-pack result. The CPU, in contrast, ranks in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684. This disparity indicates that the GPU is the performance limiter in this pairing.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (avgScore 35802, deltaPct -0.3) and the Intel Core i7-13700T (avgScore 35468, deltaPct 0.6), which show that the i7-12700K is competitive with newer parts. However, the GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (avgScore 19184, deltaPct 1.1), show a similar performance envelope. The combo rank of 1025 suggests that in Evolve, the GTX 1080 Ti holds back the i7-12700K, as the CPU alone could drive higher frame rates if paired with a stronger GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 108.1 at 1080p to 74.5 at 1440p (a 31% reduction), and then to 40.5 at 4K (a 63% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is steeper than what would be expected from a purely GPU-bound scenario, indicating that the GTX 1080 Ti’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are being saturated at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the drop is less severe: 178.7 FPS at 1080p, 121.4 FPS at 1440p (a 32% reduction), and 68.9 FPS at 4K (a 61% reduction). The similar percentage drops across settings suggest that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s performance remains constant regardless of resolution. The data shows that the GTX 1080 Ti’s 484.4 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p but becomes a bottleneck as pixel count increases. The 4K Ultra result of 31.1 FPS is particularly telling, as it represents a 60% drop from the 4K Low result, highlighting the GPU’s inability to handle the combination of high resolution and high detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 178.7 FPS, which is the highest score across all measurements. Medium drops to 142.3 FPS, a 20% reduction. High produces 108.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 77.3 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS standard but represents a 57% drop from Low. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent trade-off between visual quality and frame rate, with each step costing roughly 30-40 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are lower but follow the same pattern. Low yields 121.4 FPS, Medium 95.8 FPS, High 74.5 FPS, and Ultra 52.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 68.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s compute limits are more pronounced at this resolution. The 1440p High result of 74.5 FPS is notable as it offers a playable experience with solid detail.

At 3840x2160, the results are constrained. Low produces 68.9 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 51 FPS, High to 40.5 FPS, and Ultra to 31.1 FPS. The 4K data shows that the GTX 1080 Ti cannot maintain high frame rates at this resolution, with even Medium falling below the playability threshold. The overall pattern across all resolutions and settings confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for Low settings only.