Evolve

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a mixed bag of results in Evolve, a 2015 FPS. The data indicates a system where the CPU provides ample headroom, but the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions and settings. Benchmark results show a clear progression from playable frame rates at 1080p to a slideshow at 4K Ultra, painting a picture of a combo best suited for 1080p gaming with adjusted settings.

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

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, which provides substantial single-thread performance. Its 25 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a versatile high-end part. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 19,784 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,850.5 points in single-core tests, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs.

However, the CPU’s role in this specific game combo is less about raw compute and more about ensuring it does not become a limiting factor. The 3DMark scores, ranging from 1,043 in single-thread to 9,979 in max-threads, indicate a processor capable of handling the game's physics and AI calculations without breaking a sweat. The processor’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700KF, have average scores within a fraction of a percent (‑0.1% and ‑0.2% respectively), demonstrating that the i7-12700K is performing exactly as expected for its class.

In the context of Evolve, a game from 2015, the i7-12700K is overkill in terms of core count. The game’s engine, designed for older hardware, likely utilizes fewer threads, but the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures that even if the game is single-thread bound, the CPU will deliver the necessary speed. The data supports this: at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 123 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not holding back the frame rate. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 20, the bottleneck is clearly the GPU, not the CPU, as the processor has far more headroom than the graphics card can utilize.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process, featuring 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus. With a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, it delivers a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU’s 1,408 shading units and 48 ROPs provide a peak FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. In the Passmark G3D benchmark, it scores 12,699, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

The GTX 1660 SUPER is the clear limiting component in this pairing. Its 6 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the memory capacity and bandwidth become strained. The data shows a stark drop in performance as resolution increases, which is directly attributable to the GPU’s capabilities. At 1080p Low, the GPU can push 123 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 20 FPS. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 580 (0.4% faster), indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER is positioned as a mid-range card in the current landscape.

The GPU’s 6 GB VRAM is a particular concern for Evolve. The game’s high-resolution textures can consume significant memory, and at 4K Ultra, the card likely runs out of VRAM or hits a bandwidth wall, causing the frame rate to plummet. The medium settings at 4K yield 37 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS, showing that even at moderate settings, the GPU struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K. This reinforces the notion that the GTX 1660 SUPER is designed for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver playable frame rates across most settings.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which is a textbook sign of a GPU-bound system. At 1080p High settings, the combo achieves an average of 75 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 50 FPS, a reduction of 33%. At 4K High, the average FPS falls to 29, a 61% drop from 1080p High. This scaling is not linear, and the steep decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed.

The CPU’s role in this scaling is minimal. The i7-12700K’s performance is consistent regardless of resolution, as its workload (game logic, draw calls) does not change significantly with resolution. The GPU, however, must render more pixels, and its fill-rate and memory bandwidth become bottlenecks. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 123 FPS, suggesting the CPU can handle the frame rate, but the GPU is not fast enough to maintain that at higher resolutions.

The drop from 1080p to 1440p is moderate, around 33% across settings, which is expected for a GPU with 6 GB VRAM. However, the drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, often exceeding 40%. For example, at Medium settings, the FPS drops from 64 at 1440p to 37 at 4K, a 42% reduction. This indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (336.0 GB/s) is insufficient for 4K textures and geometry. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s performance headroom is far above what the GPU can deliver at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations for Evolve, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3,151 out of 3,700 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 15% of all tested systems, which is a surprisingly low ranking given the CPU’s high-end status. The ranking reflects the GPU’s limitations more than the CPU’s capabilities, as the combo’s overall performance is dragged down by the GTX 1660 SUPER’s inability to push high frame rates at demanding settings.

The combo’s rank of 3,151 out of 3,700 indicates that most other tested combinations, even those with weaker CPUs, outperform this pairing in Evolve. This is because the game is more GPU-intensive, and the GTX 1660 SUPER is a mid-range card from 2019. The i7-12700K’s high scores in CPU benchmarks (e.g., 88,035 in Passmark Floating Point Math) do not translate to higher FPS when the GPU is the bottleneck. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve respectable frame rates, but it falls behind in higher-resolution scenarios.

The ranking also highlights that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the combo would rank higher, as the i7-12700K is in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Instead, the GPU’s 53rd percentile ranking is the more relevant indicator of performance. The combo’s rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s performance, suggesting that for Evolve, a more balanced GPU upgrade would yield a significantly better ranking.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the optimal resolution. At 1080p High settings, the combo achieves 75 FPS, and at Low settings, it reaches 123 FPS. At 1440p, the FPS drops to 50 on High, which is still playable, but at 4K, the average FPS falls below 30 on High settings.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER’s Passmark G3D score is 12,699. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, has an average score of 12,940, which is 0.4% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 580 also scores 12,928, 0.4% higher, while the AMD Radeon 740M scores 12,870, 0.9% higher.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for this game?

A: No. The CPU’s performance is far above what the GPU can deliver. The i7-12700K scores 3,325 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The bottleneck is the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS dropping significantly with resolution, while the CPU’s workload remains constant.

Q: What settings are recommended for 1440p gaming?

A: For 1440p, Medium settings provide an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. High settings yield 50 FPS, while Ultra drops to 35 FPS. Medium is the best compromise for smooth gameplay at 1440p.

Q: Why does the 4K Ultra setting only achieve 20 FPS?

A: The 4K Ultra setting demands more from the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and its 336.0 GB/s bandwidth than the card can provide. The GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient for 4K Ultra, causing the frame rate to drop to 20 FPS.

Q: What is the combo’s ranking among all tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 3,151 out of 3,700 tested systems for Evolve. This ranking is due to the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU is a high-end part that is not the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 123 FPS on Low, 96 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS), 75 FPS on High, and 52 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with all settings except Ultra providing over 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. The Low setting achieves 83 FPS, Medium delivers 64 FPS (minimum 55, maximum 74), High yields 50 FPS, and Ultra drops to 35 FPS. The Medium setting at 1440p is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles. Low settings produce 47 FPS, Medium delivers 37 FPS (minimum 31, maximum 42), High drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. None of the 4K settings achieve the 60 FPS target, indicating that 4K gaming is not viable with this combo, even on Low settings. The data clearly shows that the GPU’s performance scales poorly with resolution, reinforcing its role as the bottleneck.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the resolution and the target frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 75 FPS offers a good balance between visual quality and smoothness, but the Medium preset at 96 FPS provides a more fluid experience with a minimum of 81 FPS, ensuring no major stutters. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive, so Medium or High is recommended.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear winner, delivering an average of 64 FPS with a minimum of 55 FPS. This is the only setting at 1440p that consistently stays above 60 FPS, making it the best choice for a smooth experience. The High preset at 50 FPS is acceptable for less demanding players, but Medium is the safest bet.

For 4K, none of the settings achieve a playable frame rate. The Low preset at 47 FPS is the highest, but it still falls short of the 60 FPS target, and the visual quality is compromised. The Medium preset at 37 FPS is a compromise, but the minimum of 31 FPS suggests potential stuttering. The data indicates that this combo is not suitable for 4K gaming in Evolve, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for a satisfactory experience.

The best overall experience is at 1080p Medium, which offers high frame rates (96 FPS) and good visual quality, or 1440p Medium for a higher resolution with slightly lower but still smooth performance. The Ultra presets are not recommended, as they drop the frame rate below 60 FPS at all resolutions.