Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher settings, but the CPU begins to show its strength as resolution drops. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 27.7 FPS, which is nearly unplayable for a fast-paced FPS. Dropping to 4K High raises the average to 37.1 FPS, a 34% improvement, while 4K Medium hits 47.5 FPS. The 4K Low setting produces 61.1 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that approaches a smooth experience.

Moving to 1440p, the scaling pattern becomes more telling. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 47.4 FPS, which is actually slightly lower than the 4K Medium result of 47.5 FPS. This near-identical performance between 4K Medium and 1440p Ultra suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in both cases, as the pixel count difference is substantial but the frame rate does not improve when dropping to 1440p at the higher preset. At 1440p High, the system reaches 65.6 FPS, and 1440p Medium hits 81.8 FPS. The 1440p Low setting delivers 105.1 FPS, showing that the scaling from Medium to Low is a 28% gain.

At 1080p, the CPU becomes more relevant. The 1080p High result of 97.8 FPS is significantly higher than the 1440p High result of 65.6 FPS, a 49% increase. This indicates that at 1080p High, the GPU still has headroom, and the frame rate is responding strongly to the reduced pixel count. The 1080p Medium result of 123 FPS and 1080p Low result of 158.7 FPS further confirm this trend. The 1080p Ultra result of 67.8 FPS is interesting — it is higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 47.4 FPS, but the gap is not as large as the gap between 1080p High and 1440p High. This suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU workload is heavy enough at both resolutions that the CPU is not the primary constraint, even at 1080p.

The overall pattern shows a system where the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck at 4K and at Ultra settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Low and Medium, the frame rates of 158.7 and 123 FPS respectively indicate that the CPU is able to feed the GPU adequately, but the GPU still limits the final output. The data does not show a scenario where the CPU becomes the bottleneck, as even the highest frame rate of 158.7 FPS is well within the capability of the Core i7-12700K with its 12 cores and 20 threads.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience for this hardware combination. The 1080p Medium setting at 123 FPS offers the most balanced experience: it is smooth for competitive play, and the jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 25.2 FPS (from 123 to 97.8), which is a 20% reduction for what is typically a modest visual improvement. The 1080p High setting at 97.8 FPS is still playable, but it sits below the 100 FPS threshold that many FPS players prefer.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 81.8 FPS is the recommended choice. The 1440p High setting at 65.6 FPS is borderline, and the drop from Medium to High costs 16.2 FPS (20% reduction). The 1440p Low setting at 105.1 FPS is smooth but requires a significant visual quality sacrifice. The 1440p Ultra setting at 47.4 FPS is not recommended for gameplay, as it falls below the 60 FPS standard.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The 4K Medium setting at 47.5 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. The 4K Low setting at 61.1 FPS is the only 4K preset that achieves a consistent 60 FPS average, but it requires the lowest visual quality. For users with a 4K display, the data suggests that playing at 4K Low is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, while 1440p Medium or High would be preferable on a 1440p monitor.

The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer across all resolutions: 27.7 FPS at 4K, 47.4 FPS at 1440p, and 67.8 FPS at 1080p. The jump from High to Ultra costs 10 FPS at 1080p, 18.2 FPS at 1440p, and 9.4 FPS at 4K. These reductions are substantial relative to the visual gains typically associated with Ultra settings. The data indicates that High is the ceiling for this combo if the user wants to maintain a stable frame rate above 60 FPS at 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong: the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 29241, and the single-core score is 4128. The PassMark multi-thread score is 34404, and the single-thread score is 4013. These numbers place the CPU in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates show that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 158.7 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU's single-thread performance is likely being exercised. The single-thread benchmarks — 3DMark single-thread score of 1043, Cinebench R15 single-core of 415, and Geekbench single-core of 2561 — indicate that the CPU has strong single-thread capability, which is important for FPS games that often have a primary game thread.

The CPU's multi-thread performance is also relevant, as Evolve can utilize multiple cores for physics, AI, and rendering tasks. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 and max-thread score of 9979 show that the CPU scales well with additional threads. The PassMark physics score of 1790 and floating-point math score of 88035 further indicate strong computational throughput.

However, the data does not show the CPU becoming the limiting factor in any measured configuration. The lowest frame rate of 27.7 FPS at 4K Ultra is clearly GPU-limited, as the GPU's PassMark G3D score of 16462 is in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 89th percentile. The GPU's nearest rivals — the GTX TITAN, RTX 2070, Quadro K5200, and Tesla K40m — all have similar average scores (within 1.3% of the RTX 2060 SUPER), which confirms that the GPU is the weaker component in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1232 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the bottom 27% of all tested configurations. The rank is driven primarily by the GPU's performance, as the CPU is a high-end part that ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in only the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance level. The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.3% higher than the GTX TITAN's 19706, 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070's 19680, 0.8% higher than the Quadro K5200's 19623, and 1.3% higher than the Tesla K40m's 19519. These are all older or lower-tier cards, and the fact that the RTX 2060 SUPER is only marginally faster than them explains why the combo ranks so low.

The CPU's nearest rivals are all relatively close in performance. The Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.3% faster, the Core i7-13700T is 0.6% slower, the Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% faster, and the Core i7-13800H is 0.8% slower. The CPU is not the issue — swapping to any of these CPUs would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in Evolve, because the GPU is the limiting factor.

The rank of 1232 out of 1695 suggests that this combo is suitable for 1080p gaming at Medium to High settings, but it is not competitive at higher resolutions or Ultra settings. The data shows that the system can achieve 97.8 FPS at 1080p High, which is playable, but the 67.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra indicates that the GPU cannot handle the full visual feature set. For a game like Evolve, which is a fast-paced FPS, the rank reflects a system that can deliver a playable experience at medium settings but will struggle at higher visual fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p Medium delivers 123 FPS, which is the highest frame rate that still maintains reasonable visual quality. At 1440p Medium, the system achieves 81.8 FPS, which is also playable. 4K is not recommended, as even 4K Medium only reaches 47.5 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Evolve?

A: The 4K Low setting achieves 61.1 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that reaches 60 FPS. The 4K Medium setting drops to 47.5 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 27.7 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is only viable at the lowest settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35684. The Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.3% faster, the Core i7-13700T is 0.6% slower, the Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% faster, and the Core i7-13800H is 0.8% slower. All four rivals are within 1% of the i7-12700K's performance.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data suggests yes. The GPU ranks in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 19774, while the CPU ranks in the 89th percentile with an average score of 35684. The frame rates at 4K and at Ultra settings are consistent with GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p High, the system achieves 97.8 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 67.8 FPS. This is a 30 FPS reduction, or a 31% performance loss, for the Ultra preset.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1232 out of 1695 tested combinations in Evolve. This places it in the bottom 27% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the GPU's mid-range performance level.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low setting produces 158.7 FPS, Medium produces 123 FPS, High produces 97.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 67.8 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium is a 35.7 FPS drop (22% reduction), from Medium to High is a 25.2 FPS drop (20% reduction), and from High to Ultra is a 30 FPS drop (31% reduction).

At 2560x1440, the measured average frame rates are: Low setting produces 105.1 FPS, Medium produces 81.8 FPS, High produces 65.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 47.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium is a 23.3 FPS drop (22% reduction), from Medium to High is a 16.2 FPS drop (20% reduction), and from High to Ultra is an 18.2 FPS drop (28% reduction).

At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates are: Low setting produces 61.1 FPS, Medium produces 47.5 FPS, High produces 37.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 27.7 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium is a 13.6 FPS drop (22% reduction), from Medium to High is a 10.4 FPS drop (22% reduction), and from High to Ultra is a 9.4 FPS drop (25% reduction).

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings: at Low, the frame rate drops from 158.7 at 1080p to 105.1 at 1440p (34% reduction) and then to 61.1 at 4K (42% reduction from 1440p). At Medium, the drop is from 123 at 1080p to 81.8 at 1440p (33% reduction) and then to 47.5 at 4K (42% reduction from 1440p). At High, the drop is from 97.8 at 1080p to 65.6 at 1440p (33% reduction) and then to 37.1 at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). At Ultra, the drop is from 67.8 at 1080p to 47.4 at 1440p (30% reduction) and then to 27.7 at 4K (42% reduction from 1440p).

The consistency of the percentage drops across settings — roughly 33% from 1080p to 1440p and 42% from 1440p to 4K — indicates that the GPU's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count. The slightly smaller drop at Ultra (30% from 1080p to 1440p) suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, and the additional pixel count has a diminishing impact on frame rate.