Evolve

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1511th out of 1695 tested combos for Evolve, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. This is a striking result for a CPU that sits in the 89th percentile among all processors, suggesting the graphics card is the primary constraint in this pairing. The combo's rank reflects a system that can run the game but struggles to deliver competitive frame rates at higher settings, particularly when compared to more balanced pairings that dominate the upper echelons of the ranking.

Benchmark data shows the CPU is not the bottleneck here. With an average benchmark score of 35355, the i7-12700KF sits within 0.3% of its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% ahead), the Intel Core i7-13800H (0.2% behind), and the Intel Core i9-12900HX (0.2% ahead). The GPU, however, tells a different story. The GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 14286 places it just 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Vega 11, while sitting slightly below the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics. This mid-range card, ranking in the 55th percentile among all GPUs, is clearly the limiting factor in this combo's overall position.

The gap between CPU and GPU capability is enormous, and the data suggests this is a lopsided pairing for Evolve. The CPU has more than enough headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU cannot translate that headroom into high frame rates at demanding settings. The result is a combo that ranks poorly not because either component is weak in isolation, but because they are mismatched for this specific game's requirements.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank so low if the CPU is in the 89th percentile?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The GTX 1660 SUPER ranks in the 55th percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 14286 is only 0.7% better than the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT. The CPU's massive headroom cannot compensate for the GPU's mid-range performance ceiling in Evolve.

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 124.2 FPS average. This is the highest measured frame rate across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings deliver 93.4 FPS, High delivers 75.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50.9 FPS.

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

A: Barely. At 3840x2160, the best result is 46.9 FPS on Low settings. Medium drops to 34.9 FPS, High to 30.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. None of these are ideal for smooth gameplay, with Ultra being essentially unplayable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14400?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, which is 0.1% higher than the i5-14400's 35336. This places the two within statistical noise of each other, indicating near-identical overall performance despite the i7's higher core count.

Q: What is the GPU's relationship to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER's average benchmark score of 14286 is 0.5% higher than the Vega 11's 14352. This means the GTX 1660 SUPER is only marginally faster overall, despite being a discrete card versus an integrated solution.

Q: Is there a settings preset that provides both good visuals and playable frame rates?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings deliver 51.7 FPS, which is playable. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 75.6 FPS, offering a strong balance. Medium at 1080p (93.4 FPS) is also viable if visual fidelity is less critical.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, and this pattern clearly identifies the GPU as the dominant constraint. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 124.2 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops this to 80.3 FPS, a 35.4% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the frame rate falls to 46.9 FPS, another 41.6% drop from 1440p. This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the pixel throughput demand outpaces the card's fill rate capabilities.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. With 12 cores, 20 threads, and boost clocks up to 5.00 GHz, the i7-12700KF has ample processing power to handle Evolve's game logic and physics at any resolution. The data shows that frame rate drops are almost entirely proportional to pixel count increases, which is a classic sign that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions. The GPU's pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 4K output at high settings.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low (124.2 FPS) to Ultra (50.9 FPS) represents a 59% drop. At 1440p, the same comparison shows Low at 80.3 FPS and Ultra at 35.2 FPS, a 56.2% drop. At 4K, Low delivers 46.9 FPS while Ultra falls to 20 FPS, a 57.4% reduction. This consistency suggests that the GPU's shading units (1408) and TMUs (88) are the limiting factor, not memory bandwidth alone.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its most playable results across all settings. Low settings produce 124.2 FPS average, Medium delivers 93.4 FPS, High reaches 75.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is substantial, with Ultra being 59% slower than Low, but even the lowest result remains above the 50 FPS threshold for acceptable play.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates become more modest. Low settings yield 80.3 FPS, Medium delivers 66.4 FPS, High averages 51.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35.2 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 14.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is larger at 16.5 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 46.9 FPS, Medium delivers 34.9 FPS, High drops to 30.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 20 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is only feasible at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is below the 50 FPS threshold that most users would consider smooth. The Ultra preset at 4K is effectively unplayable.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution step down from 1080p to 4K roughly halves the frame rate at equivalent settings. This is expected behavior for a GPU with 6 GB of VRAM and a 192-bit memory bus, as the card's memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s becomes a bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4091. For Evolve, a game released in 2015, the CPU's high clock speeds and modern architecture are more than sufficient to handle the game's logic.

Multi-threaded performance is equally impressive. The CPU scores 9983 in 3DMark max threads, 28979 in Cinebench R23 multicore, and 34092 in Passmark multithread. These scores place the i7-12700KF in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 35355 is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-13800H and 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-13600T. For a game like Evolve, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are likely underutilized, but this is not a problem—it simply means the CPU is never the limiting factor.

The cache hierarchy is robust, with 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration ensures that frequently accessed data stays close to the cores, reducing latency. The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, along with its dual-channel memory bus, provides flexibility for system builders, though the measured FPS data suggests that memory bandwidth is not a constraint in Evolve.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the user's resolution preference and frame rate targets. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 75.6 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual quality and smoothness. Medium settings at 93.4 FPS offer an even smoother experience with only a modest visual compromise. Ultra at 50.9 FPS is playable but approaches the lower bound of acceptable frame rates.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 51.7 FPS are the best choice for users who prioritize visual fidelity while maintaining playability. Medium at 66.4 FPS is also viable for those who prefer smoother motion. Ultra at 35.2 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the 40 FPS threshold that most users consider minimally acceptable for an FPS game.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 46.9 FPS are the only playable option, and even this is borderline. Medium at 34.9 FPS and High at 30.1 FPS are too slow for competitive play, while Ultra at 20 FPS is effectively a slideshow. Users who own a 4K monitor should avoid this combo for Evolve or be prepared to run at Low settings.

The data suggests that 1080p High is the sweet spot for this combo, offering 75.6 FPS with good visual quality. For users who demand higher frame rates, 1080p Medium at 93.4 FPS is the best alternative. The single best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Low at 124.2 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for most users.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is based on the Turing architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 12 nm process. It features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The card's base clock of 1530 MHz and boost clock of 1785 MHz provide a solid foundation, but its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus limits its performance at high resolutions.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is a critical constraint in Evolve. The game's textures and effects at Ultra settings require substantial memory throughput, and the 192-bit bus cannot deliver enough data to keep the shading units fully occupied at higher resolutions. This is evident in the FPS data: at 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 50.9 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 20 FPS, a 60.7% reduction that is steeper than the pixel count increase alone would suggest.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p gaming, but they are insufficient for 4K. The card's Passmark G3D score of 12699 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278 place it in the 55th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics, both of which are integrated or low-power solutions. This underscores the GTX 1660 SUPER's mid-range positioning.

The GPU's 6 GB of VRAM is another limiting factor. While Evolve was released in 2015 and may not require massive texture budgets, the card's memory capacity and bandwidth are stretched thin at 4K with High or Ultra settings. The measured data shows that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 4K improves performance from 20 FPS to 46.9 FPS, a 134.5% increase, indicating that the GPU is starved for both compute and memory resources at high settings.