Evolve

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 presents a compelling case study in how a strong mid-range GPU interacts with a high-core-count CPU in a 2015 title. The measured frames per second (FPS) data for Evolve reveals a system that is clearly capable of high refresh rate play at mainstream resolutions, yet the relationship between settings and resolution shows where the bottlenecks lie. The combination of a 12-core/20-thread processor with a modern Ada Lovelace GPU produces results that are heavily influenced by the game's age and the graphical load being applied. This analysis will break down the measured data to understand the scaling behavior, optimal settings, and the distinct roles the CPU and GPU play in delivering these frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 (4K) demonstrates a classic, predictable drop in performance that points squarely at the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At the "Low" settings preset, the average FPS falls from 190 at 1080p to 127 at 2560x1440, and finally to 72 at 4K. This represents a significant 62% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline is a strong indicator that the rendering workload is overwhelming the GPU's capabilities as pixel count increases, a typical scenario for a card like the RTX 4060 with its 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The scaling pattern holds true across all settings presets. With "High" settings, the average FPS drops from 115 at 1080p to 77 at 1440p, and then to 44 at 4K. The "Ultra" preset shows an even more dramatic fall, starting at 80 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 54 at 1440p, and plummeting to 31 at 4K. The fact that the frame rate almost halves when going from 1440p to 4K on the "Ultra" preset suggests that the GPU's compute units and memory bandwidth are being saturated by the combination of high resolution and demanding graphical effects. The data clearly implies that at 4K, the RTX 4060 is the definitive bottleneck, struggling to maintain playable frame rates on higher presets.

Conversely, the relatively small performance gap between 1080p and 1440p at lower settings, such as the jump from 190 to 127 FPS on "Low", indicates that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately at these lower resolutions. The 1080p results, particularly the 190 FPS on "Low", suggest that the i7-12700KF has enough headroom to push frame rates well beyond what the GPU can handle at higher resolutions. The scaling data implies that for this specific game, 1080p is where the CPU and GPU are best balanced, while 1440p is the practical ceiling for high-refresh-rate monitors, and 4K is only viable with significant compromises to visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the "High" settings preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, delivering an average of 77 FPS. This frame rate is smooth enough for most gaming scenarios and provides a substantial visual upgrade over the "Medium" preset's 99 FPS, which is also playable. For players with 1080p displays, the "High" preset is the clear winner, achieving an excellent 115 FPS average, which is well within the range for high refresh rate monitors. The data shows that "High" provides a significant performance headroom at this resolution, making it the recommended choice for a responsive experience.

At 4K, the situation becomes more nuanced. The "Medium" preset is the only viable option for a playable experience, averaging 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS. This is the only 4K row with min/max data, indicating it was the focus of stability testing. While 44 FPS on "High" is technically above the 30 FPS threshold, it is not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. The "Ultra" preset at 4K, with its 31 FPS average, is effectively a slideshow and should be avoided. Therefore, the recommendation for 4K is to use "Medium" settings to maintain a consistent frame rate, accepting the graphical reduction for the sake of playability.

The "Low" preset, while offering the highest frame rates at every resolution (190 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, 72 FPS at 4K), should only be considered for competitive play where maximum frame rate is the absolute priority. The jump from "Low" to "Medium" at 1080p, from 190 to 147 FPS, is a 43 FPS loss, but the visual improvement in a game like Evolve is likely substantial. The data suggests that "Medium" at 1080p, with its 147 FPS average and a minimum of 125 FPS, provides a great middle ground for users who want both high frame rates and improved visuals. Ultimately, the "High" preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering a high-quality image at a frame rate that is competitive for most gamers.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, appears to be a constraining factor at 4K. The significant frame rate drops at higher resolutions and demanding presets, such as the fall to 31 FPS at 4K "Ultra", strongly suggest that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute throughput (15.11 TFLOPS FP32) are being saturated. The RTX 4060's performance, which places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but is not designed for 4K high-fidelity gaming.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1830 MHz and a boost of 2460 MHz, are high, but they cannot compensate for the physical limitations of its memory subsystem. The measured data shows that while the GPU can achieve high frame rates at 1080p, its performance scales poorly as resolution increases. This is typical of a card with a narrower memory bus. In the context of Evolve, the GPU's role is to handle the rasterization and shading workloads, and the data indicates it does this effectively up to 1440p. Beyond that, the architecture's weaknesses become apparent.

Interestingly, the RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 puts it in close competition with much older cards, according to the nearest rivals data. It is within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon Pro 460 and within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon 780M. This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, its raw compute power is comparable to those parts. However, in a real-world gaming scenario like Evolve, the modern architecture's features, such as support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, may not be fully utilized by a 2015 title, meaning the game is likely relying on more basic rendering paths where the GPU's newer capabilities offer limited advantage. The data implies that the RTX 4060 is a capable 1080p/1440p card, but its 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are clear handicaps at 4K.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Evolve?*

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 190 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with the Intel Core i7-12700KF and RTX 4060?

A: Yes, but only with significant compromises. The data shows that the "Medium" preset at 3840x2160 is the only playable option, averaging 56 FPS. The "High" and "Ultra" presets yield averages of 44 and 31 FPS, respectively, which are less ideal for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score is 17639. It is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which has a deltaPct of -0.2%, and is only 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 560.

Q: What is the performance difference between the "Low" and "Medium" presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 127 FPS, while the "Medium" preset averages 99 FPS. This represents a drop of 28 FPS when moving from "Low" to "Medium".

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The frame rates drop dramatically from 1440p to 4K at all settings, which is a classic sign of GPU saturation. The CPU's high core count and clock speeds are sufficient to keep up with the GPU's demands at this resolution.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded for any settings combination?

A: The maximum FPS recorded in the data is 190, which is the average for the 1920x1080 "Low" settings row. The highest max FPS in a row with min/max data is 169, found in the 1080p "Medium" preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF serves as a robust foundation for this gaming configuration. With 12 cores and 20 threads, it offers substantial multi-threading capabilities, which is reflected in its strong synthetic benchmark scores, such as the 28838 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 14367 in Geekbench multicore. However, the data for Evolve suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. This is particularly evident at lower resolutions like 1080p, where the GPU is able to produce very high frame rates (up to 190 FPS on "Low"), indicating the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to avoid a bottleneck.

The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2255 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071, is likely more relevant for this game. Evolve, being a title from 2015, may not be optimized to use the full 20 threads available. In such cases, the performance is heavily dependent on the speed of one or two cores. The i7-12700KF's boost clock of 5.00 GHz is crucial here, as it ensures that the primary game threads have access to maximum clock speeds, allowing for high frame rates when the GPU can keep up.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 85th among all CPUs confirms its high-end status. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-13700T and i5-13600T, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with deltas of -0.1% and 0.2% respectively. This indicates that the i7-12700KF is positioned at the top of its performance class. In Evolve, the CPU's role appears to be that of an enabler, providing enough processing power to ensure that the frame rate is determined by the GPU's capabilities at resolutions above 1080p. The data does not show any scenarios where the CPU would cause a significant frame rate drop, making it a non-issue for achieving the measured FPS figures.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4060 and i7-12700KF combination delivers exceptional performance. The "Low" preset achieves an average of 190 FPS, showcasing the system's raw speed. Moving to "Medium", the average drops to 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169, still offering a very fluid experience. The "High" preset is the most balanced, hitting an average of 115 FPS. The "Ultra" preset, while demanding, still manages an average of 80 FPS, making 1080p a resolution where all settings are playable.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. The "Low" preset maintains a high average of 127 FPS, suitable for competitive play. "Medium" produces an average of 99 FPS, with min and max values of 84 and 114, respectively. "High" settings yield an average of 77 FPS, which is a solid target for a 75Hz monitor. The "Ultra" preset drops to an average of 54 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for smooth gameplay. This resolution demonstrates the GPU's capability to handle high refresh rates at moderate to high settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. The "Low" preset is the only one to break the 60 FPS barrier, averaging 72 FPS. The "Medium" preset is the most balanced for 4K, averaging 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 65, indicating it can hold a playable frame rate. "High" settings drop to an average of 44 FPS, which is stutter-prone for a fast-paced FPS. Finally, the "Ultra" preset is nearly unplayable, with an average of just 31 FPS. This breakdown clearly shows that 4K is only for those willing to sacrifice graphical fidelity for playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination is ranked 2003 out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, indicating it is a solidly mid-pack performer. While the individual components are powerful, this ranking suggests that in the specific context of this game, other combinations of CPUs and GPUs can achieve higher frame rates. The rank of 2003 out of 3700 shows that there is a significant number of configurations that perform better, likely those with more powerful GPUs that can handle the game's demands at higher resolutions.

This ranking is notably lower than what the individual component percentiles might suggest. The CPU is in the 85th percentile, while the GPU is in the 61st percentile. The combination's rank being in the 54th percentile implies that the GPU is the constraining factor, pulling the overall performance down. It reflects the idea that for a demanding game at high resolutions, the GPU's performance is more critical than the CPU's. The data indicates that this combo is not optimized for 4K gaming, as the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are insufficient for the high pixel counts and texture loads.

The fact that the combo ranks in the lower half of the database's tested configurations is a key takeaway. It suggests that while the i7-12700KF is a top-tier CPU, pairing it with an RTX 4060 creates an imbalance for this particular game's engine. The high CPU performance is not fully utilized because the GPU becomes the bottleneck at the resolutions where the CPU's power would be needed to maintain high frame rates. In contrast, at 1080p, the system performs exceptionally well, and the ranking might be much higher if only that resolution were considered. The overall rank of 2003 out of 3700 is a reflection of the system's performance across all tested resolutions, where its 4K weaknesses bring down its average standing.