Evolve

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Evolve shows a predictable but steep performance curve as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 260.3 FPS, which drops to 175.5 FPS at 1440p and 98.7 FPS at 4K. That represents a 32.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 43.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates the system is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU increasingly becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

At Ultra settings, the curve is even more dramatic. The combo achieves 109 FPS at 1080p, falls to 73.4 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 44.3 FPS at 4K. The 59.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is nearly identical to the 62.1% reduction seen at Low settings, suggesting the performance ceiling is consistently defined by the GPU's raw throughput rather than any single setting group.

The Medium and High presets show a middle ground. At 1440p, Medium produces 134.2 FPS while High manages 108.7 FPS—a 19% gap. At 4K, the gap widens to 16.4% (75.7 FPS vs 63.4 FPS). This indicates that High settings impose a moderate additional load that becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions where the GPU is already working near its limits.

The data clearly shows that 1080p is well within the combo's comfort zone across all settings, with even Ultra exceeding 100 FPS. The 1440p resolution is the sweet spot for high-refresh displays, with Low and Medium both exceeding 130 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium remain playable above 60 FPS, while High sits just above the threshold and Ultra falls below it.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 433rd out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve. That places this setup in the top 25.5% of all combinations, which is a strong showing for a mid-range-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the combo's ability to maintain high frame rates across most settings and resolutions, though it does not crack the top tier reserved for flagship GPUs paired with top-end CPUs.

In the context of the GPU's overall standing, the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs tested. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which scores 0.6% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, which scores 2.2% higher. The RX 5300M trails by 2.5%. This suggests the desktop RTX 4070 is positioned competitively, and the combo rank reflects that.

The CPU's standing is equally relevant. The Core i7-12700KF sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core i7-13800H (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i9-12900HX (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i5-13600T (0.3% higher). These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class.

The combination of a top-quartile CPU and a top-quartile GPU yields a system that ranks in the top quarter for this specific game. The 433rd rank out of 1695 combos indicates that while many systems outperform it—likely those with higher-tier GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090—this pairing is solidly above average for Evolve.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is well-suited for Evolve, which is a 2015 title with modest VRAM demands at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K Ultra, the 12 GB capacity provides ample headroom, as the measured 44.3 FPS indicates the GPU is compute-limited rather than VRAM-limited.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz. The high boost clock is a key factor in the strong 1080p performance, where the GPU can run at maximum frequency without thermal or power constraints. At 4K, the boost clock remains relevant, but the sheer pixel throughput demands more from the memory subsystem and shading units.

The RTX 4070 has 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. For Evolve, which relies heavily on texture detail and particle effects, the texture rate is particularly important. The 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power ensures that even complex scenes with multiple monsters and environmental effects are processed efficiently.

The GPU's 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are not directly relevant to Evolve, as the game predates ray tracing and DLSS adoption. However, the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency means the GPU can maintain high clocks without excessive power draw—the 200 W TDP is reasonable for this performance class. The 16-pin power connector and suggested 550 W PSU indicate the system is well within standard desktop power budgets.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average is 260.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo run Evolve at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: No, the average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 44.3 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's multithreaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Core i7-12700KF scores 28979 in Cinebench R23 multicore, which is virtually tied with the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% higher avg score), the Intel Core i7-13800H (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i9-12900HX (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i5-13600T (0.3% higher).

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 has a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, achieved with 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus running at 21 Gbps effective speed.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of FPS and visual quality?

A: At 1440p with Medium settings, the combo delivers 134.2 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS and provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p, as the FPS drops from 260.3 at Low to 109 at Ultra—a range that indicates the GPU has headroom but is constrained by the CPU's frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth competitive experience in Evolve, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 260.3 FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate and ensures minimal input lag. However, this sacrifices visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p, yielding 206.1 FPS, is a better balance for most users, providing improved textures and effects while still doubling the 100 FPS threshold.

At 1440p, Medium is the recommended setting, producing 134.2 FPS. This keeps the frame rate well above 100 FPS while offering a meaningful resolution upgrade. High at 1440p drops to 108.7 FPS, which is still excellent for most monitors, but Medium provides a 19% performance headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1440p is playable at 73.4 FPS, but the marginal visual gains over High may not justify the 32.5% performance penalty.

For 4K, the choices are more constrained. Medium at 75.7 FPS is the best option for maintaining smooth gameplay, while High at 63.4 FPS is borderline but playable on a 60 Hz display. Low at 4K produces 98.7 FPS, which is impressive but visually bare. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as the 44.3 FPS average falls below acceptable playability standards.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize frame rate over absolute visual quality: use Medium at 1440p for the best experience, with High as a viable alternative if a 120 Hz display is not in use. For 4K, settle for Medium to stay above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This hybrid design combines performance and efficiency cores, though the game Evolve—released in 2015—is unlikely to leverage the efficiency cores effectively. The benchmark data shows strong multithreaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 and a Geekbench multicore score of 13596.

For a game like Evolve, which is primarily single-threaded in its main game loop, the CPU's single-core performance is critical. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4091 and Geekbench single-core score of 2526 indicate excellent per-core throughput. This is reflected in the 1080p Low results, where the combo hits 260.3 FPS—a figure that suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates.

The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast memory for game assets and instructions. The dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 means the system can be paired with high-bandwidth memory, though the exact memory speed is not specified in the data. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are standard for a desktop build.

The CPU's percentile ranking at 89th among all CPUs confirms its position as a high-end processor. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are all within 0.3% of its average score, indicating that the i7-12700KF is not a bottleneck in this pairing. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 show consistent scaling across core counts, which is relevant for games that utilize additional threads for physics and AI.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average frame rates across settings:

• Low: 260.3 FPS
• Medium: 206.1 FPS
• High: 161 FPS
• Ultra: 109 FPS

The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58.1% reduction in frame rate, with each step up in settings costing roughly 20-25% performance. At 1080p, even the most demanding preset stays well above 100 FPS, making this resolution fully saturated for any display.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are:

• Low: 175.5 FPS
• Medium: 134.2 FPS
• High: 108.7 FPS
• Ultra: 73.4 FPS

The 1440p results show a 58.2% reduction from Low to Ultra, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. This indicates that the GPU is beginning to become the limiting factor, as the absolute FPS drops across all settings but the relative scaling remains consistent. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first point where the frame rate falls below 75 FPS, suggesting a threshold for high-refresh gaming.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are:

• Low: 98.7 FPS
• Medium: 75.7 FPS
• High: 63.4 FPS
• Ultra: 44.3 FPS

The 4K results show a 55.1% reduction from Low to Ultra, with the Low preset remaining above 90 FPS and Medium staying above 60 FPS. High is just playable at 63.4 FPS, while Ultra is not recommended. The 4K scaling confirms that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at 98.7 FPS in the Low preset.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most consistent performance-vs-quality tradeoff, with frame rates of 206.1 FPS at 1080p, 134.2 FPS at 1440p, and 75.7 FPS at 4K. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for Medium settings or lower.