Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS title, shows distinct performance scaling across settings and resolutions when paired with the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. The measured data provides a clear picture of how the component combination handles this game, revealing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher settings and resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data shows a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 101.1 FPS, which is playable but leaves performance on the table. The High preset at the same resolution achieves 144.6 FPS, a substantial improvement that still maintains high visual fidelity. For players with 1080p displays, High is the optimal choice, as it offers a 43.0% performance uplift over Ultra while remaining visually demanding. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 183.6 FPS, which indicates the GPU still has significant headroom, but the visual quality reduction is not justified when High already exceeds 144 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 96.8 FPS, which is close to the 100 FPS threshold many players consider ideal. The Ultra preset drops to 68.3 FPS, a 29.4% reduction from High, making it less suitable for smooth gameplay. Medium at 1440p delivers 120.2 FPS, a strong result that could be preferred by competitive players who prioritize frame rate over visual detail. However, the data suggests that High at 1440p offers the best balance, as it maintains a high frame rate while keeping graphical settings at a demanding level.

For 3840x2160, the situation changes. High averages 53.6 FPS, which is borderline playable but not ideal for a fast-paced FPS. Medium at 4K achieves 70.2 FPS, a 31.0% improvement over High, making it the recommended preset for 4K displays. Low at 4K delivers 90 FPS, which is smooth but sacrifices too much visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 38.9 FPS, which is not suitable for competitive play. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is High at 1080p, High at 1440p, and Medium at 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This is a substantial amount of VRAM for a game released in 2015, meaning Evolve will rarely, if ever, be limited by memory capacity. The GPU's 3840 shading units and 96 ROPs contribute to its pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s, which is more than sufficient for this title. The boost clock of 2430 MHz and game clock of 2124 MHz indicate the card operates at high frequencies under load.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32619. Its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, scores 32540, putting the RX 7800 XT just 0.2% ahead. The NVIDIA P104-100 scores 32747, which is 0.4% higher, while the NVIDIA T600 Mobile scores 32849, a 0.7% advantage. These small deltas show that the RX 7800 XT is positioned in a tightly contested performance tier, though its strengths in this specific game are evident from the FPS data.

The relationship between GPU capability and Evolve's performance becomes clear when examining the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 234.6 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, this drops to 101.1 FPS. This 56.9% reduction is driven by the increased shader complexity and texture work at higher presets. The GPU's FP32 performance of 37.32 TFLOPS provides ample compute for the game's effects, but the rendering pipeline still becomes the limiting factor at Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals how the RX 7800 XT scales as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 144.6 at 1080p to 96.8 at 1440p, a 33.1% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K High, the FPS drops to 53.6, a further 44.6% reduction. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the frame rate declines proportionally with the increase in pixel count. At 4K High, the GPU is rendering roughly four times the pixels of 1080p, and the 62.9% total FPS drop from 1080p High aligns with the increased pixel workload.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 101.1, dropping to 68.3 at 1440p (a 32.4% reduction) and then to 38.9 at 4K (a 43.0% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 38.9 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, confirming that the combination of high resolution and maximum settings is too demanding for this GPU. At Low settings, the scaling is less severe: 1080p Low produces 234.6 FPS, 1440p Low produces 161.1 FPS (a 31.3% reduction), and 4K Low produces 90 FPS (a 44.1% reduction from 1440p). The consistent scaling across all settings suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor, as the frame rate drops are uniform regardless of graphical load.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 234.6, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 1440p compared to High?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 68.3 FPS, while High averages 96.8 FPS, making High 41.7% faster.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Evolve?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops when resolution increases across all settings presets.

Q: What is the playable preset at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium settings provide 70.2 FPS, which is the recommended preset for 4K playability.

Q: How does the RX 7800 XT compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7800 XT scores 32619 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 but 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA P104-100.

Q: What FPS can players expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 144.6, which is suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.10 GHz boosts to 5.40 GHz, providing strong single-thread performance for games. The CPU has an L3 cache of 33 MB shared across all cores, which helps reduce memory latency in game workloads. The 65 W TDP is modest, but the boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures high performance when needed.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-14700F scores 35443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5003 in single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 54097, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (54450) and 1.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681). The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, putting the i7-14700F 1.2% ahead, while the AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53206, a 1.7% advantage for the i7-14700F. These results show the CPU is highly competitive in general workloads.

For Evolve, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU. The game was released in 2015, and its threading model is unlikely to utilize all 28 threads effectively. However, the high single-thread performance of 5003 in Cinebench R23 ensures that the CPU will not bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios. The FPS data supports this, as even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the average FPS reaches 234.6, indicating the CPU can feed frames at a high rate. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide headroom for background tasks and future titles, but in Evolve, the GPU remains the primary determinant of performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low produces 234.6 FPS, Medium produces 183.6 FPS, High produces 144.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 101.1 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra results in a 56.9% performance drop, with each preset tier reducing FPS by approximately 20-30%. The gap between Medium and High is 39.0 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 43.5 FPS, showing that Ultra imposes a significant additional load.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 161.1 FPS, Medium at 120.2 FPS, High at 96.8 FPS, and Ultra at 68.3 FPS. Compared to 1080p, each preset experiences a reduction of roughly 30-33%, with Ultra seeing the largest percentage drop at 32.4%. The 1440p results still maintain playable frame rates for all presets except Ultra, which dips below 70 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 90 FPS, Medium at 70.2 FPS, High at 53.6 FPS, and Ultra at 38.9 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, ranging from 44.1% for Low to 43.0% for Ultra. At 4K, only Low and Medium achieve average FPS above 60, while High and Ultra fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows that 4K is only viable with reduced settings on this hardware combination, and the overall best experience is found at 1080p or 1440p with High settings, where the balance between visual quality and frame rate is optimal.