Evolve

Evolve, the 2015 asymmetric FPS, presents a demanding mix of AI-driven monsters and particle-heavy combat. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination shows a system that is decisively GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but with enough headroom to expose CPU limits at 1080p. The results indicate a well-balanced pairing for this title, though the performance scaling reveals specific strengths and bottlenecks worth understanding before tuning settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the core limitation of this combo. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 333.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 126.8 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 62%. This substantial decline indicates that the GPU is being pushed to its limits as pixel count increases, which is typical for a title with heavy post-processing and lighting effects. The RTX 4080 SUPER's raw compute is the primary driver here, and the data shows that even a high-end card like this cannot maintain triple-digit frames at 4K when settings are raised.

Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at High settings shows a more moderate drop, from 135.9 FPS to 74.4 FPS. This 45% reduction is less severe than the Low setting drop, suggesting that at higher quality presets, the workload becomes more balanced between the CPU and GPU. However, the trend is clear: the limiting component at 4K is the graphics card. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller, with High settings dropping from 200.2 FPS to 135.9 FPS, which indicates that the CPU still has enough headroom to feed the GPU adequately at these resolutions. The real bottleneck emerges at 1080p, where the 333.9 FPS Low result suggests the CPU is nearing its limits, preventing the GPU from stretching its legs further.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the data points to Medium settings as the optimal balance. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 172.6 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors and provides a significant visual uplift over Low. The jump from Low to Medium costs about 54 FPS at 1440p (from 226.9 to 172.6 FPS), but the visual quality gains are typically worth it in a game like Evolve, where spotting a monster in the foliage matters. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 256.7 FPS, which is still far beyond what most displays can show, making it a no-brainer choice for competitive play.

If you prioritize visual fidelity, High settings at 1440p is the recommended ceiling. The 135.9 FPS average is still very playable, and the increase in shadow quality and texture detail will be noticeable. Ultra settings, however, are only advisable for 1080p users with very high refresh rate displays. The 139.9 FPS Ultra result at 1080p is respectable, but at 1440p, Ultra drops to 93.5 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most consider the baseline for smooth gameplay. For 4K owners, sticking with High (74.4 FPS) or even Medium (95.8 FPS) is the practical recommendation, as the visual difference between High and Ultra often does not justify the performance hit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, as evidenced by the measured FPS scaling. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is ample for Evolve's textures at 4K. The data does not show any memory-related stuttering, indicating that the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this game. The card's boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with its 10240 shading units, drives the high frame rates seen in the benchmarks. The GPU's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is what allows the card to handle the complex shader work required for the monster's dynamic lighting and particle effects.

The benchmark results show that the RTX 4080 SUPER is not the bottleneck at 1080p, as the frame rates are exceptionally high. However, at 4K, the card's performance is the deciding factor, with scores dropping by more than half from 1080p at every settings level. The card's Passmark G3D score of 34245 places it in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% behind in average benchmark score. This suggests that while the card is powerful, it is not class-leading, and its performance in Evolve is consistent with its general compute capabilities. The 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die are clearly being used effectively, but the game's demands are high enough to keep the card fully occupied at 1440p and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset for this combo provides a clear picture of its capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: Low 333.9 FPS, Medium 256.7 FPS, High 200.2 FPS, and Ultra 139.9 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is a substantial 194 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces significant rendering overhead that this system can still handle, but not without a noticeable cost. At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 226.9 FPS, Medium 172.6 FPS, High 135.9 FPS, and Ultra 93.5 FPS. The scaling here is more linear, with each preset costing roughly 40-50 FPS. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 126.8 FPS, Medium 95.8 FPS, High 74.4 FPS, and Ultra 57 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that dips below 60 FPS, which is a key takeaway for users with 4K displays.

Looking at the resolution scaling within each preset, Low settings show the largest absolute drop (207 FPS from 1080p to 4K), which highlights the GPU's raw pixel-pushing capability. Medium settings drop by 161 FPS, High by 126 FPS, and Ultra by 83 FPS. The diminishing absolute drops at higher presets suggest that the CPU is starting to play a more significant role as the GPU workload per frame increases. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 69.8 FPS, compared to a 194 FPS difference at 1080p. This confirms that at lower resolutions, the GPU is underutilized, while at 4K, the GPU is the primary limiter.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Evolve, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 117th out of 1695 tested combos. This places it in the top 7% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the game's age and the hardware's modern pedigree. The ranking indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, but it is not at the absolute top tier. The CPU's performance is a contributing factor, as the i7-14700F sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54097. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, is only 0.6% faster in average score, which suggests the CPU is not holding the combo back significantly.

The GPU's ranking is also relevant; it sits in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 53610. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is 0.2% slower, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a solid but not exceptional performer in the broader market. The combo rank of 117 suggests that while both components are individually strong, there are other pairings that achieve higher frame rates in Evolve, likely due to more extreme CPUs or better-tuned memory configurations. The data shows that this combo is a high-end setup that will handle the game well, but it is not the ultimate configuration for those seeking absolute maximum FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F plays a supporting role in this game, but its influence is visible at 1080p. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU has ample parallel processing power, but Evolve is not a highly threaded title. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz is more important for this game, as it relies on single-thread performance for game logic and AI. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003 and multi-core score of 35443 indicate strong performance, but the game's engine does not appear to scale well with the extra cores. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 333.9, which is likely near the CPU's limit for processing the game's simulation. This is supported by the fact that the 4K Low result is 126.8 FPS, which is a much smaller drop than would be expected if the GPU were completely unconstrained.

The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake-R on a 10 nm process, provides a high instruction rate that is beneficial for the game's physics calculations. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce latency when accessing game data. However, the benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, as the frame rates scale consistently with the GPU's workload. The i7-14700F's Passmark physics score of 2495 is modest, but it is sufficient for this title. The CPU's role is to ensure that the GPU is fed with data, and the data shows that it does so adequately until 1080p, where the frame rates become CPU-bound. For users with high refresh rate displays at 1080p, this CPU will be the limiting factor, but for 1440p and 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the component to watch.