Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti produces a benchmark profile that is heavily skewed by the graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions. With the CPU ranking in the 94th percentile among all tested processors and the GPU sitting in the 41st percentile, this combo's measured frame rates in Evolve reveal a classic bottleneck scenario where the GTX 1660 Ti becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises. The data shows a system capable of smooth 1080p play but struggling to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, with the gap between the two components' performance tiers becoming the defining characteristic of this configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across the three tested resolutions shows a steep and consistent performance drop as resolution increases, which is the clearest indicator that the GPU is the primary constraint in this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 123 FPS, but this falls to 83 FPS at 1440p and further to 47 FPS at 4K — a reduction of roughly one-third at each step up in resolution. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload scales directly with pixel count and the processor has ample headroom to feed frames.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. With Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 52 FPS at 1080p to 35 FPS at 1440p and then to 20 FPS at 4K. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is approximately 62%, which is a more severe drop than the 62% seen at Low settings (123 FPS to 47 FPS). This indicates that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth limitations are exacerbated when both resolution and graphical complexity increase simultaneously.

The Medium preset data, which includes minimum and maximum frame rates, provides additional insight into the scaling pattern. At 1080p Medium, the average is 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and maximum of 110 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 64 FPS with a range of 54 to 74 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 36 FPS with a range of 31 to 42 FPS. The consistent narrowing of the frame rate range at lower resolutions suggests the CPU is capable of maintaining stable frame delivery when the GPU is not overwhelmed, while the wider spread at 4K indicates GPU-side variability under heavy load.

The overall trend points to a system where 1080p is the comfortable operating zone, 1440p is borderline viable at lower settings, and 4K is only playable at Low settings. The fact that 4K Low (47 FPS) outperforms 1080p Ultra (52 FPS) by a narrow margin relative to the resolution difference underscores how heavily the GTX 1660 Ti's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are taxed by higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Evolve?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all quality presets achieve playable frame rates, with averages ranging from 52 FPS at Ultra to 123 FPS at Low. At 1440p, only Low and Medium settings stay above 60 FPS, while at 4K, even Low settings only reach 47 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 7723 places it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540, 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, and 2.3% ahead of the Intel Arc A310. These are very small margins, indicating the GTX 1660 Ti sits at the lower end of the performance spectrum.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-14700K bottleneck the GTX 1660 Ti in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The i7-14700K's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with the GPU's 41st percentile ranking, means the GTX 1660 Ti is overwhelmingly the performance ceiling. The CPU could likely support a much faster GPU without becoming a constraint.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 123 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 52 FPS. This represents a 71 FPS difference, or roughly a 58% reduction in frame rate when switching from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 3185th out of 3700 total tested combinations, placing it in approximately the 14th percentile of all combos. This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's modest performance tier and the game's demands at higher settings.

Q: Is the 4K Medium preset playable with this hardware?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 FPS. While this is technically playable, it falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth, and the minimum frame rate suggests occasional dips that could impact gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the dominant component in determining this combo's Evolve performance, as evidenced by the steep resolution scaling and the GPU's modest 41st percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards. The card features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 1536 shading units, provide the compute foundation for the measured frame rates.

The GPU's Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC with 6,600 million transistors, delivers DirectX 12 (12_1) support, which is relevant for a 2015 FPS title like Evolve that can leverage modern API features. However, the card's 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate are modest by contemporary standards, which explains why 4K Ultra settings reduce frame rates to 20 FPS.

The memory configuration is particularly telling for this game's performance profile. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6 GB capacity are sufficient for 1080p gaming but become strained at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Medium, the average frame rate of 36 FPS represents only 38% of the 1080p Medium result, suggesting that memory bandwidth limitations are exacerbated as pixel count increases. The GPU's texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s and ROP count of 48 further constrain performance at higher quality settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-to-low tier positioning. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 and PassMark G3D score of 12871 put it in the same performance class as the AMD Radeon 540 and Radeon Pro WX 3100, with delta percentages of only 0.7% and 1.9% respectively. This tight grouping means the GTX 1660 Ti has little headroom above the entry-level segment, which directly translates to the frame rate limitations observed in Evolve.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of playable frame rates across all quality presets. Low settings deliver the highest average at 123 FPS, followed by Medium at 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 and maximum of 110. High settings produce 75 FPS, while Ultra drops to 52 FPS. This represents a spread of 71 FPS between the lowest and highest quality presets, indicating that the GPU has sufficient resources to handle all settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance envelope narrows considerably. Low settings achieve 83 FPS, Medium delivers 64 FPS with a range of 54 to 74, High produces 50 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is roughly 30-35%, which is consistent with the increased pixel count. Notably, the 1440p Medium minimum of 54 FPS suggests that even at this resolution, the system can occasionally dip below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become marginal for smooth gameplay. Low settings produce 47 FPS, Medium averages 36 FPS with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42, High delivers 29 FPS, and Ultra drops to 20 FPS. The 4K results show a compression effect where even the best preset barely reaches half of the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset's minimum of 31 FPS indicates significant frame pacing issues under 4K load.

The progression across all three resolutions reveals a consistent pattern: each doubling of pixel count (from 1080p to 4K is a 4x increase) results in roughly a 60-62% reduction in frame rate at equivalent settings. This is a classic GPU-bound scaling curve, where the processor's capabilities are largely irrelevant to the final frame rate once the GPU saturates.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 3185th out of 3700 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 14% of all configurations. This ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's performance class, as the CPU is in the top 6% of all processors. The disparity between the two components' rankings — 94th percentile for the CPU versus 41st percentile for the GPU — creates a system where the graphics card is the clear performance ceiling.

The combo's rank relative to other tested configurations suggests that most systems in the database outperform this pairing in Evolve. The GTX 1660 Ti's nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark table — AMD Radeon 540, Radeon Pro WX 3100, Radeon R7 250, and Intel Arc A310 — all have average scores within 2.3% of the 1660 Ti, meaning the GPU is clustered near the bottom of the performance distribution. This clustering directly influences the combo's overall ranking in the game.

The 3700 total combos represent a wide range of hardware pairings, and ranking 3185th means this setup is outperformed by approximately 86% of all tested configurations. This is consistent with the GPU's age and tier, as the 1660 Ti was released in early 2019 with a launch MSRP of 279 USD, making it a mid-range card at the time that has since been surpassed by multiple generations of hardware.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data supports using High settings as the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 75 FPS average at High provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while delivering significantly better visuals than the 123 FPS Low preset. Users prioritizing frame rate can drop to Medium for 95 FPS, but the jump from High to Ultra only sacrifices 23 FPS for what is typically a minor visual improvement in a 2015 title.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings offer the most practical experience with a 64 FPS average. The minimum of 54 FPS means occasional dips below 60 FPS, but this is preferable to the 50 FPS average at High or the 35 FPS at Ultra. Low settings at 83 FPS provide the smoothest experience but sacrifice considerable visual fidelity. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this resolution.

For 3840x2160, the choices are limited. Low settings at 47 FPS is the only preset that approaches playable frame rates, while Medium at 36 FPS and High at 29 FPS are likely too choppy for a fast-paced FPS. Ultra at 20 FPS is effectively unplayable. Users with 4K displays should consider either playing at Low settings or reducing the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The Medium preset across all resolutions shows the most consistent frame time data, as it is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum values. At 1080p, the range of 81-110 FPS indicates stable performance; at 1440p, the range of 54-74 FPS shows more variance; at 4K, the range of 31-42 FPS demonstrates significant instability. This suggests Medium is the most predictable preset for this hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, combined with 33 MB of shared L3 cache, place it among the top processors in the benchmark database, with a 94th percentile ranking. However, in Evolve, the CPU's role is largely secondary to the GPU's limitations.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5, a Geekbench multi-core score of 20767, and a PassMark multithread score of 52392. These figures place it in a tight performance cluster with the AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% delta), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (-0.2% delta), and AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (-0.7% delta). None of these rivals differ from the i7-14700K by more than 1%, indicating this CPU is at the top of the performance curve.

In the context of Evolve, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than the game requires, particularly when the GPU is producing frame rates in the 20-123 FPS range. The data shows that frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and settings changes, not with CPU-bound factors. This is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario, where the processor is waiting on the graphics card to complete rendering tasks.

The CPU's high single-thread performance — a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160 and PassMark single-thread score of 4472 — ensures that even the most CPU-sensitive aspects of a 2015 FPS title are handled with minimal bottleneck. The 5.60 GHz boost clock provides the raw clock speed that older game engines often rely on for physics and game logic. However, these advantages are masked by the GPU's inability to translate CPU headroom into higher frame rates.

The UHD Graphics 770 integrated GPU is present but irrelevant to this gaming scenario, as the discrete GTX 1660 Ti handles all rendering. The CPU's support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, dual-channel configuration, and PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes provides ample platform capability, but none of these features meaningfully impact Evolve's frame rates given the GPU constraint.