Evolve

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers a dominant performance in Evolve, but the data reveals a clear shift in the bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combination is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond 300 FPS on Low settings, indicating that the CPU is doing the heavy lifting. By 4K, the scales tip entirely to the GPU, with frame rates dropping to levels that still remain playable but show the expected render-load strain.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, with the magnitude of the drop varying significantly by settings preset. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 311.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 116.3 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 63%. This substantial drop at Low settings suggests that even with minimal graphical load, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions but cannot compensate for the sheer pixel count at 4K.

A similar pattern emerges at the High preset, where the average FPS drops from 189.8 at 1080p to 72.6 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at High settings is notable: 189.8 FPS versus 123.4 FPS, a 35% reduction. This indicates that the transition to 1440p already introduces a significant GPU workload, but the system remains far from being CPU-bound. The Ultra preset tells a more extreme story, with frame rates falling from 132 FPS at 1080p to just 50.6 FPS at 4K, a decline of 62%. This highlights how the Ultra preset’s additional effects and geometry taxes the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s 16 GB frame buffer and 672.3 GB/s memory bandwidth.

What the resolution scaling data truly indicates is that the i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to keep up with the GPU at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system is clearly CPU-bound, as the GPU is likely idling waiting for draw calls. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is the absolute bottleneck, and the CPU’s role diminishes to a supporting one. The sweet spot for this pairing is 1440p, where the data shows a balanced load: High settings deliver 123.4 FPS, and Medium hits 160.9 FPS, both indicating that neither component is severely limiting the other.

FAQ

*Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER capable of running Evolve at 4K?*

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 116.3 FPS at 4K Low and 91.8 FPS at 4K Medium, which are both playable. However, 4K High drops to 72.6 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 50.6 FPS, indicating that Ultra is marginal for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the i7-14700K perform in CPU-bound scenarios in this game?

A: The i7-14700K excels, as evidenced by the 311.9 FPS result at 1080p Low. This score demonstrates that the CPU’s 28 threads and high boost clock are not a limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: 1440p offers the best balance. The data shows 209.1 FPS at Low and 160.9 FPS at Medium, which are high enough for competitive play. Even Ultra at 86.1 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a significantly better visual experience?

A: It does, but with a heavy performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 132 FPS versus 240.9 FPS on Medium, a 45% reduction. At 4K, the gap widens, with Ultra at 50.6 FPS compared to 91.8 FPS on Medium.

*Q: Is this system overkill for Evolve at 1080p?*

A: The data suggests yes. At 1080p Low, the system hits 311.9 FPS, which far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The GPU’s capabilities are underutilized at this resolution, making the CPU the primary driver of performance.

Q: How does the GPU’s memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: The 672.3 GB/s bandwidth is a critical factor. The data shows a 20% drop from 4K Medium (91.8 FPS) to 4K High (72.6 FPS), which aligns with the increased memory pressure from higher-resolution textures and effects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the decisive component at higher resolutions in Evolve. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 256-bit bus width provide a 672.3 GB/s bandwidth, which is directly reflected in the measured frame rates. At 4K, the difference between Medium and High settings is 19.2 FPS (91.8 to 72.6), a 21% drop, indicating that the GPU’s memory subsystem is heavily taxed by the higher preset’s asset loads.

The GPU’s clock speeds—2340 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost—provide the raw compute necessary to maintain playable frame rates. The data shows that at 1440p, the GPU can handle High settings at 123.4 FPS, but pushing to Ultra reduces this to 86.1 FPS, a 30% decrease. This suggests that the Ada Lovelace architecture’s shading units (8448) and texture units (264) are saturated by the Ultra preset’s additional effects, but the card still delivers a smooth experience.

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s position in the GPU market is reflected in its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48704. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, which scores 49071, show a delta of -0.7%, indicating that this card is competitive with the upper mid-range tier. In Evolve, the GPU’s role is clear: it provides the necessary headroom for high-refresh-rate gameplay at 1440p, but at 4K, it becomes the limiting factor, especially on the Ultra preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 183rd out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 11% of all configurations. This high ranking is driven by the CPU’s exceptional single-core performance, which is critical for a game like Evolve that relies on physics and AI calculations. The CPU’s percentile rank of 96 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074, places it just behind the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70104, a negligible 0% delta.

The GPU’s contribution to this ranking is also significant. Its 86th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 48704 are respectable, but it trails the NVIDIA CMP 50HX by a 0.7% delta. This means that while the CPU is top-tier, the GPU is not the absolute fastest, which explains why the combo does not break into the top 100. The combination’s rank of 183 suggests that it outperforms the vast majority of systems, but it is not the absolute best for this title.

When compared to other high-end combos, the data indicates that the i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 28 threads provide a solid foundation, but the GPU’s 16 GB frame buffer at 4K Ultra causes the frame rate to dip to 50.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. This is the primary factor preventing a higher rank, as the system is capable of exceeding 200 FPS at 1440p but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance for this combo. At 1440p, Medium delivers 160.9 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors, while providing a richer visual experience than Low. At 4K, Medium achieves 91.8 FPS, which is smooth for a single-player or cooperative FPS, and it is a 91% improvement over the Ultra preset’s 50.6 FPS.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the Low preset is a viable option, especially at 1080p where it hits 311.9 FPS. This is ideal for competitive play on high-refresh-rate displays. However, at 1440p Low, the 209.1 FPS result is still exceptional, and the visual drop from Medium is noticeable but not game-breaking.

The High preset is a middle ground, but the data shows it is less efficient than Medium. At 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 123.4 FPS, a 23% reduction from Medium, while the visual improvement is marginal. At 4K, High drops to 72.6 FPS, which is still playable but requires a VRR-capable display to avoid tearing. The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combo, as it consistently delivers the lowest frame rates, including a 50.6 FPS result at 4K, which falls below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves 311.9 FPS, Medium hits 240.9 FPS, High delivers 189.8 FPS, and Ultra settles at 132 FPS. These numbers show a clear scaling pattern, with each preset increment reducing frame rate by roughly 20-30%, indicating that the CPU is the primary driver at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced GPU influence. Low reaches 209.1 FPS, Medium hits 160.9 FPS, High drops to 123.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 86.1 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 37.5 FPS, which is larger than the 51 FPS gap at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is starting to become a factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear bottleneck. Low achieves 116.3 FPS, Medium reaches 91.8 FPS, High drops to 72.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50.6 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 19.2 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 22 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional load on the 16 GB frame buffer significantly impacts performance. The data shows that the system can handle 4K, but only at Low or Medium settings for a consistent 60+ FPS experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K plays a decisive role in Evolve, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. Its 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534. This is critical for handling the game’s AI and physics calculations, which are likely to use multiple threads.

The CPU’s single-core performance is equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6287 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2932. This is the key factor in the 311.9 FPS result at 1080p Low, as Evolve relies on a single main thread for game logic. The 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures that this thread has the highest possible processing speed.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 96 among all CPUs places it just behind the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0% delta) and ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, which has a -0.5% delta. This indicates that the i7-14700K is one of the fastest CPUs available, and its 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency in CPU-bound scenarios. However, at 4K, the CPU’s advantage is diminished, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the 50.6 FPS result at Ultra settings.