Evolve

# Evolve with Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 580

The pairing of Intel's Core i7-14700KF with AMD's Radeon RX 580 produces a system where the graphics card is the clear performance bottleneck in Evolve, a 2015 FPS. The CPU, which sits in the 96th percentile of all tested processors, provides ample headroom, but the RX 580, a 2017 Polaris part in the 53rd GPU percentile, dictates achievable frame rates. Across the measured resolution and settings matrix, the data reveals a consistent pattern: frame rates scale with resolution and quality settings in a manner typical of a GPU-limited configuration, with the CPU rarely if ever constraining output.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K in Evolve is steep and consistent with a GPU-bound workload. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 85.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 55.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 35%, and then further to 35.6 FPS at 3840x2160, another 36% drop from the 1440p figure. This near-linear scaling with pixel count (1.78x pixels from 1080p to 1440p, 2.25x from 1440p to 4K) indicates the RX 580's shading units and memory bandwidth are the limiting resources; the Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not the constraint.

The pattern intensifies at higher quality presets. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (50.9 FPS) to 1440p (32.5 FPS) represents a 36% performance loss, while moving to 4K (23.1 FPS) costs another 29%. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic collapse: 36.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 21.4 FPS at 1440p (41% loss) and plummets to 11.3 FPS at 4K, a 69% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This amplified scaling at higher settings suggests that the RX 580's 32 ROPs and 256-bit memory interface are overwhelmed by the combination of increased pixel workload and more complex shading, while the CPU's 33 MB of L3 cache and high boost clock remain underutilized.

The resolution scaling behavior also reveals that the RX 580 is not a 4K-capable part for this title. Even at Low settings, 4K yields only 35.6 FPS, and at the playable High preset, it drops to 23.1 FPS. The 1440p results are marginal: Low settings achieve 55.4 FPS, but High dips below 33 FPS. The data strongly suggests that 1080p is the intended operating range for this combination, where even Ultra settings sustain 36.1 FPS, and Low settings approach 86 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p (85.7 vs 36.1 FPS) is a 58% performance spread, which is entirely attributable to GPU workload scaling rather than CPU limitations.

FAQ

Q: What is the fastest average frame rate this combo achieves in Evolve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 85.7 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 85 FPS, indicating that the RX 580 can deliver high refresh rates only at the lowest quality preset and 1080p resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70104, which places it 0% deltaPct from the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X by 0.4% (70420) and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 by 1.3% (71056). These are all effectively performance peers in synthetic workloads.

Q: Is the RX 580 competitive with other GPUs in its class?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score is 13559, with a 0% deltaPct versus the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564) and 0.1% versus the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13549). It is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13416) and 1.1% behind the NVIDIA P106-090 (13716). All four rivals are within a 1.1% performance band.

Q: What is the worst performance scenario for this combo?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 11.3 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that falls below 20 FPS, making it effectively unplayable. Even the 1080p Ultra preset (36.1 FPS) is barely above the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playability.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 1582 out of 1695 total tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 7% of all configurations. This low ranking is driven entirely by the GPU component, as the CPU's 96th percentile standing is offset by the GPU's 53rd percentile performance.

Q: Does increasing resolution from 1440p to 4K have a consistent impact?

A: Yes, but the impact varies by setting. At Low settings, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 19.8 FPS (55.4 to 35.6). At High settings, it is 9.4 FPS (32.5 to 23.1). At Ultra settings, the drop is 10.1 FPS (21.4 to 11.3). The Medium preset shows the smallest absolute drop at 16.9 FPS (44.2 to 27.3), but the percentage loss is similar across presets, ranging from 47% to 53%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1582 out of 1695 tested configurations places this system in the 7th percentile of all combinations tested in Evolve. This is a very low standing, and the data shows it is almost entirely a consequence of the GPU selection. The Core i7-14700KF is a top-tier processor; its 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its synthetic benchmark scores (e.g., 44557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 6290 in single-core) position it far above the mid-range. However, the RX 580's 53rd percentile GPU ranking and its average benchmark score of 13559, which is statistically indistinguishable from the GTX 570 and GTX 950, anchor the system's overall performance.

In the context of Evolve's measured FPS, the combo ranking reflects the practical reality that the game's frame rates are constrained by the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 85.7 FPS, which would be acceptable for many users, but this is achieved despite the CPU, not because of it. The 20-core processor is capable of far higher frame rates in CPU-limited scenarios, but the RX 580's 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth cap the output. The ranking also indicates that among the 1695 tested combos, only 113 perform worse, and these are likely systems with even older or weaker GPUs paired with similarly strong CPUs.

The proximity of the GPU's nearest rivals—all within 1.1% in average score—highlights that the RX 580 sits at a performance plateau. This explains why the combo rank does not improve even when paired with a high-end CPU like the i7-14700KF. The bottleneck is absolute; no amount of CPU headroom can overcome the GPU's 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate or 193.0 GTexel/s texture rate when rendering Evolve's environments at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four resolutions and four quality settings each, providing a complete matrix of 16 data points. At 1920x1080, the results span from 85.7 FPS (Low) to 36.1 FPS (Ultra), with Medium at 65.2 FPS and High at 50.9 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 49.6 FPS, and each step up in quality costs roughly 15-20% performance. This is a typical GPU-bound scaling pattern, where the incremental cost of additional effects and shading complexity is uniform.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress downward. Low settings deliver 55.4 FPS, Medium 44.2 FPS, High 32.5 FPS, and Ultra 21.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 34.0 FPS in absolute terms, but the percentage difference remains similar at 61%. Interestingly, the 1440p Medium result (44.2 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1080p High result (50.9 FPS) in terms of relative quality-to-performance tradeoff, suggesting that the game's settings have a roughly linear cost per quality tier.

At 3840x2160, the RX 580 struggles across the board. Low settings yield 35.6 FPS, which is the only playable result at this resolution. Medium drops to 27.3 FPS, High to 23.1 FPS, and Ultra to 11.3 FPS. The Ultra result is particularly notable: it is less than one-third of the 1080p Low result (85.7 FPS), demonstrating the exponential cost of combining 4K resolution with the highest quality preset. The data shows that for this combo, the playable envelope (defined here as above 30 FPS) includes only 1080p at all settings, 1440p at Low and Medium, and 4K at Low.

The pattern across all resolutions reveals that the RX 580 has a finite performance budget. At 1080p, it can allocate that budget to higher quality settings while maintaining 36-86 FPS. At 1440p, quality must be reduced to Low or Medium to stay above 44 FPS. At 4K, only Low settings are viable, and even then, the 35.6 FPS average is marginal. The i7-14700KF, with its 5.60 GHz boost clock and 28 threads, never appears to be the limiting factor; the FPS deltas between settings at any given resolution are consistent and large, which is the signature of a GPU bottleneck.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 plays the decisive role in this configuration's Evolve performance. Its specifications—8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs—define the system's capabilities. The GPU's base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz, combined with its 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, determine how quickly it can process Evolve's rendering workloads. The 14 nm Polaris 20 chip, with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, is fundamentally a mid-range part from 2017, and its 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its age and capability level.

In Evolve, the GPU's memory subsystem is likely a significant factor. The 256.0 GB/s bandwidth is moderate by modern standards, but at 1080p, it is sufficient to feed the 2304 shaders. At 1440p and 4K, the increased pixel workload demands more memory traffic, and the GPU's 32 ROPs become a bottleneck for fill-rate-intensive operations. This is evident in the FPS data: at 4K Ultra, the 11.3 FPS result is likely limited by the ROP throughput of 42.88 GPixel/s, which is simply inadequate for rendering Evolve's scenes at that resolution and quality.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 8 GB is not a limiting factor in this title, as Evolve's 2015-era textures and assets fit comfortably within that allocation at all tested settings. The GDDR5 memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) provides adequate bandwidth for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show a clear degradation that aligns with the memory bus saturation. The GPU's DirectX 12 (12_0) support, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3 APIs ensure compatibility with Evolve's rendering pipeline, but the hardware's raw throughput is the binding constraint.

The RX 580's nearest rivals—the GTX 570, GTX 950, Radeon Pro 455, and P106-090—all sit within a 1.1% performance band, reinforcing that this GPU is at a performance plateau. No setting or resolution in the measured data suggests that the i7-14700KF can compensate for the GPU's limitations. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking is irrelevant when the GPU delivers only 23.1 FPS at 4K High. The data is unambiguous: to improve Evolve performance, the GPU must be upgraded, as the RX 580 is the sole determinant of frame rates in this pairing.