Evolve

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a performance profile in Evolve that is sharply divided by resolution. At 1080p, the combination produces high frame rates that suggest a CPU-bound scenario, while at 4K, the frame rates collapse in a manner typical of a GPU-limited workload. The data across the three tested resolutions reveals a system where the balance of power between the processor and graphics card shifts dramatically as pixel count increases, with the GPU becoming the clear bottleneck at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and steep decline as resolution increases, which is the primary indicator of where the system's limiting component lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 159.1 FPS. When the resolution is increased to 2560x1440 at the same Low settings, the average drops to 104.3 FPS, a reduction of 54.8 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160 at Low settings, the average falls further to 62.4 FPS. This scaling pattern—a significant drop at each step—points to the GPU becoming progressively more saturated. The RX 6600 XT, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, is being tasked with rendering an increasing number of pixels, and its performance ceiling is being reached.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At High settings, the frame rate goes from 62.9 FPS at 2560x1440 down to 38.8 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a 24.1 FPS loss, which is a substantial percentage drop and indicates that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are exhausted. The fact that the 4K High average of 38.8 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth for action games highlights the GPU's limitations at this resolution. The data suggests that the Core i7-14700KF is not the limiting factor here; its high single-thread and multi-thread scores provide ample headroom, but the RX 6600 XT cannot keep pace with the rendering demands of 4K.

The difference between the Low and Ultra settings at each resolution further confirms this trend. At 1080p, the gap between Low (159.1 FPS) and Ultra (65 FPS) is 94.1 FPS, showing that the GPU has some headroom to work with at the lowest resolution but is heavily taxed by higher graphical fidelity. At 4K, the gap between Low (62.4 FPS) and Ultra (28.4 FPS) is 34 FPS, but the absolute values are so low that the experience is compromised regardless of settings. The scaling behavior indicates that for smoother 4K gameplay, the GPU is the component that would need to be upgraded, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to feed even a more powerful graphics card.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested hardware combinations for Evolve, this specific pairing ranks at position 1254 out of 1695 tested combos. This places it in the lower percentile of all systems tested for this game, which is a notable finding given the individual components' specifications. The rank suggests that while the CPU is a high-end part, the overall combo is held back by the GPU in the context of this title. The rank of 1254 out of 1695 combos means that a significant majority of other system configurations tested achieve higher average frame rates in Evolve.

The CPU’s own benchmark percentile is 96, indicating it outperforms 96% of all tested CPUs in general synthetic workloads. However, this strength does not translate into a top-tier ranking for this game combo. This discrepancy underscores that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance in Evolve for this pairing. The GPU’s percentile is 71, which is lower than the CPU's, and this relative weakness is reflected in the combo's overall rank. The data implies that many other combos, likely featuring more powerful GPUs, will deliver higher frame rates in this game, even if their CPUs are less capable.

The nearestRivals data for the CPU shows it is closely matched with the Intel Core i7-14700K, with a deltaPct of 0, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, which is 0.4% behind. This indicates that the CPU's performance is on par with the best available, yet the combo rank remains low. This further isolates the GPU as the bottleneck. The conclusion from the ranking data is clear: this is a system with a top-tier processor that is paired with a mid-range graphics card, and in a game like Evolve, the graphics card's performance ceiling dictates the overall ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its substantial compute resources are evidenced by strong synthetic benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a single-core score of 6290. These scores indicate that the CPU has immense processing power for both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. In the context of Evolve, a game released in 2015, these resources are likely more than sufficient to handle the game's simulation and AI logic.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS of 159.1 indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames to reach very high performance levels. The bottleneck at this resolution is more likely the GPU's rendering speed, as even a powerful CPU cannot exceed the GPU's output capacity. The CPU's high single-core performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2972, is particularly relevant for a game like Evolve, which likely relies on a primary game thread for main loop logic. This strong single-thread performance ensures that the game's main thread is not starved for processing power.

The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used data, which can help reduce latency in game logic. The 125 W TDP is a measure of its power draw under load, but its performance characteristics are what matter here. The benchmark results show that the CPU sits in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700K and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, with deltas of 0% and -0.4% respectively. This places it at the top tier of processing power. Given that the combo rank is 1254 out of 1695, it is evident that the CPU is being held back by the GPU. If a more powerful GPU were installed, the CPU would likely be able to support significantly higher frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU's role is more prominent.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 159.1 at Low settings to 65.0 at Ultra settings. The Medium settings produce an average of 124.1 FPS, and High settings yield 99.0 FPS. This shows a clear trend where performance scales inversely with graphical fidelity, and even at the highest settings, the game remains playable. The 1080p results are the strongest for this combo, with all settings except Ultra exceeding the 60 FPS mark, and Low settings approaching the 160 FPS mark.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across the board. Low settings produce 104.3 FPS, Medium settings yield 81.4 FPS, and High settings drop to 62.9 FPS. The Ultra setting falls to 44.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. This indicates that at 1440p, the GPU is starting to become the primary constraint, particularly at higher settings. The step from High to Ultra at 1440p is a significant drop of 18.1 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces rendering features that heavily tax the RX 6600 XT.

At 3840x2160, the performance is significantly lower. Low settings produce an average of 62.4 FPS, which is the only setting at 4K that stays above 60 FPS. Medium settings fall to 47.9 FPS, High settings drop to 38.8 FPS, and Ultra settings yield a low 28.4 FPS. These numbers show that 4K gaming is not a viable option for this combo at anything above Low settings. The data shows a consistent pattern: the combo is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p, playable frame rates at 1440p with some compromises, and is largely unsuitable for 4K gaming beyond the lowest settings. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are likely factors in the steep drop-off at 4K, as the higher resolution demands more memory capacity and bandwidth than the card can provide efficiently.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration for Evolve. Built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, it features 2048 shading units and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Its memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. These specifications are characteristic of a mid-range graphics card that is well-suited for 1080p gaming but struggles at higher resolutions. The GPU's average benchmark score of 27985 places it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, with a deltaPct of 0.1%.

The GPU's role is most clearly demonstrated by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. The synthetic benchmark scores, such as the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 and the Passmark G3D score of 16461, indicate a certain level of raw compute capability. However, this capability is insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in Evolve. The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is hit at around 160 FPS at 1080p Low, which is its maximum output. The steep drops in FPS as resolution increases—from 159.1 FPS at 1080p Low to 62.4 FPS at 4K Low—are directly attributable to the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth limitations.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint at 4K. High-resolution textures and effects in the Ultra preset can easily exceed this capacity, leading to performance degradation. This is evident in the 4K Ultra result of 28.4 FPS, which is the lowest score recorded. The GPU's transistor count of 11,060 million and die size of 237 mm² show it is a physically modest chip, and its 160 W TDP reflects its power envelope. The comparison to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which is 0.9% ahead in average score, shows that the RX 6600 XT is in a similar performance class, but still insufficient for high-end 4K gaming. The data conclusively shows that the GPU is the component that determines the playability of this game, and its mid-range capabilities are the reason the combo ranks at 1254 out of 1695.