Evolve

The pairing of Intel’s 20-core Core i7-14700KF with NVIDIA’s end-of-life GeForce GTX 1050 Ti produces one of the most lopsided configurations in the Evolve benchmark database. The CPU, which sits in the 96th percentile of all processors and posts a multi-core score of 44,557 in Cinebench R23, is effectively idle while the GPU, ranking in the 30th percentile of all graphics cards, struggles to maintain playable frame rates at most settings. The data shows a system where the silicon ceiling is absolute, and the results are dictated almost entirely by the 4 GB Pascal-era graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, where halving the resolution does not proportionally double the frame rate. At 4K with High settings, the combo averages 16.2 FPS. Dropping to 1440p High improves performance to 27.6 FPS, and at 1080p High, the average reaches 36.3 FPS. The scaling from 4K to 1080p represents a 124% increase in frame rate, but the absolute numbers remain low, indicating the GPU is saturated at every resolution.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the frame rates are 26.2 FPS at 4K, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 62.4 FPS at 1080p. The jump from 1440p to 1080p at Low yields a 56% improvement, which is substantial, yet the 1080p result is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches a smooth 60 FPS target. This suggests that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GTX 1050 Ti is the limiting component; the i7-14700KF, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 52,425, would not bottleneck any modern GPU in this title, but it cannot compensate for the 2.138 TFLOPS FP32 compute of the graphics card.

Ultra settings are nearly unplayable at any resolution. The 4K Ultra average is 9.5 FPS, and even at 1080p Ultra, the average only reaches 28.2 FPS. The drop from Medium to Ultra at 1080p is severe—from 45.8 FPS down to 28.2 FPS—a 38% performance penalty that underscores how the Pascal architecture’s 768 shading units and 32 ROPs are overwhelmed by the higher-fidelity shaders. The data indicates that resolution scaling efficiency diminishes as settings increase, which is typical for a GPU with a 128-bit memory bus and 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth.

FAQ

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

A: The benchmark data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset achieves a playable average. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 62.4, while 1440p Low drops to 40 FPS and 4K Low falls to 26.2 FPS. Higher resolutions consistently produce sub-30 FPS averages across all presets.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its direct rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 5,316, placing it essentially level with the NVIDIA GeForce 930A (5,317) and slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 940M (5,297) by 0.4%. It also leads the AMD Radeon R7 240 (5,280) by 0.7%, but trails the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5,361) by 0.8%. These are marginal differences, indicating the GPU is firmly in the entry-level class.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF the reason for the low frame rates?

A: No. The CPU is in the 96th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70,104. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, scores 70,074 (0% delta), and it outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70,420) by 0.4%. The measured FPS data shows the frame rates are consistently low even at 1080p, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck, not a CPU limitation.

Q: What is the impact of the GPU's memory configuration on 4K performance?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 112.1 GB/s bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 9.5 FPS, and even the Low preset only manages 26.2 FPS. The high-resolution data indicates the memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 4K, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

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

A: The combo ranks 1,674 out of 1,695 tested combinations in Evolve, placing it in the bottom 1.2% of all systems. This ranking reflects the extreme imbalance between the top-tier CPU and the entry-level GPU, which is confirmed by the measured frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. The only preset that achieves a 60 FPS average is 1080p Low, which posts 62.4 FPS. This is the sole configuration in the dataset that clears the standard smoothness threshold. For users willing to accept lower frame rates, 1080p Medium averages 45.8 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less fluid. The 1080p High preset drops to 36.3 FPS, and 1080p Ultra falls to 28.2 FPS, both of which are below ideal for a fast-paced FPS.

At higher resolutions, the data suggests avoiding everything above 1080p. The 1440p Medium average of 32.1 FPS and 1440p High of 27.6 FPS are marginal, while 4K Medium (15.4 FPS) and 4K High (16.2 FPS) are effectively unplayable. The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally 1080p Low, as it is the only setting that leverages the CPU’s headroom to push the GPU to its maximum output. Any other preset sacrifices too much performance for visual fidelity gains that the 4 GB framebuffer cannot adequately support.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range shows a steep curve. Low averages 62.4 FPS, Medium averages 45.8 FPS, High averages 36.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 28.2 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra is 34.2 FPS, a 55% reduction, which illustrates the high cost of enabling the most demanding effects on the GP107 chip.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages compress significantly. Low posts 40 FPS, Medium drops to 32.1 FPS, High falls to 27.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 17.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 22.2 FPS, but the overall performance is below the 1080p figures across the board. The 40 FPS at 1440p Low is the only sub-1080p result that approaches playability, yet it is still 35% slower than the equivalent 1080p setting.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low averages 26.2 FPS, Medium averages 15.4 FPS, High averages 16.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 9.5 FPS. Notably, the High preset at 4K outperforms Medium by a small margin, which is an anomaly likely caused by the specific shader loads in Evolve, but neither is usable. The data confirms that 4K is outside the operational envelope of this GPU, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain a 30 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 1,674 out of 1,695 tested combos, this pairing sits at the 98.8th percentile of worst-performing systems in Evolve. The ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations; the GTX 1050 Ti’s percentile rank of 30 places it below the vast majority of graphics cards in the database, while the i7-14700KF’s 96th percentile standing is wasted. The synthetic benchmarks reinforce this: the GPU’s best DirectX 11 score is 45, and its DirectX 12 score is 26, indicating that modern API paths do not rescue the aging architecture.

The combo’s position among 1,695 configurations reflects that even a flagship 14th-gen CPU cannot boost a GPU that is 9.5% slower than the Radeon R7 M445 in average score. The measured FPS data aligns with the ranking, showing that the system only achieves a 60 FPS average at the lowest settings and lowest resolution. For the 1,674th spot, the data suggests that most other tested combos either had a more balanced GPU or a less powerful CPU, but the frame rates in Evolve are so GPU-bound that the CPU choice is nearly irrelevant. The i7-14700KF, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and 28 threads, provides no tangible benefit in this title, as the bottleneck is the 2.138 TFLOPS of compute and 112.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth from the GTX 1050 Ti.