Evolve

Evolve, a 2015 FPS built on the CryEngine, responds dramatically to both resolution and preset selection. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures high frame rates at 1080p. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a predictable and steep performance curve, indicating that the RTX 4070 is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, clearly identifying the GPU as the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 161.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 104.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a 35% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 59.1 FPS, which is a 63% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus are being saturated by the increased pixel workload, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames.

The pattern holds across all settings. With Low presets, the system achieves 262.8 FPS at 1080p, 177 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. This shows that even when the graphical load is minimized, the resolution scaling remains significant. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, the RTX 4070 is the limiting component, as even at Low settings the frame rate drops below the 100 FPS mark. Conversely, at 1080p, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient, and the system is clearly GPU-limited, as evidenced by the massive frame rate headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF, with its 20 cores (8 performance and 12 efficiency) and 28 threads, provides a robust foundation for Evolve. The CPU's boost clock of 5.60 GHz and single-core Cinebench R23 score of 6290 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is crucial for a game's main simulation and physics threads. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 262.8 FPS, a figure that is unlikely to be CPU-bound on a modern processor. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average of 111.1 FPS demonstrates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing the scaling between Low and Ultra at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (262.8 FPS) and Ultra (111.1 FPS) is 151.7 FPS, which is almost entirely attributable to GPU load. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and PassMark multi-thread score of 52425 further confirm that the processor has substantial headroom for handling game logic and background tasks without impacting frame delivery. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which can be beneficial in complex scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the i7-14700KF and RTX 4070 ranks 466 out of 1695 combos for Evolve. This places it in the top 27.5% of all tested systems, indicating a strong but not top-tier performance level. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where the processor's high percentile (96th vs all CPUs) is paired with a GPU that sits in the 81st percentile. The combo rank suggests that while the CPU is excellent, the RTX 4070 holds the system back from reaching the upper echelons of the leaderboard.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700K with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.4% ahead, and the AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% ahead. These margins are negligible in gaming scenarios, meaning the i7-14700KF is not the source of any performance deficit. For the GPU, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which is 0.6% slower on average. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 2.2% slower, and the AMD Radeon RX 5300M is 2.5% faster. These small deltaPct values indicate that the RTX 4070 is a mid-pack performer, which aligns with its 466th rank when paired with a high-end CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent frame rates: 262.8 FPS on Low, 202 FPS on Medium, 161.9 FPS on High, and 111.1 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that the system can easily drive high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, even with maximum graphical settings. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 57.7% performance penalty, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very playable. Low settings produce 177 FPS, Medium yields 134.9 FPS, High drops to 104.5 FPS, and Ultra settles at 73.8 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra at 1440p is 30.7 FPS, highlighting the significant cost of the Ultra preset's additional effects. At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high refresh rates. Low settings achieve 98 FPS, Medium produces 78.8 FPS, High falls to 59.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39.6 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that compromises are necessary for a smooth experience at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture with 35,800 million transistors, is the decisive component in this pairing. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and 5888 shading units deliver a peak FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS. The measured data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the system only manages 39.6 FPS, which is a 64.4% drop from the 1080p Ultra score of 111.1 FPS.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. The PassMark G3D score of 26927 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3854 place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 0.6% lower on average, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 2.2% lower. This data suggests that the desktop RTX 4070 is a consistent performer, but it lacks the raw throughput needed for demanding 4K scenarios in Evolve. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but do not significantly influence this non-ray-traced title's performance.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the measured data indicates that the High preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 104.5 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth, responsive experience. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is viable at 111.1 FPS, allowing players to maximize visual fidelity without sacrificing frame rate. For those with 4K displays, the Low preset at 98 FPS is the only option that approaches high-refresh-rate gaming, but the Medium preset at 78.8 FPS offers a better visual experience while remaining above 60 FPS.

The data shows that the Ultra preset is disproportionately expensive. At 1440p, moving from High (104.5 FPS) to Ultra (73.8 FPS) costs 30.7 FPS, a 29.4% penalty. At 4K, this penalty is even more pronounced, with Ultra (39.6 FPS) being 33% slower than High (59.1 FPS). Therefore, unless a player has a variable refresh rate monitor and prioritizes visuals over smoothness, the High preset is the recommended choice for 1440p and 4K. The Medium preset serves as a fallback for 4K users who want higher fidelity than Low but cannot tolerate the frame rate drop of High.