Evolve

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination lands at rank 299 out of 1695 tested combos in Evolve, placing it in the top 18% of all systems benchmarked. This is a strong showing for a 2015 FPS title, indicating the pairing delivers well above-average performance headroom. The data confirms a system that is clearly positioned for high-refresh-rate play at 1080p and 1440p, while still maintaining playable frame rates at 4K, though the gap between settings tiers widens considerably as resolution climbs.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 299 out of 1695 represents the 82.4th percentile of all tested configurations in this game. That places it firmly in the upper quintile, though not at the absolute top—a reflection of the RTX 4070 SUPER’s mid-to-high tier positioning rather than any CPU bottleneck. The Core i9-14900K is a top-tier processor, sitting at the 97th percentile versus all CPUs in the database, and its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7413 (0.3% behind), the Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.7% ahead), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (0.9% ahead). These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

In Evolve specifically, the measured FPS data shows the system scaling from 291.4 FPS at 1080p Low down to 45.5 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank reflects the GPU’s ability to push high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the 4K Ultra result drags the overall standing down relative to combos with more powerful GPUs. Compared to the GPU’s own nearest rivals—the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% behind), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% behind), and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (1.4% ahead)—the 4070 SUPER is competitive but not dominant. The combination’s overall rank is therefore a direct consequence of GPU-bound performance at higher settings, with the CPU providing ample headroom that is never fully stressed in this title.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the AD104 chip using TSMC’s 5 nm process, with 35,800 million transistors packed into a 294 mm² die. It carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock sits at 1980 MHz, boosting to 2475 MHz, while memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications place the GPU at the 84th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576.

In Evolve, the GPU’s influence is most visible in the frame rate collapse as settings increase. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 166.1 FPS (291.4 to 125.3), showing that the GPU is heavily taxed by the Ultra preset’s effects. At 1440p, the same spread is 113.8 FPS (195.8 to 82), and at 4K it narrows to 64.2 FPS (109.7 to 45.5). This pattern indicates that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is the absolute bottleneck—the 45.5 FPS result is less than half of the 1080p High score of 177.3 FPS. The 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for Evolve at all tested resolutions, as the game’s 2015-era assets do not push memory capacity, but the raw compute throughput of 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 is what limits Ultra settings at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on Raptor Lake-R architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It runs at a 3.20 GHz base clock with a 6.00 GHz boost, and its 36 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial for a desktop part. The CPU’s benchmark results are exceptional: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and a single-core score of 7040, with Geekbench multi-core at 20370 and single-core at 3064. The PassMark multithread score of 58674 and single-thread score of 4697 further confirm its dominance.

In Evolve, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU’s, given the game’s age and the fact that it was designed for far weaker hardware. The 14900K’s 97th percentile ranking means it is never the bottleneck in this title. Evidence for this comes from the FPS scaling: at 1080p Low, the system hits 291.4 FPS, which is a frame rate that would strain many CPUs but is easily handled by the 14900K’s single-core performance. The CPU’s nearest rival, the EPYC 7413, scores 0.3% lower on average, while the i9-14900KF is 0.7% higher—all within noise. The data suggests that even at the lowest settings, where CPU load is proportionally higher, the 14900K delivers enough headroom to keep the GPU as the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this combo in Evolve?

A: The combo ranks 299th out of 1695 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18% of all systems.

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

A: The Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79824, which is 0.3% below the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041), 0.7% above the i9-14900KF (79245), and 0.9% above the Core Ultra 7 265K (79102).

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER is at the 84th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576.

Q: What is the best 4K performance this combo achieves?

A: At 4K Ultra settings, the system averages 45.5 FPS, while 4K High reaches 68.1 FPS and 4K Low hits 109.7 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance in Evolve?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 291.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 45.5 FPS, indicating GPU-bound scaling.

Q: How does the GPU’s memory bandwidth affect gameplay?

A: With 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth on a 192-bit bus, the 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer provides ample memory throughput for Evolve, as the game’s older engine does not demand high bandwidth at any tested resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound curve. At 1080p High, the system delivers 177.3 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 119.1 FPS (a 32.8% reduction); and at 4K High, it falls to 68.1 FPS (a 42.8% reduction from 1440p). The scaling is steeper at Ultra settings: 125.3 FPS at 1080p, 82 at 1440p, and 45.5 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 63.7% lower than 1080p Ultra, showing that the GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS compute is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at the highest resolution and settings.

The limiting component shifts decisively toward the GPU as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU’s 6.00 GHz boost clock and 32 threads ensure that even the 291.4 FPS Low setting does not expose a CPU bottleneck. By 4K, however, the GPU is clearly saturated: the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64.2 FPS, compared to 166.1 FPS at 1080p. This narrowing indicates that at 4K, even Low settings push the GPU hard, whereas at 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to be constrained by other factors. The 1440p Medium result of 152.8 FPS versus 4K Medium’s 85 FPS further shows that the 4070 SUPER is most efficient at 1440p, where it balances load across the 7168 shading units without hitting memory bandwidth limits. For players targeting 4K, the data suggests sticking to High settings (68.1 FPS) rather than Ultra (45.5 FPS), as the visual uplift from Ultra does not justify the 33.2% frame rate penalty.