Minimum

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K?

A: No. The data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best result at 4K is Low preset with an average of 33 FPS, while the playable threshold is 60 FPS. Even the most demanding preset, Ultra, drops to 16 FPS average.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p?

A: Low preset is the only playable option at 2560x1440, delivering 61 FPS average. Medium falls to 47 FPS, High drops to 39 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30 FPS.

Q: Is 1080p fully playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 three presets clear 60 FPS: Low at 95 FPS, Medium at 72 FPS, and High at 61 FPS. Ultra does not make the cut at 46 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 in the database's average benchmark. It sits 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.2% below the Intel Core i7-14700KF, 0.7% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% above the Intel Core i7-14700K.

Q: How does the GPU stack up against nearby alternatives?

A: The Intel Arc B390 scores 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. It is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, 2.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bigger bottleneck in this game?

A: The recorded FPS scaling points to the GPU as the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 9th percentile. The Arc B390's nearest rivals are all low-end legacy GPUs, and the frame rates collapse as resolution increases.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Ryzen 7 9700F is a high-end desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 5.50 GHz, and it ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs in the database. The Arc B390, by contrast, is an integrated-class graphics solution with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, ranking in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. That imbalance shows up directly in the frame rate data: the game is clearly GPU-bound at every resolution tested.

At 1080p, the combo manages 95 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 61 FPS on High, and 46 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 49 FPS, which is a wide spread and indicates the graphics hardware is doing the heavy lifting. If the CPU were the constraint, the frame rates would cluster closer together, because the processor's workload would saturate regardless of visual quality. The measured scaling instead shows the GPU struggling as settings climb.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern continues. Low delivers 61 FPS, Medium drops to 47 FPS, High falls to 39 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 30 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium alone is 14 FPS, and the drop from Low to Ultra is 31 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p cuts the Low preset result from 95 FPS to 61 FPS, a reduction of 34 FPS. That is a severe resolution penalty, typical of a GPU that lacks raw fill rate and memory bandwidth. The Arc B390's memory is system-shared and system-dependent, so it has no dedicated VRAM to cushion higher pixel counts.

At 4K, the situation becomes unplayable across all presets. Low produces 33 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 21 FPS, and Ultra 16 FPS. The scaling from 1440p Low at 61 FPS down to 4K Low at 33 FPS is a 28 FPS loss. The data indicates that the GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for 4K in this title, while the CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are never the primary constraint.

The verdict is straightforward: the CPU is more than capable for this game, but the GPU dictates the experience. The Ryzen 7 9700F's multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 place it far above what a 2014 third-person shooter requires. The Arc B390, however, with its nearest rivals being the GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710, is operating in a performance class that predates the game's release era.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination 3299th out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. That places it in the bottom 11% of all configurations in the database, a poor position driven almost entirely by the GPU. The CPU alone would rank far higher, but the combo ranking reflects the integrated graphics component's limitations.

A rank in the bottom 11% means the vast majority of tested systems outperform this pairing in this specific game. The Arc B390's percentile of 9 among all GPUs aligns closely with that bottom-tier combo placement. The CPU's percentile of 94 stands in sharp contrast, confirming that the pairing is wildly mismatched: a top-tier processor saddled with a bottom-tier graphics solution.

The measured FPS data supports the ranking. At 1080p, the best playable settings cap out at High with 61 FPS, which is barely above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1440p, only Low reaches 61 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches even half the playable threshold. A combo ranked 3299 out of 3712 should not be expected to deliver high-refresh experiences, and the data confirms that expectation.

The Verdict

The answer depends entirely on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, this PC can run Minimum well: High preset averages 61 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS, and Low averages 95 FPS. The Ultra preset fails to reach the playable threshold at 46 FPS. For 1080p gaming, High is the maximum preset that clears the 60 FPS bar, and it does so by a slim 1 FPS margin.

At 2560x1440, the system is barely playable. Only the Low preset reaches 61 FPS, which clears the threshold but leaves no headroom. Medium drops to 47 FPS, High to 39 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS. A 1440p player would need to accept Low settings and even then should expect frame rates that hover right at the boundary.

At 3840x2160, the system cannot run the game at a playable level. The best result is Low at 33 FPS, which is 27 FPS below the playable threshold. Medium averages 25 FPS, High 21 FPS, and Ultra 16 FPS. The verdictByResolution data lists no playable settings at 4K, meaning the game is not recommended at that resolution with this hardware.

The practical takeaway: this is a 1080p machine for Minimum, with a marginal 1440p Low option and no viable 4K path. Owners of a 1080p monitor can play comfortably on High, while anyone targeting higher resolutions should look at a different GPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Ryzen 7 9700F's nearest rivals in the database are all high-end desktop or mobile processors with nearly identical average scores. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX is 0.2% slower, the Intel Core i7-14700KF is 0.2% faster, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.7% slower, and the Intel Core i7-14700K is 0.9% slower. Any of these CPUs would behave essentially the same as the Ryzen 7 9700F in Minimum, since the game's bottleneck is the GPU, not the processor. Swapping in one of these chips would not meaningfully change frame rates.

The Arc B390's nearest rivals are far more relevant. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% slower, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M is 1.5% slower, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% slower, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% slower. These deltas are small enough that any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical performance in Minimum. A system with a GT 710 or GT 625 OEM would land in the same FPS range as the Arc B390: playable at 1080p on Low through High, marginal at 1440p Low, and unplayable at 4K.

The fact that the Arc B390's closest competition is a set of decade-old low-end graphics cards underscores its performance class. The GT 520MX and GT 710 were never designed for modern gaming at high settings, and the measured FPS data reflects that heritage. For builders considering an upgrade path, replacing the GPU with something in a higher benchmark tier would change the experience far more than swapping the CPU for any of its rivals.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset meets the 60 FPS threshold. The database's bestSettings field is null for 4K, and the highest average FPS at any preset is 33 FPS on Low. There is no recommended setting for 4K because none is playable.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Low, with an average of 61 FPS. Medium falls to 47 FPS, High to 39 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS. The Low preset clears the playable threshold by just 1 FPS, so players should expect occasional dips below 60 FPS during demanding scenes.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is High, averaging 61 FPS. Medium averages 72 FPS and Low averages 95 FPS, both also playable. Ultra is not playable at 46 FPS. The High preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, clearing the threshold by 1 FPS, while Medium offers a safer margin of 12 FPS above the threshold and Low offers a comfortable 35 FPS margin.

The recommended configuration for most players is 1080p High, which balances visual quality and performance at exactly 61 FPS. Players who prefer smoother motion should drop to Medium for 72 FPS or Low for 95 FPS. At 1440p, Low is the only viable option, and at 4K, the hardware is not sufficient for this game.