Minimum

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT presents a combination where the 2014 title Minimum still demands careful resolution selection. The database records that this third-person shooter, released in mid-2014, responds strongly to both CPU and GPU scaling, but the measured FPS data reveals that 4K Ultra is out of reach, while 1080p Ultra clears the 60 FPS threshold with headroom to spare.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers its most fluid results. The recorded average frame rates are 166.2 FPS on Low, 131.9 FPS on Medium, 108.4 FPS on High, and 81.8 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 84.4 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant but not crippling load. The step from High to Ultra costs 26.6 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 23.5 FPS. This resolution is clearly where the i3-12100F and RX 5700 XT combination operates most comfortably.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures drop substantially. Low settings produce 105.6 FPS, Medium produces 85.1 FPS, High produces 67.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 54.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings represents a drop of 41 FPS, which is a 37.8% reduction. At Ultra, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27.7 FPS, a 33.9% reduction. The data suggests that 1440p High is the upper boundary for smooth play, with 1440p Ultra being the first preset to fail the playability criterion.

At 3840x2160, the combination struggles. The average FPS values are 56.8 on Low, 44.6 on Medium, 34.4 on High, and 26.9 on Ultra. None of these presets reach the 60 FPS playable threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 29.9 FPS, a massive 52.6% performance spread. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings costs 40.5 FPS, which is a 47.6% drop. This resolution is effectively unusable for this game with this hardware, even on the least demanding preset.

The database does not include minimum or maximum FPS values, so only average frame rates are available for analysis. The absence of min/max data means that frame pacing and stutter characteristics cannot be assessed from these records. The average FPS alone, however, clearly delineates the playable envelope across the three resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 81.8, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict data confirms 1080p Ultra as a playable setting with this combination.

Q: What is the best playable settings preset at 1440p?

A: The best settings at 2560x1440 that maintain at least 60 FPS is High, with a recorded average of 67.4 FPS. The Medium preset also qualifies at 85.1 FPS, but High offers the highest visual quality within the playable range.

Q: Why does the 4K resolution fail to reach 60 FPS on any preset?

A: The recorded average FPS at 3840x2160 is 56.8 on Low, 44.6 on Medium, 34.4 on High, and 26.9 on Ultra. All four presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold, so the verdictByResolution data lists no playable settings for 4K.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The loss varies by preset. At Low settings, the drop is 60.6 FPS from 166.2 to 105.6. At Medium, the drop is 46.8 FPS from 131.9 to 85.1. At High, the drop is 41 FPS from 108.4 to 67.4. At Ultra, the drop is 27.7 FPS from 81.8 to 54.1.

Q: Which component is more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. The CPU, Intel Core i3-12100F, has a 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, sits at the 59th percentile. The severe FPS collapse at 4K, where even Low settings fail, points to GPU rendering limits rather than CPU throughput constraints.

Q: Is the RX 5700 XT's performance close to any modern workstation GPUs?

A: According to the nearest rivals data, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M has an average score of 16351, which is 0.1% higher than the RX 5700 XT's 16361, making it a near-identical performer. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is 0.3% lower, and the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 is 0.3% lower as well.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior. At 1920x1080, the combination achieves 166.2 FPS on Low settings, which is remarkably high for a 2014 title. This figure suggests that the CPU, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently at this resolution. The i3-12100F's single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark and its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for this game's era.

When moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by roughly 35-40% depending on the preset. This drop is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, where the RX 5700 XT's 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance becomes the limiting factor. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for this game, but the raw pixel throughput at higher resolutions strains the RDNA 1.0 architecture.

At 3840x2160, the collapse in FPS is dramatic. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 109.4 FPS, meaning 4K Low runs at only 34.2% of the 1080p Low speed. This is a classic sign of the GPU being overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixel count. The CPU's role diminishes at 4K; even a weaker CPU would likely produce similar FPS if paired with this GPU, because the GPU cannot keep up with the rendering load.

The scaling between presets also tells a story. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 84.4 FPS, which is a 50.8% drop. At 1440p, the same preset difference is 51.5 FPS, a 48.8% drop. At 4K, the difference narrows to 29.9 FPS, a 52.6% drop. The percentage drops are similar across resolutions, but the absolute values shrink at higher resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K while the CPU and GPU share the load more evenly at 1080p.

The CPU's 3dmark scores reinforce this analysis. The 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 show good scaling up to 4 cores, but the max-thread score of 4023 is nearly identical to the 8-thread score, indicating that the 4-core/8-thread design is fully utilized. For a 2014 game, this CPU has ample headroom, so the GPU becomes the pivot point for resolution scaling.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core 3 N355 with an average score of 13492, which is 0% different from the i3-12100F's 13494. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, a 0.3% difference, meaning it would behave almost identically in CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core 5 120UL is 0.7% faster with a score of 13594, while the Intel Core i7-1250U is 1.1% slower at 13351. These four CPUs would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Minimum, especially at 1080p where the CPU has more influence.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M has an average score of 16351, which is 0.1% higher than the RX 5700 XT's 16361, making it the closest match. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell scores 16408, which is 0.3% lower, and the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 scores 16415, also 0.3% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 scores 16504, which is 0.9% lower. Despite the exotic names, these GPUs would deliver within 1% of the RX 5700 XT's performance in this game. A user swapping to any of these alternatives would see virtually no FPS change.

The combination of these rival components suggests that the overall system performance is tightly clustered. If a user were to pair the i3-12100F with the Radeon Pro 5600M, the measured FPS would likely be within 1 FPS of the original combination. Similarly, swapping the CPU to an i5-9500 while keeping the RX 5700 XT would produce a negligible difference, as the GPU remains the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with a recorded average of 81.8 FPS. This leaves 21.8 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold, meaning the system can handle Ultra without dipping below the target. The High preset at 108.4 FPS and Medium at 131.9 FPS are also playable, but Ultra offers the highest visual fidelity within the playable range.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is High, with an average FPS of 67.4. This is only 7.4 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, so there is moderate headroom. The Medium preset at 85.1 FPS and Low at 105.6 FPS are also playable, but High is the best visual option. Ultra at 54.1 FPS fails the criterion, so it is not recommended.

At 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The highest average FPS is 56.8 on Low settings, which is 3.2 FPS below the threshold. The verdict data confirms an empty playable settings list for 4K, meaning no preset achieves 60 FPS. Users with 4K displays would need to lower the resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, but not at 3840x2160. The verdict data shows that 1080p has four playable settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) with the best at Ultra delivering 81.8 FPS. The 1440p resolution has three playable settings (Low, Medium, High) with the best at High delivering 67.4 FPS. The 4K resolution has zero playable settings, as even Low fails to reach 60 FPS.

For a user targeting 1080p, this combination is more than sufficient. The 81.8 FPS average on Ultra provides a smooth experience with room to spare, and the 166.2 FPS on Low suggests the system could handle future patches or background processes without issue. For 1440p, the system is adequate but close to the edge. High settings at 67.4 FPS are playable, but users who prefer Ultra settings would need to accept 54.1 FPS, which is below the playable threshold.

At 4K, the system is not viable for this game. The GPU's 4K performance, even at Low settings, falls short of 60 FPS. The RX 5700 XT, with its 9.754 TFLOPS and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply lacks the pixel throughput for this title at 4K with this CPU. Users with 4K monitors should run the game at 1440p or lower.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination ranks 2744 out of 3712 tested combos in the database for Minimum. This places it in the 74th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 26% of tested combinations perform worse. The rank is influenced by the CPU's 68th percentile ranking and the GPU's 59th percentile ranking.

The relatively low GPU percentile (59th) compared to the CPU percentile (68th) suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing. The combo rank of 2744 out of 3712 reflects this imbalance. Systems with a stronger GPU would rank higher, while systems with a weaker CPU but similar GPU would likely rank lower due to CPU bottlenecks at 1080p.

The rank also implies that many tested combinations outperform this setup. However, the measured FPS data shows that this specific combination still delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p. The rank is a holistic measure across all tested games, not just Minimum, so its relevance to this specific title is limited. Within this game, the FPS data is the more actionable metric, and it clearly indicates that 1080p Ultra and 1440p High are the sweet spots for this hardware.