Minimum

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a broad range of performance in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. Benchmark data shows this combination is capable of 60 FPS or higher at every tested resolution, provided the right settings are selected. At 1920x1080, the system clears the playable threshold even at the most demanding preset, while 2560x1440 requires a step down from Ultra, and 3840x2160 is limited to the Low preset for a stable experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with average frame rates recorded for all configurations and min/max values available for the Medium preset at each resolution.

At 1920x1080, the results are consistently high. The Low preset achieves an average of 179 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure across all tested configurations. The Medium preset averages 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS. High settings produce an average of 115 FPS, while the Ultra preset, the most demanding configuration, still maintains an average of 88 FPS. All four presets at this resolution exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold by a substantial margin.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows a predictable decline. The Low preset averages 116 FPS, and Medium delivers 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS. High settings average 74 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 57 FPS, which falls below the playable threshold and represents the only sub-60 result at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. The Low preset averages 62 FPS, which just clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. High settings drop to 40 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 30 FPS average. None of the Medium, High, or Ultra configurations at 4K reach the playable threshold, making Low the only viable preset at this resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how the CPU and GPU share the workload in Minimum. The i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from Intel's Core 12th Gen family, based on Alder Lake architecture, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The RTX 5050 features 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus.

The frame rate progression across resolutions shows that the GPU becomes the dominant factor as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low and Ultra is 91 FPS (179 to 88), indicating that the GPU has ample headroom and the CPU is likely a more significant contributor to the upper bound. At 2560x1440, the same preset gap narrows to 59 FPS (116 to 57), suggesting the GPU is beginning to take on more load. At 3840x2160, the gap between Low and Ultra is 32 FPS (62 to 30), which indicates that the GPU is heavily saturated and pixel throughput is the primary constraint.

The Medium preset min/max data supports this interpretation. At 1920x1080, the minimum of 117 FPS is far above the 60 FPS threshold, showing no frame-time bottlenecks. At 2560x1440, the minimum of 75 FPS remains above threshold, but the variance is more pronounced relative to the average. At 3840x2160, the minimum of 41 FPS against an average of 48 FPS shows tighter grouping, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the render pipeline is consistently saturated.

The RTX 5050's memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s and the i3-12100F's dual-channel memory support suggest that the CPU can feed frames efficiently at lower resolutions, but the GPU's 8 GB capacity and 128-bit bus become limiting factors at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2274 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, with roughly 61% of tested configurations performing better and 39% performing worse.

The percentile data for the individual components provides context for this ranking. The i3-12100F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, indicating that it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. The RTX 5050 is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, also above the median. Despite both components being above average individually, the combo rank of 2274 out of 3712 reflects the game's specific demands and the balance between these two parts.

The average benchmark scores support the individual rankings. The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494, and the RTX 5050 has an average of 21035. These scores indicate a reasonably balanced pairing, but the combo rank in-game shows that Minimum does not fully exploit the strengths of either component at higher resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide a sense of what other hardware would behave similarly in this configuration.

For the Intel Core i3-12100F, the closest alternatives are the Intel Core 3 N355 with an average score of 13492 and a delta of 0%, the Intel Core i5-9500 with an average score of 13452 and a delta of 0.3%, the Intel Core 5 120UL with an average score of 13594 and a delta of -0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-1250U with an average score of 13351 and a delta of 1.1%. These deltas are all within roughly 1% of the i3-12100F's average score, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in Minimum.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL with an average score of 21153 and a delta of -0.6%, the AMD Radeon HD 8970M with an average score of 21237 and a delta of -1%, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT with an average score of 20713 and a delta of 1.6%, and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile with an average score of 21379 and a delta of -1.6%. The RX 5600 XT is the closest in terms of raw score, with a delta of 1.6%, meaning it would perform within a couple percent of the RTX 5050 in GPU-bound scenarios.

A system with the i3-12100F and an RX 5600 XT would behave almost identically to the tested combo, with slightly higher GPU throughput. Similarly, swapping the CPU for an i5-9500 would yield negligible changes in frame rates, as the delta is only 0.3%.

Best Settings per Resolution

The verdict data specifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS for each resolution.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 88 FPS, which is the highest settings level tested and remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. This is the recommended configuration for this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 74 FPS and is the most demanding setting that clears the threshold. The Ultra preset drops to 57 FPS, which fails to meet the playable standard, so High is the optimal choice.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a playable result, with an average of 62 FPS. Medium falls to 48 FPS, so Low is the only viable option at this resolution.

These results show a clear pattern: the system can handle max settings at 1080p, high settings at 1440p, and only low settings at 4K.

The Verdict

The question of whether this PC can run Minimum is answered directly by the verdictByResolution data. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS threshold, with the Ultra preset averaging 88 FPS. This is a fully playable configuration at maximum settings.

At 2560x1440, three presets are playable: High at 74 FPS, Medium at 88 FPS, and Low at 116 FPS. The Ultra preset at 57 FPS falls short of the threshold. This resolution offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, with High settings being the recommended maximum.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, averaging 62 FPS. All other presets fall below 60 FPS, with Medium at 48 FPS, High at 40 FPS, and Ultra at 30 FPS. Users targeting 4K must accept significant visual compromises to maintain playability.

Overall, this combo provides a playable experience across all tested resolutions, but the settings ceiling drops sharply as resolution increases. The system is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K limited to minimum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 179, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system run Minimum at Ultra settings in 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 30, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: High settings, which average 74 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 57 FPS.

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

A: It ranks 2274 out of 3712 combos in Minimum, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: Which GPU is closest in performance to the RTX 5050 according to the data?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is the nearest rival, with an average score of 20713 and a delta of 1.6% from the RTX 5050.

Q: Are all presets playable at 1920x1080?

A: Yes. Low averages 179 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, and Ultra averages 88 FPS, all above the 60 FPS threshold.