Minimum

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a robust gaming experience in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released on 2014-06-25. Benchmark data shows this pairing is capable of high frame rates at mainstream resolutions, though 4K Ultra settings remain beyond its reach. The measured performance indicates a system that comfortably handles the game's demands at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor only at the highest preset levels and pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strongest performance. The Low preset produces an average of 179 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for fast-paced shooter gameplay. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery even during intense action sequences. The High preset maintains a solid 115 FPS average, while the Ultra preset still delivers a highly playable 88 FPS average. This progression shows a predictable scaling curve, with each preset step reducing performance by roughly 20-40 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show the increased pixel workload. The Low preset averages 116 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. Medium settings produce an average of 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS, indicating that frame dips stay comfortably above playable levels. High settings yield 74 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 57 FPS, falling just short of the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The 3840x2160 resolution tells a different story. At 4K, the Low preset manages a 62 FPS average, barely clearing the 60 FPS playability bar. Medium settings produce a 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 55 FPS, which would result in visible stuttering during fast movement. High settings average 40 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS, making these presets unsuitable for competitive play at this resolution. The data clearly shows that 4K requires the lowest settings to maintain playability, and even then, performance is marginal.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals how the CPU and GPU divide responsibilities in Minimum. At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-12600KF's strong single and multi-threaded capabilities—evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302 and multi-core score of 23391—allow the RTX 5050 to operate near its full potential. The difference between Low (179 FPS) and Ultra (88 FPS) at 1080p is approximately 2x, suggesting the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rate drops by roughly 35-40% across all presets compared to 1080p. This consistent percentage reduction indicates that the GPU is becoming more heavily utilized, as the additional pixel count increases the workload on the RTX 5050's 2560 shading units and 80 texture mapping units. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at this resolution, as evidenced by the maintained 116 FPS at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become dominant. The RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 320.0 GB/s bandwidth faces significant pressure at 4K, particularly with higher texture resolutions. The performance gap between Low (62 FPS) and Ultra (30 FPS) widens to roughly 2x, similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are much lower. This indicates that while the CPU remains capable, the GPU's pixel fill rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance cannot sustain high preset levels at 4K. The data shows the CPU matters most at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed 120 FPS, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K and at higher quality presets across all resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-12600KF's nearest rivals provide context for CPU performance. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896 in average benchmarks, just 0.3% higher, indicating nearly identical overall processing capability. The Intel Core i9-10900K is 0.3% lower at 27872, while the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE sits 0.3% higher at 27712. These small deltas mean that swapping the i5-12600KF for any of these alternatives would produce virtually indistinguishable frame rates in Minimum. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U also falls within this tight performance band at 27887, though its mobile orientation makes it less relevant for desktop builds.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050's nearest rivals show a slightly wider spread. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379, which is 1.6% higher than the RTX 5050's 21035 average. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237, 1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL is 0.6% lower at 21153. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20713, which is 1.6% lower. These differences translate to at most a few frames per second in Minimum gameplay, meaning users with any of these GPUs would see nearly identical performance characteristics at each resolution and preset combination.

The Verdict

The benchmark data confirms that this PC can run Minimum effectively, but the playable settings vary significantly by resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clear the 60 FPS threshold, with average frame rates ranging from 88 FPS at Ultra to 179 FPS at Low. This makes 1080p the ideal resolution for this combination, offering maximum visual quality at Ultra with a comfortable 88 FPS average, or extreme responsiveness at Low for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, three of four presets are playable. High settings deliver a 74 FPS average, Medium achieves 88 FPS, and Low reaches 116 FPS. The Ultra preset falls short at 57 FPS, making it unsuitable for maintaining smooth gameplay. Users at 1440p should select High settings for the best balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves playable performance, averaging 62 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS threshold, so users should expect occasional dips during demanding scenes. Medium, High, and Ultra presets all fail to reach 60 FPS, with averages of 48, 40, and 30 FPS respectively. The verdict is clear: 4K gaming is possible only with significant visual compromises.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, which delivers an average of 88 FPS. This preset provides the highest visual quality while maintaining performance well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The 88 FPS average ensures smooth gameplay with minimal risk of noticeable frame drops.

At 2560x1440, High settings are the optimal choice, producing a 74 FPS average. This preset offers excellent visual detail while staying comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The 16 FPS margin over the playability limit provides a reasonable buffer for demanding scenes, though the minimum frame rate data is not available for this preset.

At 3840x2160, Low settings are the only viable option, averaging 62 FPS. This preset barely clears the 60 FPS threshold, providing a minimal margin of just 2 FPS. Users at 4K should be prepared for occasional frame rate dips below 60 FPS during intense action sequences, as the data shows no minimum frame rate information for this preset.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global benchmark database, this combination of Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2274 out of 3712 tested combinations for Minimum. This places the system in the 61st percentile of all tested hardware configurations, indicating it performs better than roughly six out of ten systems. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where the CPU's strong multi-threading capability complements the GPU's mid-range performance, though the RTX 5050's 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests the graphics card is the limiting factor in this combination.

The rank of 2274 out of 3712 also indicates that while this system handles Minimum well at 1080p and 1440p, many other tested combinations achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K. The system's performance profile is consistent with its component rankings: the CPU's 79th percentile ranking is notably higher than the GPU's 66th percentile, confirming that the RTX 5050 constrains overall performance more than the i5-12600KF.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 60 FPS on a 4K monitor?*

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce an average of 62 FPS. Medium settings drop to 48 FPS, High to 40 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS, all below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: High settings deliver a 74 FPS average, which is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS at 1440p. The Ultra preset falls short at 57 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT in this game?

A: The RTX 5050 scores 21035 in average benchmarks, which is 1.6% higher than the RX 5600 XT's 20713. This translates to a small but consistent frame rate advantage across most resolutions and presets.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 at 1920x1080?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The system achieves 179 FPS at Low settings, and performance scales consistently with GPU load as presets increase, suggesting the CPU provides adequate headroom.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: Medium settings produce an average of 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 158 FPS, ensuring consistently smooth gameplay.

*Q: How does this system rank compared to all tested combinations for Minimum?*

A: This combo ranks 2274 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the lower portion of the upper half of all systems tested for this game.