Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT combination delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, though the margin of comfort depends heavily on the resolution you choose. The data shows a system that can handle the game at maximum detail at 1080p, but requires progressively lower settings as pixel count climbs. At 4K, the GPU becomes the defining constraint, while at lower resolutions the processor’s strong single-thread performance helps push frame rates to very high levels.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS varies sharply across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system has ample headroom: the Ultra preset delivers an average of 88.6 FPS, which is the highest quality setting available and clears the 60 FPS threshold by a substantial margin. This is the only resolution where the full visual experience is available without compromise.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 58.6 FPS, just below the playability threshold. The best setting that remains at or above 60 FPS is High, which produces an average of 74.6 FPS. This represents a significant step down in visual fidelity from Ultra but still maintains a smooth frame rate. The Medium preset at this resolution runs at 86.2 FPS, but High is the most demanding option that stays above the line.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more restrictive. High settings yield only 39.3 FPS, Medium runs at 45.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29.4 FPS — all well below the target. The only playable option is Low, which averages 63.8 FPS. This barely clears the 60 FPS bar, leaving minimal headroom for demanding scenes. The data indicates that 4K play is possible, but only with the lowest preset and with little margin for error.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are remarkably high — 178.5 FPS on Low, 137.8 FPS on Medium, 114.1 FPS on High, and 88.6 FPS on Ultra. The scaling between Low and Ultra is roughly a 50% reduction in frame rate, which suggests the GPU is beginning to matter but the CPU’s strong performance (it ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs) is keeping the system from being severely limited at lower settings.

At 2560x1440, the pattern changes. Low settings produce 115.5 FPS, Medium drops to 86.2 FPS, High to 74.6 FPS, and Ultra to 58.6 FPS. The relative drop from Low to Ultra is about 49%, similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower across the board. This indicates that both components are sharing the load, with the GPU becoming more influential as pixel count increases.

The 3840x2160 results tell a different story entirely. Low settings average 63.8 FPS, but Medium falls to 45.6 FPS, High to 39.3 FPS, and Ultra to 29.4 FPS. The scaling here is far more aggressive: moving from Low to Medium costs over 28% performance, and from Low to Ultra costs over 53%. This steep drop-off points to the RX 7600 XT being the dominant constraint at 4K. The GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but its 2048 shading units and 22.57 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are not enough to maintain high settings at this resolution. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, has ample headroom at 4K; the frame rate is almost entirely determined by the graphics card’s rasterization throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3,712 CPU-GPU combinations tested in this game, this pairing ranks 2,343rd. That places it in the lower half of the database, which is notable given the hardware’s modern specifications. The ranking reflects that Minimum is an older title, and many older or more specialized combinations may outperform this modern setup due to the game’s engine characteristics. The rank of 2,343 means roughly 63% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game.

This ranking is not a condemnation of the hardware — it is a function of the game’s age and the benchmark database’s inclusion of many high-end and legacy configurations. The i5-14600K itself scores in the 90th percentile among all CPUs in general benchmarks, and the RX 7600 XT sits in the 60th percentile among all GPUs. The combination’s in-game rank is lower than either component’s individual percentile, which suggests that Minimum does not fully utilize the strengths of this pairing — particularly the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities, which matter less in a game from 2014.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark score are all within 0.8% of the i5-14600K’s performance. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698, which is 0.2% lower; the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48,470, 0.3% lower; the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48,287, 0.7% lower; and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995, 0.8% higher. Any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Minimum, though the Xeon and EPYC are server-class parts that may have different platform requirements. The Core Ultra 5 245HX, as a mobile part, would be the most direct alternative for a desktop replacement.

On the GPU side, the RX 7600 XT’s nearest rivals are a mixed bag. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17,037, just 0.3% lower; the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17,019, 0.4% lower; the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 scores 17,208, 0.7% higher; and the NVIDIA Tesla M4 scores 16,932, 0.9% lower. The GTX 690 is a dual-GPU card from 2012, and the HD 7970M is a mobile part, so their similar benchmark scores belie very different real-world characteristics. The RTX 3070 is the most relevant modern comparison — it would perform nearly identically in this game despite being a different architecture. The Tesla M4 is a compute-oriented card not intended for gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full set of measured results provides a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 63.8 FPS, Medium at 45.6 FPS, High at 39.3 FPS, and Ultra at 29.4 FPS. No minimum or maximum frame rates were recorded, so the averages are the only metric available, but the spread between settings is clear and consistent.

At 2560x1440, the averages improve substantially: Low runs at 115.5 FPS, Medium at 86.2 FPS, High at 74.6 FPS, and Ultra at 58.6 FPS. The jump from 4K to 1440p is significant — Low settings more than double from 63.8 to 115.5 FPS, and Ultra nearly doubles from 29.4 to 58.6 FPS. This confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, and that 1440p is a much more comfortable operating point.

At 1920x1080, the system reaches its highest performance: Low averages 178.5 FPS, Medium 137.8 FPS, High 114.1 FPS, and Ultra 88.6 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are both well utilized, but neither is overwhelmed. The Ultra preset’s 88.6 FPS average leaves considerable headroom, suggesting that even more demanding scenes would likely stay above 60 FPS. The progression from 1440p to 1080p shows a roughly 50% uplift at every settings level, which is consistent with the pixel count reduction.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum — and it can run it well, provided you match the resolution to the right preset. At 1920x1080, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold at every setting, including Ultra, which averages 88.6 FPS. This is the recommended way to play if you want the full visual experience without compromises. At 2560x1440, the verdict is positive but conditional: High settings average 74.6 FPS, Medium runs at 86.2 FPS, and Low reaches 115.5 FPS, but Ultra falls to 58.6 FPS, just under the threshold. The best playable setting is High, which offers a good balance of quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the system is only playable at Low settings, which average 63.8 FPS. This leaves very little margin for error — any demanding scene could push the frame rate below 60 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra are all unplayable by the 60 FPS standard, with averages of 45.6, 39.3, and 29.4 FPS respectively. The data clearly shows that 4K is the edge of this combination’s capability. For a game from 2014, the RX 7600 XT’s 16 GB memory buffer is more than sufficient in capacity, but the raw compute power is simply not there for high-detail 4K. The i5-14600K is not the bottleneck at any resolution; its performance is more than adequate for this title. The GPU is the deciding factor, and it dictates that 1080p Ultra, 1440p High, and 4K Low are the maximum playable configurations.