Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER form a pairing that spans a wide performance envelope in Minimum, a third-person shooter released on 2014-06-25. The recorded measurements cover three resolutions and four presets, and the data shows that the combination stays above the 60 FPS playable threshold for the vast majority of settings. The only exception is the 4K Ultra preset, which falls to an average of 55.1 FPS. The GPU carries a launch MSRP of 799 USD, but this analysis focuses purely on measured performance. The CPU, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clock, sits at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU, an Ada Lovelace card with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory, ranks at the 76th percentile. Together they produce a clear performance hierarchy that shifts with resolution and preset, and this breakdown examines each layer of that behavior.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database records average FPS values for each resolution and preset combination, though minimum and maximum frame rates were not captured. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 114.9 FPS on Low, 86.3 FPS on Medium, 72.5 FPS on High, and 55.1 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 59.8 FPS, a 52% reduction. This steep decline shows that the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K, and the Ultra preset pushes the system below the playable threshold. The gap between Medium and High is 13.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 17.4 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset carries a disproportionately high cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages climb significantly. Low settings deliver 209.6 FPS, Medium delivers 159.7 FPS, High delivers 135.5 FPS, and Ultra delivers 105.3 FPS. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is substantial: at High, the 1440p result is 135.5 FPS versus 72.5 FPS at 4K, a 63 FPS improvement. At Medium, the 1440p result of 159.7 FPS is nearly double the 4K Medium result of 86.3 FPS. Even at Ultra, the 1440p average of 105.3 FPS clears the 60 FPS threshold with 45.3 FPS of headroom.

At 1920x1080, the averages reach their highest recorded levels. Low settings produce 260.2 FPS, Medium produces 234.7 FPS, High produces 210.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 159.7 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result matches the 1440p Medium result exactly at 159.7 FPS, indicating that resolution and preset have a balanced impact on the GPU workload. The difference between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra is 100.5 FPS, a 38.6% reduction, which is smaller than the 52% reduction seen at 4K. This suggests that at 1080p, the system is less sensitive to preset changes, while at 4K, the Ultra preset becomes the dominant factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 626th out of 3712 tested combinations in the database. This places it in the 83rd percentile, meaning it outperforms approximately 83% of all recorded hardware pairings. The CPU alone holds a 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU holds a 76th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The disparity between these two percentiles is telling: the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing, and the combo rank of 626 is driven primarily by the GPU's high average benchmark score of 31087. The CPU's average benchmark score of 2254 is more modest, yet it is sufficient for this 2014 title.

To put the rank in perspective, there are 3086 combinations ranked above this one, meaning it sits comfortably in the upper quartile of tested systems. The combo rank is not at the absolute top tier, but it is far above the median. For a game like Minimum, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, this rank suggests that the system will handle the game with ease at most settings. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 31811 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 are strong indicators of its capability, and these scores align with the measured FPS data.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 210.6. Raising the resolution to 2560x1440 drops that to 135.5, a 35.7% decrease. Going to 3840x2160 yields 72.5 FPS, a 46.5% decrease from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling with resolution is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its single-core performance, as measured by Cinebench R23, is 935 points, and multi-core is 6629 points. For a game released in 2014, these scores are more than adequate to avoid becoming a bottleneck at the frame rates observed.

At 1080p Low, the system reaches 260.2 FPS, which is near the practical limit for most displays. The fact that the CPU's nearest rivals have average scores within 0.4% of the i5-9400 suggests that the CPU is not the primary differentiator in this combo. Instead, the GPU's raw throughput dominates the performance profile. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s, which explains why the system scales so predictably with resolution. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the CPU would have no trouble feeding frames at 55.1 FPS. At 1080p, the GPU still has headroom, but the CPU's 47th percentile ranking means it could become a limiting factor if the game were more demanding or if the resolution were lower.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average benchmark score of 2259, a 0.2% difference from the i5-9400's 2254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, a 0.3% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% difference, and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, a 0.4% difference in the opposite direction. All four CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Minimum, as the differences are within measurement noise. A system with any of these CPUs paired with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER would produce results within a fraction of a percent of the i5-9400 configuration.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 with an average score of 31206, the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q with 31220, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell with 31532, and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX with 31676. The deltas are small: the Quadro M5000 and GRID M60-1Q are 0.4% lower, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is 1.4% lower, and the TITAN RTX is 1.9% higher. In practice, a system with the i5-9400 paired with any of these GPUs would yield average FPS values within a few percentage points of the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. The TITAN RTX would be slightly faster, while the Quadro and GRID cards would be marginally slower, but the differences would not be perceptible in a 60 FPS comparison.

FAQ

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

A: No. The recorded average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 55.1, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The system falls short by 4.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: The database lists Ultra as the best setting at 1440p, with an average FPS of 105.3, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-10710U, scores 2248, a 0.3% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% difference. All are within 0.4% of the i5-9400.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 626th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the 83rd percentile. It outperforms approximately 83% of all recorded hardware pairings.

Q: At which resolution does the system exceed 200 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 260.2, and with Medium it is 234.7. At 2560x1440 with Low, it reaches 209.6 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 31087, with a Passmark G3D score of 31811 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this system can run Minimum effectively. At 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with the best setting being High at an average of 72.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable, with Ultra achieving 105.3 FPS. At 1920x1080, all settings are playable, and Ultra reaches 159.7 FPS. The only configuration that fails the 60 FPS threshold is 4K Ultra, which averages 55.1 FPS. Therefore, for a 60 FPS target, the system is fully capable at 1080p and 1440p with maximum settings, and at 4K with High settings. The CPU's modest 47th percentile ranking does not hinder performance in this title, and the GPU's 76th percentile ranking provides ample headroom for smooth gameplay across the board.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average FPS of 72.5. This leaves 12.5 FPS of headroom above the threshold, making it a safe choice for 4K displays. At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset is Ultra, with an average FPS of 105.3. This provides 45.3 FPS of headroom, allowing for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset is also Ultra, with an average FPS of 159.7. This is nearly three times the 60 FPS threshold, making it ideal for high refresh rate monitors. These are the recommended settings for a smooth experience at each resolution, based on the recorded data.