Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Minimum, a third-person shooter released in June 2014. The recorded data, drawn from the database’s measured FPS runs, shows that this combination never falls below 60 frames per second at any resolution or preset tested. The RTX 5080, with its Blackwell architecture and 16 GB of GDDR7 memory, provides massive headroom, while the six-core i5-9400, a Coffee Lake part from late 2018, keeps pace without becoming a limiting factor in most scenarios. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, examines the CPU and GPU roles, compares nearby hardware, and concludes with optimal settings for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database records average FPS for four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at three resolutions, with no minimum or maximum frame time data captured. All values represent average frames per second; higher numbers indicate better performance.

1920x1080 (1080p)

At Full HD, the combination produces triple-digit averages across every preset. Low settings yield 257.3 FPS, the highest recorded value for this combo. Medium drops slightly to 233.6 FPS, while High reaches 221.5 FPS. Ultra, the most demanding preset, still delivers 183.2 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 74.1 FPS, indicating that even the heaviest graphical load at 1080p leaves the system with substantial spare capacity.

2560x1440 (1440p)

Moving to Quad HD, the performance remains high but shows a clear scaling trend. Low settings produce 221.3 FPS, which is 36 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium delivers 187 FPS, High hits 156.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 121.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 99.7 FPS, a larger gap than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU’s rendering load increases noticeably with resolution. Still, every preset stays well above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

3840x2160 (4K)

At UHD, the frame rates compress further. Low settings average 132.6 FPS, Medium achieves 102.5 FPS, High reaches 84.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 61.7 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread here is 70.9 FPS, but the relative drop is steeper: Ultra runs at less than half of Low’s frame rate. The 61.7 FPS at Ultra is the only measured value that sits close to the 60 FPS threshold, though it still clears it by 1.7 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: lowering preset increases FPS, and reducing resolution increases FPS. The largest single jump comes from 1440p to 1080p at Low settings, where the average rises from 221.3 FPS to 257.3 FPS, a gain of 36 FPS. The smallest jump is from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra, where the average falls from 183.2 FPS to 121.6 FPS, a loss of 61.6 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, but the i5-9400’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and presets. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 257.3 FPS, a figure that likely approaches the CPU’s ability to feed frames. The i5-9400 has six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs. This mid-range processor can handle high frame rates, but the RTX 5080’s immense throughput (56.28 TFLOPS FP32, 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate) means the CPU becomes a more likely bottleneck when the GPU is underutilized.

Evidence from the scaling between presets supports this. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces FPS from 257.3 to 183.2, a 28.8% drop. At 1440p, the same preset change reduces FPS from 221.3 to 121.6, a 45.1% drop. At 4K, the drop is from 132.6 to 61.7, a 53.5% reduction. The increasing percentage drop with resolution indicates that the GPU’s workload grows faster than the CPU’s, so at 4K the GPU is the clear limiting factor. At 1080p, the smaller percentage drop suggests that the CPU may be capping the maximum achievable frame rate, particularly at Low settings where the GPU has less work per frame.

Resolution scaling reinforces this interpretation. From 1080p to 1440p, at Low settings, FPS falls from 257.3 to 221.3, a 14.0% decrease. From 1440p to 4K at Low, FPS falls from 221.3 to 132.6, a 40.1% decrease. The steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is doing proportionally more work per pixel as resolution increases. For Ultra settings, the same steps show a 33.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p (183.2 to 121.6) and a 49.3% drop from 1440p to 4K (121.6 to 61.7). The GPU’s role is therefore more pronounced at Ultra and at 4K, while the CPU’s influence is more visible at 1080p with lighter presets.

In practical terms, the i5-9400 is sufficient to keep the RTX 5080 busy at 1080p Medium and above, but at 1080p Low the system may be leaving some GPU performance unused. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is almost certainly the primary driver of frame rates, as the resolution scaling shows a clear GPU-bound pattern.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database lists nearest rivals for both the CPU and GPU, based on average benchmark scores. For the Intel Core i5-9400, the closest alternatives are four processors with nearly identical average scores:

• Intel Core i7-1068NG7: avg score 2259, delta -0.2% (i5-9400 scores 2254, so the i7 is effectively tied)
• Intel Core i7-10710U: avg score 2248, delta +0.3% (slightly lower than the i5)
• AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500: avg score 2246, delta +0.4% (marginally lower)
• Intel Core i3-10305: avg score 2264, delta -0.4% (marginally higher)

All four fall within a 0.4% band around the i5-9400’s average score, meaning that swapping in any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minimum, assuming the same GPU and memory configuration. The i3-10305 has the highest score of the group, but the difference is negligible in real-world gaming.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, the nearest rivals are three AMD GPUs with average scores close to the RTX 5080’s 56083:

• AMD Radeon 8060S: avg score 55757, delta +0.6% (about 0.6% lower than RTX 5080)
• AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB: avg score 55698, delta +0.7% (about 0.7% lower)
• AMD Radeon Pro W5700X: avg score 54828, delta +2.3% (about 2.3% lower)
• AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE: avg score 57367, delta -2.2% (about 2.2% higher)

The RX 9070 GRE is the only rival that scores higher than the RTX 5080 in this comparison, but the margin is just over 2%. The Radeon 8060S and RX 6750 GRE are within 1% of the RTX 5080’s score, suggesting that they would deliver nearly identical FPS in Minimum. The Pro W5700X trails by 2.3%, which could translate to a few frames per second difference at 4K Ultra, but likely not enough to change the playability verdict.

For this specific combo, the CPU’s rivals are all within a rounding error of each other, so the GPU choice matters more for frame rate consistency. The RTX 5080’s nearest rival, the RX 9070 GRE, would offer a slight edge, while the RX 6750 GRE would match within a fraction.

The Verdict

According to the database’s verdict by resolution, this PC can run Minimum at all tested settings and resolutions. The playable threshold is set at 60 FPS, and every recorded average exceeds that mark.

• 3840x2160 (4K): All four presets are playable. Ultra averages 61.7 FPS, which clears the threshold by a slim margin. High reaches 84.2 FPS, Medium hits 102.5 FPS, and Low achieves 132.6 FPS. The best playable setting is Ultra, with an average of 61.7 FPS.
• 2560x1440 (1440p): Every preset is playable with substantial headroom. Ultra averages 121.6 FPS, more than double the 60 FPS threshold. High delivers 156.4 FPS, Medium 187 FPS, and Low 221.3 FPS. Ultra is the best playable setting, averaging 121.6 FPS.
• 1920x1080 (1080p): All presets are playable, and even Ultra stays well above 60 FPS. Ultra averages 183.2 FPS, High 221.5 FPS, Medium 233.6 FPS, and Low 257.3 FPS. Ultra is the best playable setting, averaging 183.2 FPS.

The only borderline case is 4K Ultra, where the average of 61.7 FPS leaves just 1.7 FPS of margin. For users with a 60 Hz display, this is fine, but any slight system variance could push the frame rate below the threshold. At 1440p and 1080p, there is no such concern; the system has enough performance to run Ultra with frame rates well above 100 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

Based on the measured data, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Ultra at every resolution.

• 3840x2160: Ultra yields 61.7 FPS average. This is the highest quality preset that stays above 60 FPS. High (84.2 FPS) and Medium (102.5 FPS) are also options for more headroom, but Ultra remains playable.
• 2560x1440: Ultra yields 121.6 FPS average. No preset drops below 60 FPS, so Ultra is the clear choice for maximum quality.
• 1920x1080: Ultra yields 183.2 FPS average. Even at the highest preset, the system has enough performance to drive high-refresh-rate monitors.

For users targeting a fixed 60 FPS, all presets qualify at all resolutions, but the database’s “best settings” designation goes to Ultra in each case. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that requires attention, as the margin is thin.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 4K Ultra settings?*

A: Yes, the average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 61.7, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold. However, the margin is only 1.7 FPS, so frame time spikes could cause dips below 60.

Q: What is the highest FPS this combo achieves?

A: The highest recorded average is 257.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system hits 257.3 FPS, and the scaling between presets is smaller than at higher resolutions. This suggests the CPU may cap frame rates at low settings, while the GPU becomes more limiting as resolution and preset increase.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE?

A: The RX 9070 GRE has an average benchmark score of 57367, which is 2.2% higher than the RTX 5080’s 56083. This would likely result in a small FPS increase, but not enough to change the playability verdict.

Q: Is the i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 5080 in this game?

A: The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 257.3 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit. At higher resolutions and presets, the GPU becomes the primary factor, so the CPU is only a minor constraint at very high frame rates.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 Hz 4K monitor?

A: Ultra at 3840x2160 averages 61.7 FPS, so it is technically playable. For more stability, High (84.2 FPS) or Medium (102.5 FPS) would provide greater headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database’s ranking of tested combos for Minimum, this Intel Core i5-9400 plus RTX 5080 configuration ranks 387 out of 3712 total combinations. That places it in the top 10.4% of all tested systems for this game. The rank reflects both the CPU and GPU’s performance relative to other pairings, and the high standing is driven primarily by the RTX 5080’s exceptional throughput. The i5-9400, at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, is below the GPU’s 87th percentile among all GPUs, but the combination still lands in a strong position because the game is not heavily CPU-bound at typical gaming resolutions. The data shows that this system is well above the median for Minimum, and for users with high-refresh-rate displays, the 1080p and 1440p results offer more than enough performance to take advantage of 120 Hz or 144 Hz panels. The 4K Ultra result is the only setting that approaches the edge of playability, but the overall ranking confirms that this combo is a capable choice for this title.