Minimum

The data for Minimum with the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 shows a system that is decisively overpowered for most scenarios, yet reveals a sharp drop-off at the highest resolution. At 1920x1080, the combination delivers exceptional frame rates across all presets, with the Low setting hitting an average of 263.4 FPS. Moving to Medium yields 198.6 FPS, High drops to 167.8 FPS, and even the demanding Ultra preset maintains a robust 126.8 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the scaling is consistent but proportionally lower: Low averages 168.7 FPS, Medium 130.7 FPS, High 107.4 FPS, and Ultra remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold at 83.7 FPS. The situation changes at 3840x2160, where the Ultra preset falls to an average of 46.1 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. High settings at 4K manage 56.7 FPS, still marginally under 60 FPS, but Medium recovers to 73.1 FPS, and Low pushes well ahead at 90.6 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU, while powerful, begins to hit its limits with the most intensive settings at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured performance across the twelve tested configurations reveals a clear hierarchy dictated by resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the system is never constrained. The Low preset produces 263.4 FPS average, which suggests the CPU and GPU are both operating well within their limits. Medium reduces the average to 198.6 FPS, a 24.6% drop from Low, showing the impact of increased shading and texture work. High settings further reduce performance to 167.8 FPS, and Ultra brings the average down to 126.8 FPS. Even at this most demanding 1080p setting, the frame rate is more than double the 60 FPS playable threshold, indicating that the i7-12700K and RX 9070 combination has substantial headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the same trend continues but with a steeper curve. The Low preset averages 168.7 FPS, which is 35.9% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium follows at 130.7 FPS, High at 107.4 FPS, and Ultra at 83.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 85 FPS, compared to 136.6 FPS at 1080p, showing that the pixel count increase compresses the relative differences between presets. The Ultra result at 83.7 FPS remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, so no preset at this resolution is unplayable.

The 3840x2160 results tell a different story. Ultra drops to 46.1 FPS, which is 44.9% below the 1440p Ultra result and clearly below the playable threshold. High settings at 4K produce 56.7 FPS, which is just 3.3 FPS short of 60 FPS. Medium recovers to 73.1 FPS, and Low jumps to 90.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.5 FPS, much narrower than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck. The step from Medium to High at 4K costs 16.4 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs only 10.6 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns as settings increase.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware might deliver similar results. The Intel Core i7-12700K sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its closest competitor is the Intel Core i5-13600T, which scores 35305, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the i7-12700K is essentially tied with it. The Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365, just 0.2% higher, which is within run-to-run variance. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, 0.3% higher, and the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, 0.4% higher. These deltas are negligible, so any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minimum when paired with the same GPU.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, which scores 23736, a delta of 0.6% in favor of the RX 9070. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 24063, which is 0.8% higher, meaning it would be slightly faster. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile scores 23628, 1.1% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170, 1.2% higher. These small deltas mean that a system with a GTX TITAN Z or RTX 2080 SUPER would deliver frame rates within a few percent of the RX 9070. Given that the measured FPS differences between presets at 1440p and 1080p are often over 20 FPS, the rival GPUs would land within roughly one to two FPS of the RX 9070 in most scenarios.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Minimum at 4K with the Ultra preset?*

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 46.1, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict data lists only Low and Medium as playable settings at this resolution.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p to stay above 60 FPS?

A: All four presets at 2560x1440 are playable, with Ultra delivering an average of 83.7 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, so Ultra is the recommended choice.

Q: How much performance is lost when switching from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 167.8 at 1920x1080 to 107.4 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 60.4 FPS. This represents a 36% decrease in frame rate due to the higher pixel count.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 4K Low settings?

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 90.6, which is still high. The fact that Ultra at 4K drops to 46.1 FPS while Low stays near 90 suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher settings, but the CPU has enough headroom to support the Low preset.

Q: Does the system ever drop below 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: No. The lowest average at 1080p is 126.8 FPS with Ultra settings, which is more than double the playable threshold. All presets at this resolution are far above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to the RTX 2080 SUPER for this game?

A: The RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23877, while the RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170, a delta of -1.2% for the RX 9070. This means the RTX 2080 SUPER would be slightly faster, but the difference is minimal and would translate to less than one FPS in most Minimum scenarios.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that this combination is more than capable of running Minimum at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 with any preset. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset delivers 126.8 FPS average, which is 66.8 FPS above the playable threshold of 60 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra remains playable at 83.7 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. The situation at 3840x2160 is more nuanced. The verdict by resolution lists Low and Medium as playable settings, with Medium being the best at 73.1 FPS. High settings at 4K produce 56.7 FPS, which is just below the threshold, and Ultra drops to 46.1 FPS. Therefore, the system can run the game at 4K, but only with reduced settings. For the full Ultra experience, 1440p is the maximum resolution. If the user prioritizes 4K, they must accept Medium settings, which still provide a smooth 73.1 FPS average.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, which achieves an average of 73.1 FPS. Low is also playable at 90.6 FPS, but Medium offers better visual quality while maintaining a substantial margin above the threshold. At 2560x1440, all presets are playable, and Ultra is the best choice with an average of 83.7 FPS. This provides 23.7 FPS of headroom over 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in scenes with heavy effects. At 1920x1080, Ultra is again the best setting, delivering 126.8 FPS average. This leaves 66.8 FPS of headroom, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The recommendation is straightforward: use Ultra at 1080p and 1440p, and use Medium at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 1147 out of 3712 total combos. This places it in the upper third of all systems tested, roughly in the 69th percentile of combos. Given that the GPU itself ranks at the 69th percentile and the CPU at the 84th percentile, the combo ranking is slightly below what the CPU percentile might suggest, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. The rank of 1147 means there are 1146 other combinations that deliver higher average frame rates across the tested scenarios. However, because the game is relatively old and the hardware is modern, the absolute performance is still very high, with even the worst case (4K Ultra) achieving 46.1 FPS. The combo's rank reflects that many other high-end GPUs, such as the RTX 2080 SUPER which scores 1.2% higher, would outperform it, but the practical difference is small.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra is 136.6 FPS, which is a large absolute gap. This suggests that the GPU is handling the increased graphical load, while the CPU has enough headroom to feed it. The i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is unlikely to be a bottleneck at this resolution. At 2560x1440, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 85 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming more saturated as pixel count increases. At 3840x2160, the gap shrinks further to 44.5 FPS. This progressive narrowing indicates that the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's role is more evident when comparing the same preset across resolutions. For example, at Ultra settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average FPS from 126.8 to 83.7, a 34% drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K reduces it further to 46.1, a 45% drop. These large drops are characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU's performance is constant but the GPU's workload scales with resolution. The CPU's influence is more visible at lower resolutions and lower presets. At 1080p Low, the system produces 263.4 FPS, which is so high that the CPU's single-thread performance, measured at a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043, becomes more relevant. However, even at this extreme, the frame rate remains well above what most displays can show, so the CPU is not a practical limitation. In summary, for this game, the GPU dominates performance scaling across resolutions and presets, while the CPU provides ample headroom even at the highest frame rates.