Minimum

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a highly capable 1080p and 1440p experience in Minimum, a third-person shooter released in 2014. Benchmark data confirms that this combination handles the game’s Ultra preset with ease at both 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, while 4K Ultra remains the only setting that fails to reach a playable frame rate. The measured FPS data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU’s strong single-thread and multi-thread scores (3dmark_single_thread 1043, cinebench_r23_multicore 28838) providing ample headroom for the GPU to scale performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Low, which delivers an average of 74 FPS. The Medium preset averages 57 FPS, falling just short of the 60 FPS threshold, while High averages 48 FPS and Ultra averages 36 FPS. This indicates that 4K gaming requires significant graphical compromises, with only the lowest settings ensuring smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves dramatically. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 68 FPS, making it the best-looking playable option at this resolution. All four presets clear the 60 FPS bar here: High averages 89 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS, Low averages 138 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The data shows that 1440p Ultra is comfortably within reach, with the minimum FPS for Medium recorded at 90 FPS, suggesting stable frame pacing throughout.

At 1920x1080, the system has no trouble whatsoever. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 105 FPS, which is the highest playable setting. Low averages 214 FPS, Medium averages 164 FPS, and High averages 137 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result is particularly notable because it shows the GPU is not fully saturated at this resolution, leaving performance headroom that could be used for higher refresh rates or additional background tasks. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 139 FPS further confirms that frame drops are minimal even at lower settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, with the CPU’s role diminishing as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low (214 FPS) and Ultra (105 FPS) is a 109 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU’s shading workload is the primary constraint. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance (passmark_single_thread 3984, 3dmark_single_thread 1043) ensures that even at 1080p Low, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS, the processor does not become a bottleneck.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with a tighter spread. Low averages 138 FPS, while Ultra averages 68 FPS, a difference of 70 FPS. The GPU’s fillrate and memory bandwidth (624.1 GB/s) become more critical here, as evidenced by the Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 90 FPS versus its average of 106 FPS. The CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads (based on Alder Lake architecture) provide consistent frame delivery, but the data suggests that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting at this resolution.

The 3840x2160 results are where the GPU’s dominance becomes absolute. Low averages 74 FPS, while Ultra averages 36 FPS, a 38 FPS spread. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 48 FPS against an average of 57 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s 2560 shading units and 96 ROPs are saturated at this pixel count. The CPU’s contribution is minimal here, as even the lowest settings cannot push frame rates much higher than 74 FPS, which is well below the processor’s capability ceiling (cinebench_r15_singlecore 410, passmark_physics 1780). Benchmark results indicate that the i7-12700KF would likely sustain much higher frame rates if the GPU were not the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS values are as follows: High settings produce 48 FPS, Low settings produce 74 FPS, Medium settings produce 57 FPS (with a minimum of 48 FPS and maximum of 65 FPS), and Ultra settings produce 36 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS exactly matches the High preset’s average, which suggests that frame drops at 4K can be substantial when the GPU is under heavy load. The lack of min/max data for Low and Ultra makes it difficult to assess frame stability, but the averages alone show a clear hierarchy.

At 2560x1440, the data becomes more complete. High averages 89 FPS, Low averages 138 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS (minimum 90 FPS, maximum 121 FPS), and Ultra averages 68 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 90 FPS is notable because it is 16 FPS below the average, indicating that brief dips occur even at this resolution. The Ultra preset’s average of 68 FPS is close to the 60 FPS threshold, but the absence of min/max data for Ultra means we cannot determine whether occasional drops below 60 FPS occur during intense gameplay sequences.

At 1920x1080, all presets deliver excellent performance. High averages 137 FPS, Low averages 214 FPS, Medium averages 164 FPS (minimum 139 FPS, maximum 188 FPS), and Ultra averages 105 FPS. The Medium preset’s maximum FPS of 188 FPS approaches the Low preset’s average of 214 FPS, showing that the GPU can reach high frame rates when the scene complexity decreases. The Ultra preset’s average of 105 FPS is particularly strong for a demanding preset at 1080p, and the gap between Medium and Ultra (59 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a significant but manageable GPU workload.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which average 74 FPS. Medium averages 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold, while High and Ultra average 48 FPS and 36 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: The Ultra preset averages 68 FPS at 2560x1440, making it the highest visual quality that stays above 60 FPS. All other presets (High 89 FPS, Medium 106 FPS, Low 138 FPS) also exceed the threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.1% delta), the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, +0.2% delta), the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.2% delta), and the Intel Core i7-12700K (35287, +0.2% delta). Performance differences are within 0.2% across all four rivals.

Q: Is the GPU’s performance close to any older or newer models?

A: The RX 7700’s average benchmark score is 15852. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 (-0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014 (-1% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679 (+1.1% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 (-1.7% delta). These deltas indicate that the RX 7700 sits within a tight performance band.

Q: Does the frame rate difference between 1440p and 1080p suggest a CPU or GPU bottleneck?

A: The data shows a GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 105 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 68 FPS, a 37 FPS decrease. This 35% reduction in frame rate from a 78% increase in pixel count indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU’s performance (cinebench_r23_singlecore 4071) would not cause such a steep decline.

Q: What is the lowest recorded minimum FPS for this hardware combination?

A: The lowest minimum FPS in the measured data is 48 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 90 FPS, and at 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 139 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1717 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 46th percentile of all tested hardware pairs. This rank is somewhat surprising given the strong 1080p and 1440p results, but it reflects the fact that many other combinations in the database likely achieve higher frame rates at 4K, where this setup struggles. The rank suggests that while this combo is well above the playable threshold at mainstream resolutions, it is not an elite performer for 4K gaming. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 85 among all CPUs indicates that the i7-12700KF is a top-tier processor, while the GPU’s percentile of 58 among all GPUs shows that the RX 7700 is a mid-range graphics card. This combination of a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU explains why the system excels at lower resolutions but falls short at 4K Ultra.

The Verdict

This PC can definitively run Minimum with playable frame rates at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440. At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 105 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold, and all other presets exceed 137 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra averages 68 FPS, High averages 89 FPS, Medium averages 106 FPS, and Low averages 138 FPS, with every preset clearing the 60 FPS bar. At 4K, the system can only manage Low settings (74 FPS), while Medium (57 FPS), High (48 FPS), and Ultra (36 FPS) all fall below the playable threshold. The verdict is clear: for 1080p and 1440p gaming, this combo is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay at maximum settings, but 4K enthusiasts will need to lower expectations to Low settings or consider a more powerful GPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, are all within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF’s performance. The Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.2% delta) are slightly faster, while the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, +0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i7-12700K (35287, +0.2% delta) are marginally slower. Users with any of these four processors would experience virtually identical frame rates in Minimum, as the CPU’s contribution at 1440p and 4K is minimal.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862, -0.1% delta) is the closest match to the RX 7700’s average score of 15852, followed by the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679, +1.1% delta). The AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014, -1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129, -1.7% delta) are both slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks. In practical terms, swapping the RX 7700 for an RTX 3060 Ti would likely yield a small FPS improvement at 1080p and 1440p, while the R9 370X would produce nearly identical results despite being an older architecture. The RX 9060’s 1% higher score suggests it could push 4K Medium closer to the 60 FPS threshold, though the difference would be marginal.