Minimum

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 lands at rank 76 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the top 2% of all system configurations tested. This is an exceptionally strong pairing that leaves essentially no performance on the table for this title, with the data showing a system that will crush the game's demands at every resolution and setting combination measured.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 76 out of 3712 tested configurations places it firmly in the upper echelon of systems tested against Minimum. The Intel Core i7-12700KF itself sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals in CPU performance are the Intel Core i7-13700T (avg score 35403, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core 5 213PE (avg score 35428, delta -0.2%), and the Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700K (both effectively tied at 35305 and 35287 respectively, with deltas of 0.2%). This means the CPU is positioned in a tightly-packed cluster of high-end processors where a 0.2% difference in aggregate score is negligible.

The GPU side is similarly elite. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks at the 92nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (avg score 79605, delta 0.3%), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (avg score 79396, delta 0.6%), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (avg score 78940, delta 1.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X (avg score 80959, delta -1.4%). The delta values here are tight, indicating that the RTX 5090's synthetic benchmark performance is in a class where small percentage differences separate the top-tier cards.

What the rank of 76 tells a builder is that this specific CPU-GPU combination is extremely well-balanced for Minimum. The data indicates that neither component is bottlenecking the other to a meaningful degree, as the combo outperforms the vast majority of the 3712 tested pairings. This is a system that has been measured, not estimated, and the measured results confirm its top-tier status.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals how the workload shifts between the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 409.6 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings drops that to 260 FPS, a reduction of approximately 36.5%. At 3840x2160 Low settings, the average falls further to 141.5 FPS, another 45.6% drop from 1440p. This steep scaling curve at Low settings indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance even at lower presets, because the CPU has more than enough headroom at these frame rates to feed the graphics card.

At High settings, the scaling pattern shows a similar trend but with a less dramatic slope. From 262 FPS at 1080p, performance drops to 167.5 FPS at 1440p (a 36.1% reduction) and then to 90.5 FPS at 4K (a 46% reduction from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across resolution changes suggest that the RTX 5090 is the limiting factor throughout, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution while the GPU's pixel-pushing burden increases substantially.

The Ultra preset tells a slightly different story. At 1080p Ultra, the system hits 199.5 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 127.5 FPS (36.1% lower); and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 66.5 FPS (47.8% lower than 1440p). The fact that even Ultra settings at 1080p cannot break past 200 FPS, while Low settings at 1080p exceed 400 FPS, indicates that the GPU is heavily loaded by the graphical effects at higher presets. The CPU is not the constraint here — the Intel Core i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, are more than adequate for a 2014 title like Minimum, even at these extreme frame rates.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 is the dominant component across all resolutions and presets. The CPU's role becomes more relevant only at lower resolutions and settings where frame rates exceed 300 FPS, but even then, the measured results do not show any anomalous stalls or drops that would indicate CPU limitation. For builders, this means the i7-12700KF is a sufficient partner for the RTX 5090 in this game; a faster CPU would not yield meaningful gains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers staggering performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 409.6 FPS, Medium settings hit 314.4 FPS, High settings reach 262 FPS, and Ultra settings maintain 199.5 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 210.1 FPS, which shows that graphical settings have a substantial impact on frame rate even at 1080p. Every preset clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a massive margin, with Ultra still delivering more than three times the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the numbers remain extremely high but begin to show the GPU working harder. Low settings average 260 FPS, Medium settings drop to 199.8 FPS, High settings produce 167.5 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 127.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 132.5 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a factor as resolution increases. Still, even the most demanding preset at 1440p delivers more than double the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the system finally shows some restraint. Low settings average 141.5 FPS, Medium settings hit 106.4 FPS, High settings maintain 90.5 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 66.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 75 FPS, the smallest absolute spread across all resolutions. This is the only resolution where Ultra settings approach the playable threshold, but at 66.5 FPS, it still clears 60 FPS with a modest buffer. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low shows a 65.5% reduction in frame rate, while the same comparison at Ultra shows a 66.7% reduction, confirming that the GPU workload scales similarly across presets.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Minimum, and the verdict data confirms that every measured configuration is playable. At 3840x2160, all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 66.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same is true, with Ultra averaging 127.5 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 199.5 FPS. The verdictByResolution data lists all settings as playable at every resolution, which means there is no scenario in the measured data where this combo falls below 60 FPS.

For a 4K gamer, the 66.5 FPS average at Ultra settings is the headline number. It clears the playable threshold by 10.8%, which is a comfortable margin for a third-person shooter where frame pacing matters. The minimum FPS data is not provided, but the average at 4K Ultra is high enough that even significant dips would likely stay above 60 FPS. At 1440p and 1080p, the system has so much headroom that it could potentially run the game at frame rates well beyond what most displays can show, making this combo a no-compromise choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, builders could swap in an Intel Core i7-13700T or an Intel Core 5 213PE and see virtually identical CPU-bound performance, with deltas of -0.1% and -0.2% respectively. The Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700K are also within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF's average benchmark score, meaning any of these four processors would deliver indistinguishable results in Minimum. The i7-12700K is particularly notable as it is the same generation and likely a drop-in replacement if the motherboard supports it.

On the GPU side, the nearest rivals present a more mixed picture. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB and 12 GB variants score within 0.3% and 0.6% of the RTX 5090 respectively, but these are compute-oriented cards that may lack the same display outputs and gaming features. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% behind, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% ahead. For gaming purposes, the RTX 5090 remains the more practical choice, but the data shows that these alternatives would produce nearly identical average FPS scores in synthetic benchmarks. In practice, the measured FPS numbers for Minimum would likely be within a few frames of each other for any of these GPU alternatives, given how close their aggregate scores are.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 66.5 FPS. This is the only resolution where the choice of settings matters for maintaining the playable threshold, and the data shows that Ultra is safely playable. Builders could drop to High for 90.5 FPS or Medium for 106.4 FPS if they want more headroom, but Ultra is the recommended choice for maximum visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings average 127.5 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. This makes Ultra the unequivocal best setting at this resolution, with no need to compromise on visual fidelity. The same applies at 1920x1080, where Ultra averages 199.5 FPS. At both of these resolutions, the system has enough performance headroom that even the most demanding preset leaves significant margin above the playable threshold, and the recommendation is simply to enable Ultra settings and enjoy the frame rates.