Minimum

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a mixed bag of results in Minimum, a third-person shooter released in 2014. The database contains measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data shows that this combination can handle the game smoothly at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K remains mostly out of reach. The CPU is exceptionally strong, ranking in the 95th percentile among all tested processors, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile among all tested graphics cards. That gap explains why performance scales so heavily with resolution and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers playable frame rates at every preset. The lowest average is 78.2 FPS on Ultra, which still clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Low settings produce 154.3 FPS average, Medium produces 121 FPS, and High produces 102.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is about 76 FPS, showing that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution. Even the most demanding setting, Ultra, never drops near the playability line.

At 2560x1440, performance tightens but remains mostly solid. Low settings average 100.6 FPS, Medium averages 76.8 FPS, and High averages 63.7 FPS. All three presets stay above 60 FPS. Ultra, however, falls to 48.2 FPS average, which is below the playable threshold. The drop from High to Ultra is roughly 15 FPS, a significant penalty for the extra visual fidelity. The data indicates that 1440p Ultra is the first point where this combo struggles.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 51.5 FPS, which is still below 60 FPS. Medium averages 39.8 FPS, High averages 34.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. No preset at 4K reaches the 60 FPS mark. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is about 27 FPS, meaning even the least demanding preset cannot deliver a smooth experience. The RTX 2060’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply insufficient for this resolution in Minimum.

The measured data does not include minimum or maximum frame times, so the analysis relies on average FPS values. Still, the pattern is consistent: 1080p is fully playable, 1440p is playable up to High, and 4K is not playable at any setting.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database are all within a narrow performance band. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79371, which is 0.3% higher than the i9-14900K’s 79097 average benchmark score. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, 0.6% higher. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, 1.2% higher. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, 1.7% lower. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, so swapping to any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minimum.

The GPU’s nearest rivals are similarly close. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 has an average score of 15283, essentially identical to the RTX 2060’s 15290. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270, 0.1% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199, 0.6% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 scores 15171, 0.8% lower. For this game, any of these graphics cards would behave almost exactly like the RTX 2060. The performance differences are within measurement noise.

What this means for a buyer or builder is that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any scenario. The GPU’s peers all sit in the same performance tier, so the observed FPS numbers in Minimum would carry over to those alternatives. The RTX 2060’s percentile rank of 58 indicates it is a mid-range card, and its rivals confirm that positioning.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows a clear division of labor between the Intel Core i9-14900K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060. The CPU is a top-tier part with a 95th percentile ranking among all processors. Its 24 cores, 32 threads, and boost clock of 6.00 GHz provide far more processing power than a 2014 third-person shooter requires. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core, suggest it is not the bottleneck at any resolution.

The GPU, by contrast, is a mid-range part from the Turing architecture. Its 1920 shading units, 120 texture units, and 48 ROPs are adequate for 1080p and modest 1440p workloads. The measured FPS scaling tells the story. At 1080p, frame rates range from 78.2 FPS on Ultra to 154.3 FPS on Low. At 1440p, the same presets range from 48.2 FPS to 100.6 FPS. At 4K, the range drops to 24 FPS to 51.5 FPS.

The resolution scaling is steep. From 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the average FPS drops from 154.3 to 100.6, a reduction of about 35%. From 1440p Low to 4K Low, the drop is from 100.6 to 51.5, another 49% reduction. This pattern indicates that the GPU is responsible for the majority of performance variance. The CPU’s role is essentially static; it feeds the GPU with frames faster than the GPU can render them.

Settings scaling reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, going from Low to Ultra costs about 76 FPS, a 49% reduction. At 1440p, the same change costs about 52 FPS, a 52% reduction. At 4K, the cost is about 27 FPS, a 53% reduction. The relative penalty is consistent, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU does not meaningfully influence these numbers because it is not the limiting resource.

For gamers, this means that upgrading the CPU would not improve Minimum performance, while upgrading the GPU would have a direct impact. The recorded data supports this interpretation.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Minimum? The answer depends on the resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the combination clears 60 FPS at every setting. The best playable preset is Ultra, with an average of 78.2 FPS. Low, Medium, and High all exceed 100 FPS, so the game runs smoothly without compromise.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is more nuanced. High settings average 63.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Low averages 100.6 FPS and Medium averages 76.8 FPS, both comfortably playable. Ultra, however, averages 48.2 FPS, which is below the playability line. The database lists High as the best playable setting at 1440p, and that is the correct recommendation.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is clear: this combo does not run Minimum at a playable frame rate. Low settings average 51.5 FPS, Medium averages 39.8 FPS, High averages 34.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. None of these reach 60 FPS. The database shows no playable settings at 4K, and that matches the measured data.

In summary, the RTX 2060 paired with the i9-14900K is a capable 1080p machine for this game, a decent 1440p machine with settings tweaks, and a non-starter at 4K. The CPU is not the issue; the GPU’s memory capacity and bandwidth are the limiting factors at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this specific CPU and GPU combination at 2956 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. That places it in the lower portion of all possible pairings, roughly in the 20th percentile of tested systems. This low rank is surprising given the CPU’s strength, but it makes sense when considering the GPU’s mid-range position.

The RTX 2060 has a percentile rank of 58 among all GPUs, meaning it sits slightly above the median. The i9-14900K has a percentile rank of 95, placing it in the top 5% of CPUs. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-tier GPU produces a system that is heavily GPU-bound in most games. For Minimum, a game that is not CPU-intensive, the GPU determines the outcome. The 2956 rank reflects that the GPU’s performance is closer to the bottom of the tested pool than the top.

In comparison, a combo with a similarly ranked GPU but a weaker CPU would likely produce identical FPS numbers in this game. The rank is more indicative of the GPU’s tier than the CPU’s capabilities. Gamers with this setup should expect performance similar to other RTX 2060 systems, regardless of the processor.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database provides a clear recommendation for each resolution based on the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 3840x2160, there is no best setting because no preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 51.5 FPS on Low, which is still below the threshold. The database marks this resolution as having no playable settings, and the measured data confirms that.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is High, with an average of 63.7 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS. Low and Medium also work, with averages of 100.6 FPS and 76.8 FPS respectively, but High offers the best visual quality while remaining playable. Ultra is not an option because it drops to 48.2 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Ultra, with an average of 78.2 FPS. This is the highest quality preset available, and it clears the 60 FPS threshold with room to spare. Low, Medium, and High all produce higher frame rates, but Ultra is the recommended choice for maximum visual fidelity.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low delivers 154.3 FPS and 1440p Low delivers 100.6 FPS. For balanced quality, 1440p High at 63.7 FPS is the sweet spot. At 4K, no setting is viable, so players should either lower the resolution or upgrade the GPU.

The data is unambiguous: this combo is a solid 1080p performer, a good 1440p performer with settings adjustments, and a poor 4K performer. The Intel Core i9-14900K ensures the CPU never limits performance, but the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060’s 6 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory bus cap the experience at higher resolutions. Players with this hardware should target 1440p High for the best combination of visual quality and smoothness in Minimum.