Minimum

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers a decisive performance profile in Minimum, a third-person shooter released on 2014-06-25. Benchmark measurements show this combination is capable of high frame rates across all tested resolutions, with the most demanding settings remaining playable at 1440p and 1080p. The data indicates a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strength dominates at lower settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is High, which produces an average of 61.6 FPS. This is a narrow margin above the playability threshold of 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 46.6 FPS, which falls below the playable threshold, making High the ceiling for 4K gaming.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves substantially. The Ultra preset is fully playable, delivering an average of 86.5 FPS. This leaves considerable headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. Lower presets at this resolution—Medium at 138.6 FPS, High at 116 FPS, and Low at 179.3 FPS—all comfortably exceed the threshold, but Ultra represents the best visual quality that still runs smoothly.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, yielding an average of 139 FPS. This is more than double the playability threshold, indicating exceptional performance. The High preset reaches 179.9 FPS, Medium achieves 212.3 FPS, and Low peaks at 281.1 FPS. For 1080p gaming, the data shows no practical limitation on visual settings, as even the most demanding preset remains far above 60 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals which component matters more for Minimum. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops sharply compared to lower resolutions. For instance, the Ultra preset falls from 139 FPS at 1080p to 46.6 FPS at 4K, a reduction of roughly 66%. This steep decline indicates that the GPU’s rendering throughput becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 86.5 FPS, which is about 62% of the 1080p Ultra result. This intermediate scaling confirms that the GPU is progressively more stressed as resolution increases. The CPU, with its 24 cores and 32 threads, demonstrates ample headroom: even at the lowest settings and resolution, the frame rate reaches 281.1 FPS, suggesting the processor is not limiting performance in most scenarios.

The data also shows that settings changes have a larger impact at lower resolutions. At 1080p, moving from Ultra to Low increases FPS by 142.1 FPS (from 139 to 281.1). At 4K, the same settings change yields an increase of 48.3 FPS (from 46.6 to 94.9). This pattern indicates that at 4K, the GPU is already saturated, so reducing settings provides diminishing returns. Conversely, at 1080p, the GPU has spare capacity, and the CPU’s strong single-thread performance (boosting to 6.00 GHz) allows the frame rate to scale dramatically with lower graphical loads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 94.9 FPS
• Medium: Average 75.2 FPS
• High: Average 61.6 FPS
• Ultra: Average 46.6 FPS

At 4K, the progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of roughly 15-20 FPS per settings tier. The jump from High to Ultra is particularly steep, with a 15 FPS drop, pushing the game below the 60 FPS threshold.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 179.3 FPS
• Medium: Average 138.6 FPS
• High: Average 116 FPS
• Ultra: Average 86.5 FPS

At 1440p, all presets remain well above 60 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 92.8 FPS, showing that even the highest settings retain substantial performance. The step from High to Ultra costs 29.5 FPS, which is the largest single-tier drop at this resolution.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 281.1 FPS
• Medium: Average 212.3 FPS
• High: Average 179.9 FPS
• Ultra: Average 139 FPS

At 1080p, the data shows exceptional performance across the board. The gap between Low and Ultra is 142.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is far from being the bottleneck. Even the most demanding preset maintains an average well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

The Verdict

The data confirms that this PC configuration can run Minimum effectively at all three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the verdict is unequivocal: every preset, including Ultra at 139 FPS, clears the 60 FPS threshold with substantial margin. This makes 1080p the resolution where the combo’s performance is most comfortable.

At 2560x1440, the verdict is equally positive. The Ultra preset achieves 86.5 FPS, which is 44% above the playable threshold. All lower presets—High at 116 FPS, Medium at 138.6 FPS, and Low at 179.3 FPS—also clear 60 FPS. The system can handle the maximum visual quality at this resolution without any playability concerns.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is more nuanced. The High preset at 61.6 FPS is technically playable, but the margin is slim. The Medium preset at 75.2 FPS and Low at 94.9 FPS offer more comfortable headroom. The Ultra preset at 46.6 FPS is not playable according to the 60 FPS standard. Therefore, 4K gaming is possible, but only with settings capped at High or lower.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU’s nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, provide context for how other processors would behave. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79371, which is 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K’s average of 79097. This negligible difference means gaming performance would be essentially identical. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, 0.6% higher, and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, 1.2% higher. These processors would deliver nearly the same frame rates in Minimum, with differences well within measurement error.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has an average score of 40870, which is 0.8% higher than the RTX 3080 Ti’s 41187. The NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB scores 41707, 1.2% lower, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 scores 41897, 1.7% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 scores 40377, 2% higher. These rivals would produce very similar FPS numbers in Minimum, with the RTX 5070 being the closest in performance. Users with any of these GPUs can expect broadly comparable results, though minor differences may shift the 4K High preset closer to or further from the 60 FPS line.

FAQ

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

A: No. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 46.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at 61.6 FPS is the most demanding playable option at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p gaming?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 delivers 86.5 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate. All lower presets also exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How much faster is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 281.1 FPS, while Ultra averages 139 FPS. This represents a 142.1 FPS difference, or roughly double the frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, reducing settings from Ultra to Low increases FPS by 48.3 FPS, while at 1080p the same change adds 142.1 FPS. This suggests the CPU has ample headroom, especially given its 6.00 GHz boost clock.

Q: Does the Ultra preset at 4K ever reach playable frame rates?

A: No. The measured average for Ultra at 3840x2160 is 46.6 FPS, which is 13.4 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. This preset is not considered playable according to the benchmark criteria.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 855th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 23% of all systems evaluated for Minimum.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Minimum, the Intel Core i9-14900K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks 855th out of 3712 total combinations. This places it in the upper quartile of all tested systems. The rank reflects the combo’s ability to maintain high frame rates across most settings and resolutions, with the only limitation being the Ultra preset at 4K.

The CPU itself is in the 95th percentile of all processors, while the GPU sits in the 83rd percentile of all graphics cards. This asymmetry explains the performance profile: the CPU is capable of pushing very high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s more moderate percentile ranking becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The data suggests that for Minimum, this is a well-balanced pairing for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring a reduction in visual fidelity to maintain playability. The rank of 855 out of 3712 indicates that while many systems outperform this combo, the vast majority of tested configurations are less capable.