Minimum

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination delivers a commanding performance profile in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. Across all tested resolutions and presets, the system never drops below the 60 FPS playability threshold, with the lowest recorded average being 65.4 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. The data set, derived from measured benchmarks, shows a hardware pairing that is overwhelmingly overqualified for this title, leaving substantial headroom even at the most demanding settings and highest resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Benchmark results for this combination are consistent and high across the board, with no min or max FPS values recorded in the data; only average FPS is provided for each configuration. At 3840x2160 (4K), the average frame rates scale predictably with preset quality. The Low preset produces an average of 132.2 FPS, which is exceptionally high for 4K. Moving to Medium yields 101.6 FPS, a reduction of 30.6 FPS from Low. The High preset delivers 81.8 FPS, while the most demanding Ultra preset still maintains an average of 65.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 66.8 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiter at this resolution, though it remains far from stressed.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the frame rates escalate significantly. The Low preset achieves an average of 245.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 187 FPS, High at 158.6 FPS, and Ultra at 116.3 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 129.2 FPS, a much larger absolute spread than at 4K, which suggests that at 1440p the CPU begins to play a more substantial role in feeding the GPU. The High preset at 1440p is nearly double the 4K High result, underscoring the resolution's lower pixel count demands.

The most dramatic figures appear at 1920x1080 (1080p). The Low preset reaches an average of 379.2 FPS, which is a staggering result for a modern title. Medium follows at 288.3 FPS, High at 243.7 FPS, and Ultra at 188.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 191.1 FPS, the largest of all resolutions. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance and the GPU’s raw throughput combine to create a scenario where even the heaviest preset leaves the hardware with massive headroom. The data shows a clear trend: as resolution decreases, the absolute FPS values rise, and the relative impact of preset changes becomes more pronounced.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is the Ultra preset. The data confirms that this configuration clears the 60 FPS threshold with ease at every resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 65.4 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset approaches the 60 FPS line, but it still sits comfortably above it. The High preset at this resolution delivers 81.8 FPS, offering a buffer for those who prefer higher headroom, but the data supports Ultra as a viable option.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 116.3 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K result. This is the sweet spot for the combination, as it provides a high refresh rate experience at maximum quality settings. The 1440p Ultra result is 50.9 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result, demonstrating the scaling efficiency of the hardware.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 188.1 FPS, which is more than triple the playability threshold. This result is indicative of a system that is entirely unconstrained by the game’s rendering demands. Even at 1080p, where CPU bottlenecks often appear in other titles, the i9-14900K’s performance keeps the GPU fully fed, resulting in frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of most high-end monitors.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearestRivals data for both components, several other hardware combinations would behave similarly to this pairing. The Intel Core i9-14900KF is the closest CPU alternative, with an average benchmark score of 79371, which is 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K’s 79097. This negligible difference means the i9-14900KF would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minimum, as the performance delta is well within measurement noise.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, a 0.6% difference from the i9-14900K, and would also deliver virtually indistinguishable results. For a more divergent option, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% lower than the i9-14900K; this still represents a performance level that would comfortably exceed the 60 FPS threshold at all settings. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, 1.2% higher, but its server-oriented design makes it an unlikely choice for gaming.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is the nearest rival with a score of 57367, which is 2.2% higher than the RTX 5080’s 56083. This would translate to slightly higher frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios, such as 4K Ultra. Conversely, the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757, 0.6% lower) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, 0.7% lower) would produce marginally lower results. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 is 2.3% lower, which would still likely maintain playability but with a smaller margin at 4K Ultra. In all cases, the performance differences are small enough that the overall experience in Minimum would be equivalent: high frame rates with no risk of dropping below 60 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum with absolute authority. The verdictByResolution data lists all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—as playable at every resolution tested. The 60 FPS playability threshold is cleared by a wide margin in all configurations.

At 3840x2160, the system achieves its lowest performance point at Ultra settings with an average of 65.4 FPS. This is the only configuration where the margin above 60 FPS is under 10 FPS, but it still qualifies as a smooth experience. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset produces 116.3 FPS, which is a high-refresh-rate result. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset reaches 188.1 FPS, a figure that exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The data indicates that this is a system that will not encounter playability issues in this title, regardless of user preference for resolution or visual quality.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combination at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 379.2 FPS, achieved with the Low preset.

Q: Does the Ultra preset at 4K stay above the 60 FPS threshold?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 65.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How much faster is the 1440p Ultra preset compared to the 4K Ultra preset?

A: The 2560x1440 Ultra preset averages 116.3 FPS, which is 50.9 FPS higher than the 3840x2160 Ultra preset's 65.4 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between the i9-14900K and its closest rival, the i9-14900KF?

A: The i9-14900KF has an average benchmark score of 79371, which is 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K’s score of 79097.

Q: Which GPU rival is the closest in performance to the RTX 5080?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is the closest rival with an average score of 57367, which is 2.2% higher than the RTX 5080’s 56083.

Q: At which resolution does the system show the largest absolute difference between Low and Ultra presets?

A: The largest absolute difference is at 1920x1080, where the Low preset (379.2 FPS) is 191.1 FPS higher than the Ultra preset (188.1 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 175th out of 3712 tested combos. This places it in the top 4.7% of all configurations, which is consistent with the high frame rates observed in the measured data. The rank reflects the absolute performance ceiling of this hardware, which is near the top of the spectrum for this game. The 95th percentile ranking of the CPU and the 87th percentile ranking of the GPU among their respective categories further corroborate the system's elite status. While there are 174 combos that perform better, the data indicates that this specific pairing is among the most powerful options available for Minimum, and the differences with those higher-ranked combos are likely to be marginal in real-world gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU across resolutions. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor. The frame rate scaling from Low (132.2 FPS) to Ultra (65.4 FPS) shows a 50.5% reduction, which is the most pronounced percentage drop of any resolution. This is because the sheer pixel count at 4K places the primary load on the GPU's shading units and ROPs, making the CPU's role secondary. The RTX 5080's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the driving force behind these results.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts. The absolute FPS values are higher, but the percentage drop from Low (245.5 FPS) to Ultra (116.3 FPS) is 52.6%, similar to 4K. However, the higher absolute numbers indicate that the CPU is starting to contribute more. The i9-14900K's 32 threads and high boost clock of 6.00 GHz ensure that the GPU is never starved of data. The 158.6 FPS High result at 1440p suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands even at high settings.

At 1920x1080, the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck, though not in a limiting sense. The Low preset's 379.2 FPS is so high that it approaches the limits of what the CPU can issue in draw calls and physics updates. The Ultra preset at 188.1 FPS still represents a scenario where the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5) is the key enabler. The data shows that as resolution drops, the importance of the CPU rises, but the i9-14900K is so potent that it never becomes a true constraint. The system is GPU-bound at 4K, balanced at 1440p, and CPU-bound at 1080p, but in all cases the performance far exceeds the game's requirements.