Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the Intel Arc B570 is a capable 1080p and 1440p gaming combination for Minimum, delivering playable frame rates at high settings in both resolutions, but it falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K across all tested presets.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Benchmark data places the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 near several other processors in terms of average overall score. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 46,062, and its closest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which scores 46,030 (a 0.1% difference), and the Intel Core i9-13900HX, which scores 46,098 (a -0.1% difference). Two server-class AMD parts, the EPYC 4364P and EPYC 7303, also sit extremely close, with scores of 45,970 and 45,960 respectively, both showing a 0.2% delta from the Ultra 5 235. For a system builder, choosing any of these processors would yield nearly identical overall compute performance, meaning the gaming experience in Minimum would be dictated primarily by the GPU rather than the CPU. The Ultra 5 235 sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of processors currently tracked.

On the graphics side, the Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20,556 and ranks in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (score 20,534, delta 0.1%), the Intel Arc A750 (score 20,582, delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (score 20,480, delta 0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (score 20,662, delta -0.5%). These deltas are all within half a percent, so the Arc B570 and these four alternatives would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Minimum at any given resolution and preset. Notably, the Arc A750 is a desktop card from Intel’s previous Alchemist generation, while the RTX 3070 Mobile is a laptop part, yet their aggregate performance aligns closely with the B570. The Quadro M4000M and R9 M390X are older mobile/workstation offerings that still land in the same performance band, which underscores how the B570 occupies a specific performance tier rather than a unique one.

For a user upgrading from an older GPU, the data suggests that swapping between any of these five cards would not materially change frame rates in Minimum. The measured FPS figures for the B570—145 FPS at 1080p Low, 111 FPS at 1080p Medium, 93 FPS at 1080p High, and 71 FPS at 1080p Ultra—would be expected to shift by only a few frames with any of the nearest rivals, given the sub-1% score differences. Similarly, at 1440p, the B570’s 94 FPS Low, 72 FPS Medium, and 60 FPS High results would hold within a tight margin. This information is useful for buyers who already own one of these alternative GPUs and are considering a CPU upgrade: the Ultra 5 235 would not bottleneck any of these cards, and the gaming performance would remain effectively unchanged.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data for Minimum reveals a clear pattern: the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all tested resolutions, with the CPU showing minimal influence on frame rate scaling. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra settings reduces the average FPS from 145 to 111 to 93 to 71, a steady decline that tracks the increasing graphics load. The CPU’s role at 1080p is largely to feed the GPU with enough draw calls and game logic updates; the Ultra 5 235, with 14 cores and 14 threads, is more than sufficient for this task. The single-threaded performance, as measured by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,085 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4,516, ensures that even the most CPU-sensitive scenes in Minimum would not be limited by the processor.

At 1440p, the scaling is similar but with lower absolute FPS: Low runs at 94 FPS, Medium at 72, High at 60, and Ultra drops to 46. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at the same preset is roughly 35-40% (e.g., 145 to 94 FPS at Low, 111 to 72 at Medium, 93 to 60 at High, 71 to 46 at Ultra). This percentage drop is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where increasing pixel count directly impacts fill rate and shader workload. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would remain flat across resolutions, which is not the case. The data indicates that the Arc B570’s compute resources—2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units—are fully utilized, while the CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s are not stressed.

At 4K, the GPU bottleneck becomes even more pronounced. Low settings produce 50 FPS, Medium drops to 39, High to 32, and Ultra to 25. The frame rate at 4K Low is only about one-third of the 1080p Low result (50 vs 145), which is a much steeper decline than the pixel count ratio (4K has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, but the FPS drops by 65%). This non-linear scaling suggests that the B570’s memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) and 10 GB of GDDR6 memory are strained at 4K, especially with higher preset complexities. The CPU’s contribution at 4K is negligible; even the multi-threaded score of 14,769 in Cinebench R23 would not compensate for the GPU’s inability to maintain 60 FPS at any 4K preset.

For Minimum, a game released in 2014, the CPU requirements are modest. The Ultra 5 235’s Passmark multithread score of 37,816 and data compression score of 390,711 indicate ample headroom for any background tasks or streaming workloads while gaming. The decisive factor in this combo is the GPU, and the data shows that the B570 is the component that determines whether 60 FPS is achievable. At 1080p and 1440p, the GPU is fast enough for high presets; at 4K, it is not, regardless of the CPU’s performance.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 1080p with high settings?*

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 93 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The minimum FPS was not recorded for this preset, but the average is sufficient for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p to stay above 60 FPS?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 deliver exactly 60 FPS average, making it the most demanding preset that meets the playable threshold. Medium settings provide 72 FPS and Low provides 94 FPS, but High is the best visual quality option that still clears 60 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 faster than the Intel Arc A750?

A: The benchmark data shows they are nearly identical. The B570 has an average score of 20,556, while the A750 scores 20,582, a delta of -0.1% (the B570 is marginally slower by 26 points). In Minimum, the frame rates would be within a few FPS of each other.

Q: Does the CPU matter for this game at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, all presets (Low 50 FPS, Medium 39, High 32, Ultra 25) fall below 60 FPS, and the bottleneck is clearly the GPU. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235’s performance, ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, is not the limiting factor at 4K.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 71 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold, so Ultra is playable at 1080p, though it is the lowest of the four presets at that resolution.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for Minimum?*

A: The combo is ranked 2,984 out of 3,712 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 20% of all systems tested for this game. This ranking reflects the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions, despite the CPU’s strong overall percentile.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that this PC can run Minimum at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable: Low averages 145 FPS, Medium 111 FPS, High 93 FPS, and Ultra 71 FPS. The best settings at this resolution are Ultra, with an average of 71 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin. At 2560x1440, three presets are playable: Low (94 FPS), Medium (72 FPS), and High (60 FPS). The Ultra preset drops to 46 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. The best settings at 1440p are High, hitting exactly 60 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is negative. No preset—Low (50 FPS), Medium (39 FPS), High (32 FPS), or Ultra (25 FPS)—reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The playableSettings array for 4K is empty, confirming that the GPU cannot handle this resolution for Minimum at any quality level. For users with a 4K display, the options are to lower the resolution to 1440p (if the display supports it) or accept sub-60 FPS performance, which is not recommended for a third-person shooter where smoothness matters.

The CPU’s role in this verdict is minimal. The Ultra 5 235 is a strong processor, with an average benchmark score of 46,062 and a 89th percentile ranking, but it is not the limiting factor in any scenario. The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking and measured FPS data are the sole determinants of playability. In summary, this combo is a solid 1080p and capable 1440p gaming machine for Minimum, but it is not a 4K solution.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3,712 tested combinations for Minimum, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2,984th. This places it in the lower quintile of all systems tested, which might seem surprising given that the CPU is in the 89th percentile and the GPU is in the 65th percentile. The explanation lies in the game’s GPU-bound nature: the B570’s performance tier, while adequate for 1080p and 1440p, is not exceptional, and many other tested combos likely include higher-end GPUs that dominate at 4K.

The rank of 2,984 out of 3,712 means that roughly 20% of tested combinations perform worse than this one, while 80% perform better. This does not condemn the combo; it simply reflects that Minimum is a well-optimized game (released in 2014) that runs well on a wide range of hardware. The measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (71 FPS) is solid, but many GPUs with higher average scores (e.g., those in the 90th+ percentile) would push frame rates much higher. In terms of relative performance, the B570’s nearest rivals—the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and R9 M390X—would all land in a similar rank band, meaning this combo is representative of a mid-tier GPU paired with a high-tier CPU.

For context, the CPU’s nearest rivals (Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, Core i9-13900HX, EPYC 4364P, EPYC 7303) would not change the ranking if swapped in, because the GPU remains the bottleneck. The combo rank is thus a GPU-driven metric, and users should interpret it as a statement about the B570’s position in the market rather than a criticism of the Ultra 5 235. If the goal is to maximize Minimum performance, a GPU upgrade would yield far larger gains than a CPU upgrade, as the data shows no CPU-related frame rate limitations at any resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Ultra, with a measured average of 71 FPS. This is the highest quality option, and it still provides a 11 FPS margin above the playable threshold. Low (145 FPS), Medium (111 FPS), and High (93 FPS) are all also playable, but Ultra offers the best visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are High, with an average of exactly 60 FPS. This is the boundary condition for playability—any higher preset (Ultra) drops to 46 FPS, which is below 60. Medium (72 FPS) and Low (94 FPS) are also playable, but High provides the richest detail while still hitting the target. The minimum FPS for 1440p High was not recorded, but the average of 60 suggests that occasional dips below 60 could occur, though the data does not confirm this.

At 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The highest average FPS is 50 at Low settings, which falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium (39 FPS), High (32 FPS), and Ultra (25 FPS) are progressively worse. Therefore, the best settings for 4K would be to reduce the resolution to 1440p or 1080p, as no in-game settings can achieve 60 FPS at 4K with this hardware. For users who must play at 4K, the data suggests accepting frame rates between 25 and 50 FPS depending on preset, but this does not meet the playable standard used in this analysis.