Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a wide range of performance in Minimum, scaling from a demanding 4K experience to a high-refresh-rate 1080p powerhouse. The measured data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is more than capable of clearing the 60 FPS threshold at nearly every setting, with only the most extreme 4K Ultra preset falling short. The benchmarks indicate a system that is well-balanced for this title, though the performance gap between resolutions highlights where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4070 handles the load with respectable averages. The Low preset yields an average of 97 FPS, which is a strong starting point. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 74 FPS, with a minimum of 63 and a maximum of 85, showing some fluctuation but staying comfortably above the playable threshold. The High preset averages 62 FPS, which is right at the 60 FPS mark, making it the best visually demanding option that still clears the line. The Ultra preset, however, is the outlier, with an average of 47 FPS, indicating that this setting is not viable at 4K for smooth gameplay.

Stepping down to 2560x1440 reveals a significant performance boost. The Low preset averages 179 FPS, nearly doubling the 4K Low result. Medium delivers an average of 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 and a maximum of 158, providing a very smooth experience with minimal frame time variance. High jumps to 115 FPS average, and even the Ultra preset manages an average of 88 FPS. This resolution shows the combo’s sweet spot for high refresh rate monitors, as every preset, including Ultra, maintains a substantial cushion above 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across the board. The Low preset reaches an average of 278 FPS, which is an incredibly high ceiling. Medium averages 213 FPS, with a minimum of 181 and a maximum of 245, ensuring no noticeable dips. High averages 179 FPS, and Ultra averages 136 FPS. The data shows that at 1080p, this system is never challenged, with even the most demanding preset offering frame rates that exceed the needs of most high-refresh-rate displays.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 4K with the Ultra preset?*

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 47, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict data confirms that Ultra is not listed among the playable settings at this resolution.

Q: What is the best settings preset to use at 1440p for the highest visual quality while keeping 60 FPS?

A: The Ultra preset is the best choice. The data shows an average of 88 FPS at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, which is well above the playable threshold and provides the highest visual fidelity among the tested options.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The difference is significant. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 278 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 136 FPS. This shows a performance drop of roughly half when moving from the lowest to the highest settings, but both results are far above the 60 FPS threshold.

*Q: Is the RTX 4070 a bottleneck for this CPU in Minimum at 1440p?*

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary factor at higher resolutions. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows consistent average FPS reductions across all presets, indicating that the graphics card is handling the increasing rendering load, while the CPU’s performance remains sufficient to keep up.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combination at Medium settings?

A: The lowest recorded minimum FPS is 181 at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 117, and at 3840x2160 Medium, it is 63. These figures show that even the worst-case frame dips remain high at lower resolutions.

Q: Does the game run at 4K with the High preset?

A: Yes, but just barely. The average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 62, which is only 2 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. It is playable, but there is little headroom for any demanding scenes that might cause a dip.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the RTX 4070 becomes clear when examining the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system produces extremely high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 278 FPS. This massive headroom indicates that the workload is not heavily stressing either component, but the drop to 136 FPS on the Ultra preset shows the GPU starting to work harder. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, has enough single-thread performance to keep feeding the GPU at these levels.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS at Low is 179, a reduction of about 36% from the 1080p result. This scaling is expected as the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes more taxed. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 88 FPS, which is a 35% drop from the 1080p Ultra average. This consistent reduction across presets points to the GPU being the primary driver of performance at this resolution. The CPU is still not the limiting factor, as the frame rates remain high enough to suggest it still has capacity in reserve.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s role becomes dominant. The Low preset averages 97 FPS, which is a 46% reduction from 1440p Low. The High preset drops to 62 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47 FPS. The performance difference between presets at 4K is much larger than at lower resolutions, with a 50 FPS gap between Low and Ultra. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading power are being fully utilized, while the CPU’s performance is effectively irrelevant at this resolution. The benchmark results show a system where the CPU is never the bottleneck, but the GPU is increasingly stressed as resolution and settings increase.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum effectively at all tested resolutions, with specific limitations only at the extreme settings. At 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with the best visual quality being High at an average of 62 FPS. The Ultra preset is not playable, as it averages 47 FPS. For 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, with Ultra being the best choice at an average of 88 FPS. This makes 1440p the ideal resolution for a balanced mix of visual fidelity and performance. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 136 FPS, making it suitable for high refresh rate gaming. The verdict is clear: this combo delivers a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, and it is only at 4K with the Ultra preset that the 60 FPS threshold is not met.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 sits within a narrow performance band of its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 is essentially a statistical tie, with a deltaPct of 0.1% and an average score of 46030 versus 46062. The Intel Core i9-13900HX is also extremely close, with a deltaPct of -0.1% and a score of 46098. Two AMD EPYC processors, the 4364P and 7303, are also within 0.2% of the Ultra 5 235’s average score. In practice, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical performance in Minimum, meaning the choice between them would come down to platform features rather than frame rates.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has a more varied set of nearby alternatives. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is essentially identical in average benchmark score, with a deltaPct of 0.1%, though it is a data center part. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% slower, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster, showing that a laptop variant of a higher-tier card can slightly outpace the desktop RTX 4070 in aggregate benchmarks. In Minimum, these GPUs would produce similar frame rates, with the RTX 4080 Mobile being the only one that might offer a slight edge.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks at 885 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the top 24% of all configurations in the database. The percentile rankings for the individual components support this: the CPU is in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 81st percentile against all GPUs. The composite rank of 885 indicates that while this is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it is a high-performing combination that significantly outperforms the majority of systems tested for this game. The data suggests that this pairing offers a strong balance, with the CPU being relatively stronger than the GPU, but both being well above average for the database as a whole.