Minimum

Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B580 form a combination that sits in the middle of the pack for running Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The processor is a 24-core Arrow Lake Refresh part with a 5.80 GHz boost clock, placing it in the 96th percentile among all CPUs. The graphics card, based on the Xe2-HPG Battlemage architecture, offers 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus and lands in the 68th percentile for GPUs. Together, they produce measured frame rates that range from a playable 106 FPS average at 1080p High down to an unplayable 28 FPS average at 4K Ultra.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sits extremely close to several high-end server and desktop parts in average benchmark score. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which trails by a mere 0.2% in average score. The AMD EPYC 4584PX is 1.1% behind, while the AMD EPYC 9135 is 1.2% behind. On the other side, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 1.3% higher than the 290K Plus. These deltas are small enough that in real-world gaming, the choice between these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical frame rates; the 290K Plus does lead its predecessor-class sibling by a hair, but the difference is within measurement noise.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B580 finds itself in a peculiar neighborhood. Its average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, which is only 0.2% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 0.6% lower, while the RTX 3080 is 0.7% higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 leads by 1%. This clustering means that for Minimum, swapping the Arc B580 for any of these cards would shift average frame rates by only a few percent at most. Notably, the Arc B580's performance profile in this game is closer to older high-end cards than to modern flagships, which aligns with its 68th percentile ranking.

For the combined system, the CPU is strong enough that it will not bottleneck the GPU at any resolution tested. The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor, particularly at 4K where the Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is stretched thin. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's 51731 Cinebench R23 multicore score and 7303 single-core score provide ample headroom for the game's engine.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Minimum at 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes. The measured data shows playable settings at 2560x1440 include High, Low, and Medium. High averages 68 FPS, Medium averages 81 FPS, and Low averages 106 FPS. Ultra falls below the threshold at 52 FPS average.

Q: What is the best visual preset that maintains 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 81 FPS, making it the highest quality setting that clears the 60 FPS threshold. All four presets at 1080p are playable, with Low hitting 165 FPS, Medium at 126 FPS, and High at 106 FPS.

Q: Is 4K resolution viable with this hardware?

A: No. The verdict data lists no playable settings at 3840x2160. Even at Low settings, the average frame rate is 57 FPS, just under the 60 FPS playable threshold. High, Medium, and Ultra average 37, 44, and 28 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its closest CPU rival?

A: The 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's 83807. It also leads the AMD EPYC 4584PX by 1.1% and the AMD EPYC 9135 by 1.2%, while trailing the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%.

Q: What kind of frame time consistency does the system show at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the measured range spans from a minimum of 107 FPS to a maximum of 145 FPS, with an average of 126 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 69 to 93 FPS with an 81 FPS average. At 4K Medium, the range is 37 to 50 FPS with a 44 FPS average.

Q: Which resolution provides the largest performance headroom relative to the 60 FPS threshold?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the system averages 165 FPS, which is 105 FPS above the playable threshold. This represents a 175% margin over 60 FPS, the largest among all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers consistently high frame rates. The Low preset averages 165 FPS, making it the fastest configuration tested in this entire dataset. Medium follows at 126 FPS, with a measured range of 107 to 145 FPS. High averages 106 FPS, and even the demanding Ultra preset holds an 81 FPS average. All four presets at 1080p exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold by a substantial margin; the smallest gap is 21 FPS at Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops but remains playable for three of the four presets. Low averages 106 FPS, which matches the 1080p High result. Medium averages 81 FPS, with a range of 69 to 93 FPS. High averages 68 FPS, clearing the threshold by 8 FPS. Ultra falls to a 52 FPS average, which is 8 FPS below the playable threshold. The step from High to Ultra at 1440p represents a 16 FPS average loss, suggesting the Ultra preset carries a significant rendering cost.

At 3840x2160, the Arc B580 struggles to maintain playable performance. Low averages 57 FPS, just 3 FPS short of the threshold. Medium averages 44 FPS, with a range of 37 to 50 FPS. High drops to 37 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 28 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep: the High preset loses 31 FPS on average (68 to 37), while Medium loses 37 FPS (81 to 44). This indicates the GPU's 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.67 TFLOPS compute are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2790 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the 25th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 75% of combinations deliver higher frame rates in this game. The ranking reflects the GPU's mid-pack position; the Arc B580's 68th percentile among all GPUs is dragged down by the fact that this game benefits from stronger rasterization performance. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking does not compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions.

In context, this rank means the system is positioned well below the top tier for Minimum. The 922 combos ranked lower than this one would include systems with weaker CPUs or older GPUs that struggle even at 1080p. The data shows this combo's strength is at 1080p and 1440p, where the CPU's headroom allows the GPU to operate near its peak. At 4K, the combo falls into the bottom quartile of performance, which aligns with the unplayable verdict for that resolution.

The Verdict

The benchmark results indicate this PC can run Minimum, but the playability depends heavily on resolution and preset. According to the verdict data, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold at 1920x1080 for all four presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. The best playable setting at 1080p is Ultra, which averages 81 FPS. At 2560x1440, the system clears 60 FPS on High, Medium, and Low, with High being the best playable setting at 68 FPS. At 3840x2160, no settings achieve playable performance; the closest is Low at 57 FPS, which falls short of the threshold.

The system's performance profile is consistent: it is a capable 1080p and 1440p machine for Minimum, but it cannot handle 4K. For users targeting 60 FPS, the safe choices are 1080p Ultra or 1440p High. The data does not support any 4K configuration, and even the lowest preset there misses the mark by 3 FPS. The GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this 2014 title, and the CPU's performance is far beyond what the game requires.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra. The measured average FPS at this setting is 81, which provides a 21 FPS buffer above the threshold. This is the highest quality option available at this resolution, and the system maintains smooth performance throughout.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is High. The measured average FPS is 68, which clears the threshold by 8 FPS. While Medium offers a higher average of 81 FPS and Low hits 106 FPS, High provides the best visual quality among playable options. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is not viable, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The lowest preset, Low, averages 57 FPS, which is 3 FPS below the threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra average 44, 37, and 28 FPS respectively. Users seeking 4K performance would need to reduce resolution or accept sub-60 FPS frame rates, as the data confirms no 4K configuration meets the playable standard.