Minecraft

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of this configuration in Minecraft?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1042 out of 1176 tested combos in Minecraft, placing it in the lower portion of the database.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 scores 64,640 on average, which is 0.3% below the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823) and 0.7% below the AMD EPYC 9124 (65,104). It sits 0.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438) and 0.7% above the AMD EPYC 7343 (64,202).

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The RX 580 averages 12,928 in benchmark scores, landing 0.1% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12,940) and 0.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12,986). It is 0.5% above the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870) and 0.6% above the AMD FirePro W5100 (12,847).

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 208, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 165 at the same resolution with Medium settings.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS in the dataset?

A: The lowest average is 27 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: Does the GPU or CPU percentile ranking suggest a bottleneck in this game?

A: The CPU sits at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs. The large gap indicates the GPU is the limiting component in Minecraft, especially at higher resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. It packs 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with memory clocked at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus.

Memory configuration includes 8 GB of GDDR5 with a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The card achieves a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute at 6.175 TFLOPS. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, and uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. The GPU draws up to 185 W and requires a 450 W suggested PSU with a single 8-pin connector.

In Minecraft, the RX 580's role becomes evident when comparing FPS across settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the GPU handles Low settings at 208 FPS, but this drops to 82 FPS at Ultra — a 60.6% reduction. The pattern repeats at 2560x1440, where Low produces 131 FPS and Ultra falls to 52 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low yields 69 FPS while Ultra drops to 27 FPS.

The GPU's 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs suggests it is a mid-tier part. Benchmark scores show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005, Geekbench Vulkan score of 45,173, and Passmark G3D score of 8813. The card's nearest rival, the GTX 1660 SUPER, scores 12,986 on average — only 0.4% higher — indicating the RX 580 remains competitive with that generation of hardware.

The data shows the RX 580's compute and memory throughput directly influence Minecraft's frame rates. The 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance are sufficient for 1080p High at 131 FPS, but the GPU's limits appear at 4K Ultra, where the average plummets to 27 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for this game's asset sizes, as no VRAM-related stutters are indicated by the min FPS data at Medium settings (46 FPS at 4K).

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 features 20 cores and 20 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture on a 3 nm process from TSMC. It runs at a 2.40 GHz base clock and 5.30 GHz boost clock, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 30 MB shared L3. Memory support is dual-channel DDR5 with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and the CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance. Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 42,216, while single-core reaches 5,960. Passmark multi-thread scores 49,682, and single-thread scores 4,689. The CPU ranks at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64,640.

In Minecraft, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 208 FPS, which indicates the CPU can feed frames well beyond the GPU's typical limits. The 5.30 GHz boost clock and 20 cores provide ample headroom for the game's simulation and chunk-loading threads.

Comparing to rivals, the Core Ultra 7 265's average score of 64,640 is nearly identical to the EPYC 4464P (64,823, -0.3%) and EPYC 9124 (65,104, -0.7%), while slightly ahead of the Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438, +0.3%) and EPYC 7343 (64,202, +0.7%). This places the CPU in a tight cluster of high-performance parts, all within 1% of each other.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking versus the GPU's 53rd percentile creates a significant disparity. At 1080p, the combo achieves 131 FPS on High and 165 FPS on Medium, suggesting the CPU is not the primary limiter. However, at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 27, which is a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU's capabilities are underutilized.

The 20-core configuration with 3 MB L2 per core and 30 MB shared L3 provides robust performance for Minecraft's world generation and entity processing. The single-thread score of 5,960 in Cinebench R23 indicates strong per-core performance, which matters for the game's main thread. The data supports that the CPU is more than capable of driving the RX 580 to its limits in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 208 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 and maximum of 189. High settings drop to 131 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 82 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 131 FPS, Medium averages 104 FPS (min 88, max 119), High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS. Comparing to 1080p, the resolution increase from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces Low settings from 208 to 131 FPS, a 37% decrease.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes heavily strained. Low settings average 69 FPS, Medium averages 54 FPS (min 46, max 62), High averages 43 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 27 FPS. The jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 at High settings brings FPS down from 82 to 43, a 47.6% reduction.

The settings progression at each resolution reveals consistent scaling. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra (208 → 82 FPS) represents a 60.6% performance loss. At 1440p, the same progression (131 → 52 FPS) is a 60.3% loss. At 4K, Low to Ultra (69 → 27 FPS) is a 60.9% loss. This consistency suggests the GPU's compute and memory resources scale uniformly with settings.

Medium settings show the only min/max data points, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 140 to 189 FPS (a 49 FPS spread). At 1440p Medium, the range is 88 to 119 FPS (a 31 FPS spread). At 4K Medium, the range is 46 to 62 FPS (a 16 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is becoming the bottleneck, reducing variance as it saturates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1042 out of 1176 tested combinations in Minecraft, placing it in the bottom 11.4% of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier position despite the CPU's high-end status.

The CPU, at the 93rd percentile, is among the top performers in the database. Its average benchmark score of 64,640 places it in the same league as server-class EPYC processors. However, the GPU, at the 53rd percentile with an average score of 12,928, anchors the combo's overall ranking.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU percentile rankings (93 vs 53) is the defining characteristic of this configuration. In Minecraft, which is known for its reliance on both single-threaded CPU performance and GPU rasterization, this imbalance means the GPU dictates the frame rates in most scenarios.

Comparing to other combos in the database, the rank of 1042 out of 1176 suggests that most tested systems outperform this pairing. The RX 580's nearest rivals, such as the GTX 1660 SUPER (avg score 12,986) and RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (avg score 12,940), would likely produce similar results in Minecraft, as their benchmark scores are within 0.4% of the RX 580.

The CPU's rivals, including the EPYC 4464P and EPYC 9124, score within 0.7% of the Core Ultra 7 265, meaning CPU swaps would have minimal impact on the combo's ranking. The bottleneck is firmly on the GPU side, and upgrading the RX 580 to a higher-tier card would be the most effective way to improve the combo's position in the database.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 131 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings offer 165 FPS for those prioritizing higher refresh rates, while Low reaches 208 FPS for competitive play. Ultra at 82 FPS is playable but provides diminishing returns over High given the 49 FPS difference.

At 2560x1440, High settings average 82 FPS, which is suitable for most displays. Medium provides 104 FPS, offering a better balance for 144 Hz monitors. Low at 131 FPS is the best choice for maximum fluidity. Ultra at 52 FPS is borderline, dipping below the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Medium at 54 FPS is the highest playable setting, with a minimum of 46 FPS indicating occasional dips below 60. Low at 69 FPS is smoother but sacrifices visual quality. High at 43 FPS and Ultra at 27 FPS are not recommended for a consistent experience.

The data suggests Medium settings provide the best balance across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 165 FPS with a min of 140, ensuring no significant frame drops. At 1440p Medium, 104 FPS with a min of 88 keeps gameplay smooth. At 4K Medium, 54 FPS with a min of 46 is the only setting that approaches playability.

For users with 60 Hz displays, High settings at 1080p (131 FPS) or 1440p (82 FPS) offer the best visual quality without sacrificing frame rate. For 144 Hz displays, Medium at 1080p (165 FPS) or Low at 1440p (131 FPS) are the recommended choices.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component clearly. At Low settings, 1080p produces 208 FPS, 1440p produces 131 FPS, and 4K produces 69 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 37% reduction, and from 1440p to 4K is a 47.3% reduction.

At High settings, the pattern is similar: 1080p at 131 FPS, 1440p at 82 FPS, and 4K at 43 FPS. The drops are 37.4% (1080p to 1440p) and 47.6% (1440p to 4K). At Medium settings, the progression is 165 → 104 → 54 FPS, with drops of 37% and 48.1%, respectively.

The consistent ~37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~47-48% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates a GPU-bound scenario. The pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p, and by 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. The FPS drops approximate these pixel-count increases, confirming the RX 580's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and 5.30 GHz boost clock are sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 1080p Low (208 FPS). If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS scaling to deviate from the pixel-count ratios, especially at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more significant. The data shows no such deviation, with the FPS drops tracking the resolution scaling almost perfectly.

The conclusion from the resolution scaling is that the RX 580 is the definitive bottleneck in this combo. The CPU has substantial headroom, as evidenced by the 208 FPS at 1080p Low, which is far above what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. Upgrading the GPU would yield proportional FPS gains across all resolutions, while upgrading the CPU would provide no measurable benefit in Minecraft given the current GPU's limitations.