Minimum

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Minimum reveals a steep and consistent performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers 136 FPS, which drops to 88.1 FPS at 2560x1440 (–35%), and then to 44.5 FPS at 3840x2160 (–67% from 1080p). This pattern is not linear — the gap between 1440p and 4K is proportionally larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which points to the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises.

At High settings, the scaling is even more punishing: 83.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 56.3 FPS at 1440p (–32%) and then to 27.9 FPS at 4K (–66% from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic drop, going from 62.6 FPS at 1080p to 44.2 FPS at 1440p and finally to 22.6 FPS at 4K — a 64% reduction from the baseline. These numbers suggest that the GTX 1660 Ti's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are being saturated at higher resolutions, especially with more demanding settings.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU still has headroom to feed frames, but at 4K the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are clearly the limiting factors. The fact that even Low settings at 4K only reach 44.5 FPS — barely playable — underscores that this resolution is out of reach for this pairing. The scaling curve from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p, which is a classic sign of VRAM pressure or memory bandwidth exhaustion rather than pure shading throughput.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The GTX 1660 Ti operates with a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 12 Gbps effective across a 192-bit bus. This configuration yields 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is the critical resource for Minimum's resolution scaling behavior. The GPU's 48 ROPs and 96 TMUs handle rasterization and texture filtering, but the 6 GB VRAM capacity appears to be the ceiling at 4K — even at Low settings, the 44.5 FPS result is far below the 136 FPS seen at 1080p Low.

The measured FPS at 1440p Medium (65 FPS) versus 1440p High (56.3 FPS) shows only a 13% penalty, while the jump from 1440p to 4K at Medium costs 44% (from 65 to 36.5 FPS). This suggests that the GPU's shading units (1536) are sufficient for 1440p, but the memory subsystem cannot keep up with 4K's data demands. The 12 GB/s effective memory speed is a 2019-era figure, and the data indicates it is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 12871 places it at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 570X (0.4% slower) and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (0.8% faster). These close scores suggest the GTX 1660 Ti is a mid-pack performer, which aligns with the measured FPS: strong at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p, and inadequate at 4K.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F brings 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB shared L3 cache and Alder Lake architecture provide solid single-thread performance, which is reflected in a Geekbench single-core score of 2224 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3444 and multi-thread score of 14015 indicate it can feed the GPU at 1080p without becoming a bottleneck.

At 1080p Low, the combo hits 136 FPS, which is close to what a mid-range GPU like the GTX 1660 Ti can output in a 2014 third-person shooter. However, the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration shows its limits in the 3DMark tests: 4-thread score of 2859 versus 8-thread score of 4026 — the scaling is only 41%, suggesting diminishing returns beyond 4 threads. For Minimum, which likely uses fewer threads, the CPU's strong single-core performance (893 in 3DMark single-thread) is more relevant than its multi-core capabilities.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (–0.1%) and Intel Core i7-7700K (+1.8%). This indicates the i3-12100F is a capable budget processor that does not limit the GPU at 1080p, but the measured FPS at 1440p and 4K shows the GPU taking over as the limiting factor — the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1485 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 14% of all configurations. This low ranking is surprising given the individual component percentiles (CPU at 72nd, GPU at 55th), but it reflects the game's age and the fact that many newer or higher-end combos achieve far higher frame rates.

The rank suggests that while this pairing is competent at 1080p, it falls behind in absolute FPS compared to most other tested systems. The data shows the combo is capable of 136 FPS at 1080p Low, which is respectable, but the 4K results (22.6 FPS at Ultra) drag the overall ranking down. The rank of 1485 out of 1733 means that 248 combos perform worse, but the vast majority of systems tested achieve better results — likely because Minimum is an older title where even mid-range modern hardware can achieve high frame rates.

This ranking also implies that the GTX 1660 Ti, despite being a solid 1080p card, is outclassed by newer GPUs in this game. The GPU's percentile of 55 means it sits just above the median, but the combo's rank in Minimum is much lower — indicating that the CPU is not the weak link, but rather the GPU's age and the game's optimization for newer hardware.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For 1080p, the data clearly favors the Medium preset: 105 FPS average, which is a 26% improvement over High (83.3 FPS) and only 23% below Low (136 FPS). The jump from Medium to High costs 21 FPS (from 105 to 83.3), while the jump from Low to Medium costs 31 FPS (from 136 to 105). This makes Medium the sweet spot at 1080p — it retains most of the visual fidelity while keeping the frame rate well above 100 FPS.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again offers the best balance: 65 FPS, which is playable for a third-person shooter. High drops to 56.3 FPS, and Low rises to 88.1 FPS but sacrifices visual quality. The 65 FPS at Medium is 47% higher than Ultra (44.2 FPS), making Medium the recommended choice for 1440p gaming.

At 4K, no preset is truly playable — even Low only reaches 44.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22.6 FPS. The data suggests that 4K should be avoided entirely with this combo, as the frame rates are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 1440p Medium setting (65 FPS) is the highest resolution and setting combination that maintains a playable frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Medium settings delivers 105 FPS, which is the highest frame rate at a balanced quality level. At 1440p, Medium still achieves 65 FPS, making it playable but not as smooth.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K in Minimum?

A: No. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 ranges from 44.5 FPS (Low) to 22.6 FPS (Ultra), all below playable thresholds. Even Low settings at 4K are only 44.5 FPS, which is insufficient for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score (13925) is within 0.8% of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile and 0.4% of the AMD Radeon RX 570X. The GTX 1660 Ti sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, indicating mid-pack performance.

Q: Is the i3-12100F a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where it achieves 136 FPS on Low settings. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as shown by the steep FPS drops — the CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 1440p?

A: Medium at 2560x1440 produces 65 FPS, which is the highest setting that stays above 60 FPS. High drops to 56.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 44.2 FPS, so Medium is the recommended maximum.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Minimum?

A: It ranks 1485 out of 1733 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 14%. Despite the CPU and GPU being above the 50th percentile individually, the combo's absolute FPS in Minimum is lower than most other tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings is: Low 136, Medium 105, High 83.3, Ultra 62.6. The spread from Low to Ultra is 73.4 FPS, representing a 54% performance drop when enabling the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 88.1, Medium 65, High 56.3, Ultra 44.2. The drop from Low to Ultra is 43.9 FPS, a 50% reduction. Compared to 1080p, each setting loses roughly 35-40% of its frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the measurements are: Low 44.5, Medium 36.5, High 27.9, Ultra 22.6. The Ultra preset at 4K delivers only 17% of the 1080p Low frame rate (22.6 vs 136 FPS). The 4K Low result (44.5 FPS) is barely above the 1440p Ultra result (44.2 FPS), showing that resolution has a greater impact than settings at the high end.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each resolution doubling (1080p → 1440p → 4K) roughly halves the frame rate at equivalent settings, but the GPU's memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and 6 GB VRAM cause the 4K results to suffer disproportionately. The 1440p Medium result (65 FPS) is the last playable data point, with all 4K settings falling below 45 FPS and most below 40 FPS. This makes the GTX 1660 Ti a 1080p-focused card in Minimum, with 1440p feasible only at Medium or lower settings.