Minimum

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 is a classic 1080p-oriented combination. In Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, the data shows this pairing delivers a smooth 1080p experience at most settings, but it hits a performance ceiling quickly when resolution climbs. The measured frame rates reveal a system where the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, confirming the RX 580 is the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 90.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings, the average falls to 58.5 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. At 4K Low, the average plummets further to 33.3 FPS. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is overwhelming the GPU’s capabilities as pixel count increases.

The pattern holds across other settings. At High preset, the average FPS goes from 59.6 at 1080p, to 35.9 at 1440p, and finally to 22.6 at 4K. The 4K High result is below the 30 FPS playability threshold, making it a poor choice for this hardware. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is substantial, but the gap between 1440p and 4K is even more punishing, showing that the RX 580 is not designed for 4K workloads in this title.

Interestingly, the scaling factor is not linear. At Low settings, 1440p retains 64% of the 1080p performance, but 4K only retains 37%. This suggests that memory bandwidth and raw fill rate become critical constraints at 4K, as the GPU’s 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated. For a 60 FPS target, 1080p is the only viable resolution, and even then, only the Low preset exceeds that mark. The data clearly indicates that users should treat this as a 1080p card for Minimum.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580’s specifications directly explain the resolution scaling behavior. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. While the 8 GB capacity is ample for a 2014 title, the bandwidth is the limiting factor at high resolutions. The GPU’s clocks are listed at a base of 1257 MHz and a boost of 1340 MHz, which is moderate for its generation.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s. These figures dictate how quickly the card can fill the screen with pixels and apply textures. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages only 14.6 FPS, which is a direct result of the 32 ROPs being overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels per frame. The card’s FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS is sufficient for older titles but is not enough to brute-force 4K rendering.

The data shows that the RX 580’s performance ceiling in Minimum is a 1080p Medium experience at 71.2 FPS. Pushing to High at 1080p drops the average to 59.6 FPS, which is still playable but shows the card’s limits. The GPU’s compute score in Passmark G3D is 8813, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. This mid-range positioning is reflected in the measured FPS, which offer a solid experience at 1080p but degrade rapidly beyond that. The card’s 8 GB VRAM is never a bottleneck in this game, as even the 4K Ultra preset does not exceed that capacity, but the processing power is insufficient.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-10400F and RX 580 ranks 1602 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, which is surprisingly low given the decent 1080p frame rates. This rank is a reflection of the overall competitive landscape, where newer and more powerful hardware dominates the top tiers.

However, the rank should be interpreted with context. The CPU alone performs well, with an average benchmark score of 14168 and a percentile ranking of 73. It sits close to the AMD EPYC 7552, which has an average score of 14115 and a deltaPct of 0.4. This means the i5-10400F is roughly on par with that server chip in synthetic tests. The GPU, on the other hand, has an average benchmark score of 13559 and a percentile ranking of 53, placing it in the middle of the pack.

The low combo rank is driven by the GPU’s relative weakness compared to modern cards. While the CPU is capable, the GPU holds the pairing back. The RX 580’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which has an average score of 13564 and a deltaPct of 0, indicating identical performance. This is an old card, and the pairing’s rank of 1602 reflects the fact that many users will have moved on to faster GPUs. For a 1080p gaming rig, this rank is acceptable, but it is not competitive at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K?*

A: Yes, but not at a playable frame rate. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 33.3, but at 4K High, it drops to 22.6, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 14.6. The data indicates 4K is not a viable resolution for this hardware.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 1080p is the optimal resolution. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 71.2 FPS, and at 1080p Low, it reaches 90.9 FPS. This provides the best balance of visual quality and smoothness.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552’s score of 14115. It also outperforms the Intel Core i5-8500, which scores 14332 and has a deltaPct of -1.1.

Q: Is the GPU a significant bottleneck in this game?

A: Yes. The resolution scaling shows a severe performance drop from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the FPS drops from 59.6 at 1080p to 22.6 at 4K, indicating the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 90.9, while at 1080p Ultra, it is 47.1. This is a 43.8 FPS difference, showing a significant performance cost for maximum settings.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: Yes, the 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Minimum. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is limited by processing power, not memory capacity, as the card’s bandwidth is the constraint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo are at 1080p with the Medium preset. This configuration yields an average of 71.2 FPS, which provides a smooth experience for a third-person shooter. The High preset at 1080p drops to 59.6 FPS, which is still playable but closer to the edge of 60 FPS, making it less stable.

For players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest average at 90.9 FPS. This is the recommended choice for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1080p, with an average of 47.1 FPS, is not recommended as it introduces noticeable stutter and falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option, achieving 58.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 47.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. 4K is not recommended, as even the Low preset only reaches 33.3 FPS, which is below the standard playability threshold. The data suggests sticking to 1080p for the best experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides a solid foundation for this gaming combo. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU’s L3 cache is 12 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus. These specifications are more than adequate for a 2014 title like Minimum.

The CPU’s performance is strong in synthetic benchmarks. In Cinebench R23, it scores 10297 in multi-core and 1453 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 5783 in multi-core and 1454 in single-core. These scores indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game. The 3DMark tests show a progressive scaling from 1350 in 2-thread to 4735 in max-thread, confirming good multi-threading capability.

The data shows that the CPU has a percentile ranking of 73, meaning it outperforms 73% of all CPUs. In the context of Minimum, the CPU provides enough headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (90.9) and Medium (71.2) suggest that the CPU can handle high frame rates without bottlenecking. The CPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C, has an average score of 14277 with a deltaPct of -0.8, indicating the i5-10400F is slightly faster. This ensures that the CPU will not hold back the RX 580 in most scenarios.