Minimum

# Minimum with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a solid 1080p experience in Minimum, with the data showing a clear sweet spot at High settings. This combo ranks 1478th out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of the database, yet the measured framerates reveal that it remains highly playable at 1080p and even 1440p with the right settings. The GTX 1660 Ti, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the primary driver of performance, while the 6-core, 12-thread i5-10400F provides ample headroom to avoid bottlenecking at most resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gameplay with this combo?

A: High settings at 1920x1080 yields 85.0 FPS average, which is the most balanced option. Low settings hit 135.7 FPS, Medium reaches 104.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66.6 FPS.

*Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 85.9 FPS, Medium delivers 66.7 FPS, and High maintains 53.0 FPS. Ultra falls to 40.5 FPS, which may feel less fluid.

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

A: The GTX 1660 Ti scores 13925 on average, which is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X and 0.8% ahead of both the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla K10 by 0.7%.

Q: Is the i5-10400F a bottleneck at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the framerates are 32.7 FPS on High, 34.8 FPS on Medium, and 48.9 FPS on Low, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor since the CPU's multi-threaded score of 10297 in Cinebench R23 is sufficient for this title.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective).

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread results?

A: The i5-10400F scores 1453 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 10297 in multi-core. Its PassMark single-thread score is 2541, while the multithread score is 12115, showing strong scaling across its 6 cores and 12 threads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti sits at rank 1478 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 15th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the hardware's age and mid-range positioning, yet the measured FPS data tells a more favorable story. The CPU itself ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168, while the GPU sits in the 55th percentile with an average score of 13925.

Against its nearest CPU rivals, the i5-10400F is virtually tied with the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% behind), and the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% behind). For the GPU, the GTX 1660 Ti edges out the RX 570X by 0.4% and the GTX 680 by 0.8%, while being 0.7% behind the Tesla K10. These tight margins indicate that this combo delivers performance consistent with its class, and the in-game ranking reflects a system that can run Minimum but not at the highest settings with maximum fluidity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card offers 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Minimum even at 4K. The GPU's base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 1536 shading units, deliver a pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s. These figures translate into 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

At 1080p, the GPU's capabilities are fully utilized, with the data showing a clear scaling pattern. Moving from Low to Medium costs 31.4 FPS (from 135.7 to 104.3), and from Medium to High costs another 19.3 FPS (to 85.0). The jump to Ultra brings a further 18.4 FPS drop to 66.6, indicating that the GPU's 6 GB memory and compute resources are the primary constraint at higher presets. The card's 48 ROPs handle pixel output efficiently, but the 12 nm TU116 chip, while capable, shows its limits at 4K where even Low settings only reach 48.9 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, High settings at 1920x1080 is the recommended preset, delivering 85.0 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining visual fidelity. If higher framerates are preferred, Medium at 1080p offers 104.3 FPS, which is a 22.7% improvement over High. Low settings at 1080p reach 135.7 FPS, ideal for competitive play, but the visual trade-off may be significant.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings at 66.7 FPS is the optimal choice, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while offering better visuals than Low (85.9 FPS). High at 1440p drops to 53.0 FPS, which is playable but less fluid. At 3840x2160, only Low settings (48.9 FPS) approach playability; Medium and High fall to 34.8 and 32.7 FPS respectively, while Ultra is not viable at 23.6 FPS. The data strongly suggests that 1080p High or 1440p Medium are the sweet spots for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the framerates scale predictably across presets. Low settings produce 135.7 FPS, which is the highest measured result for this combo. Medium delivers 104.3 FPS, a 31.4 FPS drop from Low. High settings maintain 85.0 FPS, and Ultra falls to 66.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 69.1 FPS, representing a 50.9% reduction in performance when pushing the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but with lower absolute numbers. Low achieves 85.9 FPS, Medium hits 66.7 FPS, High reaches 53.0 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40.5 FPS. The performance loss from 1080p Low (135.7 FPS) to 1440p Low (85.9 FPS) is 49.8 FPS, or 36.7%. At High settings, the drop from 85.0 FPS at 1080p to 53.0 FPS at 1440p is 32.0 FPS, a 37.6% reduction.

At 3840x2160, framerates become marginal. Low settings yield 48.9 FPS, which is the only preset above 40 FPS. Medium produces 34.8 FPS, High drops to 32.7 FPS, and Ultra is unplayable at 23.6 FPS. The scaling from 1440p Low (85.9 FPS) to 4K Low (48.9 FPS) represents a 43.1% loss, demonstrating the GPU's struggle with the 4K pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides a solid foundation for this combo, with 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Comet Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, combined with 12 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that the CPU does not become a bottleneck in Minimum. The benchmark data supports this: the CPU scores 10297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1453 in single-core, with a PassMark multithread score of 12115.

The CPU's role becomes clearer when examining the 4K results. At 3840x2160, the framerates drop significantly compared to 1080p, which indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU. The i5-10400F's 3DMark scores, including 4748 for 16 threads and 3929 for 8 threads, show it has sufficient multi-threaded capability for this game. The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for the workload, and its 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it outperforms many alternatives in this class.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Low settings, the framerates go from 135.7 FPS at 1080p to 85.9 FPS at 1440p (a 36.7% drop) and then to 48.9 FPS at 4K (a 43.1% drop from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 85.0 FPS to 53.0 FPS to 32.7 FPS, with the 1080p-to-1440p drop being 37.6% and the 1440p-to-4K drop being 38.3%.

This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti's pixel throughput is the limiting factor. The GPU's pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and its 6 GB memory capacity are strained at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 4.30 GHz boost clock and 12 threads, maintains its performance across resolutions, as evidenced by the fact that the percentage drops are nearly uniform across settings. This confirms that the i5-10400F is not the bottleneck; rather, the GTX 1660 Ti's 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 1536 shading units are insufficient for 4K gaming at acceptable framerates. For 1080p and 1440p play, the combo performs admirably, but 4K requires dropping to Low settings to approach playability.