Minimum

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER lands at rank 2602 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places the combo in the 30th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly 70% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is drastically outclassing the other, but the overall result is modest by current standards. The data shows this is a functional setup for the game, yet it is clearly not at the forefront of performance for this third-person shooter.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s position at 2602 of 3712 is a direct indicator of its mid-to-lower tier standing in the benchmark database. The RTX 2060 SUPER alone holds the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-10400F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs. The combination of these two mid-tier components yields a result that is lower than either individual percentile, which suggests that the game’s engine is not scaling perfectly with the hardware’s composite strengths.

Benchmark results indicate that the CPU’s average benchmark score of 14185 places it in close competition with the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, deltaPct 0.5). It trails the Intel Core 7 160UL by just 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.6%. These are extremely tight margins, showing that the processor is performing exactly as expected for its class.

The GPU presents a similar story with its average benchmark score of 18093. It is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, while sitting 1.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 and 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A770M. The fact that a mobile GPU and a workstation card are this close in raw score underscores that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a well-understood, consistent performer, but not one that surprises.

When evaluating the combo rank, the data suggests that the 30th percentile placement is not a failure but rather a reflection of the hardware’s age and tier. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is a solid workhorse, and the RTX 2060 SUPER, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, handles the game’s demands, but neither pushes into the upper echelons of the benchmark charts. For a game released in 2014, this hardware is more than capable, but the database shows that many newer combos simply do more.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It houses 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The memory subsystem is substantial: 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective data rate.

The GPU’s base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The pixel rate is 105.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 224.4 GTexel/s. Compute performance is rated at 7.181 TFLOPS for FP32 and 14.36 TFLOPS for FP16 with a 2:1 ratio. These specifications translate into a card that can handle the rasterization demands of Minimum without breaking a sweat, as evidenced by the measured frame rates.

In this game, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly critical as resolution rises. At 1080p, the card produces 170 FPS on Low settings, but that drops to 83 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a 51% performance hit, which is typical for a game that increases shader complexity and draw distances. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor here, as the game’s texture demands are likely well within that capacity, but the compute load still scales with the settings.

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s position relative to its nearest rivals in the database is telling. Being 0.4% slower than the RTX 3060 Mobile and 0.5% slower than the Radeon Pro 5700 shows that the desktop card is punching at its expected weight. The fact that it is 1.5% faster than the RX 460, a much older and lower-tier card, reinforces that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates in this title when the CPU is not a bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of how the system scales across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 170 FPS on Low, 130 FPS on Medium, 109 FPS on High, and 83 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 110 FPS on Low, 84 FPS on Medium, 71 FPS on High, and 54 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall further to 59 FPS on Low, 45 FPS on Medium, 38 FPS on High, and 29 FPS on Ultra.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is a 35% reduction in frame rate (from 109 to 71 FPS). This is a significant drop, but it is not catastrophic, indicating that the GPU is still managing the load reasonably well. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings is a 46% reduction (from 71 to 38 FPS), which is much steeper. This suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases exponentially.

At Low settings, the scaling is more linear: 170 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p (35% drop), and 59 FPS at 4K (46% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the game’s rendering pipeline is scaling predictably with resolution, and the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting up to 4.30 GHz, is not showing signs of bottlenecking, as the frame rate drops are proportional to the pixel count increase.

The data points to a system that is ideal for 1080p gaming, where it can easily exceed 100 FPS on High settings. At 1440p, it remains playable on Medium and High, but 4K gaming is only viable on Low settings, where it hits 59 FPS. The 4K Ultra setting, at 29 FPS, is not a playable experience for a third-person shooter that benefits from smooth motion. This scaling behavior is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the sweet spot. The system achieves 109 FPS on High settings and 170 FPS on Low, ensuring smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, High settings drop to 71 FPS, which is still playable but less fluid.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Mobile?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile’s 18159. This means the desktop card and the mobile card are essentially performance equals in synthetic tests, despite the mobile chip being newer.

Q: Is the i5-10400F holding back the GPU in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate no significant CPU bottleneck. The CPU’s average score of 14185 is within 0.6% of its nearest rivals, and the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, suggesting the processor is keeping up.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 84 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. This is a comfortable range for most players.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages 59 FPS. At Medium, it drops to 45 FPS, and at High it falls to 38 FPS. The 4K Ultra setting yields just 29 FPS, which is not recommended for smooth play.

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

A: The i5-10400F scores 1451 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 10283 in multi-core. The single-core score is strong for its class, which helps in games like Minimum that may rely on fewer threads.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for the best experience. For players prioritizing high refresh rates, the 1080p Low setting at 170 FPS is the fastest option, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. The 1080p Medium setting at 130 FPS (minimum 111, maximum 150) offers a strong balance between smoothness and quality. This is likely the best overall experience for competitive play, as the frame rate stays above 120 FPS with a reasonable visual upgrade from Low.

For those who prefer visual quality over raw speed, the 1080p High setting at 109 FPS is still excellent. It delivers a 34% reduction in frame rate compared to Low but provides significantly better textures and effects. The 1080p Ultra setting at 83 FPS is the most demanding preset at this resolution, and while playable, it is less ideal for fast-paced action.

At 1440p, the Medium setting at 84 FPS (minimum 71, maximum 97) is the most practical choice. It offers a good balance, with frame rates that remain above 60 FPS consistently. The High setting at 71 FPS is also viable, but the lower minimums could cause occasional stutter in intense scenes. The Ultra setting at 54 FPS is borderline, and the Low setting at 110 FPS is the best for high refresh 1440p monitors.

For 4K, the only playable option is the Low setting at 59 FPS. The Medium setting at 45 FPS is marginal, and the High and Ultra settings at 38 FPS and 29 FPS respectively are too slow for a third-person shooter. The data suggests that this combo is not designed for 4K gaming, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p for the best experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 10283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1451 in single-core. Geekbench results show 6257 multi-core and 1420 single-core. Passmark multithread score is 12115, with a single-thread score of 2541. These numbers place the i5-10400F at the 68th percentile of all CPUs, showing it is a competent mid-range processor.

The CPU’s role in Minimum is to feed the GPU with enough data to avoid bottlenecking. The frame rate scaling across resolutions shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU-bound performance. The 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for a game released in 2014, which likely does not utilize more than a few threads effectively.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.6% of its average score, including the Intel Xeon 6756E and AMD EPYC 7552, which are enterprise parts. This suggests that the i5-10400F is performing at the expected level for its specifications. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz provides solid single-thread performance, which is crucial for games that rely on a primary thread for game logic.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a weak link in this pairing. The combination of 6 cores and 12 threads, along with a high boost clock, ensures that the RTX 2060 SUPER can operate at its full potential. The 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s data streaming needs, and the 12 MB L3 cache helps reduce latency for frequently accessed data. Overall, the i5-10400F provides a stable foundation for the RTX 2060 SUPER, and the combo’s ranking is more a reflection of the GPU’s age than any CPU deficiency.