Minimum

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER produces a fascinating dataset in Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is profoundly overqualified for the game's engine, yet the way performance scales with settings and resolution tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to understand the interplay between this six-core Comet Lake processor and the Ada Lovelace GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking observation is the dramatic FPS drop when moving from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 130.5 FPS at 2560x1440 to 71.6 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of approximately 45%. This indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor. The GPU is being pushed harder, and the frame rate responds accordingly, suggesting that the game is no longer limited by the CPU at this resolution.

Conversely, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is comparatively gentle. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 199.7 at 1920x1080 to 130.5 at 2560x1440. This 35% reduction is still significant, but it is less severe than the 4K cliff. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound or hitting an engine-level frame cap, as the i5-10400F with its 6 cores and 12 threads may struggle to feed the GPU frames faster than 200 FPS in this title. The RTX 4070 SUPER, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is more than capable of handling 1080p, but the processor's single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 688) might be the limiting factor.

The trend is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the 4K average of 108.9 FPS is nearly half the 1080p average of 269.3 FPS. This massive gap at the lowest graphical load reinforces the idea that the CPU is holding back performance at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck as pixel count increases. The data implies that for maximum frame rates, 1080p is the target, while 4K is for those prioritizing visual fidelity over raw speed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz, boosting up to 4.30 GHz. In the context of Minimum, a game from 2014, this processor is exceptionally powerful. Its benchmark results, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453, indicate strong performance for a game that likely does not utilize many threads.

The data suggests that the CPU's role is to provide a high frame rate ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 269.3 FPS, which is a very high number. However, the fact that 1080p Ultra yields 152.3 FPS, while 1440p Ultra yields 99 FPS, shows that the CPU is not the sole determinant of performance. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings is more than just resolution scaling; it points to the GPU beginning to take on more work.

The i5-10400F's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this game. The processor's percentile ranking of 73 vs all CPUs places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, has a deltaPct of 0.4, meaning the i5 is essentially on par with that server chip in average benchmark scores. In Minimum, the 12 threads are likely more than enough, and the limiting factor at lower resolutions is more likely the game's engine or the CPU's single-thread speed, which is respectable but not top-tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear star of this configuration, featuring the AD104 chip on a 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, and its boost clock of 2475 MHz ensures high throughput. The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with 7168 shading units and a FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution rises. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 53.7, a very demanding scenario. This is a clear sign that the GPU is being pushed to its limits at the highest settings. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the GPU is likely idle much of the time, as the CPU struggles to keep up with the 269.3 FPS target. The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the component that dictates performance at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU takes over at 1080p.

The GPU's performance is also reflected in its benchmarks. Its Passmark G3D score of 29995 places it in the 84th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA RTX A6000 with a deltaPct of -0.2. This means the RTX 4070 SUPER is essentially equivalent to a professional workstation card in raw compute, which explains its ability to handle 4K in an older title. However, the game's age means that even the GPU's 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs are more than sufficient for the graphical load, and the bottleneck at lower resolutions is unequivocally the CPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of performance and visual quality is found at High settings for most resolutions. At 1920x1080, High settings yield 199.7 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most monitors, while Ultra only drops this to 152.3 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is not worth the performance cost, as the former provides a smoother experience with minimal visual compromise.

At 2560x1440, High settings provide 130.5 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Ultra drops to 99 FPS, which is still playable but begins to approach the lower limits of high-refresh gaming. Medium settings at 1440p offer 152.4 FPS, but the jump to High is only a 14% reduction, making High the better choice for image quality. For 4K, the situation is different. High settings at 71.6 FPS are playable, but Medium at 81.2 FPS might be a better choice for those who prefer a higher frame rate. Ultra at 53.7 FPS is likely too demanding for a smooth experience, and Low at 108.9 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity.

The data suggests that High settings are the sweet spot for this combo, offering a significant improvement over Medium without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. For 1080p users, High is the recommended preset, as it provides near-Ultra quality with a 31% higher frame rate than Ultra. For 4K users, Medium is a pragmatic choice to stay above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested configurations, this combo ranks 314 out of 1733 combinations. This places it in the top 18% of all tested systems for Minimum. Given the game's age and the hardware's power, this ranking is somewhat surprising, as one might expect a newer GPU to dominate. However, the ranking is based on measured FPS, and the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions likely drags down the overall score.

The combo's rank of 314 suggests that while the RTX 4070 SUPER is a top-tier GPU, the i5-10400F holds the system back in scenarios where the CPU is the limiting factor. The data shows that the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates, but the processor's 6 cores and 12 threads are not sufficient to fully utilize the GPU at 1080p. This is a common issue with older games that do not scale well with multi-threaded processors.

The rank also implies that many other combos, likely those with newer, higher-clocked CPUs, achieve better overall performance. The i5-10400F's nearest rivals in benchmark scores, such as the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C with a deltaPct of -0.8, are not necessarily faster in gaming, but the ranking reflects the measured FPS in this specific title. The combo is still a very capable performer, but it is not at the absolute top of the charts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are consistently high. Low settings produce 269.3 FPS, Medium produces 240 FPS, High produces 199.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 152.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 10.9% reduction, while the step from Medium to High is a 16.8% reduction. The step from High to Ultra is a 23.7% reduction, showing that Ultra is a significant performance hit.

At 2560x1440, the numbers drop noticeably. Low settings produce 201.5 FPS, Medium produces 152.4 FPS, High produces 130.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 99 FPS. The scaling is more linear here, with each settings tier costing about 15-20% performance. At 3840x2160, the performance is much lower. Low settings produce 108.9 FPS, Medium produces 81.2 FPS, High produces 71.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 53.7 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 25.4%, and from High to Ultra is 25.0%, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed at this resolution.

The data shows that the system is capable of 60+ FPS at 4K High, but for a truly smooth experience, 1440p High or 1080p High are the best choices. The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of the system's capabilities, and the numbers demonstrate a well-balanced setup that is limited by the CPU at low resolutions and by the GPU at high resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 at High settings provides 130.5 FPS, offering a strong balance of visual quality and performance. 1920x1080 at High provides 199.7 FPS, which is better for high refresh rates, but 1440p is the sweet spot for image clarity without sacrificing smoothness.

Q: Is this combo more CPU-bound or GPU-bound?

A: It depends on the resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rates are high but the GPU is not fully utilized. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rates drop dramatically to 71.6 FPS at High settings.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its rivals in this context?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552. This indicates that the CPU is on par with its closest competitor in synthetic tests, but its actual gaming performance in Minimum is more dependent on single-thread speed.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 23.7% slower than High, dropping from 199.7 FPS to 152.3 FPS. At 1440p, the drop is 24.1%, from 130.5 FPS to 99 FPS. The visual difference is likely minimal, making High the recommended preset.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, it achieves 71.6 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it achieves 81.2 FPS. These are playable frame rates, but Ultra at 53.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER rank among GPUs?

A: The GPU has a percentile ranking of 84, with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A6000, which has a deltaPct of -0.2, meaning the RTX 4070 SUPER is essentially tied with that card in average performance.