Minimum

# Minimum with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The combination of an Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional performance in the 2014 third-person shooter Minimum, with measured frame rates ranging from 73 FPS at 4K Ultra to 271 FPS at 1080p Low. This pairing ranks in the 94th percentile among 2,939 tested combos, placing it firmly in the high-performance tier for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available quality presets. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 271 FPS average, Medium delivers 246 FPS, High delivers 231 FPS, and Ultra delivers 209 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is a modest 62 FPS, representing approximately a 23% performance penalty for maximum visual quality. Given that even Ultra exceeds 200 FPS at 1080p, players with high-refresh-rate monitors can comfortably select Ultra without sacrificing responsiveness.

At 1440p, the spread widens considerably. Low produces 234 FPS, Medium 212 FPS, High 178 FPS, and Ultra 136 FPS. The Ultra preset drops below 144 FPS, which may be noticeable on 144Hz displays. However, High still maintains 178 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 1440p gaming when both visual fidelity and high frame rates are priorities. The Medium preset at 212 FPS offers a substantial safety margin for competitive play.

At 4K, the performance curve steepens dramatically. Low achieves 149 FPS, Medium 114 FPS, High 96 FPS, and Ultra falls to 73 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K dips below 75 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced third-person shooter action. High at 96 FPS provides a smoother experience, while Medium at 114 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate at this resolution. For 4K gaming with this combination, Medium is the optimal preset, as it maintains triple-digit frame rates while preserving meaningful visual improvements over Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 169 out of 2,939 tested combinations places this pairing in the top 5.7% of all tested configurations. This strong positioning reflects the substantial GPU headroom provided by the RTX 5090 D, even when paired with a mid-range 10th-generation Core i5 processor. The benchmark database shows that this combination outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, though the CPU does impose some limitations at lower resolutions where frame rates approach the processor's ceiling.

The RTX 5090 D alone holds a percentile rank of 92 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT at 76,904 (1.1% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 78,940 (1.6% faster), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants at 79,396 and 79,605 (2.1% and 2.4% faster respectively). These small deltaPct values indicate that the RTX 5090 D sits in a tightly contested performance band despite its high percentile ranking.

The CPU, meanwhile, ranks at the 68th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 14,185. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E at 14,163 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14,232 (0.3% faster), the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14,115 (0.5% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C at 14,277 (0.6% faster). These marginal differences suggest the i5-10400F is well-matched to its performance tier, though it clearly lags behind the GPU in relative standing.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D brings substantial resources to this pairing. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is far beyond what Minimum requires even at 4K Ultra settings. The 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process, deliver 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

The GPU's benchmark results show strong DirectX performance across legacy APIs: PassMark DirectX 9 scores 434, DirectX 11 scores 371, and DirectX 12 scores 219. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test returns 14,326. These synthetic results, combined with the PassMark G3D score of 44,065, indicate that the GPU has ample headroom for Minimum's 2014-era rendering requirements. The 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs provide the pixel and texture throughput necessary to maintain high frame rates even at 4K resolution.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor in this game, except at 4K Ultra where the 73 FPS average suggests the render workload finally exceeds what the card can process at maximum quality. At all other resolution and settings combinations, the GPU maintains frame rates well above 90 FPS, confirming that the RTX 5090 D is overqualified for this title in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are: Low 271 FPS, Medium 246 FPS, High 231 FPS, and Ultra 209 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 209 FPS and maximum of 283 FPS, indicating tight frame pacing with less than a 35% variation between minimum and maximum. The progression from Low to Ultra shows diminishing returns on performance cost, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-25 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 234 FPS, Medium 212 FPS, High 178 FPS, and Ultra 136 FPS. The Medium preset records a minimum of 180 FPS and maximum of 244 FPS, again showing consistent performance with approximately a 35% spread. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 42 FPS, which is the largest single-step penalty at this resolution, suggesting Ultra imposes significantly heavier rendering workloads.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 149 FPS, Medium 114 FPS, High 96 FPS, and Ultra 73 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS, with a 34 FPS spread. The resolution scaling from 1440p to 4K at each preset shows: Low drops from 234 to 149 FPS (36% reduction), Medium from 212 to 114 FPS (46% reduction), High from 178 to 96 FPS (46% reduction), and Ultra from 136 to 73 FPS (46% reduction). These consistent reductions at Medium through Ultra indicate GPU-bound scaling, while the smaller drop at Low suggests some CPU limitation at lower quality settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combination?

A: The highest measured average is 271 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 246 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 234 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Can this system maintain 144 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: No. The highest 4K average is 149 FPS at Low settings, which barely exceeds 144 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 114 FPS, High to 96 FPS, and Ultra to 73 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K comes close to sustaining 144 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB score 79,396 and 79,605 (2.1% and 2.4% higher respectively).

Q: What is the performance difference between the CPU and its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14,185. The Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14,163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14,232 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14,115 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14,277 (0.6% higher).

Q: Which settings preset provides the most consistent frame pacing?

A: The Medium preset at each resolution shows measured minimum and maximum values. At 1080p, the range is 209-283 FPS (74 FPS spread). At 1440p, the range is 180-244 FPS (64 FPS spread). At 4K, the range is 97-131 FPS (34 FPS spread). The 4K Medium preset shows the narrowest absolute spread.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combination ranks 169th out of 2,939 tested combos, placing it in the top 5.7% of all configurations tested for Minimum.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Built on Intel's 14 nm Comet Lake architecture, it supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. The 12 MB shared L3 cache and 256 KB L2 per core help feed the GPU with game data, while its PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes provides the interface to the RTX 5090 D.

The CPU's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark, 1,451 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 2,541 in PassMark single-thread. Multi-threaded results include 4,748 in 3DMark 16-thread, 10,283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and 12,115 in PassMark multithread. These scores place the CPU at the 68th percentile among all processors, indicating it is a mid-range performer by modern standards.

In Minimum, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rates at low settings. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves 271 FPS, while at 1440p Low it reaches 234 FPS, and at 4K Low it manages 149 FPS. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (37 FPS) compared to the larger drop at Medium (34 FPS from 246 to 212) and High (53 FPS from 231 to 178) suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to limit performance as the GPU has less work to do. The 4K Low result of 149 FPS versus 1080p Low of 271 FPS shows a 45% reduction, indicating that even at Low settings, resolution scaling remains significant.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between CPU and GPU limitations. At Low settings, the frame rates are 271 FPS at 1080p, 234 FPS at 1440p, and 149 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are: 13.7% from 1080p to 1440p, and 36.3% from 1440p to 4K. The relatively modest drop at 1440p suggests the CPU is becoming a limiting factor, as pure GPU scaling would typically show a more pronounced reduction.

At Medium settings, the progression is 246 FPS, 212 FPS, and 114 FPS across the three resolutions. The drops are 13.8% from 1080p to 1440p, and 46.2% from 1440p to 4K. The 4K step now shows a much larger reduction, indicating the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the numbers are 231 FPS, 178 FPS, and 96 FPS. The drops are 22.9% and 46.1% respectively. The larger 1080p-to-1440p drop compared to Low and Medium settings suggests that High quality settings add enough GPU workload to shift the bottleneck away from the CPU.

At Ultra settings, the progression is 209 FPS, 136 FPS, and 73 FPS. The drops are 34.9% from 1080p to 1440p, and 46.3% from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most linear scaling, with the GPU becoming the dominant limiting factor across all resolutions. The consistent 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K across Medium, High, and Ultra presets indicates that this is the GPU-bound scaling behavior for this title, while the smaller reductions at Low settings reveal the CPU's influence on overall performance.