Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core i5-11400F + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a consistently playable experience in Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling at higher resolutions. This combo ranks 2,635 out of 3,712 tested configurations, placing it in the 29th percentile overall—a mid-pack result that reflects balanced but not exceptional capabilities. The measured FPS across all resolutions and settings shows a system that excels at 1080p, remains strong at 1440p, and struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K, particularly with higher graphical presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about which component becomes the limiting factor. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 170 FPS at 1920x1080 to 110 FPS at 2560x1440—a 35.3% reduction—and then to 59 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 65.3% total decline from the 1080p baseline. This steep curve indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, which is expected given the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width.

At Medium settings, the scaling pattern is similar but with slightly compressed margins: 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 35.4%, nearly identical to the Low setting percentage, suggesting that the GPU's compute resources, not memory bandwidth, are the main constraint. However, the 1440p-to-4K drop at Medium is 46.4%, which is steeper than the Low setting's 46.4%—actually identical in relative terms, indicating consistent scaling behavior across presets.

High settings show a similar trajectory: 109 FPS at 1080p, 70 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35.8% (1080p to 1440p) and 45.7% (1440p to 4K). Ultra settings, meanwhile, start at 83 FPS at 1080p, fall to 54 FPS at 1440p (35.0% drop), and plunge to 29 FPS at 4K (46.3% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets—roughly 35% for the first resolution step and 46% for the second—strongly suggests that resolution scaling is uniform and entirely GPU-bound, with no CPU-related stalling at any point.

The fact that 4K Ultra produces a 29 FPS average—below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playability—while 4K Low achieves 59 FPS indicates that the RX 6600 XT's raw throughput is simply insufficient for this game's highest visual fidelity at 4K. The 1080p results, however, show headroom: even at Ultra, the combo maintains 83 FPS, and at Low it reaches 170 FPS, suggesting the CPU is never the limiting factor at this resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the optimal resolution. All four settings presets achieve average frame rates above 83 FPS, with Low hitting 170 FPS, Medium at 130 FPS, and High at 109 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium maintain averages above 84 FPS, while 4K dips below 60 FPS for all presets except Low.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score is 24,442, placing it 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24,277), 0.8% ahead of the GTX 780 Ti (24,236), and 1.1% ahead of the RTX 2080 SUPER (24,170). It trails the Intel Arc A350M by 0.8% (24,647). These are marginal differences, indicating essentially equivalent performance tiers.

Q: Is the i5-11400F a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: Benchmark results indicate no CPU bottleneck in this game. The CPU's single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark and 2,024 in Cinebench R23 single-core are sufficient to keep up with the GPU at all tested settings. The consistent FPS scaling across resolutions, with no anomalies at lower resolutions where CPU load would be relatively higher, confirms the GPU remains the limiting component throughout.

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

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 84, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with some headroom for frame-time spikes, making it a viable choice for players who prefer higher resolution over maximum visual fidelity.

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

A: Only at Low settings does 4K reach a playable average of 59 FPS. Medium drops to 45 FPS, High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. For consistent 60 FPS gameplay at 4K, the data suggests this GPU is insufficient, as even the lowest preset barely misses that target.

Q: How does the CPU rank against its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17,177, which is 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17,120) and 0.6% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17,074). It trails the i5-12450H by 0.4% (17,239) and the Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G by 0.6% (17,278). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It features 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines, along with 32 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at an effective speed of 16 Gbps across a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s.

In Minimum, the GPU's performance characteristics are directly visible in the measured data. The 4K results, where the GPU is most stressed, show a clear hierarchy: Low settings at 59 FPS, Medium at 45 FPS, High at 38 FPS, and Ultra at 29 FPS. The 30 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (from 59 to 29 FPS) highlights how the game's higher presets demand significantly more pixel throughput and shading work. The GPU's FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p Ultra (83 FPS) but insufficient for 4K Ultra (29 FPS).

The memory configuration plays a notable role at 4K. With 8 GB of VRAM and a 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, the card appears to handle the game's texture and geometry data at 4K without obvious capacity-induced stuttering—the minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 38 FPS, which is close to the average of 45 FPS, suggesting no severe memory swapping. However, the 128-bit bus width limits effective bandwidth scaling, which likely contributes to the steep FPS drop at 4K compared to 1440p.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 70 versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24,442, places it in the upper-mid range. Its nearest rivals, including the GTX 1630 and RTX 2080 SUPER, all score within 1.1% of each other, confirming that the RX 6600 XT is a solidly mainstream performer. The PassMark G3D score of 16,461 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,804 reflect its DirectX 12 Ultimate capabilities, which align well with Minimum's engine requirements.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 2,635 out of 3,712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 29th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects a system that is capable of running the game smoothly at mainstream resolutions but falls behind higher-end pairings that can maintain 60+ FPS at 4K Ultra.

The CPU's percentile of 71 versus all CPUs indicates that the i5-11400F is a stronger component relative to the overall CPU pool than the combo's rank suggests. The GPU's percentile of 70 versus all GPUs is similarly strong. The combo rank being much lower (29th percentile) implies that many competing configurations feature either a more powerful GPU or a better-balanced pairing, pushing this combo down the list despite both components being above-average individually.

In the context of Minimum, which is a 2014 title with relatively modest system requirements, this combo's rank of 2,635 out of 3,712 indicates it sits below the median but still within the range of systems that can deliver a playable experience. The data shows that the limiting factor is almost entirely the GPU at higher resolutions, meaning that a CPU upgrade alone would not meaningfully improve the combo's rank—only a GPU upgrade would move it substantially up the list.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 170 FPS, Medium settings achieve 130 FPS (with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS), High settings reach 109 FPS, and Ultra settings maintain 83 FPS. All presets at this resolution clear the 60 FPS threshold with substantial margin, and even Ultra stays above 80 FPS, indicating a very smooth experience with no risk of frame rate drops below playability.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but with more variation between presets. Low settings average 110 FPS, Medium settings average 84 FPS (minimum 71 FPS, maximum 97 FPS), High settings average 70 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 54 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 71 FPS shows that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains fluid motion. Ultra at 54 FPS is borderline, falling just short of the 60 FPS target but still acceptable for many players.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limitations. Low settings average 59 FPS, just under the 60 FPS target, Medium settings drop to 45 FPS (with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS), High settings fall to 38 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 29 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium of 38 FPS indicates that frame times can spike significantly, potentially causing noticeable stutter in action-heavy sequences. The 29 FPS average at 4K Ultra is below the 30 FPS threshold and would be considered marginal for a third-person shooter where responsive aiming is important.

Settings Recommendations

For players using this combo with a 1920x1080 monitor, the Ultra preset at 83 FPS is the clear recommendation. The data shows that even the highest settings maintain a frame rate well above the 60 FPS target, and the visual fidelity gains from Ultra over High (which runs at 109 FPS) are likely worth the 26 FPS reduction. There is no scenario at 1080p where the combo struggles, so players should prioritize visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 70 FPS offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 84 FPS provides more headroom, but High's 70 FPS still comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. Ultra at 54 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for frame-time spikes, making it a riskier choice for competitive play. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot at this resolution.

For 4K displays, the Low preset at 59 FPS is the only viable option for smooth gameplay. Medium at 45 FPS is playable but noticeably less fluid, while High and Ultra at 38 FPS and 29 FPS respectively fall below acceptable thresholds. Players with 4K monitors should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 2560x1440, where the High preset provides a much better experience at 70 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as the resolution scaling data shows no signs of CPU limitation. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,340 and single-core score of 2,024 indicate strong general-purpose performance that is more than adequate for this game's CPU demands. The 3dmark single-thread score of 868 and 2-thread score of 1,691 further confirm that the CPU can handle the game's main thread without bottlenecking.

The CPU's percentile of 71 versus all CPUs places it above many older and budget processors, and its nearest rivals—the EPYC 7H12, i5-12450H, Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G, and Core Ultra 7 164U—all score within 0.6% of each other. This tight clustering shows that the i5-11400F is firmly in the mainstream performance tier, with no single rival offering a meaningful advantage in synthetic benchmarks.

The absence of integrated graphics on the i5-11400F means the system relies entirely on the RX 6600 XT for display output, which is appropriate for a gaming-focused configuration. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Minimum's workload, and the boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures responsive single-threaded performance. The data shows no scenario where the CPU's performance becomes a limiting factor, as evidenced by the smooth scaling of FPS across resolutions and the GPU-bound behavior at all settings.