Minimum

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a robust 1080p experience in Minimum, but the data reveals a significant shift in system behavior as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080, the combination is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings, with the frame rate scaling dramatically when graphical load is reduced. Moving to 2560x1440, the balance tilts toward the GPU, and at 3840x2160, the Radeon RX 6700 XT becomes the definitive limiting factor. The measured average frame rates show a steep drop-off from the low preset's 205.6 FPS at 1080p to 69.6 FPS at 4K, indicating that the processor's six cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU at high resolutions, while the graphics card's raw throughput dictates the ceiling at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across the three tested resolutions paints a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 205.6 FPS, but this drops to 132.7 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 69.6 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a 66% decline from 1080p to 4K. Such a steep curve at the Low preset suggests that the CPU is doing the heavy lifting at 1080p, allowing the GPU to render frames quickly, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become overwhelmed as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern changes when the preset is raised to Ultra. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 102.8, which drops to 64.9 FPS at 1440p and 37.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1080p to 4K it is 63%. This more uniform scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint across all resolutions when graphical fidelity is maxed out. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 102.8 FPS, but at 4K that gap shrinks to 31.7 FPS, further confirming that the GPU's architecture, with its 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs, is saturated at higher resolutions regardless of the preset.

For High settings, the data shows 84 FPS at 1440p versus 131.5 FPS at 1080p, a 36% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 46.4 FPS, a 65% drop from 1080p. These numbers suggest that 1440p High is a sweet spot for this pairing, as it remains above the 60 FPS threshold, while 4K High dips below playable smoothness for most users. The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory, with 160.1 FPS at 1080p, 101.7 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K, showing that the GPU's 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the deciding factors at higher pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is entirely viable, delivering 102.8 FPS, which is well above the smoothness threshold for a third-person shooter. The High preset at 1080p yields 131.5 FPS, offering a substantial boost in headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. For players prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, the Low preset's 205.6 FPS at 1080p is exceptional, but the visual compromise is significant.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the best balance, producing 84 FPS and maintaining a fluid experience. The Medium preset at 1440p is also solid at 101.7 FPS, making it a strong alternative for those who want higher frame rates without dropping to Low. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 64.9 FPS, which is still playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS; the Low preset comes closest at 69.6 FPS, but the Medium and High presets fall to 54 FPS and 46.4 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset at 4K is the least favorable, averaging only 37.9 FPS, making it unsuitable for competitive play.

The data suggests that for 1080p users, High or Ultra are the recommended presets, as they fully utilize the GPU without hitting CPU limitations. For 1440p, High is the sweet spot, offering a 29% improvement over Ultra while maintaining a 60+ FPS average. For 4K, Low is the only preset that stays above 60 FPS, but the visual downgrade may not justify the frame rate gain over Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 943rd out of 1733 combos for Minimum. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, indicating it is a mid-pack performer for this specific title. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 75th percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 77th percentile among all graphics cards. The combination of a mid-range 11th Gen Core i5 with a high-end Radeon RX 6000 series card is not unusual, but it does not crack the top half of the ranking.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores nearly identically at 17189, and the Intel Core i7-1260P, which is 0.2% behind. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800, which is 0.7% ahead, and the NVIDIA RTX A5000, which is 1.3% ahead. These small deltas indicate that the components are well-matched in raw compute, but the game's performance rank suggests that the combination's real-world FPS is influenced by factors beyond synthetic scores, such as driver optimization and memory subsystem behavior.

Given that the combo sits in the 54th percentile, it outperforms many older or lower-tier pairings but lags behind systems with newer generation CPUs or higher-tier GPUs. The 943rd rank out of 1733 is a solid result for a 2021-era CPU and GPU, but it is not a top-tier configuration for Minimum.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 205.6 FPS, Medium produces 160.1 FPS, High produces 131.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 102.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 45.5 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is 28.7 FPS. This shows that the preset scaling is not linear, with diminishing returns as settings increase. The 1080p results indicate that the CPU can sustain high frame rates, as even the Ultra preset stays above 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 132.7 FPS for Low, 101.7 FPS for Medium, 84 FPS for High, and 64.9 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 67.8 FPS, which is a 51% reduction. This resolution is where the GPU begins to show its limits, as the 1440p pixel count demands more from the Radeon's memory bus and shading units. The High preset at 84 FPS is the most balanced, offering a 29% improvement over Ultra while maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop significantly: Low yields 69.6 FPS, Medium yields 54 FPS, High yields 46.4 FPS, and Ultra yields 37.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 31.7 FPS, which is a 46% reduction. No preset at 4K reaches the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that the RX 6700 XT is not sufficient for high-refresh 4K gaming in Minimum. The 4K Low result of 69.6 FPS is the only playable option, but it sacrifices most visual quality settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process node from TSMC, featuring 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die. Its clock speeds are notably high, with a base of 2321 MHz, a game clock of 2424 MHz, and a boost clock of 2581 MHz. These clocks translate to a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s, which are directly relevant to the resolution scaling observed. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor in the 4K performance drop.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as shown by the measured results. The FP32 performance of 13.21 TFLOPS is adequate for the game's demands, but the 4K data suggests that the memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s becomes a bottleneck at higher pixel counts. The RX 6700 XT's 77th percentile ranking among all GPUs is reflected in its ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p, but the 4K results show it falling behind higher-tier cards.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 40 RT cores are modern features, but they do not significantly impact the measured FPS in this title. The 230 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this performance class. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is more than sufficient for Minimum at any resolution, as the game's release date of 2014-06-25 predates the high VRAM demands of modern titles. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU takes precedence at 1080p with lower presets.