Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions reveal a clear pattern of GPU dominance in Minimum. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 301.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 190.9 FPS, a reduction of roughly 37%. The jump to 4K Low yields 105.3 FPS, which is a further 45% decline from 1440p. This steep scaling curve is typical of a system where the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary limiting factor; the Intel Core i5-11400F provides enough headroom to keep up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced as settings increase. With High quality, the transition from 1080p (190.8 FPS) to 1440p (124.1 FPS) represents a 35% drop, while the move to 4K (67.6 FPS) cuts performance by another 45%. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic falloff: 148.2 FPS at 1080p, 92.5 FPS at 1440p, and just 52.6 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at 1080p Ultra the frame rate does not approach the Low-preset numbers indicates that the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth are being taxed heavily by the higher-quality effects, rather than the CPU's six cores and twelve threads becoming a bottleneck.

Notably, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (301.3 vs. 190.9 FPS) is larger than the gap between 1440p and 4K at the same preset (190.9 vs. 105.3 FPS). This non-linear scaling suggests that the RX 7900 XT's 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the increased pixel count at 1440p, but the rendering overhead of 4K begins to saturate the GPU's compute units. The data indicates that this pairing is exceptionally strong for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, capable of exceeding 300 FPS on Low, but it will struggle to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, where the average dips below 53 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, the High preset is the only viable option from the measured data, delivering an average of 67.6 FPS. Dropping to Medium at 4K provides a comfortable margin at 80.2 FPS, while Low pushes the frame rate to 105.3 FPS. Given that the genre is a Third-Person Shooter, where fluidity often matters more than absolute visual fidelity, the Medium preset at 4K offers the best balance between the 80.2 FPS average and the visual improvements over Low. However, if competitive play is the priority, the Low preset's 105.3 FPS at 4K is the safer choice for maintaining high responsiveness.

At 1440p, the situation is more forgiving. The High preset produces 124.1 FPS, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset at 148.8 FPS and Low at 190.9 FPS provide even greater headroom, but the visual trade-offs from High to Medium are likely less noticeable than the performance gain is useful. The Ultra preset at 1440p, with 92.5 FPS, is the only option that dips below 100 FPS, making High the recommended default for 1440p displays. It delivers a 31.6 FPS advantage over Ultra while still maintaining most of the visual quality.

At 1080p, the recommendation is straightforward: use the Ultra preset. The average of 148.2 FPS is still extremely high, and the visual uplift from High (190.8 FPS) to Ultra (148.2 FPS) is worth the 42.6 FPS cost for most players. The Medium (228.6 FPS) and Low (301.3 FPS) presets are only necessary for users with 240Hz or 360Hz displays who prioritize raw frame rate over graphics. The data shows no scenario where the CPU holds back performance at 1080p, so maxing out the settings is generally safe. The only caveat is the 4K Ultra preset, which falls below 60 FPS and should be avoided unless the user is willing to accept 52.6 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS minimum?

A: Based on the measured averages, 4K High (67.6 FPS) is the only 4K setting that stays above 60 FPS. At 1440p, all presets including Ultra (92.5 FPS) are safely above that mark. The data suggests that 4K Ultra (52.6 FPS) is the only configuration that fails to hit 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 190.8 FPS at 1080p to 124.1 FPS at 1440p, a loss of 66.7 FPS or approximately 35%. This indicates a significant but expected scaling cost as the GPU renders 78% more pixels.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: No. The combo reaches 301.3 FPS at 1080p Low, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Intel Core i5-11400F, with its 4.40 GHz boost clock and 12 threads, is clearly capable of feeding the RX 7900 XT at such high frame rates. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at 4K, where the frame rate drops to 105.3 FPS on the same preset.

Q: Does the 20 GB VRAM of the RX 7900 XT provide any advantage at 4K?

A: The data shows that the GPU can handle 4K Medium (80.2 FPS) and 4K High (67.6 FPS) without dipping below playable levels. While the fact pack does not list VRAM usage, the 20 GB capacity and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are consistent with the GPU's ability to maintain these frame rates, as the texture rates and pixel rates (804.4 GTexel/s and 459.6 GPixel/s) are high enough to avoid memory-related stutters.

*Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations in Minimum?*

A: The combo ranks 369th out of 1733 tested combinations. This places it in the top 21.3% of all tested systems. The rank is determined by the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, indicating that this pairing is above average but not at the absolute top tier for this game.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: The Low preset achieves 190.9 FPS, while Ultra achieves 92.5 FPS. This represents a 98.4 FPS difference, meaning Ultra is roughly 51.5% slower than Low. The gap highlights the significant cost of the Ultra preset's additional effects on the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 369 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the system in the 79th percentile of all configurations tested, meaning it outperforms roughly 79% of the field. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all four settings and three resolutions, providing a composite view of the pairing's capability. Given that the GPU alone sits in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, the combo's slightly lower rank suggests that the CPU, which is in the 75th percentile among all CPUs, does hold the system back marginally at lower resolutions where frame rates are extremely high.

The nearest rivals to this CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and Intel Core i7-1260P, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (17189 and 17212, respectively, with deltaPct values of 0 and -0.2). This indicates that the i5-11400F's processing power is on par with these mobile and low-power parts, but none of them are likely to push the RX 7900 XT as effectively as a higher-end desktop CPU might. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile and RTX 4080 Mobile, show that the RX 7900 XT is competitive with high-end laptop GPUs, but the desktop variant's 300 W TDP and 51.48 TFLOPS provide a distinct advantage in sustained performance.

In practical terms, the 369th rank means that while this combo is not the fastest ever tested, it is far from a weak performer. The data shows that it can deliver an excellent 1080p experience and a very good 1440p experience, with only 4K Ultra posing a challenge. The rank is likely inflated by the presence of many high-end combos with newer CPUs and GPUs, but the measured results in this specific game demonstrate that the pairing is well-balanced for most gaming scenarios.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT plays the dominant role in determining Minimum's performance, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s, which is critical for feeding the 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs at 4K. The measured FPS drop from 301.3 at 1080p Low to 105.3 at 4K Low indicates that the GPU's compute throughput (51.48 TFLOPS FP32) is being saturated by the increased pixel workload, rather than the CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s becoming a bottleneck.

The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant to the results. The base clock of 1387 MHz and boost clock of 2394 MHz show that the card can scale its frequency dynamically. The game clock of 2025 MHz is the typical sustained frequency under load, and the data suggests that Minimum is able to utilize this frequency effectively, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1440p. The 84 ray accelerators (RT cores) are not heavily utilized in this game, as the genre typically favors traditional rasterization, but the GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support ensures compatibility with modern rendering features.

The fact that the GPU ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358, aligns with its performance in this game. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, has a nearly identical score (38349, deltaPct 0), but the desktop RX 7900 XT has a higher TDP (300 W) and memory bandwidth, which likely contributes to its strong showing in 4K scenarios. The GPU's 192 ROPs and 459.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are essential for the high fill-rate demands of 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 52.6, suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiter at that setting. Overall, the RX 7900 XT provides the vast majority of the computational power in this combo, and the CPU is rarely the limiting factor except in the most demanding CPU-bound scenarios, which this game does not appear to present.