Minimum

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Minimum at standard resolutions, but the 8 GB VRAM of the GTX 1070 is clearly the limiting factor at higher settings. At 1920x1080, the pairing manages a smooth 107.2 FPS on Medium and even pushes past 140 FPS on Low, making it a solid choice for fast-paced third-person shooting. However, pushing to 4K Ultra drops the average to just 25.4 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. The data indicates this is a balanced pairing for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with the CPU providing enough headroom to keep the GPU fully utilized in most scenarios.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 1920x1080 with high settings?*

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 92.0 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. This suggests the GTX 1070 handles the game's High preset comfortably at this resolution without needing to drop to Medium.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the combo achieves 70.3 FPS on Medium and 55.5 FPS on High. For a strict 60 FPS lock, 1920x1080 on High (92.0 FPS) or Medium (107.2 FPS) is the safest bet, though 1440p Medium is borderline acceptable at 70.3 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070's VRAM capacity impact 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR5 memory with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth appears insufficient for Ultra settings at 3840x2160, where the average FPS drops to 25.4. Dropping to Low at 4K yields 50.9 FPS, indicating that memory bandwidth and capacity are major bottlenecks at this resolution.

Q: Is the Core i5-11400F holding back the GTX 1070 in this game?

A: Benchmark results suggest not. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029). The data shows FPS scaling directly with GPU settings changes, indicating the GPU is the primary performance limiter.

Q: What is the expected FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The jump from Low to Ultra at 1920x1080 reduces the average FPS from 141.9 to 69.2 FPS, a difference of 72.7 FPS. This represents a significant performance cost for the visual upgrade, with High sitting in between at 92.0 FPS.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Minimum?*

A: The combo ranks 1445th out of 1733 total tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects the aging GTX 1070's mid-tier standing (51st percentile among all GPUs) rather than a severe CPU limitation.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the dominant factor in this pairing's Minimum performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K. The measured data shows a clear pattern: at 3840x2160, average FPS ranges from 50.9 on Low down to 25.4 on Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU's memory subsystem is overwhelmed by high-resolution textures and effects.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1506 MHz and boost of 1683 MHz, contribute to its 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw power translates to strong performance at lower resolutions, where the 1920x1080 Low preset hits 141.9 FPS. However, the Pascal architecture lacks modern features like dedicated ray tracing cores, which is irrelevant here since Minimum is a 2014 title that relies on traditional rasterization.

The GTX 1070's 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 12331 place it as a mid-range card in the current landscape. Compared to its nearest rivals, it trails the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER by 1.4% in average score, showing that the 1070 remains competitive with much newer budget cards. In Minimum, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is not the primary issue at 1080p, where even Ultra settings only require moderate memory, but at 4K the bandwidth limitation becomes apparent.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the 1920x1080 High preset is the recommended starting point. The measured 92.0 FPS average provides smooth gameplay with good visual fidelity, and there is enough headroom to enable V-Sync or G-Sync without dropping below 60 FPS. For competitive play where frame rate matters most, the Low preset at 141.9 FPS offers nearly double the refresh rate headroom, but the visual compromise may be unnecessary for a game like Minimum.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 70.3 FPS is the optimal choice. High drops to 55.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, while Low at 87.9 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for marginal gains. The data suggests that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this combination, offering a 34.1% improvement in FPS over High while maintaining acceptable detail levels.

For 4K gaming, the recommendation is to avoid Ultra entirely. The 25.4 FPS average is unplayable, and even High at 30.7 FPS is borderline. Low at 50.9 FPS is the only viable option, but it effectively negates the purpose of 4K resolution. Users with 4K displays should consider running the game at 1440p with Medium settings and letting the display upscale, as this provides a much better experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is wide and accommodating. Low settings deliver an impressive 141.9 FPS average, making the game feel extremely responsive. Medium drops to 107.2 FPS, still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. High manages 92.0 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 69.2 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS minimum for smooth play. The scaling between Low and Ultra represents a 51.2% performance reduction, indicating that Ultra settings have significant GPU demands.

Moving to 2560x1440, the impact of higher resolution becomes clear. Low settings achieve 87.9 FPS, which is still very playable. Medium follows at 70.3 FPS, and High drops to 55.5 FPS, falling just short of the 60 FPS target. Ultra falls to 42.5 FPS, which is noticeably stuttery for fast-paced action. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 38% performance at Low settings (from 141.9 to 87.9 FPS), highlighting the pixel fill rate demands on the GTX 1070.

At 3840x2160, the combination struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings yield 50.9 FPS, which is marginal for a third-person shooter. Medium drops to 37.3 FPS, High falls to 30.7 FPS, and Ultra is effectively unplayable at 25.4 FPS. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is severe, with even Low settings losing 42.1% of their frame rate (from 87.9 to 50.9 FPS). This data clearly shows that 4K is beyond the comfortable range for this GPU in Minimum.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1445th out of 1733 tested combinations for Minimum, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all tested systems — meaning only 17% of combos perform worse. This rank reflects the GTX 1070's mid-tier status in 2025, as it sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, however, is comparatively stronger, ranking at the 75th percentile among all CPUs. This discrepancy suggests that while the processor has headroom, the GPU limits overall game performance.

Within the GPU's nearest rivals, the GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 12331 places it just 0.7% ahead of the Quadro K4200 and 1.3% behind the GTX 880M. The GTX 1650 SUPER, a much newer card, only beats the 1070 by 1.4%, indicating that the 1070 retains competitive performance for its age. In Minimum, the 1070's 8 GB VRAM and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the combo's low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's age rather than any specific bottleneck.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance: the Ryzen 7 5700U matches the i5-11400F's average score (17189 vs 17181), while the Core i7-1260P and Core Ultra 7 164U are only 0.2% ahead. This indicates that the i5-11400F offers solid mid-range processing power, but in Minimum, the game's engine does not appear to be CPU-intensive enough to differentiate between these processors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a robust foundation for the GTX 1070 in Minimum. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the processor handles the game's background tasks and physics calculations without breaking a sweat. Its boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for older game engines that often rely on one or two primary threads. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029 places it in a strong position for gaming workloads.

The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB L1 cache per core provide ample fast-access storage for game data. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on dual-channel DDR4 is more than sufficient for a 2014 title like Minimum, which was designed for hardware from that era. The processor's 65 W TDP and 14 nm Rocket Lake architecture contribute to efficient operation, though this is not directly relevant to game performance.

In this specific game, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS scales almost entirely with GPU settings changes — for example, at 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low increases FPS from 69.2 to 141.9 FPS, a 105.1% improvement. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the gap between settings would be smaller. The i5-11400F's 3DMark scores, including 5652 in the max-threads test and 868 in single-thread, indicate it can feed the GTX 1070 adequately at all tested resolutions. For Minimum, the CPU is a reliable partner that keeps the GPU as the primary performance determinant.