Minimum

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a benchmark profile that is heavily skewed toward the GPU, but with a measurable CPU ceiling at high refresh rates. In Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, this combination produces average frame rates ranging from 61 FPS at 4K Ultra to 318 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates that the best experience is not necessarily the highest preset, but rather the one that balances visual fidelity with frame time consistency. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the most compelling experience, as it is the only settings tier in the measured data that includes both minimum and maximum FPS values, allowing for a more complete assessment of frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results for this combination show that the Medium preset is the optimal choice for a consistent experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 273 FPS with a minimum of 232 FPS and a maximum of 313 FPS. This is a narrower performance band compared to the Low preset’s 318 FPS average, but it offers significantly better visual quality. The High preset at 1080p drops to an average of 229 FPS, which is still exceptionally high but represents a 44 FPS loss over Medium. Given that the minimum FPS is not recorded for High, the Medium preset’s documented floor of 232 FPS makes it the safer choice for maintaining smooth gameplay during intense action sequences.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again stands out. It produces an average of 176 FPS, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. The Low preset reaches 230 FPS average, but the visual compromise is substantial. The High preset at 1440p yields 148 FPS average, which is only 28 FPS lower than Medium but lacks the documented minimum FPS data. For 4K, the Medium preset’s 95 FPS average with an 80 FPS minimum is the only tier that provides a complete frame rate envelope, making it the recommended choice for UHD displays. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 61 FPS average, which is playable but leaves less headroom for frame time spikes.

The data suggests that Ultra settings are not worth the performance cost for this title. At 1080p, Ultra averages 174 FPS, which is 99 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p, Ultra averages 112 FPS, a 64 FPS drop from Medium. At 4K, Ultra averages 61 FPS, a 34 FPS drop from Medium. The visual uplift from Medium to Ultra in a 2014 game is unlikely to justify these substantial frame rate reductions, especially when the Medium preset already provides a high level of detail.

FAQ

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

A: The 1920x1080 resolution yields the highest frame rates, with the Medium preset averaging 273 FPS. The 2560x1440 resolution is also viable, with Medium averaging 176 FPS. For 4K, the Medium preset averages 95 FPS, which is sufficient for smooth gameplay but significantly lower than lower resolutions.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium across resolutions?

A: The Ultra preset consistently delivers lower average frame rates than Medium. At 1080p, Ultra averages 174 FPS versus 273 FPS for Medium. At 1440p, Ultra averages 112 FPS versus 176 FPS. At 4K, Ultra averages 61 FPS versus 95 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra is substantial at every resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 the primary performance limiter in this configuration?

A: The data indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is considerable, suggesting the graphics card is saturated. At 1080p, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads may be reaching their limit, as evidenced by the relatively smaller gains from Medium to Low settings.

Q: Does the i5-11400F bottleneck the RTX 4080?

A: There is no direct bottleneck measurement in the data, but the scaling pattern suggests the CPU is more influential at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 45 FPS, while at 4K the difference is 29 FPS. This indicates that the CPU has a greater relative impact at lower graphical loads.

Q: What is the average frame rate for the Low preset at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 230 FPS. This is the highest average frame rate recorded at that resolution, but it comes with reduced visual quality.

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

A: This specific combo ranks 352 out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the top 9.5% of all tested configurations, indicating strong overall performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 352nd out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places the configuration in the top percentile of all tested systems, reflecting its high level of performance. The rank is influenced by both the CPU’s 71st percentile standing among all CPUs and the GPU’s 86th percentile among all GPUs. The combination of a mid-range CPU from 2021 with a high-end GPU from 2022 results in a system that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, while still capable of 4K at playable frame rates.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher score), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% lower), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6% lower), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% higher). This clustering indicates that the i5-11400F’s processing power is in a tightly contested bracket. The GPU’s nearest rivals are the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% higher), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% lower), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.6% lower), and AMD Radeon 8060S (2.7% lower). This shows that the RTX 4080 is very close in performance to its direct successor, with the 4080 SUPER holding a marginal lead.

The combo’s rank of 352 suggests that while this is a strong pairing, there are many other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in Minimum. The 4K Ultra average of 61 FPS is a limiting factor for the rank, as many higher-ranked combos likely achieve higher frame rates at that extreme settings tier. The performance at 1080p and 1440p, however, is exceptional and pushes the combo into the upper echelon of tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression from Low to Ultra. The Low preset achieves an average of 318 FPS. The Medium preset averages 273 FPS, with a minimum of 232 FPS and a maximum of 313 FPS. The High preset averages 229 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 174 FPS. This represents a 144 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced drop from 1080p. The Low preset averages 230 FPS. The Medium preset averages 176 FPS, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. The High preset averages 148 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 112 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 118 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes substantial. The Low preset averages 124 FPS. The Medium preset averages 95 FPS, with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS. The High preset averages 79 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 63 FPS, which is less than half the difference seen at 1080p.

The Medium preset is the only settings tier across all resolutions that includes both minimum and maximum FPS values. This data reveals that at 4K, the frame time variance is 29 FPS (from 80 to 109), at 1440p it is 53 FPS (from 149 to 202), and at 1080p it is 81 FPS (from 232 to 313). The relative variance decreases as resolution increases, suggesting more consistent frame pacing at higher GPU loads.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the performance characteristics of this combo. At the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 273 at 1080p to 176 at 1440p, a 35.5% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is from 176 to 95 FPS, a 46.0% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is from 273 to 95 FPS, a 65.2% reduction.

For the High preset, the scaling is steeper. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 229 to 148 FPS, a 35.4% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is from 148 to 79 FPS, a 46.6% reduction. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 65.5%.

The Low preset shows a different scaling pattern. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 318 to 230 FPS, a 27.7% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is from 230 to 124 FPS, a 46.1% reduction. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 61.0%.

The Ultra preset shows the most consistent scaling. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drops from 174 to 112 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is from 112 to 61 FPS, a 45.5% reduction. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is 64.9%.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The smaller percentage drops at 4K compared to 1440p suggest that the GPU is more fully saturated at 4K, limiting the impact of the CPU on overall performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Rocket Lake architecture processor has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024, indicate solid mid-range performance.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p. The frame rate difference between the Low and Medium presets at 1080p is 45 FPS (from 318 to 273), while at 4K the difference is 29 FPS (from 124 to 95). This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU has more influence on the frame rate, as the GPU is not fully taxed. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, and the CPU’s impact is reduced.

The CPU’s 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern that aligns with its core count. The 4-thread score of 3171 is significantly higher than the 2-thread score of 1691, indicating good multi-threading efficiency. The 8-thread score of 4691 and 16-thread score of 5619 show that the CPU scales well with additional threads, up to its 12-thread limit. For a game released in 2014, the i5-11400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient to handle the game’s threading requirements.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU has 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units. Its boost clock of 2505 MHz and base clock of 2205 MHz contribute to its high performance.

The GPU’s benchmark scores are exceptional, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 and a Passmark G3D score of 34457. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779 indicates strong API performance. The GPU’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the upper tier of graphics cards.

In Minimum, the RTX 4080’s role is dominant at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra average of 61 FPS is primarily limited by the GPU’s rendering capabilities. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this 2014 title, and the memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The GPU’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is ample for the game’s shader workload.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates the GPU’s capacity. At the Medium preset, the frame rate drops by 65.2% from 1080p to 4K, which is expected given the 4x increase in pixel count. The GPU’s performance at 4K Medium (95 FPS) and 4K High (79 FPS) shows that it can handle high resolutions, though Ultra settings push it to 61 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The RTX 4080’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% faster in average benchmark score, indicating that this GPU is performing at its expected level.