Minimum

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing in Minimum presents a clear study in component balance. The CPU, a 6-core, 12-thread Rocket Lake part, operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 868, with multi-thread scaling reaching 5,652 in the 16-thread test. The data indicates this processor sits in the 75th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17,181. This positions it as a solid mid-range performer, though the benchmark results show it is nearly identical to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct -0.2). For a title like Minimum, which is a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's single-thread performance is often the gatekeeper for high frame rates. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are sufficient to feed the GPU, but the data will show whether the CPU becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The GPU role is defined by sheer throughput. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is an Ada Lovelace part with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its boost clock is listed at 2550 MHz. The GPU’s benchmark data shows a Passmark G3D score of 34,245, placing it in the 88th percentile against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 53,610 puts it in a tight pack with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (deltaPct 0.2) and ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti by a deltaPct of 2.9. This is a high-end part with 10,240 shading units and 80 RT cores, suggesting it is built to handle heavy rasterization loads. In Minimum, the GPU’s 16 GB VRAM is unlikely to be a constraint at any tested setting, but the raw compute power will drive the performance ceiling at higher resolutions and presets. The data will reveal how this GPU dominates the CPU at 1080p and where the balance shifts as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep scaling curve as resolution drops. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 317 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 229.5 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 123.8 FPS. This represents a 61% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. This severe drop indicates that the GPU is heavily utilized at higher resolutions, but the absolute numbers at 1080p suggest the CPU is likely the bottleneck there. The gap between settings also widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 141.2 FPS (317 vs 175.8). At 4K, that same Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 60.6 FPS (123.8 vs 63.2). This compression at 4K is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the primary limiting component, as the CPU’s frame generation ceiling becomes less relevant when the GPU is struggling to render more pixels. The scaling shows a system that is well-balanced for high-refresh 1440p gaming, but clearly GPU-bound at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo in Minimum is as follows. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 317 at Low, 274.1 at Medium, 226.4 at High, and 175.8 at Ultra. The step from High to Ultra is a 50.6 FPS drop, which is a significant cost for the visual uplift. At 2560x1440, the averages are 229.5 (Low), 175 (Medium), 143.8 (High), and 113.1 (Ultra). The drop from Low to Medium at 1440p is 54.5 FPS, which is the largest single-setting jump at that resolution, indicating a heavy load increase. At 3840x2160, the averages are 123.8 (Low), 96.6 (Medium), 81.2 (High), and 63.2 (Ultra). The 4K Ultra figure of 63.2 FPS is the only result below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that this preset is the absolute ceiling for smooth play. The 4K Low result of 123.8 FPS shows that even at maximum resolution, the combo can deliver high refresh rates if settings are toned down. These numbers show a consistent pattern: the RTX 4080 SUPER provides massive headroom at 1080p, but the i5-11400F appears to cap performance in the 300 FPS range.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this pairing ranks 135th out of 1,733 combos. This puts it in the top 8% of all tested configurations. The rank is notable because it reflects the entire system, not just the GPU. The RTX 4080 SUPER alone sits in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, but the i5-11400F’s 75th percentile CPU standing drags the combo down from the absolute top tier. The benchmark results for the CPU show it is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1260P (deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (deltaPct 0), which are mobile-class parts. This suggests the desktop i5 is not providing a significant advantage over those lower-power chips in synthetic tests, which correlates with its potential to bottleneck high-end GPUs in a game like Minimum. The GPU’s rival data shows it is 2.9% ahead of the RTX 5070 Ti, but that advantage is not fully realized in the overall combo rank due to the CPU. The data indicates a system that is stronger than the vast majority of tested setups, but the CPU prevents it from competing with combos that pair the same GPU with higher-tier processors.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows suggest that Medium or High settings at 1440p offer the best balance for this combo. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 175 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The High preset at 1440p still achieves 143.8 FPS, which is close to that mark. For players targeting 4K, the High preset at 81.2 FPS is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS while providing substantial visual quality over the Medium preset’s 96.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 63.2 FPS, is technically playable but leaves little headroom for dips. At 1080p, the data shows that High (226.4 FPS) and Medium (274.1 FPS) are the sensible choices; the jump to Low (317 FPS) offers diminishing returns for competitive play, while Ultra (175.8 FPS) still exceeds 144 Hz. The data argues against using Low settings at any resolution, as the GPU has enough headroom to run higher presets without dropping below 60 FPS, even at 4K. The best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1440p Medium or High, where the frame rates are high enough to fully utilize the CPU’s output without hitting the GPU’s limits.