Minimum

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Minimum with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a clear pattern: the Low preset delivers the most playable experience across all resolutions, while Ultra settings push the hardware to its limits. At 1920x1080, Low produces an average of 213.6 FPS, which is 48.1 FPS ahead of the High preset's 139.5 FPS and 105.5 FPS ahead of Ultra's 108.1 FPS. This gap widens at higher resolutions — at 2560x1440, Low hits 136.8 FPS versus 87 FPS on High and 66 FPS on Ultra, while at 3840x2160, Low manages 74.1 FPS compared to 49.5 FPS on High and 39.1 FPS on Ultra.

For users targeting the 60 FPS threshold, the Medium preset is the highest setting that consistently clears it at 1920x1080 (165.5 FPS) and 2560x1440 (104.4 FPS). At 3840x2160, however, Medium drops to 55.6 FPS — just below the 60 FPS mark. The data indicates that Medium at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, providing 104.4 FPS which is 37.4 FPS above the High preset's 87 FPS at the same resolution. Ultra settings are only viable at 1920x1080, where 108.1 FPS remains smooth, but the 66 FPS result at 2560x1440 and 39.1 FPS at 3840x2160 make Ultra impractical for those resolutions.

The performance scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent: each step up in settings costs roughly 20-30% of the frame rate. At 1920x1080, the drop from Low to Medium is 48.1 FPS, from Medium to High is 26 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 31.4 FPS. This suggests the RTX 5060 has substantial headroom at lower presets but becomes increasingly constrained as pixel count rises.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 829th out of 1,733 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the upper half of all recorded systems. This position reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other. The CPU itself sits at the 75th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 17,181. Its nearest rivals in CPU performance are the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U at 17,189 (a 0% delta), the Intel Core i7-1260P at 17,212 (0.2% slower), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at 17,215 (0.2% slower).

The GPU ranks at the 73rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 30,109. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30,097 (0% delta), followed by the AMD Radeon RX 570 at 30,158 (0.2% slower) and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 at 29,969 (0.5% faster). The near-identical scores between these GPUs suggest that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5060 trades blows with cards from different generations and market segments.

The combo's mid-pack ranking in Minimum specifically indicates that the game's workload favors the RTX 5060's architecture but doesn't fully utilize the CPU's multi-threading capabilities. With 6 cores and 12 threads from the Rocket Lake architecture, the i5-11400F provides solid single-thread performance — its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,029 and multi-core score of 14,372 show a strong balance. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this title, which launched in 2014 and doesn't demand the latest memory technologies.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 brings 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for Minimum's 2014-era visuals, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across the measured presets. The GPU's Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 21,900 million transistors, operates at a base clock of 2,280 MHz and boosts to 2,497 MHz. The memory runs at 1,750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 3,840 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, producing a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS is substantial for a game from 2014, which explains the high frame rates at lower settings. The RTX 5060 also includes 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores, though Minimum does not leverage ray tracing or DLSS — the game predates both technologies.

The 145 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x8 interface are more than adequate for this workload. The GPU's dual-slot design and single 8-pin power connector suggest it runs cool under load. In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions — at 3840x2160, the frame rate scales almost linearly with settings, indicating that the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors at 4K Ultra. The 39.1 FPS at 4K Ultra versus 108.1 FPS at 1080p Ultra shows a 63.8% performance drop, which aligns with the 4x pixel count increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5060 delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 213.6 FPS average, Medium achieves 165.5 FPS, High reaches 139.5 FPS, and Ultra still manages 108.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 105.5 FPS, representing a 49.4% reduction in frame rate when maxing out visuals. All presets at this resolution comfortably exceed 100 FPS, making 1080p the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but the margins tighten. Low yields 136.8 FPS, Medium drops to 104.4 FPS, High falls to 87 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 66 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 70.8 FPS, a 51.8% reduction. Notably, Ultra at 1440p (66 FPS) is nearly identical to Medium at 4K (55.6 FPS), suggesting that resolution scaling has a similar impact to one full settings tier.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 5060 begins to struggle with higher presets. Low produces a playable 74.1 FPS, Medium drops to 55.6 FPS, High falls to 49.5 FPS, and Ultra manages only 39.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 18.5 FPS loss, while Medium to High costs 6.1 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 10.4 FPS. This nonlinear scaling indicates that Medium settings at 4K are the practical ceiling for maintaining 60 FPS, though the 55.6 FPS result falls just short of that target.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings reveals the scaling efficiency. At Low, 1080p to 1440p drops from 213.6 to 136.8 FPS (a 36% reduction), and 1440p to 4K drops from 136.8 to 74.1 FPS (a 45.8% reduction). At Ultra, the corresponding drops are 108.1 to 66 FPS (38.9%) and 66 to 39.1 FPS (40.8%). The consistent percentage losses indicate that the GPU scales predictably with pixel count, with no sudden bottlenecks appearing at any resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium at 2560x1440 provides 104.4 FPS average, which is 17.4 FPS above High at the same resolution. This preset offers the highest visual quality while maintaining over 100 FPS, making it the optimal choice for 1440p.

Q: Can this setup handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a comfortable frame rate at 74.1 FPS. Medium drops to 55.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, while High (49.5 FPS) and Ultra (39.1 FPS) are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5060 scores 30,109 in average benchmarks, virtually identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30,097 (0% delta). It is also within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 570 and 0.5% of the NVIDIA Tesla M60, showing near-parity with these cards in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The CPU's 75th percentile ranking and 17,181 average benchmark score place it well above the system's 829th combo ranking out of 1,733. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,372 and single-core score of 2,029 indicate it provides ample processing power for Minimum's 2014 engine.

Q: What performance can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The combo delivers 108.1 FPS average at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is the only resolution where Ultra maintains triple-digit frame rates, making 1080p the maximum resolution for fully maxed-out visuals.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 213.6 FPS to 74.1 FPS, a 65.3% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 108.1 FPS to 39.1 FPS, a 63.8% reduction. The percentage loss is consistent across settings, indicating predictable scaling with pixel count.