Minimum

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti produces a wide performance envelope in Minimum, ranging from 318 FPS at 1080p Low to 57 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly capable at lower resolutions but begins to show the expected strain as pixel count and graphical fidelity increase, with the frame rate deltas between settings highlighting where each component takes the lead.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the rate of that drop reveals which component is the bottleneck at each step. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average from 318 FPS to 216 FPS, a 32% decrease, while moving from 1440p to 4K brings it down to 116 FPS, another 46% reduction. This pattern—where the percentage loss nearly doubles at the 4K step—indicates the GPU is becoming the dominant limiting factor as resolution climbs, since the rendering workload scales directly with pixel count.

For High settings, the scaling is similar but slightly less severe in relative terms: 215 FPS at 1080p, 139 FPS at 1440p (a 35% drop), and 75 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). The fact that the 1080p-to-1440p drop is nearly identical to the Low setting’s drop suggests that at these settings, the CPU is still keeping pace, but the GPU is already working harder. At Ultra settings, the numbers tell a clearer story: 164 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p (35% drop), and 57 FPS at 4K (46% drop). The consistent ~35% drop for the first step and ~46% drop for the second step across all settings implies that resolution scaling in Minimum follows a predictable pattern tied to GPU fill rate, not CPU limits.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is frequently the limiter, especially at Low settings where the GPU could theoretically push far beyond 318 FPS but is held back by the i5-11400F’s six cores. At 4K, the GPU’s raw throughput becomes the wall, with even the Medium preset dropping to 89 FPS. The measured values show that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, which is notable for a game from 2014 that is not known for extreme graphical demands—the RTX 5070 Ti is simply being asked to render four times the pixels of 1080p, and the 57 FPS result reflects that geometric workload increase.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070 Ti brings substantial resources to this pairing: 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with a boost clock of 2452 MHz. In Minimum, the VRAM capacity is almost certainly not a limiting factor—a game from 2014 with modest texture requirements would struggle to exceed even a fraction of 16 GB, leaving the bandwidth and compute units as the primary drivers of performance. The 896.0 GB/s bandwidth explains why 4K performance remains playable at Medium (89 FPS) despite the massive data throughput required for 3840x2160 rendering.

The GPU’s 8960 shading units and 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are the engines behind the high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 318 FPS result indicates the GPU is nowhere near saturation, and the 116 FPS at 4K Low shows that even at maximum pixel count, the card retains over a third of its 1080p performance. The clock speed of 2452 MHz boost provides the per-cycle efficiency needed for this game’s older DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) pipeline, which likely does not utilize the RTX 50-series’ newer features like 70 RT cores or 280 tensor cores to any meaningful degree.

The GPU’s percentile ranking (86th among all GPUs) and its average benchmark score of 49957 place it in the upper tier, and the measured results confirm this—the card never drops below 57 FPS in any tested configuration. The gap between Medium and High settings at 4K (89 vs 75 FPS) shows that the GPU’s memory subsystem is handling the increased texture loads without severe penalties, while the jump from High to Ultra (75 to 57 FPS) represents a more punishing 24% loss, suggesting that Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily stress the shading units rather than just memory bandwidth.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, built on Intel’s 14 nm Rocket Lake architecture. Its single-thread performance, as measured by a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 850, is what drives the high frame rates at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the 318 FPS average is a clear indicator that the CPU is the limiting factor—the RTX 5070 Ti could easily render more frames, but the i5-11400F cannot feed the GPU fast enough.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a PassMark multithread score of 16908, are sufficient for a game from 2014 that likely uses only a few cores. The data shows that at 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s 12 threads become less relevant as the GPU takes over the bottleneck. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth (dual-channel DDR4) is a potential constraint, but the measured FPS doesn’t indicate any memory stalls—the smooth scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution suggests the CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache is adequate for the game’s working set.

The CPU’s percentile ranking (71st among all CPUs) and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% higher average score), show it is a mid-range part, but the gaming data indicates it punches above its weight in Minimum at lower resolutions. The 4.40 GHz boost clock handles the game’s logic and draw calls efficiently, while the 6 cores provide enough headroom for background tasks without affecting frame pacing. At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes—the 57 FPS at Ultra is purely GPU-bound, as evidenced by the 116 FPS at Low, which is 2x the Ultra result and still far from CPU-limited territory.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination ranks 428th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 11.5% of all pairings in the database for Minimum. This ranking is remarkably strong given that the i5-11400F is an older, end-of-life CPU (released in March 2021) paired with a current-generation GPU (released February 2025). The ranking suggests that the RTX 5070 Ti’s raw power compensates for the CPU’s age, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU dominates.

The combo’s rank of 428 is likely buoyed by the 4K results, where the RTX 5070 Ti’s 16 GB VRAM and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth allow it to outperform many newer CPU/GPU pairings that might have faster processors but weaker graphics cards. At 1080p, the i5-11400F’s limitations (single-thread score of 868 in 3DMark) probably drag the rank down, as many combos with newer CPUs achieve higher frame rates at that resolution. The 3712 total combos include a wide range of hardware, and the 428th position indicates this pairing is better than 88.5% of all tested combinations, which is impressive for a mid-range CPU from 2021.

The delta comparisons for the CPU’s nearest rivals show it is extremely close to the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3% higher score) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6% lower), meaning the i5-11400F’s gaming performance is on par with much more expensive or newer processors in this specific title. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is 2% faster on average, but the RTX 5070 Ti’s newer architecture likely provides better driver optimizations for Minimum’s particular rendering path.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo maintain 60+ FPS at 4K in Minimum?*

A: Yes, for most settings. The measured data shows 4K Medium averages 89 FPS, 4K High averages 75 FPS, and 4K Low averages 116 FPS. Only 4K Ultra falls below 60 FPS, with an average of 57 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing to avoid CPU bottlenecks?

A: The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiter, with Low settings hitting 318 FPS. At 1440p, the bottleneck shifts toward the GPU, with High settings at 139 FPS. 1440p offers a good balance where both components are utilized without extreme frame rate drops.

*Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti’s 16 GB VRAM affect Minimum performance?*

A: The 16 GB GDDR7 memory is overkill for this 2014 title, but the 896.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming at 4K Ultra (57 FPS) doesn’t cause stutters or drops below the average. The VRAM capacity is never a limiting factor across any tested setting.

Q: Is the i5-11400F holding back the RTX 5070 Ti?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p and lower settings. The evidence is the 318 FPS at 1080p Low versus 216 FPS at 1440p Low—the GPU could likely exceed 318 FPS, but the CPU’s 6 cores and 4.40 GHz boost clock cap the frame rate. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: What is the measurable difference between Medium and High settings at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Medium (257 FPS) is 42 FPS faster than High (215 FPS). At 1440p, the gap is 27 FPS (166 vs 139). At 4K, the gap narrows to 14 FPS (89 vs 75). The delta shrinks as resolution increases, indicating the GPU has less headroom at higher pixel counts.

Q: How does this combo’s rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 428th out of 3712 combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 88.5% of all tested pairings. This is strong given the CPU’s age, but the rank is likely lower at 1080p where the CPU limits performance, and higher at 4K where the GPU dominates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings sweep shows: Low averages 318 FPS, Medium averages 257 FPS (with a minimum of 218 and maximum of 295), High averages 215 FPS, and Ultra averages 164 FPS. The 154 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates that Minimum scales significantly with graphical fidelity at this resolution. The Medium preset’s recorded range (218-295 FPS) indicates a 77 FPS variance, showing that the CPU/GPU interplay produces noticeable frame pacing fluctuations even at high averages.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers compress: Low averages 216 FPS, Medium averages 166 FPS (minimum 141, maximum 190), High averages 139 FPS, and Ultra averages 106 FPS. The 110 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is narrower than at 1080p, confirming the GPU is taking on more load. The Medium range (141-190 FPS) shows a 49 FPS variance, which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting more consistent rendering at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly: Low averages 116 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS (minimum 76, maximum 103), High averages 75 FPS, and Ultra averages 57 FPS. The 59 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is the smallest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is saturated at all settings. The Medium range (76-103 FPS) shows a 27 FPS variance, the tightest of any resolution, which implies that at 4K, the frame rate is more stable and predictable, driven almost entirely by GPU rendering time rather than CPU hiccups.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p users, the High preset (215 FPS) offers an excellent balance—it is 42 FPS slower than Medium but provides significantly better visual quality, and the 164 FPS Ultra setting is still far above refresh rate capabilities of most monitors. Low at 318 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rate matters more than visuals, but the 104 FPS gap between Low and High suggests that High is the sweet spot for most players.

At 1440p, the High preset (139 FPS) is the recommended choice for quality-focused play, as it remains well above 120 FPS and provides good visual fidelity. Medium (166 FPS) is the better option for high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz+), while Ultra (106 FPS) is still playable but shows a 33 FPS drop from High, which may not justify the visual improvements. Low (216 FPS) is unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates.

For 4K, the Medium preset (89 FPS) is the clear recommendation—it provides a 14 FPS advantage over High (75 FPS) and stays comfortably above 60 FPS, while Ultra (57 FPS) dips below that threshold and offers diminishing returns. The 4K Low setting (116 FPS) is viable for players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, but Medium’s additional fidelity at a 27 FPS cost is likely worth it for most. The measured minimum of 76 FPS at 4K Medium ensures that even the worst-case frame drops stay above 60 FPS, making this the safest choice for a smooth 4K experience with this hardware combination.