Minimum

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional performance in Minimum, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-limited, evidenced by the relatively small frame rate gains from lowering settings; at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, with frame rates scaling more directly with graphical fidelity. This pairing ranks 80th out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3% of all systems tested, a position driven by the RTX 5090 D’s immense compute power rather than the mid-range Core i5-11400F.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and highly dependent on the settings preset, revealing where the performance ceiling lies. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 318 FPS at 1920x1080 to 149 FPS at 3840x2160, a 53% reduction. This substantial drop indicates that even at the lowest graphical load, the RTX 5090 D cannot maintain 1080p-level throughput when pixel count quadruples. The 1080p Low result of 318 FPS is likely capped by the CPU’s single-thread performance, as the Core i5-11400F’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz and its 3dmark single-thread score of 868 suggest a processing limit that the GPU easily exceeds at lower resolutions.

Moving to High settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The average FPS drops from 271 at 1080p to 178 at 1440p, then to 96 at 4K. The 1440p result is 66% of the 1080p figure, while the 4K result is just 35% of the 1080p figure. This disproportionate decline at 4K points to the GPU’s fill-rate and memory bandwidth being taxed by the higher resolution. The RTX 5090 D has a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, yet the 4K High result of 96 FPS suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline at this resolution demands more than raw throughput. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is not the limiting factor here; rather, the shading workload at 4K High is substantial enough to bring the GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance to its knees relative to lower resolutions.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 210 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is just 35% of the 1080p Ultra result, matching the High preset’s percentage drop exactly. This consistency suggests that the GPU’s performance scaling with resolution is predictable and not influenced by CPU bottlenecks at these higher settings. The 4K Ultra figure of 73 FPS is the lowest recorded in the entire dataset, indicating that this preset pushes the RTX 5090 D to its practical limit in this title. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra (136 to 73 FPS, a 46% reduction) is more pronounced than the gap between 1080p and 1440p (210 to 136 FPS, a 35% reduction), which is typical for rasterization-heavy workloads where pixel count grows exponentially.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data, offering insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 288 FPS with a min of 245 and max of 332, a spread of 87 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 212 FPS with a min of 180 and max of 244, a tighter 64 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the average is 114 FPS with a min of 97 and max of 131, a 34 FPS spread. The narrowing range as resolution increases indicates that the GPU’s workload becomes more consistent at higher resolutions, whereas at 1080p, CPU-side frame pacing introduces more variance. This data suggests that the Core i5-11400F is the source of frame time spikes at lower resolutions, while the RTX 5090 D delivers steadier performance when it is the primary bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports a clear hierarchy: Low settings offer the highest frame rates, but the incremental gains from dropping below High are modest at 1080p and significant at 4K. At 1920x1080, the difference between High and Low is 271 to 318 FPS, a 47 FPS advantage (17%). This gap widens to 178 to 275 FPS at 1440p (a 97 FPS or 55% advantage) and 96 to 149 FPS at 4K (a 53 FPS or 55% advantage). The identical percentage gain at 1440p and 4K suggests that Low settings offload a consistent amount of GPU work, but the CPU still limits 1080p performance, preventing the full benefit of Low settings from being realized.

For players targeting the highest refresh rates, 1080p Low at 318 FPS is the only preset that approaches the upper limits of modern high-refresh monitors, but the 1080p High result of 271 FPS is already well above the 240 Hz threshold. The 1440p Low result of 275 FPS matches the 1080p High figure, indicating that the RTX 5090 D’s headroom at lower resolutions is only partially utilized. The most balanced experience appears to be 1440p High at 178 FPS, which offers a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining frame rates that exceed 144 Hz displays. The 4K High result of 96 FPS is the recommended ceiling for 4K gaming, as the Ultra preset’s 73 FPS average dips below the 75 Hz refresh rate that many 4K monitors support.

The Medium preset offers a compelling middle ground, particularly at 4K where it delivers 114 FPS compared to High’s 96 FPS and Ultra’s 73 FPS. The 4K Medium result provides a 19% improvement over High while sacrificing visual fidelity that may be imperceptible at typical viewing distances. At 1440p, Medium’s 212 FPS is close to the 240 Hz target, and its min FPS of 180 ensures smoother frame pacing than the High preset’s unrecorded minimum. The data suggests that for players who prioritize frame rate consistency, Medium is the optimal choice across all resolutions, as it is the only preset with documented min/max values showing no catastrophic dips.

Ultra settings are only recommended for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, as the 73 FPS at 4K is the only result below 100 FPS in the entire dataset. The 1080p Ultra result of 210 FPS is still respectable, but the 1440p Ultra result of 136 FPS falls below the 144 Hz threshold that many competitive players consider essential. Given that the RTX 5090 D is a top-tier GPU, the Ultra preset’s additional visual features do not translate into a playable experience at 4K without sacrificing frame rate targets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, as evidenced by its 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 77712. The GPU’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far beyond what Minimum requires, as the game’s release date of 2014-06-25 predates modern VRAM-heavy textures. The 512-bit memory bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 4K rendering but does not appear to be a limiting factor based on the measured frame rates. The closest rivals in the GPU benchmark database—the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct of -1.6) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (deltaPct of -2.4)—are significantly slower in synthetic tests, yet the RTX 5090 D’s advantage in Minimum is not fully expressed due to CPU constraints at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. These high clocks contribute to the GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, which is the theoretical peak that the measured frame rates approach at 4K Low. The 4K Low result of 149 FPS translates to roughly 1.4 milliseconds per frame, which aligns with the GPU’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s when accounting for the game’s rendering complexity. The RTX 5090 D’s 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are largely unused in Minimum, as the game’s 2014 release predates ray tracing and DLSS technologies, meaning the GPU’s rasterization performance is the sole driver of these results.

The GPU’s power envelope is substantial, with a TDP of 575 W and a suggested PSU of 950 W, but these figures do not directly impact the measured frame rates. The dual-slot cooler and 304 mm length are physical characteristics that matter for system integration, not performance. The GPU’s benchmark results show strong DirectX performance, with a passmark_directx_11 score of 371 and a passmark_directx_12 score of 219, but these synthetic scores are less relevant than the measured FPS data. The GPU’s 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 14326 confirms its modern architecture handles current APIs well, yet Minimum’s older engine likely relies on DirectX 11 paths, where the GPU’s 371 score suggests competent but not exceptional performance relative to its compute capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 318 FPS, which is the single highest result in the dataset. Medium settings average 288 FPS with a min of 245 and max of 332, showing a 43 FPS variance that indicates CPU-side frame pacing inconsistencies. High settings average 271 FPS, a 15% reduction from Low, while Ultra settings average 210 FPS, a 34% reduction from High. The 1080p results reveal that the Core i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, becomes the limiting factor below 318 FPS, as the GPU’s raw power cannot push frame rates higher when the CPU is tasked with feeding the render queue.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced separation between presets. Low settings average 275 FPS, nearly matching the 1080p High result. Medium settings average 212 FPS with a min of 180 and max of 244, a 64 FPS spread that is tighter than at 1080p. High settings average 178 FPS, while Ultra settings average 136 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate that the GPU begins to assert its dominance, as the gap between Low and Ultra widens to 139 FPS (51%). The 1440p Medium min FPS of 180 is higher than the 4K High average of 96 FPS, highlighting the resolution’s impact on overall performance.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to the lowest values in the dataset, but they remain playable for most presets. Low settings average 149 FPS, which is remarkable for 4K and indicates the RTX 5090 D’s sheer throughput. Medium settings average 114 FPS with a min of 97 and max of 131, a 34 FPS spread that is the tightest in the dataset, suggesting the GPU handles 4K Medium with consistent frame times. High settings average 96 FPS, while Ultra settings average 73 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only figure below 75 FPS, making it marginal for standard 60 Hz displays but insufficient for high-refresh 4K monitors. The 4K results clearly show the GPU as the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the rendering load imposed by each preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 80th out of 2939 tested systems, placing it in the top 2.7% of all configurations. This high rank is primarily attributable to the RTX 5090 D, which sits in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, while competent, only reaches the 71st percentile among all CPUs, indicating that the processor is the weaker link in this pairing. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 77712 dwarfs the CPU’s average score of 17177, confirming that the graphics card drives the combo’s overall ranking.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database—the AMD EPYC 7H12 (deltaPct of 0.3), the Intel Core i5-12450H (deltaPct of -0.4), and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (deltaPct of -0.6)—show that the Core i5-11400F is competitive with a wide range of processors, but none of these rivals would alter the combo’s ranking significantly if substituted. The GPU’s nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (deltaPct of -1.6) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (deltaPct of -2.4), are all lower-performing, reinforcing that the RTX 5090 D is the singular reason this combo achieves an 80th-place rank. In Minimum, the combo’s rank is driven by the GPU’s ability to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where the CPU’s limitations are masked by the GPU’s workload.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Minimum?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 318 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 73 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p, as evidenced by the small frame rate gains from lowering settings (271 FPS at High to 318 FPS at Low) and the CPU’s 71st percentile ranking versus the GPU’s 92nd percentile.

Q: What is the only preset with documented minimum and maximum frame rates?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing 245-332 FPS at 1080p, 180-244 FPS at 1440p, and 97-131 FPS at 4K.

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

A: The combo ranks 80th out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3% of all systems.

Q: At which resolution does the GPU become the clear limiting factor?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as frame rates scale directly with settings (149 FPS at Low, 114 FPS at Medium, 96 FPS at High, 73 FPS at Ultra) with no CPU-related frame pacing issues.