Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core i5-12400 + Intel Arc B370

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B370 produces a system that is heavily constrained by graphics performance in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. Across all tested resolutions, the Arc B370's integrated-class performance limits frame rates to values that range from barely playable at 1080p Low to outright unplayable at 4K Ultra. The CPU, a 6-core/12-thread Alder Lake part with a 4.40 GHz boost clock, demonstrates ample headroom in synthetic benchmarks, but the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all GPUs means the measured FPS figures are almost entirely dictated by the graphics solution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 85 FPS at 1080p to 55 FPS at 1440p, then to 30 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35.3% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a further 45.5% decline from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the progression is 55 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K — a 36.4% drop, then a 45.7% drop. The pattern is consistent: doubling pixel count roughly halves the frame rate, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max FPS data across all resolutions, offering additional insight into scaling behavior. At 1080p Medium, the average is 65 FPS with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 23 FPS with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26. The min-to-max spread remains remarkably tight at each resolution — roughly 19-20 FPS apart at 1080p and 1440p, and only 7 FPS apart at 4K — indicating that frame pacing is consistent even when performance is low.

The resolution scaling behavior strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. The Arc B370's memory is "System Shared" with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent," which means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth. As resolution rises, the demand on this shared memory system increases, and the GPU's 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs simply cannot sustain higher fill rates. The CPU's 3DMark scores — 910 single-thread and 5890 max-threads — are more than adequate for a 2014 title, so the FPS collapse at higher resolutions is attributable to the graphics pipeline.

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable settings/resolution combination for this system?

A: The 1080p Low preset delivers an average of 85 FPS, which is the highest measured result. The 1080p Medium preset achieves 65 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum, which remains playable. At 1440p, only the Low preset (55 FPS average) approaches acceptable smoothness, while High at 1440p drops to 35 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 bottlenecking the Intel Arc B370?

A: No. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and multi-thread score of 5890 are strong for a 2022 desktop part. The GPU ranks in the 5th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy AMD parts, so the graphics solution is the clear performance ceiling.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 2703 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems. This is consistent with the GPU's very low percentile ranking.

Q: What are the differences between the preset settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 65 FPS, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 43 FPS, or roughly a 50% performance reduction for the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the Arc B370 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, for a 2014 game, the older API paths are more relevant, and the GPU's raw compute capabilities — 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 — limit performance regardless of API.

Q: Is the 4K resolution usable at any setting?

A: Barely at Low (30 FPS average), but not at Medium (23 FPS), High (19 FPS), or Ultra (15 FPS). The 4K Medium results show a minimum of 19 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2703 out of 2939 tested combinations for Minimum, placing it in the 8th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking is overwhelmingly driven by the GPU's performance class. The Arc B370 holds a 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals — ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4%) — are all legacy mobile or low-end desktop parts that predate this game's release by years.

The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 18683. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, -0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, -0.3%), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811, -0.7%), and Intel Core i3-14100F (18519, +0.9%). The i5-12400's multi-threaded performance is competitive with enterprise and newer mobile parts, yet the combo ranking falls to 2703 because the GPU cannot translate that CPU headroom into frame rate.

The delta between CPU percentile (72nd) and GPU percentile (5th) is the largest single factor in this combo's low ranking. In a game like Minimum that scales with resolution, the GPU becomes the sole determinant of performance once the CPU can maintain frame delivery. The i5-12400's 12 threads and up to 4.40 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to feed the Arc B370 at any resolution, but the GPU's 20 ROPs and 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate cap the output.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that 1080p Low is the only configuration that provides a fully smooth experience, with an average of 85 FPS. This is the recommended preset for competitive play or any scenario where frame rate is prioritized over visual fidelity. For users who want better image quality while maintaining playability, 1080p Medium at 65 FPS average (56 FPS minimum) is the best compromise — the 20 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1080p is significant, while the visual improvement from Medium to High is not worth the 15.4% performance penalty.

At 1440p, the Low preset (55 FPS average) is the only viable option. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 42 FPS average with a 36 FPS minimum, which is borderline for a third-person shooter. High at 1440p (35 FPS) and Ultra at 1440p (27 FPS) should be avoided. At 4K, no preset is truly playable — even Low averages only 30 FPS, and the Medium preset shows a 19 FPS minimum that would result in noticeable stutter during action sequences.

The scaling between presets at each resolution follows a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the step from Low to Medium costs 20 FPS (23.5%), Medium to High costs 10 FPS (15.4%), and High to Ultra costs 13 FPS (23.6%). At 1440p, the steps are 13 FPS (23.6%), 7 FPS (16.7%), and 8 FPS (22.9%). At 4K, the steps are 7 FPS (23.3%), 4 FPS (17.4%), and 4 FPS (21.1%). The consistency of these percentage drops suggests that each preset level imposes a roughly uniform additional load on the GPU, and the relative cost of each step is similar across resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its best results. Low settings yield an average of 85 FPS with no reported min/max. Medium settings average 65 FPS, with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75 FPS. High settings average 55 FPS. Ultra settings average 42 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 43 FPS, and even the lowest setting (Ultra, 42 FPS) is technically playable, though the minimum frame rate is not reported.

At 2560x1440, performance drops considerably. Low settings average 55 FPS. Medium settings average 42 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48 FPS. High settings average 35 FPS. Ultra settings average 27 FPS. The 1440p results show that the GPU begins to struggle at this resolution — the High preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold, and even Low cannot maintain a locked 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system is largely unplayable. Low settings average 30 FPS. Medium settings average 23 FPS, with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26 FPS. High settings average 19 FPS. Ultra settings average 15 FPS. The 4K Medium data shows that even the best-case frame time (26 FPS maximum) is below 40 milliseconds, which will be perceptible as sluggish input response.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the min-max range is 56-75 FPS (19 FPS spread). At 1440p, it narrows to 36-48 FPS (12 FPS spread). At 4K, it narrows further to 19-26 FPS (7 FPS spread). The tightening of the range as resolution increases, combined with the falling average, indicates that the GPU is becoming fully saturated at higher resolutions, leaving no room for frame rate variance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 163 mm². It operates at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its PCIe implementation is Gen 5 with 16 lanes (CPU only).

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 demonstrates solid multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and single-core score of 2257; Geekbench multi-core of 8564 and single-core of 1848; 3DMark max-threads of 5890 and single-thread of 910. The PassMark multi-thread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456 further confirm that the CPU is a mid-to-upper-tier desktop part, ranking in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs.

For Minimum, the CPU's role is to maintain frame delivery without becoming a bottleneck. The i5-12400's 12 threads and 4.40 GHz boost clock provide ample single-thread performance for a 2014 game engine, which typically relies on one or two primary threads. The nearest rival comparisons — the AMD EPYC 7643 (within 0.1%), Intel Core i7-1355U (0.3%), AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (0.7%), and Intel Core i3-14100F (0.9%) — show that the i5-12400 sits in a competitive performance band, but none of these CPUs would meaningfully change the frame rates in Minimum when paired with the Arc B370.

The CPU's strong multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R20 multi-core of 6715, PassMark integer math of 58366, floating point math of 45494) are irrelevant for this game because the GPU cannot capitalize on them. The measured FPS curves are smooth and consistent, with no signs of CPU-induced stutter or frame drops — the min/max data at Medium settings shows tight ranges that would be wider if the CPU were causing irregular frame delivery.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, along with 10 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2400 MHz, yielding a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1). The GPU's memory is System Shared, meaning it uses the host system's RAM with bandwidth that is System Dependent. Its TDP is 25 W, and it requires no power connectors.

The Arc B370's benchmark presence is minimal — a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 — yet that score places it in the 5th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy parts: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, +1.4%). This is a GPU that performs at the level of hardware from roughly 2010-2011, which is several generations behind Minimum's 2014 release.

The GPU's limitations are evident in the measured FPS. At 1080p Low, the 85 FPS average suggests the GPU can handle the game's simplest rendering path. However, the 43 FPS drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p, and the collapse to 15 FPS at 4K Ultra, reveal that the GPU has very limited headroom for additional pixel work. The 20 ROPs and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are the likely culprits — at 4K, the GPU must fill 8.3 million pixels per frame, and at 15 FPS it is taking roughly 66 milliseconds per frame just for rasterization.

The system-shared memory architecture further constrains performance. With no dedicated VRAM, the GPU must access system memory for all textures and frame buffers, and the bandwidth is System Dependent. This explains why the scaling from 1080p to 4K is so steep — the memory subsystem becomes a bottleneck as resolution increases, and the GPU cannot hide memory latency behind compute work because its compute throughput (6.144 TFLOPS) is also modest. The 3nm process and 2400 MHz boost clock are modern, but they cannot compensate for the fundamental limitation of 1280 shading units and a shared memory pool.