Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER in Minimum reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 133.2 FPS, but this drops to 83.8 FPS at 1440p and further to 43.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the graphics card is the primary limiting component as pixel count rises.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 83.6 FPS at 1080p to 52.9 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 26.5 FPS at 4K (a 68% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute decline, with 66.1 FPS at 1080p, 42.4 FPS at 1440p, and just 22.8 FPS at 4K. These results demonstrate that the 6 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory interface of the GTX 1660 SUPER are insufficient to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, regardless of quality settings.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution, which is typical of a GPU-limited configuration. At 1080p, the difference between Low (133.2 FPS) and Ultra (66.1 FPS) is 67.1 FPS. At 4K, the same comparison yields only a 21.0 FPS difference (43.8 vs 22.8). This compression of the settings spread at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is saturated and cannot leverage the reduced visual fidelity to recover performance meaningfully. The data strongly suggests that 1080p is the intended operating range for this hardware combination in Minimum, with 1440p being viable only at Low or Medium settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1,733 tested combinations in Minimum, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks at position 1,540. This places it in the bottom 11% of all tested configurations, indicating that while the hardware is functional, it is far from competitive for this title. The percentile ranking of the GPU alone is 55, meaning the GTX 1660 SUPER outperforms 55% of all graphics cards in the database, yet the combined system rank suggests that Minimum demands more than this pairing can deliver at higher settings.

The rank is influenced by both components. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 77 shows that the i5-12400 is a solid mid-range processor, but the GPU's 55th percentile is the bottleneck. The combo's rank of 1,540 out of 1,733 reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities. In benchmark terms, the GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12,699 in Passmark G3D, which is only 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14,314) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14,352). These close margins indicate that the GPU sits at a performance tier where small differences matter for game ranking.

For context, the measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 133.2 FPS, which is respectable for competitive play. However, the rank of 1,540 suggests that many other combinations deliver higher frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K where this GPU struggles. The data indicates that users with this hardware should expect to play Minimum at 1080p with settings adjusted to their preference, as the system will not compete with high-end configurations at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process from TSMC, with a TU116 chip containing 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical specification for Minimum given the game's 2014 release and its texture-heavy environments.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 12,699 places it at the 55th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 at 14,314 (0.2% faster), the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics at 14,315 (0.2% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT at 14,389 (0.7% faster). These marginal differences mean that the GTX 1660 SUPER is essentially neck-and-neck with its immediate competitors, and the measured FPS in Minimum reflects this mid-range positioning.

The GPU's pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are the fundamental limits for this game. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 22.8 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS provides a theoretical ceiling, but the memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is the practical constraint at higher resolutions. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but can become a factor at 4K with Ultra textures, where the game may exceed the available memory, causing performance to drop to 22.8 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the GTX 1660 SUPER delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 133.2 FPS, Medium reaches 100.7 FPS, High scores 83.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66.1 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is the sweet spot for this hardware, with even Ultra settings maintaining a 60+ FPS average. The transition from Low to Ultra costs 67.1 FPS, or roughly half the Low setting's performance, which is a typical trade-off for visual fidelity in a 2014 shooter.

Moving to 1440p, the performance degrades significantly. Low settings still deliver 83.8 FPS, which is acceptable for most players, but Medium falls to 63.8 FPS and High to 52.9 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces 42.4 FPS, which may be borderline for a third-person shooter where precision matters. The data shows a consistent 37% performance loss from 1080p to 1440p across all settings, reflecting the GPU's inability to maintain its 1080p throughput when pixel count increases by 78%.

At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings yield 43.8 FPS, Medium drops to 35.2 FPS, High falls to 26.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 22.8 FPS. None of these settings achieve the 60 FPS target that competitive players prefer, and even 30 FPS is only reached at Low. The gap between 1440p and 4K is a further 48% reduction, meaning that 4K is effectively unplayable for this GPU in Minimum regardless of settings. The data clearly indicates that this hardware is designed for 1080p gaming, with 1440p as a stretch goal for lower settings only.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosts to 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features an 18 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core, which provides ample cache for game logic and physics calculations. The processor's avgBenchmarkScore of 19,850 places it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i7-9700 at 19,831 (0.1% faster).

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 shows strong single-thread performance with a Passmark single-thread score of 3,456 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,249. Multi-threaded performance is also solid, with Cinebench R23 multicore reaching 15,935 and 3DMark max threads scoring 5,890. For Minimum, which is a 2014 title, the CPU's 12 threads are more than sufficient to handle game logic, and the boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures responsive frame times at lower resolutions.

The CPU's role in this combo is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to reach 133.2 FPS, which is near the limit for this graphics card. The fact that the frame rate drops consistently with resolution increases confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-12400's percentileVsAllCpus of 77 indicates that it performs better than most CPUs, but its nearest rivals in the database — the Intel Core i7-8700 at 19,894 (0.2% faster) and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX at 19,928 (0.4% faster) — show that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: The measured data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where all settings presets achieve playable frame rates. Low delivers 133.2 FPS, Medium 100.7 FPS, High 83.6 FPS, and Ultra 66.1 FPS, making 1080p the recommended operating resolution.

Q: Can this hardware handle 1440p gaming?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 1440p, Low settings produce 83.8 FPS and Medium reaches 63.8 FPS, which are playable. High drops to 52.9 FPS and Ultra to 42.4 FPS, which may be acceptable for casual play but not ideal for competitive scenarios.

Q: Is 4K viable with the GTX 1660 SUPER?

A: No. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 43.8 FPS, with Ultra falling to 22.8 FPS. None of the settings presets reach 60 FPS at this resolution, so 4K is not recommended for this hardware in Minimum.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12,699 in Passmark G3D, which is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14,314) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14,352). It is 0.7% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14,389).

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to other processors?

A: The i5-12400 has an avgBenchmarkScore of 19,850, which is 0.1% faster than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19,831) and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i5-11600K (19,771). It is 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19,894).

Q: What is the best settings preset for a balanced experience?

A: At 1080p, Medium settings provide 100.7 FPS, which is a solid balance between visual quality and performance. High settings at 83.6 FPS are also viable, but Ultra at 66.1 FPS sacrifices too much performance for marginal visual gains.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers 100.7 FPS. This preset offers a significant improvement over Low (133.2 FPS) in visual quality while maintaining a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold. For players who prefer higher visual fidelity, High settings at 83.6 FPS are still smooth and provide better textures and effects. Ultra at 66.1 FPS is playable but approaches the lower bound of what is comfortable, and the visual difference from High may not justify the 17.5 FPS loss.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to Low settings (83.8 FPS) or Medium (63.8 FPS) for a playable experience. High settings at 52.9 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but Ultra at 42.4 FPS should be avoided. At 4K, no settings preset achieves a consistent 60 FPS, so the data suggests that players should either lower the resolution or accept sub-optimal performance. The Low preset at 4K (43.8 FPS) is the only option approaching playability, but the visual trade-off is substantial.

The benchmark results indicate that this hardware combination is best suited for 1080p gaming in Minimum. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p Ultra, but the 192-bit bus becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads provide ample CPU headroom, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across settings at 1080p. For the best balance of visuals and performance, Medium at 1080p is the recommended preset, with High being a viable alternative for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate headroom.