Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Minimum with the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti reveals a clear progression as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 134 FPS, which drops to 84.3 FPS at 1440p and further to 46.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45% reduction from 1440p to 4K at Low settings. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the pixel throughput demands of the GTX 1660 Ti become the limiting factor.

At High settings, the frame rate falls from 82.3 FPS at 1080p to 56.6 FPS at 1440p, then to 32.2 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 31% and 43% respectively, showing that the GPU's workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count. The Ultra preset tells a similar story: 62.6 FPS at 1080p, 39.8 FPS at 1440p, and 23.2 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 36% and 42%.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the i5-12400F's six cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GTX 1660 Ti, as evidenced by the 134 FPS Low preset result. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and PassMark single-thread score of 3481 support this interpretation. However, as resolution climbs, the GPU's 5.437 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth become the primary constraints. The 4K Ultra result of 23.2 FPS is particularly telling, showing that the GTX 1660 Ti with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory simply cannot maintain playable frame rates at maximum settings in this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Minimum with this combo?

A: The data shows 1080p as the most viable resolution. At Low settings, the combo achieves 134 FPS, which is well above typical display refresh rates. Even at Ultra, 1080p yields 62.6 FPS, making it the only resolution where all settings presets remain above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti perform at 4K in Minimum?

A: 4K performance is limited. The best result is 46.5 FPS at Low settings, which drops to 32.2 FPS at High, 32.9 FPS at Medium, and 23.2 FPS at Ultra. None of these results approach 60 FPS, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: Is the i5-12400F holding back the GTX 1660 Ti?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears capable of driving the GPU to 134 FPS at Low settings. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,518 and PassMark multithread score of 19,433 suggest ample headroom. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions, where frame rates drop regardless of CPU capability.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured result is 67.2 FPS at 1440p Medium. This is a playable frame rate, but it falls below the 1080p Medium result of 102 FPS, showing a 34% performance hit from the resolution increase.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 13,925, placing it 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X, 0.7% behind the NVIDIA Tesla K10, and 0.8% ahead of both the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile and GeForce GTX 680. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1,509 out of 1,733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 13% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GTX 1660 Ti's age, as the GPU sits in the 55th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 13,925. The CPU, by contrast, performs far better in its own percentile ranking, sitting at 77th percentile with an average benchmark score of 19,221.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance is notable. The i5-12400F's nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 19,210 (0.1% difference), showing the processor competes with older high-end parts. However, the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 570X, scores 13,871 (0.4% difference), indicating the GTX 1660 Ti is firmly in mid-range territory. This imbalance suggests the combo's low ranking stems primarily from the GPU, which cannot leverage the CPU's full potential at higher resolutions.

In practical terms, the combo's rank of 1,509 means that 224 other configurations deliver higher measured FPS in this game. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely improve the ranking substantially, as the CPU's benchmark scores are competitive with parts that typically pair with higher-end graphics cards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low settings produce 134 FPS, Medium yields 102 FPS, High reaches 82.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 62.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 71.4 FPS, representing a 53% reduction. All presets remain playable, with even Ultra exceeding 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades noticeably. Low settings produce 84.3 FPS, Medium delivers 67.2 FPS, High reaches 56.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra expands to 44.5 FPS, a 53% reduction consistent with the 1080p scaling. Notably, High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS, making Medium the highest playable preset at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal. Low settings achieve 46.5 FPS, Medium delivers 32.9 FPS, High reaches 32.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 23.3 FPS, again representing a 50% reduction. All presets fall below 60 FPS, and even Low settings struggle to maintain smooth gameplay.

The data reveals that the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 31-37% of frame rate depending on settings, while the transition from 1440p to 4K costs 43-45%. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the GTX 1660 Ti's memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s becomes progressively more strained as pixel count increases, with the 192-bit bus width proving insufficient for 4K workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip using a 12 nm process from TSMC. The GPU contains 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die, with a transistor density of 23.2 million per square millimeter. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units drive its compute capabilities, which include 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput and 10.87 TFLOPS of FP16 performance.

The GTX 1660 Ti's clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 1500 MHz boosts to 1770 MHz under load. This boost behavior directly impacts the measured FPS in Minimum, as the GPU can sustain higher clocks at lower resolutions where thermal and power headroom are more available. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 134 FPS, which likely allows it to maintain maximum boost clocks. At 4K Ultra, the 23.2 FPS result indicates the GPU is fully saturated, with compute and memory subsystems operating at their limits.

The GPU's DirectX 12 support (version 12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are relevant for Minimum's rendering pipeline. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 51 is low, but the game's 2014 release date suggests it may rely on older API paths where the GPU performs better, as evidenced by the PassMark DirectX 11 score of 103 and DirectX 9 score of 190. The GPU's OpenGL 4.6 support provides additional compatibility options.

The VRAM allocation of 6 GB proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gameplay in Minimum, but the 4K results suggest memory pressure at higher resolutions. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is the primary constraint, as texture and geometry data cannot be fed to the shading units fast enough at 3840x2160. The GPU's 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate and 169.9 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1080p but become limiting factors as resolution scales, explaining the consistent 50% frame rate reduction between low and ultra settings across all resolutions.