Minimum

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT delivers a fundamentally balanced 1080p and 1440p experience in Minimum, but the data reveals a sharp shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 258.6 FPS, yet at 4K Ultra, that figure collapses to 44 FPS — a drop of over 80% that clearly implicates the GPU as the limiting component in the highest-load scenarios. The measured rows show a smooth, predictable scaling curve, but the steepness of the decline at 4K suggests the CPU has ample headroom left untapped at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 tells a textbook story of GPU-bound scaling. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 165.6 at 1080p to 107.1 at 1440p, then falls to 60.2 at 4K. That represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, followed by another 44% cut from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across every quality preset: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is significant, but the 4K hit is disproportionately larger.

Look at Low settings, where the CPU has the least graphical work to hide behind. The combo hits 258.6 FPS at 1080p, drops to 167.6 at 1440p, and then plummets to 87 at 4K. The 4K figure is still playable, but the scaling from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by 48% — a clear sign that the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the pixel count. The 1080p Low result, by contrast, likely approaches the ceiling of what the i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock can feed.

Ultra settings amplify the trend. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 125.2 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 80.2; at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 44 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured row below 60 FPS, indicating that the GPU's 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is stretched to its limit when every visual feature is enabled. The data implies that resolution scaling in Minimum is almost entirely GPU-driven, with the CPU only becoming relevant at the lowest preset and highest frame rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Minimum?*

A: The maximum measured average is 258.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K across all settings?

A: No. At 4K, the combo delivers 87 FPS on Low, 68.3 FPS on Medium, and 60.2 FPS on High, but drops to 44 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, 1080p produces 165.6 FPS, which is 175% faster than the 60.2 FPS recorded at 4K.

Q: What is the best 1440p result in the measured data?

A: The best 1440p figure is 167.6 FPS on Low settings, with Medium at 125.4 FPS, High at 107.1 FPS, and Ultra at 80.2 FPS.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest performance gap between Low and Ultra?

A: At 4K, the spread from Low (87 FPS) to Ultra (44 FPS) is 43 FPS, while at 1080p the spread is 133.4 FPS (from 258.6 to 125.2).

Q: Is the 4K High result above the 60 FPS threshold?

A: Yes, 4K High averages 60.2 FPS, barely clearing the standard 60 FPS target, while 4K Ultra falls well below it.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant partner in this pairing, and the benchmark data confirms it through every measurable row. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for 4K rendering where texture data demand scales quadratically with pixel count. The boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz drive the 4608 shading units, and the resulting 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is what the 4K Ultra result of 44 FPS is struggling against.

The GPU's 87th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs places it above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which scores 2.6% lower in average benchmark score, though the RX 6800 XT trails the NVIDIA RTX A1000 by 1.7%. This context matters: the RX 6800 XT is a high-end part, but not the absolute top tier, and the 4K Ultra result reflects that. The 72 ray accelerators and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are relevant for modern titles, but in Minimum, a 2014 release, the raw rasterization throughput is what determines the frame rate.

The GPU's 300 W TDP and dual 8-pin power connectors indicate a power-hungry design, but the measured FPS shows the card's performance ceiling is reached well before the i5-12600KF becomes a constraint. At 1080p Low, the 258.6 FPS result is likely the CPU's limit, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU's 44 FPS is entirely a compute and memory bandwidth bottleneck. The data suggests that the RX 6800 XT is the component to upgrade if 4K Ultra is the goal, as the CPU has proven it can push far higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 622nd out of 1733 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the 64th percentile of all pairings. This is a strong result, given that the RX 6800 XT alone sits at the 87th percentile among GPUs and the i5-12600KF at the 84th percentile among CPUs. The rank of 622 implies that many combos with more recent or more expensive parts outpace it, but the measured FPS shows this pairing is far from a bottleneck disaster.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27829 in average benchmark, a 0% delta from the i5-12600KF's 27827. That means the 12600KF is effectively tied with a previous-generation flagship, and the 12600KF is only 0.1% behind the 12600K and 0.2% behind the Core Ultra 5 125H. The GPU's rivals tell a similar story: the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is 2.6% slower in average score, while the Intel Arc A550M is 0.5% faster. These small deltas indicate that the combo's 622nd rank is not due to a weak component but rather the sheer number of newer, higher-tier parts available in the database.

The ranking also reflects the game's age. Minimum released in 2014, and modern GPUs and CPUs have outpaced its requirements. The 44 FPS at 4K Ultra is a low point, but the 87 FPS at 4K Low shows the combo still handles 4K competently. The 622nd rank suggests that for a mid-to-high-end pairing, the performance is solid but not exceptional, and users seeking top-tier 4K Ultra should look at higher-ranked combos.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides twelve distinct rows across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo produces 258.6 FPS on Low, 198.7 FPS on Medium, 165.6 FPS on High, and 125.2 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show a clear progression: each step up in quality costs roughly 15-20% of the frame rate, with Low to Medium being a 23% drop, Medium to High a 17% drop, and High to Ultra a 24% drop.

At 2560x1440, the results are 167.6 FPS on Low, 125.4 FPS on Medium, 107.1 FPS on High, and 80.2 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p scaling is steeper than 1080p, with Low to Medium dropping 25%, Medium to High dropping 15%, and High to Ultra dropping 25%. The 1440p Low result is still above 144 Hz, making it viable for high-refresh-rate monitors, but Ultra falls below 90 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress significantly: 87 FPS on Low, 68.3 FPS on Medium, 60.2 FPS on High, and 44 FPS on Ultra. The 4K scaling is brutal, with Low to Medium dropping 22%, Medium to High dropping 12%, and High to Ultra dropping 27%. The 4K Ultra result is the only row below 60 FPS, and the 4K High result is barely above that threshold. The minimum FPS data is not provided, so the consistency of these averages is unknown, but the averages alone paint a clear picture of a GPU that excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with every preset delivering above 125 FPS. For competitive play, 1080p Low at 258.6 FPS is the clear choice, but even 1080p Ultra at 125.2 FPS is smooth enough for most displays. At 1440p, Medium at 125.4 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, while High at 107.1 FPS is also excellent. Ultra at 1440p drops to 80.2 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices smoothness for marginal visual gains.

At 4K, the recommendation is more nuanced. Low at 87 FPS is the best 4K option for high-refresh-rate panels, while Medium at 68.3 FPS provides a decent experience. High at 60.2 FPS barely hits the 60 FPS target, making it suitable for standard 60 Hz displays, but Ultra at 44 FPS should be avoided unless the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate. The data implies that the optimal experience for this combo is 1440p Medium or High, as it balances the GPU's strengths with the CPU's ability to feed frames.

For users with a 144 Hz monitor, 1440p Medium at 125.4 FPS is the recommended preset, as it stays above the refresh rate threshold. For 4K users, 4K Low at 87 FPS is the only preset that offers headroom above 60 FPS, making it the safest choice. The 1080p results are all above 120 FPS, so the limiting factor there is the display's refresh rate, not the hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for feeding the GPU. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and 27827 average benchmark score place it in the upper mid-range, and its nearest rival, the i9-10900K, is a statistical tie at 0% delta.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 258.6 FPS result likely approaches the processor's maximum frame generation capability. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1016 and cinebench R23 single-core score of 3309 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for a 2014 game that may not utilize all 16 threads efficiently. The multi-thread scores, such as cinebench R23 multicore at 23444, show the CPU has headroom for modern titles, but Minimum's age means it likely relies more on single-core performance.

The data suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing, except perhaps at the lowest settings and highest frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 44 FPS is the clear constraint, and the CPU's 16 threads are likely idle. The passmark multithread score of 27575 and geekbench multicore score of 12373 confirm the CPU has no trouble handling the game's logic, even at 4K. The conclusion is that the i5-12600KF is a capable partner that never holds the RX 6800 XT back, except in the most CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p Low.