Minimum

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a combination that struggles significantly in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The measured data shows this pairing is firmly at the bottom of the performance hierarchy, ranking 2703rd out of 2939 tested combos. The Arc B370, with a low 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, acts as the primary bottleneck, making this setup unsuitable for smooth gameplay even at lower resolutions. The core issue is that the GPU's performance ceiling is extremely low, and while the CPU is capable, the graphics card simply cannot deliver playable frame rates in most scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable path to a somewhat playable experience is to use the Low preset at 1920x1080. This is the sole configuration that breaks the 60 FPS threshold, achieving an average of 85 FPS. Every other setting level at this resolution—Medium (65 FPS), High (55 FPS), and Ultra (42 FPS)—falls below the 60 FPS mark, with Ultra being noticeably sluggish. The data clearly indicates that the graphical overhead of higher presets is too much for the Arc B370 to handle, even with the capable i5-12600KF driving the system.

At 2560x1440, the situation worsens considerably. The Low preset dips to an average of 55 FPS, which is playable for some but not ideal. The Medium preset drops to 42 FPS, and High falls to 35 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience. The Ultra preset at this resolution is essentially unplayable at 27 FPS. For 3840x2160, no settings preset is recommended for actual gameplay. The best result is 30 FPS on Low, which is barely interactive, while Medium (23 FPS), High (19 FPS), and Ultra (15 FPS) are all far too slow to be considered functional.

The practical advice is to prioritize the Low preset. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 20 FPS (from 85 to 65), which is a substantial performance hit for what is often a modest visual improvement. Given that the GPU's performance is the limiting factor, users should keep all settings on their lowest values to maximize frame rate. The data suggests that even the CPU's strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1016, cannot compensate for the GPU's lack of raw throughput. In short, for this combo, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that offers a reasonable balance of speed and playability.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 1080p with high settings?*

A: No. At 1920x1080 with the High preset, the measured average FPS is 55. This is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset is even worse, averaging only 42 FPS. To achieve a higher frame rate, you must use the Low or Medium preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where a consistently playable frame rate is possible. Even then, it requires the Low preset to reach an average of 85 FPS. At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly, and at 3840x2160, the game becomes nearly unplayable on any setting.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF the reason for the low frame rates?

A: No, the data does not support that conclusion. The i5-12600KF has a high average benchmark score of 27799 and ranks in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. The bottleneck is the Intel Arc B370, which ranks in the 5th percentile of all GPUs and has a very low average benchmark score of 1184. The GPU is the limiting component.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its closest rivals in terms of raw performance?

A: The Arc B370's average benchmark score is 1184. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, has a score of 1186, which is -0.2% different. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M has a score of 1192 (-0.7%), and the AMD FirePro M2000 has a score of 1168 (1.4%). This places the Arc B370 in the same performance class as these older, low-power graphics solutions.

Q: What is the best FPS I can expect from this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 85, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only scenario where the frame rate exceeds 60 FPS. Every other resolution and settings combination yields lower results.

Q: Is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p significant?

A: Yes, the difference is noticeable. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 42 FPS, while the High preset averages 35 FPS. That is a 7 FPS drop, which represents a 16.7% decrease in performance for moving from Medium to High. The Low preset at this resolution is the only option above 50 FPS, achieving 55 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2703rd out of 2939 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the bottom 8% of all system configurations, indicating that it is an exceptionally weak pairing for this title. The rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's poor performance, as the CPU is a high-performing part. The i5-12600KF's average benchmark score of 27799 puts it in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, while the Arc B370's average score of 1184 puts it in the 5th percentile against all GPUs. This massive discrepancy confirms that the GPU is the sole reason for this low combo ranking.

The GPU's benchmark score of 1184 is nearly identical to that of its nearest rivals, which are all older, low-end parts. For instance, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190. These are not modern gaming parts, and the Arc B370 is performing at their level. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K with a score of 27872 and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with a score of 27896. This shows that the CPU is in a completely different performance league than the GPU. The system's overall rank of 2703 is a clear indicator that the GPU choice undermines the CPU's potential, creating a severely unbalanced system for gaming.

The data suggests that this combo is not designed for gaming performance. The Arc B370's low TDP of 25 W and its classification as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) point to it being a power-efficient solution for basic tasks, not for demanding applications like Minimum. The CPU, on the other hand, is a desktop-class processor with a TDP of 125 W. The pairing of a high-end CPU with an entry-level integrated GPU results in a system that is vastly underpowered for its intended use case in this game, as evidenced by its low rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a consistent pattern of underperformance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low preset averages 85 FPS, Medium averages 65 FPS (with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75), High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. This shows a clear linear progression where each higher preset costs roughly 10-20 FPS. The 20 FPS drop from Low to Medium is the largest single-step decrease, indicating that the Medium preset introduces a significant graphical load that the Arc B370 cannot handle efficiently.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across the board. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS (with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48), the High preset averages 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS. The relative performance gap between settings is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are much lower. For example, the Medium preset at 1440p (42 FPS) is slower than the High preset at 1080p (55 FPS), highlighting the significant cost of increasing resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses entirely. The Low preset averages just 30 FPS, which is below the threshold for acceptable playability. The Medium preset averages 23 FPS (with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26), the High preset averages 19 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 15 FPS. These numbers are all in the range of a slideshow, making the game effectively unplayable. The data shows that this combo is not capable of handling 4K resolution in Minimum under any circumstances, as even the lowest settings fail to reach 30 FPS consistently.

Resolution Scaling

The impact of resolution on performance is severe, clearly demonstrating that the GPU is the limiting component. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 85 to 55, a 35.3% decrease. This is a substantial loss for a single step up in resolution. The trend continues from 1440p to 2160p, where the Low preset drops from 55 FPS to 30 FPS, a further 45.5% decrease. The cumulative effect from 1080p to 4K is a 64.7% reduction in frame rate, from 85 FPS to 30 FPS.

This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution. However, the data shows a dramatic drop-off, indicating that the Arc B370 is struggling to fill the increasing number of pixels. The GPU's low pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are too low to sustain high frame rates at higher resolutions. The system's memory bandwidth is also listed as "System Dependent," which suggests it relies on shared system memory, further limiting its performance at high resolutions.

The pattern holds across all settings. For instance, at Medium settings, the FPS drops from 65 at 1080p to 42 at 1440p and then to 23 at 4K. This consistent trend across all presets reinforces the conclusion that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. The CPU's high performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391, is not being utilized to its full potential because the GPU cannot keep up with the demands of higher resolutions. The data paints a clear picture: to get a playable frame rate, you must stay at 1080p, as any increase in resolution comes with a prohibitive performance penalty.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a powerful processor that is wasted in this configuration. It features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, including a 3DMark max threads score of 7952 and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391. In terms of raw CPU power, this processor is more than sufficient for a game like Minimum, which was released in 2014 and is not known for being particularly demanding on the CPU. The processor's high single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1016, is also well-suited for gaming.

However, the benchmark results for this combo indicate that the CPU's capabilities are largely irrelevant to the final frame rate. The measured FPS is almost entirely dictated by the GPU's performance. The Arc B370, with its 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs, is a very low-end part. Its 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is minimal for modern standards. The GPU's low pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s directly limits how fast it can fill the screen, which is the primary factor in frame rate. The CPU can send frames to the GPU as fast as the GPU can process them, but the GPU's processing speed is the limiting factor.

The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any of the tested scenarios. If it were, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions, as the CPU's workload is not resolution-dependent. Instead, we see a massive drop in performance as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The i5-12600KF's role is to feed the GPU with data, and it does so without issue. The system's overall performance is constrained by the Arc B370's inability to render frames quickly enough. This pairing demonstrates that a high-end CPU cannot compensate for a graphics card that is several tiers below the performance level required for smooth gameplay. The CPU is ready to handle much more demanding tasks, but the GPU holds the entire system back.