Minimum

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a balanced mid-range platform for Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that scales predictably with workload, though the performance ceiling varies significantly depending on the bottleneck. This analysis breaks down the data to show where the GPU does the heavy lifting and where the CPU’s headroom becomes apparent.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, but the magnitude of the drop is heavily influenced by the preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 166.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 102.4 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 58.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, indicating that even at the lowest visual load, the Arc B580 is still the primary limiter. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper (43%) than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (38%), suggesting a non-linear scaling where pixel count becomes increasingly punishing.

At High settings, the same resolution steps yield 104.0 FPS, 65.7 FPS, and 39.1 FPS respectively. The 4K result here is nearly unplayable for smooth action, while 1440p remains acceptable. The difference between Low and High at 4K is significant: 58.1 FPS versus 39.1 FPS, a 19 FPS gap. This gap narrows at 1080p to 62.2 FPS (166.2 vs 104.0), showing that the GPU’s raw throughput is more taxed at higher resolutions, making the preset choice less impactful on absolute performance but more impactful on the percentage of performance lost.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most severe scaling, dropping from 79.1 FPS at 1080p to 49.8 FPS at 1440p and finally to 31.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the weakest measured point, sitting 48 FPS below the 4K Low result. This pattern confirms that Minimum is heavily pixel-bound at higher resolutions; the data shows no evidence of a CPU bottleneck until the frame rate climbs well past 100 FPS, which only occurs at 1080p with Low and Medium presets.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with a BMG-G21 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s, which is substantial for a card in this class. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective, and the GPU operates at a fixed 2670 MHz for both base and boost clocks. These specifications support the observed scaling: the 12 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for a 2014 title, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor in any measured configuration.

The GPU’s compute resources include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are the key metrics for understanding the 4K performance collapse. At 3840x2160, the pixel throughput requirement is extreme, and the data shows the card can only manage 39.1 FPS on High and 31.1 FPS on Ultra. This aligns with the GPU’s benchmark standing: it scores 15748 in Passmark G3D and sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which is only 0.7% faster, and the AMD Radeon 760M, which is 0.1% slower, placing the B580 in a tight competitive band.

The FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS is the raw compute ceiling, but the measured results suggest that memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are more relevant for this game. The 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is ample for the 12 GB buffer, yet the 4K Ultra result of 31.1 FPS indicates that the render output units are saturated. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 23021, compared to the RTX 4060’s 23181, reinforces that this is a mid-range part; it is not designed for maxed-out 4K gaming, as the data clearly shows.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support provide a solid foundation for gaming. The processor’s benchmark results are strong: it scores 23444 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3309 in single-core, placing it at the 84th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has an identical average score of 27829, and the i5-12600K is only 0.1% slower.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role becomes evident only at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 166.2 FPS, which is the highest measured result. This frame rate is high enough that the CPU’s per-core performance (single-thread score of 3925 in Passmark) becomes a potential constraint. However, the fact that the frame rate still increases when moving from Medium (125.4 FPS) to Low (166.2 FPS) suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter even at these high frame rates. The CPU has 16 threads, but a game from 2014 is unlikely to use all of them; the boost clock of 4.90 GHz is the more relevant figure for gaming.

The processor’s 3DMark results show a max-thread score of 7952 and a single-thread score of 1016, with the 16-thread score at 7956. This indicates excellent scaling up to 16 threads, but the marginal gain from 8 threads (6128) to 16 threads (7956) is only 30%, suggesting diminishing returns for gaming workloads. The data shows no measured scenario where the CPU is clearly the bottleneck: even at 1080p Low, the frame rate is GPU-limited, as evidenced by the fact that the 1440p Low result (102.4 FPS) is substantially lower. If the CPU were the constraint, the resolution reduction would not yield such a large performance gain.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: The data shows 4K performance is marginal. Low settings achieve 58.1 FPS, but High drops to 39.1 FPS and Ultra to 31.1 FPS. For a smooth 60 FPS target, 4K is not viable at any preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate play?

A: 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers 166.2 FPS, which is the only measured configuration that comfortably exceeds 144 Hz. Medium at 1080p yields 125.4 FPS, still suitable for 120 Hz displays.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest rival?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 23021, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060’s 23181. The AMD Radeon 760M is 0.1% slower, indicating the B580 is competitively positioned.

Q: Is the i5-12600KF a bottleneck for this game?

A: Benchmark data suggests no. The CPU’s single-thread score of 3925 and boost clock of 4.90 GHz provide ample headroom. The measured frame rate scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is the limiting component in all tested scenarios.

Q: What is the most balanced preset for 1440p?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 produce 65.7 FPS, which is a reasonable compromise between visual quality and smoothness. Low yields 102.4 FPS, but the visual trade-off is substantial.

Q: How much performance drops from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 104.0 FPS to 39.1 FPS, a 62% reduction. At Low settings, it drops from 166.2 FPS to 58.1 FPS, a 65% reduction.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of performance across twelve configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 166.2 FPS, Medium 125.4 FPS, High 104.0 FPS, and Ultra 79.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 87.1 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution but is still the primary limiter. The 1080p Ultra result of 79.1 FPS is the only sub-100 FPS reading at this resolution, indicating that maxing out settings is possible but not ideal for fast-paced gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 102.4 FPS, Medium 81.3 FPS, High 65.7 FPS, and Ultra 49.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 21.1 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 15.9 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset carries a disproportionately high cost relative to High, likely due to increased draw distances or shadow complexity. The 1440p Low result is the only configuration at this resolution that exceeds 100 FPS, making it suitable for high refresh rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 58.1 FPS, Medium 44.4 FPS, High 39.1 FPS, and Ultra 31.1 FPS. Every preset at 4K falls below 60 FPS, and the Ultra result is less than half of the 1080p Ultra result. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 13.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 8.0 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are overwhelmed. The data shows a clear trend: the higher the resolution, the smaller the absolute difference between presets, as the GPU becomes the sole constraint.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience on this hardware, the data points to 2560x1440 with High settings as the optimal balance. The 65.7 FPS average is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, and the visual quality is significantly better than Low or Medium. Pushing to Ultra at 1440p drops the frame rate to 49.8 FPS, which is a 24% reduction for marginal visual gains; this is not recommended for action-heavy sequences.

At 1920x1080, Medium settings at 125.4 FPS provide the best combination of frame rate and visual fidelity for competitive play. Low at 166.2 FPS is only 40 FPS faster but sacrifices substantial detail, making Medium the sensible choice for 120 Hz displays. Ultra at 1080p is viable at 79.1 FPS, but the 46 FPS drop from Medium suggests the preset includes effects that are not worth the performance cost on this GPU.

For 4K users, the data is unequivocal: only Low settings (58.1 FPS) approach playability, and even that falls short of 60 FPS. Medium at 44.4 FPS and High at 39.1 FPS are too inconsistent for a shooter, and Ultra at 31.1 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The recommendation is to avoid 4K entirely unless the user is willing to accept sub-60 FPS performance. The system’s overall rank of 1336 out of 1733 combinations confirms that this is a mid-pack configuration; the data suggests it is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it delivers respectable frame rates across all presets.