Minimum

Settings Recommendations

For Minimum, the measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for this Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. The Medium preset delivers the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom across all three tested resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 237 FPS average with a minimum of 202 FPS and a maximum of 273 FPS; at 1440p it drops to 153 FPS average (130-176 FPS range); and at 4K it still holds 82 FPS average (70-95 FPS range). These figures show that Medium never falls below 70 FPS even at the most demanding resolution tested, making it the only preset with complete min/max data that maintains a playable floor everywhere.

High is a viable alternative for users prioritizing image quality over raw speed, but the trade-off is steep. At 4K High, the average drops to 69 FPS, which is 13 FPS slower than Medium’s 82 FPS — a 15.9% penalty. At 1440p, High yields 128 FPS versus Medium’s 153 FPS (a 19.5% reduction), and at 1080p High produces 199 FPS versus Medium’s 237 FPS (a 16.0% reduction). The pattern is consistent: High costs roughly 16-20% performance across the board compared to Medium.

Ultra is not recommended for this pairing. At 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many displays target. Even at 1440p Ultra, the 98 FPS average is only marginally above what Medium achieves at 4K. At 1080p Ultra, 152 FPS is respectable, but it sacrifices 85 FPS compared to Medium at the same resolution — a 35.9% loss for what is likely a marginal visual gain in a game from 2014.

Low settings are only sensible for competitive play at high refresh rates. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 310 FPS, which is 73 FPS higher than Medium (a 30.8% gain). At 1440p Low, 200 FPS is achieved, and at 4K Low, 108 FPS is still above Medium’s 4K result. However, the visual degradation from Low settings is substantial, and given that Medium already exceeds 200 FPS at 1080p, Low is unnecessary for most users.

The verdict: Medium is the sweet spot. It provides the only complete FPS range data (min/max) at all resolutions, and its 4K average of 82 FPS is the highest of any preset that also maintains a 70 FPS minimum.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Minimum. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a 2014 third-person shooter. The card’s base clock runs at 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and its 7168 shading units process FP32 operations at 35.48 TFLOPS. These specifications place the GPU in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 43223.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database — the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, NVIDIA Quadro M6000, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile — all score within 1% of the RTX 4070 SUPER. Specifically, the RTX 4070 SUPER trails the Quadro M6000 24 GB by 0.1%, the RTX 5050 Mobile by 0.1%, the Quadro M6000 by 0.2%, and the RTX 4090 Mobile by 1%. This indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is not just adequate for Minimum — it is positioned at the top of its performance tier.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU’s strength. At 1080p, the RTX 4070 SUPER pushes 310 FPS on Low settings, which suggests the GPU is rarely the limiting factor at this resolution. Even at 4K Ultra, the card still produces 53 FPS, a figure that would be far lower if the GPU were underpowered for this title. The 4K Medium result of 82 FPS (with a 70 FPS minimum) demonstrates that the GPU can handle high pixel counts while maintaining playable frame rates.

The GPU’s 5 nm process node from TSMC, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, provides the efficiency needed to sustain these clocks. The 220 W TDP is supported by a single 16-pin power connector, and the card’s dual-slot design with 267 mm length should fit most mid-tower cases. The 550 W suggested PSU rating indicates that this GPU does not demand excessive power infrastructure.

In the context of Minimum’s measured results, the RTX 4070 SUPER shows clear headroom. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (152-310 FPS depending on settings) that the GPU is likely idling or lightly loaded. The performance ceiling is only approached at 4K Ultra, where the 53 FPS average suggests the GPU is finally being stressed. Between 1080p and 4K, the scaling is smooth and predictable, which is characteristic of a GPU with ample bandwidth and compute resources.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this CPU/GPU combo in Minimum?

A: Medium is the optimal preset. It delivers 237 FPS at 1080p, 153 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K, with the only complete min/max data across all resolutions (202-273 FPS at 1080p, 130-176 FPS at 1440p, and 70-95 FPS at 4K). No other preset maintains a 70 FPS minimum at 4K.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the average is 82 FPS with a 70 FPS minimum, which is playable. At 4K High, the average drops to 69 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 53 FPS. For a stable 60 FPS experience at 4K, Medium is the recommended ceiling.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER scores 43223 on average in benchmarks, placing it in the 83rd percentile. It trails the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB by 0.1%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile by 0.1%, and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 by 0.2%. The largest gap is 1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The data suggests no significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 310 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 4.90 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU at these frame rates. The CPU scores 27799 on average, in the 79th percentile.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Low produces 310 FPS while Ultra produces 152 FPS — a difference of 158 FPS (51.0% faster on Low). At 1440p, the gap is 102 FPS (200 vs 98 FPS, or 51.0%). At 4K, the gap narrows to 55 FPS (108 vs 53 FPS, or 50.9%). The percentage difference is remarkably consistent across resolutions.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% behind the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE. It also trails the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D by 0.3%. These are all effectively statistical ties.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this pairing spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing 12 data points. Below is the full breakdown:

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 310 FPS average
• Medium: 237 FPS average (202 FPS minimum, 273 FPS maximum)
• High: 199 FPS average
• Ultra: 152 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 200 FPS average
• Medium: 153 FPS average (130 FPS minimum, 176 FPS maximum)
• High: 128 FPS average
• Ultra: 98 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 108 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average (70 FPS minimum, 95 FPS maximum)
• High: 69 FPS average
• Ultra: 53 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data at all resolutions, which suggests it was the primary test target. The data shows a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution. The gaps between presets are substantial — at 1080p, each step down in quality costs roughly 50-60 FPS on average. At 4K, the steps are smaller in absolute terms but proportionally similar.

Notably, the 1080p Low result of 310 FPS is the only measurement exceeding 300 FPS, and the 4K Ultra result of 53 FPS is the only measurement below 60 FPS. This indicates that the system’s playable envelope spans from 53 FPS at maximum quality 4K to 310 FPS at minimum quality 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At Medium settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average from 237 FPS to 153 FPS (a 35.4% drop), and the transition from 1440p to 4K reduces it further to 82 FPS (a 46.4% drop). The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 65.4% (from 237 to 82 FPS).

At High settings, the same transitions yield: 199 FPS at 1080p, 128 FPS at 1440p (a 35.7% drop), and 69 FPS at 4K (a 46.1% drop from 1440p). The cumulative drop is 65.3%. At Ultra settings: 152 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (a 35.5% drop), and 53 FPS at 4K (a 45.9% drop from 1440p). The cumulative drop is 65.1%.

The consistency of these percentage drops — roughly 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 46% from 1440p to 4K, regardless of settings — is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling would flatten at higher resolutions (as the GPU becomes more stressed) or show different patterns across settings. Instead, the nearly identical scaling percentages across all four presets indicate that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary determinant of frame rates.

The pixel count increase from 1080p to 1440p is 77.8% (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels), and from 1440p to 4K is 125% (from 3.69 million to 8.29 million pixels). The fact that FPS drops by approximately 35% and 46% respectively, rather than falling proportionally with pixel count, suggests that the GPU has some headroom in memory bandwidth and compute that partially offsets the raw pixel load.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly different: 310 FPS at 1080p, 200 FPS at 1440p (a 35.5% drop), and 108 FPS at 4K (a 46.0% drop from 1440p). The cumulative drop is 65.2%. This mirrors the other presets almost exactly, reinforcing the conclusion that resolution scaling is independent of quality settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF plays a supporting but non-limiting role in Minimum’s performance. This Alder Lake processor features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The 20 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 provide ample bandwidth for feeding the RTX 4070 SUPER.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12600KF achieves an average score of 27799, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.3%: the Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U scores 27887 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896 (0.3% higher). These are statistical ties, meaning the i5-12600KF is competitively positioned in its class.

The CPU’s multithreaded performance is strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23391, and 3DMark 16-thread scores 7956. Single-thread performance is also respectable, with Geekbench single-core at 2157 and Cinebench R23 single-core at 3302. This dual strength is important for Minimum, which likely benefits from both high clock speeds (for game logic) and multiple cores (for background tasks and streaming).

The evidence that the CPU is not a bottleneck comes from the FPS data. At 1080p Low, the system produces 310 FPS — if the CPU were the limiting factor, this frame rate would be constrained by processor throughput. The fact that the system can reach such high frame rates indicates that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s output. Additionally, the consistent resolution scaling (described above) shows that frame rates drop predictably with increasing pixel counts, which is the behavior of a GPU-bound system.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility are standard for its generation. Its 10 nm process node from Intel, with a die size of 215 mm², places it in the mainstream desktop segment. The unlocked multiplier allows overclocking, though the data shows the stock configuration is already sufficient for this game.

The passmark multithread score of 27575 and single-thread score of 3925 further confirm the CPU’s balanced capabilities. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1995 indicates solid dual-core performance, which is relevant for games that rely on a few heavily loaded threads. Overall, the i5-12600KF provides more than enough processing power for Minimum, leaving the RTX 4070 SUPER as the definitive performance arbiter.