Minimum

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers a wide performance envelope in Minimum, ranging from 62.1 FPS at 4K Ultra to 354.2 FPS at 1080p Low. The measured data, drawn from 12 distinct resolution and preset pairings, reveals a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but transitions into CPU-bound territory as resolution drops and frame rates climb. This analysis breaks down the scaling behavior, component roles, and optimal settings for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates classic resolution scaling, with the most pronounced drops occurring at the highest quality presets. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 171.5 FPS at 1080p to 111.4 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 60.1 FPS, and then further to 62.1 FPS at 4K, representing a cumulative drop of 109.4 FPS from the 1080p baseline. This 64% decrease from 1080p to 4K at Ultra indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER’s rendering workload scales nearly linearly with pixel count, with the GPU's 16 GB memory buffer and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth becoming the primary constraint.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically. The 1080p Low result of 354.2 FPS drops to 231.1 FPS at 1440p (a 123.1 FPS decline) and then to 120.2 FPS at 4K (another 110.9 FPS decline). The absolute drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low is larger than the same resolution step at Ultra, which suggests that at 1080p Low, the i5-13400F is nearing its throughput ceiling. The CPU’s 3DMark max-thread score of 7307 and single-thread score of 960 indicate that at 354.2 FPS, the processor’s 10 cores and 16 threads are likely issuing draw calls faster than the GPU can rasterize them, making the CPU the limiting component at this extreme frame rate.

The Medium preset shows a similar but less extreme pattern: 269.3 FPS at 1080p, 176.2 FPS at 1440p, and 92.3 FPS at 4K. The High preset yields 225.7 FPS at 1080p, 145.7 FPS at 1440p, and 77.6 FPS at 4K. Across all presets, the 4K-to-1080p ratio remains roughly consistent at 2.8x to 3.0x, indicating that the game’s rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution. The data shows that at 4K, the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the dominant factor, as even the Low preset (120.2 FPS) cannot reach the 1440p Low result (231.1 FPS), confirming that pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth, not CPU speed, govern 4K performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER plays the decisive role in determining Minimum’s frame rates at 4K and 1440p. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient to feed the 112 ROPs and 10240 shading units at 4K resolutions. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 and PassMark G3D score of 34245 place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, trailing by a mere 0.2 deltaPct. This narrow margin indicates that the 4080 SUPER is a high-end part, but not an outlier; its performance in Minimum aligns with its synthetic benchmark standing.

The GPU’s clock behavior—2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost—combined with its 320 W TDP, suggests that sustained load at 4K Ultra will keep the card at boost clocks, but the measured 62.1 FPS at 4K Ultra shows that even this powerful GPU cannot achieve 60+ FPS headroom at the highest preset. The jump from 4K High (77.6 FPS) to 4K Medium (92.3 FPS) represents a 14.7 FPS improvement, while 4K Low (120.2 FPS) offers an additional 27.9 FPS over Medium. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU’s texture fill rate and memory bandwidth are the bottlenecks at 4K, as reducing preset quality from Ultra to Low yields a 58.1 FPS improvement (from 62.1 to 120.2 FPS), nearly doubling the frame rate.

At 1440p, the GPU remains the primary limiter, but the CPU begins to contribute. The 1440p Ultra result of 111.4 FPS is only 60.1 FPS lower than 1080p Ultra (171.5 FPS), whereas the 1440p Low result of 231.1 FPS is 123.1 FPS lower than 1080p Low (354.2 FPS). This asymmetry shows that at Low settings, the GPU’s work per pixel drops enough that the CPU’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 becomes a factor. The GPU’s PassMark DirectX 11 score of 301 and DirectX 12 score of 134 indicate that the card’s API efficiency is consistent, but the game’s engine likely relies more on traditional rasterization, given the 112 ROPs and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the compute foundation for this pairing, and its influence is most visible at 1080p and Low presets. The processor’s hybrid architecture—6 performance cores and 4 efficient cores, totaling 10 cores and 16 threads—delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004. These results place the CPU in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, posting a deltaPct of -0.5, meaning the 13400F is effectively tied with that part. The 13400F’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for game logic, but the game’s age (released 2014) suggests it may not fully utilize the 16 threads.

The CPU’s role becomes evident when comparing 1080p Low (354.2 FPS) to 1440p Low (231.1 FPS). If the GPU were the only limiter, the frame rate drop would be proportional to the pixel count increase (2.25x), yielding roughly 157 FPS at 1440p if the CPU could sustain it. Instead, the measured 231.1 FPS is much higher than that, indicating that at 1080p Low, the CPU is holding the GPU back. The 13400F’s boost clock of 4.60 GHz and base clock of 2.50 GHz allow it to handle the game’s single-threaded draw call submission, but the PassMark single-thread score of 3634 suggests a ceiling around 350-400 FPS in this engine. This is confirmed by the 1080p Low result of 354.2 FPS, which is likely within a few percent of the CPU’s maximum frame rate capability.

At 4K, the CPU’s impact diminishes. The 4K Low result of 120.2 FPS is less than half the 1080p Low result, and the gap between 4K Medium (92.3 FPS) and 4K High (77.6 FPS) is 14.7 FPS, which is consistent with GPU-side scaling. The CPU’s 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 and 4-thread score of 3459 indicate that the processor has strong low-thread performance, which is sufficient for a 2014 title’s typical 2-4 thread usage. The data shows that the 13400F is never the bottleneck at 4K, as even the highest 4K preset (Ultra, 62.1 FPS) leaves the CPU with headroom, evidenced by the fact that dropping to Low at 4K only increases FPS to 120.2, a GPU-driven change.

Settings Recommendations

For this i5-13400F + RTX 4080 SUPER configuration, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and frame rate priority. At 4K, the High preset (77.6 FPS) provides the best balance, as it stays above 60 FPS while delivering significantly better visual quality than Medium (92.3 FPS) or Low (120.2 FPS). The Ultra preset at 4K (62.1 FPS) is playable but leaves no headroom for frame time spikes, making High the safer choice for consistent 4K gameplay.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (176.2 FPS) is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors, as it exceeds 144 Hz while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity. The High preset (145.7 FPS) also clears 144 Hz but with a 30.5 FPS penalty over Medium. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1440p (231.1 FPS) provides the highest frame rate, but the visual trade-off may not justify the 54.9 FPS gain over Medium for most players.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset (171.5 FPS) is recommended for the best visual experience, as it still exceeds 165 Hz on most monitors. The High preset (225.7 FPS) and Medium (269.3 FPS) offer diminishing returns for frame rate chasing, and the Low preset (354.2 FPS) is only useful for esports-level refresh rates (360 Hz) where every frame matters. The data shows that the CPU becomes the limiter at 1080p Low, so players with standard 144 Hz displays should prioritize Ultra or High for image quality without sacrificing smoothness.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Minimum?*

A: No. The measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 62.1 FPS, which barely exceeds 60 FPS but provides no margin. The High preset at 4K (77.6 FPS) offers a more comfortable buffer for consistent 60+ FPS gameplay.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER the main bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Not at Low settings. The 1080p Low result of 354.2 FPS is likely CPU-limited, as the i5-13400F’s single-thread score of 960 in 3DMark indicates a processing ceiling. At Ultra settings (171.5 FPS), the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 53610 is only 0.2 deltaPct higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489), and 0.4 deltaPct above the Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). This indicates near-identical synthetic performance, though in-game results may vary.

Q: What frame rate should I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for 2560x1440 High is 145.7 FPS. This is 20.3 FPS higher than the 4K High result (77.6 FPS) but 80.0 FPS lower than 1080p High (225.7 FPS), showing a steep resolution penalty.

Q: Does the CPU’s 10-core configuration help in this game?

A: The i5-13400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for Minimum, a 2014 title. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 demonstrates headroom, but the game likely uses 2-4 threads, as indicated by the 3DMark 4-thread score of 3459, which is over 47% of the 16-thread score of 7314.

Q: Is the 4K Low preset (120.2 FPS) better than 1440p Ultra (111.4 FPS)?

A: The 4K Low preset provides 8.8 FPS more than 1440p Ultra, but at a significant visual quality cost. For a third-person shooter, the 1440p Ultra experience is generally preferable despite the lower frame rate, as the resolution difference is less impactful than the preset quality difference.