Minimum

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a fascinating dataset in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is massively over-provisioned for the title, yet the scaling patterns between settings and resolutions expose the specific bottlenecks and strengths of each component. The data shows a combination that ranks in the top 1.3% of tested configurations, but the experience is defined by how the GPU's immense power interacts with a capable but more modest CPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across four presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 197.8 FPS, which is a strong result for a high-fidelity setting. However, dropping to High yields 263.4 FPS, a substantial increase of 65.6 FPS, while the visual difference between these two presets is typically minimal in a game of this era. The Medium preset offers 315 FPS, and Low reaches 386.7 FPS. For competitive play at 1080p, the data suggests High is the optimal balance, as it provides a high refresh rate experience without the steep performance penalty of Ultra. The jump from High to Medium is 51.6 FPS, which is noticeable, but the jump from Ultra to High is even more significant, making High the most efficient choice for maximizing frame rate while retaining quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the trend continues. High produces 170.4 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth. Ultra drops to 132 FPS, a 38.4 FPS reduction from High. Medium and Low deliver 199.2 FPS and 262 FPS respectively. At this resolution, High remains the recommended preset; it keeps the frame rate well above 144 Hz, which is the target for most high-refresh-rate monitors, while avoiding the diminishing returns of the Ultra preset. The data indicates that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution, making the visual quality increase from Medium to High a worthwhile trade for the 29.2 FPS cost.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. High yields 90.4 FPS, which is playable but no longer in high-refresh territory. Ultra drops to 71.9 FPS, a significant 18.5 FPS decrease from High. Medium provides 108.2 FPS, and Low reaches 139.3 FPS. For 4K, the data suggests Medium is the best experience. It is the only preset above 100 FPS that still retains a reasonable level of visual fidelity. Pushing to High costs 17.8 FPS for a marginal visual gain, while dropping to Low gains 31.1 FPS but noticeably reduces image quality. The best experience per the measured rows is the High preset at 1080p and 1440p, and the Medium preset at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-13400F and RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 22 out of 1733 tested configurations in Minimum. This places it in the top 1.3% of all combinations, indicating that this pairing is exceptionally well-suited for this title. The rank is not surprising given the GPU's capabilities, but it is notable that the CPU does not hold the system back from achieving such a high position. The data implies that even with a top-tier GPU, the i5-13400F provides enough processing power to allow the system to compete with far more expensive CPU+GPU pairings.

This rank becomes more interesting when considering the CPU's standing relative to its peers. The i5-13400F has a percentile of 82 among all CPUs, meaning it is faster than 82% of the market. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% faster), the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9474F (0.5% slower). These are all extremely close scores, showing that the CPU is in a tightly packed performance tier. The fact that this combination still reaches rank 22 in the game suggests that the game's engine is not heavily CPU-bound, allowing the GPU to dominate the frame rate calculations.

The GPU itself holds a percentile of 94 among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D (0.1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% faster), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% slower). This places the RTX 5090 at the very apex of GPU performance. The combination of a top-6% GPU with a top-18% CPU results in a top-1.3% gaming combo, which demonstrates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance in Minimum. The data suggests that the CPU's rank is less influential on the final outcome, as the system's position is buoyed almost entirely by the GPU's dominance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This memory configuration is far beyond what Minimum requires, as the game was released in 2014 and has modest texture requirements. The data shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting. The measured FPS scales consistently with the graphical preset, indicating that the GPU's compute resources, not its memory, are the primary determinant of performance.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed as a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz. These high clocks contribute to the raw compute throughput, which is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This immense processing power is what enables the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. For example, at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 386.7 FPS, which suggests the GPU is capable of rendering frames faster than the display can likely show them. The GPU's role is clearly to push frame rates to their absolute ceiling, and the data confirms it does so without breaking a sweat at lower resolutions.

The GPU's performance percentile of 94 and its average benchmark score of 84306 further underscore its dominance. In synthetic tests like 3DMark Steel Nomad, it scores 14411, and in Passmark G3D, it reaches 39650. These scores correlate with the gaming results, where the GPU is the clear bottleneck only at 4K Ultra, where it drops to 71.9 FPS. At every other setting and resolution, the GPU has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates, proving that its 32 GB of VRAM and 21760 shading units are more than sufficient for a game of Minimum's age.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 386.7 FPS on Low, 315 FPS on Medium, 263.4 FPS on High, and 197.8 FPS on Ultra. The progression shows a consistent cost for each step up in quality: moving from Low to Medium costs 71.7 FPS, from Medium to High costs 51.6 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 65.6 FPS. This linear scaling suggests that the GPU is not encountering any memory or bandwidth limitations, and the frame rate is purely a function of shader load.

At 2560x1440, the scores are 262 FPS on Low, 199.2 FPS on Medium, 170.4 FPS on High, and 132 FPS on Ultra. The relative drop from 1080p is significant, but the absolute numbers remain highly playable. The gap between Low and Ultra is 130 FPS, which is a 50.4% reduction. The data shows that even at 1440p Ultra, the system maintains a frame rate that is higher than the 4K High preset, indicating that resolution has a more substantial impact on the GPU load than the preset does.

At 3840x2160, the results are 139.3 FPS on Low, 108.2 FPS on Medium, 90.4 FPS on High, and 71.9 FPS on Ultra. This is the only resolution where the system begins to show signs of strain, particularly at the High and Ultra presets. The 4K Ultra score of 71.9 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, but it is still above the 60 FPS threshold. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep, which is expected given the 2.25x increase in pixel count. The data illustrates that the RTX 5090 is powerful enough to handle 4K, but the game's engine and the CPU's frame pacing become more apparent at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system's load shifts. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 263.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 170.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a 35.3% decrease. Moving to 3840x2160, it drops to 90.4 FPS, a 47% decrease from 1440p. This shows that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, which is typical for a game with moderate CPU demands. The CPU's role is consistent, but the GPU's pixel-pushing capability is what determines the final frame rate.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more telling. The system achieves 386.7 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 262 FPS at 1440p (a 32.2% decrease) and then to 139.3 FPS at 4K (a 46.8% decrease from 1440p). The fact that the frame rate still drops significantly at Low settings when the GPU load is minimal suggests that the CPU is starting to become a factor at 1080p. With a 10-core, 16-thread processor, the i5-13400F is not weak, but at 386.7 FPS, the CPU's frame generation limits are likely being approached. The data implies that the limiting component at 1080p Low is the CPU, while the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K.

The scaling pattern across all presets shows a consistent relationship: the higher the resolution, the more the GPU dominates. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 188.9 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is 67.4 FPS. This narrowing gap indicates that the GPU is being saturated at 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU is preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs. The data suggests that the i5-13400F is a capable partner, but it does impose a ceiling on the absolute maximum frame rate achievable in Minimum.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting for the highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured frame rate is 386.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the absolute maximum, but the High preset at 1080p still delivers 263.4 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236. It is 0.1% faster than the Intel Core i7-13620H, 0.5% slower than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, and 0.5% slower than the AMD EPYC 9474F.

Q: Is the GPU's 32 GB of VRAM necessary for this game?

A: The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, but Minimum does not require this capacity. The data shows no performance anomalies related to memory, indicating the VRAM is more than sufficient for all settings.

Q: What is the GPU's score in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 scores 14411 in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 39650 in Passmark G3D. Its average benchmark score is 84306, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combination of the i5-13400F and RTX 5090 ranks 22nd out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 1.3% of all configurations.

Q: At which resolution does the system start to struggle?

A: The system maintains high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 71.9, which is the lowest measured score but still above 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. These specifications are more than adequate for a 2014 game. The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004, indicate strong processing power. In Minimum, this translates to a CPU that can easily feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the CPU's role becomes more apparent at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. At these levels, the CPU's frame pacing and draw call processing become potential bottlenecks. The 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is a solid mid-to-high-range part, but it is not in the same league as the GPU. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, is 0.1% faster in average benchmark score, showing that the i5-13400F is at the top of its class.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a versatile choice, but its performance in Minimum is what matters here. The benchmark results indicate that while the CPU is not the star of the show, it does not detract from the overall experience. At 4K, the CPU's load decreases relative to the GPU, and the frame rates are entirely GPU-bound. The data confirms that the i5-13400F is a capable partner for the RTX 5090, providing enough throughput to achieve top-tier rankings without limiting the GPU's potential at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is to ensure the GPU is never starved of data, and the measured FPS shows it succeeds admirably.