Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Minimum, with the data showing that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the optimal balance of fluidity and visual fidelity. At this setting, the combo produces an average of 155 FPS, with a reported minimum of 131 FPS and maximum of 178 FPS, ensuring consistent frame times that are well above the threshold for competitive play. While the Low preset pushes the average to 202 FPS, the jump to High only yields 130 FPS, making Medium the clear sweet spot for this hardware pairing. The 155 FPS average at Medium is 25 FPS higher than High, and the frame pacing data suggests that the CPU-GPU balance is stable enough to avoid significant hitches, as evidenced by the narrow 47 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. For users with 144Hz displays, the Medium preset is the only setting that comfortably exceeds the refresh rate ceiling, whereas High and Ultra at 1080p drop to 130 FPS and 99 FPS respectively, potentially introducing tearing or requiring VRR to smooth out the experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows reveal a clear hierarchy in performance across the four presets, and the data indicates that Medium at 1080p is the most effective configuration for this combo. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to a 34 FPS average, which is unplayable for a third-person shooter requiring quick reflexes, while High at 4K manages 45 FPS—still below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K offers 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS, which is borderline but not recommended for fast-paced action. Shifting to 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers a 100 FPS average with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS, providing a solid high-refresh experience for 1440p monitors, though the 130 FPS Low preset is the only option that fully saturates a 144Hz panel at this resolution. The data strongly suggests that 1080p Medium is the default recommendation, as it offers a 155 FPS average that leaves headroom for background tasks or streaming, while the 1080p High preset at 130 FPS is acceptable for users who prioritize visuals over raw frame rate. The Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p shows diminishing returns, with 64 FPS at 1440p and 34 FPS at 4K, indicating that this setting is only viable at 1080p where it still achieves 99 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz, combined with 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to a raw FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS, which the benchmark results show is sufficient to handle Minimum at high frame rates but becomes the limiting factor at 4K resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for this 2014 title, as the data shows no indication of memory-related stuttering at any measured setting, even at 3840x2160 Ultra where the frame rate drops to 34 FPS due to compute load rather than memory exhaustion. The RTX 4060’s performance in the PassMark G3D benchmark of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2302 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 780M with a deltaPct of 0.3, indicating comparable rasterization performance. The GPU’s 115 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a modest addition to any system, but the data reveals that its 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB capacity are not bottlenecks in this game, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows a predictable degradation pattern consistent with compute-bound workloads.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across the three resolutions demonstrates a clear and consistent drop as pixel count increases, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario at higher settings. At the Medium preset, the average frame rate falls from 155 FPS at 1920x1080 to 100 FPS at 2560x1440, a 35% reduction, and then to 54 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 46% drop. This scaling pattern is steeper than what would be expected from a CPU bottleneck, indicating that the RTX 4060’s compute resources are the primary constraint as resolution rises. The Low preset shows a similar trend: 202 FPS at 1080p, 130 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K, with the 4K result still exceeding the 60 FPS threshold but requiring substantial visual compromises. The High preset follows suit with 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K, while Ultra drops to 99 FPS, 64 FPS, and 34 FPS across the same resolution ladder. The data suggests that the CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is not the limiting factor until frame rates exceed 200 FPS, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 202 FPS, which is likely approaching the engine’s draw call limit. The consistent 30-40% performance penalty when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 40-50% penalty from 1440p to 4K, points to the GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS being fully utilized at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s 20 MB shared L3 cache and 4.70 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom for physics and AI calculations.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database’s tested configurations, this Intel Core i5-14400F + RTX 4060 combination ranks 2000th out of 3712 total combos for Minimum, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the balanced nature of the pairing, where neither component dramatically outperforms the other relative to the game’s demands. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 32279 places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U at 32233 (deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Core i9-11900 at 32226 (deltaPct 0.2), indicating that the i5-14400F is competitive with older flagship processors. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 17639 places it in the 61st percentile, with the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (deltaPct 0.3) and AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (deltaPct 0.5) as close competitors, showing that the RTX 4060 is a mid-range performer in synthetic tests. The combo’s 2000th rank out of 3712 suggests that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it significantly outperforms the majority of systems tested in this game, particularly at 1080p where the measured FPS exceeds 130 on High settings. The ranking also implies that users upgrading from older GPUs or CPUs will see a substantial improvement, as the data shows this combo achieves frame rates that are 2-3 times higher than what older mid-range hardware might deliver.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node, provides 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This configuration, paired with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, delivers strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and single-core score of 3055. In Minimum, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where GPU load is reduced, and the data confirms that the i5-14400F is more than capable in this regard. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 202 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s draw call limit, and the CPU’s 16 threads ensure that background tasks do not cause frame drops, as the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 131, demonstrating consistent frame delivery. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 25470 and single-thread score of 3701 further underscore its ability to handle the game’s physics and AI calculations, which are typically single-threaded in older titles. The 65 W TDP and 215 mm² die size indicate an efficient chip, and its ECC memory support and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory compatibility provide flexibility for system builders. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck with 34 FPS, the CPU is not causing additional frame drops, as the frame rates scale consistently with resolution, suggesting that the i5-14400F’s 10 cores are sufficient to feed the RTX 4060 without becoming a limiting factor.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this hardware in Minimum?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides the best experience, delivering a 155 FPS average with a minimum of 131 FPS and maximum of 178 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform at 4K in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060 achieves 70 FPS on Low, 54 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 34 FPS on Ultra, indicating that 4K is only playable on Low or Medium settings for a smooth experience.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 202 FPS, suggesting the CPU is near its limit, but at Medium and higher settings, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling pattern.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 2000th out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the upper-middle tier, with the CPU in the 83rd percentile and GPU in the 61st percentile of all components.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium, and is it playable?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum FPS is 85 with an average of 100 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target and provides a smooth experience for competitive play.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause any issues at higher resolutions?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related stuttering or frame drops at any resolution, including 4K Ultra, indicating that 8 GB is sufficient for this game’s memory requirements.