Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination in Minimum reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 258.7 FPS, which drops to 166 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 87.6 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the Radeon RX 6800 XT is the primary performance limiter as pixel count grows.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. With Ultra settings, the frame rate falls from 125.6 FPS at 1080p to 83.5 FPS at 1440p, then to 46.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is only 37% of the 1080p Ultra figure, demonstrating how the combination of increased resolution and demanding settings compounds the load on the GPU. At 1080p High, the system achieves 167.9 FPS, which is more than enough for smooth gameplay, but at 4K High, the average drops to 59.1 FPS — a 65% reduction.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU efficiently, as evidenced by the large gap between Low (258.7 FPS) and Ultra (125.6 FPS) settings. However, at 4K, the gap between Low (87.6 FPS) and Ultra (46.4 FPS) narrows in relative terms, confirming that the RX 6800 XT's compute resources — its 4608 shading units and 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance — become the bottleneck. The 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 256-bit bus width also play a role, as higher resolutions demand more memory throughput.

Interestingly, the Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 196.5 FPS at 1080p, 126.5 FPS at 1440p, and 70.8 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium is a 36% drop, while from 1440p to 4K it's a 44% drop. This non-linear degradation is typical of GPU-bound scenarios where the rendering workload increases quadratically with pixel count.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination achieves in Minimum?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 258.7, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This demonstrates the system's capability for very high refresh rate gaming at 1080p when graphical demands are minimized.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the system averages 59.1 FPS on High settings and 70.8 FPS on Medium. The Ultra preset dips to 46.4 FPS, which may be below the threshold for smooth gameplay. Low settings at 4K yield 87.6 FPS, providing a playable experience.

*Q: How does the CPU's core configuration affect Minimum's performance?*

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample resources for this 2014 third-person shooter, which does not appear to be CPU-limited based on the scaling data.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 166 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 83.5 FPS. This 82.5 FPS difference shows that the GPU's 128 ROPs and 288 TMUs are heavily taxed by the higher-quality presets.

*Q: Is the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Minimum at 4K?*

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for this game, even at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The bottleneck at 4K is the GPU's compute throughput, not memory capacity.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combination ranks 608 out of 1733 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the 65th percentile of all systems evaluated. This indicates solid but not top-tier performance among the database's tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 appears to be the sweet spot for this combination. It delivers 126.5 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold while still providing a meaningful upgrade over Low settings. At 1080p, the High preset at 167.9 FPS offers excellent smoothness and better visual fidelity than Medium's 196.5 FPS, making it the recommended choice for competitive play.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 258.7 FPS is the clear winner, though this sacrifices visual detail. At 4K, the High preset at 59.1 FPS is borderline playable, but the Medium preset at 70.8 FPS provides a safer margin for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The Ultra preset at 4K (46.4 FPS) is only advisable for cinematic playthroughs where frame rate is secondary to visual quality.

The data shows that the transition from Medium to High settings typically costs about 18-20% of frame rate across all resolutions. For example, at 1440p, Medium yields 126.5 FPS while High yields 107.6 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs another 22-24%, as seen in the 4K results where High produces 59.1 FPS and Ultra produces 46.4 FPS. These diminishing returns suggest that High is the optimal preset for most users, with Medium serving as a fallback for those seeking higher refresh rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing achieves a rank of 608 out of 1733 tested combinations in Minimum, which places it in the upper third of all systems in the database. The ranking reflects the combination's balanced performance profile, though it's important to note that Minimum is a 2014 title that benefits from both strong single-thread performance and substantial GPU resources.

The Intel Core i5-14600KF's percentile ranking of 93 among all CPUs indicates it's in the top 7% of processors tested, while the Radeon RX 6800 XT's percentile of 87 places it in the top 13% of GPUs. When paired together, the combined system ranks higher than the GPU's individual percentile, suggesting that the CPU's strength helps maximize the GPU's potential in this title.

The combo's position at 608 out of 1733 means there are 607 combinations that perform better and 1125 that perform worse. This places the system firmly in the upper-middle tier, with the 4K High result of 59.1 FPS being a key differentiator from lower-ranked combinations that may struggle to maintain 60 FPS at that resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF's 14 cores and 20 threads represent a modern high-core-count design from the Raptor Lake architecture. Its 3.50 GHz base clock and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for Minimum's game logic and physics calculations. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, while the 80 KB L1 cache per core ensures fast access to frequently used data.

The CPU's benchmark results reinforce its capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643 demonstrate excellent throughput for both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads. The Geekbench multi-core score of 15636 and single-core score of 2778 further validate this. PassMark single-thread performance of 4273 indicates that the CPU can handle the per-thread demands of a third-person shooter.

In Minimum, the CPU appears to provide sufficient headroom at all tested resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 258.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this title, but the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at higher resolutions. The fact that 4K Ultra drops to 46.4 FPS while the CPU has plenty of remaining capacity shows that the game's rendering workload is primarily GPU-bound at higher pixel counts.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node from Intel indicate a power-efficient design that can sustain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions. The dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support and PCIe Gen 5 x16 interface provide sufficient bandwidth for the GPU, though the RX 6800 XT's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface is the more relevant specification for data transfer.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its highest performance envelope. Low settings produce 258.7 FPS, Medium produces 196.5 FPS, High produces 167.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 125.6 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 133.1 FPS, showing the significant impact of graphical presets on frame rate at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, all presets show a substantial reduction. Low settings average 166 FPS, a 36% drop from 1080p. Medium achieves 126.5 FPS, High reaches 107.6 FPS, and Ultra settles at 83.5 FPS. The relative ordering remains consistent, with each quality tier delivering approximately 20-25% less performance than the next lower tier.

At 3840x2160, the system's limits become apparent. Low settings produce 87.6 FPS, which is still playable, while Medium delivers 70.8 FPS. High settings average 59.1 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target, and Ultra drops to 46.4 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at each preset is roughly 45-47%, confirming the GPU's role as the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

The full dataset shows a consistent pattern: the RX 6800 XT's performance degrades predictably as resolution increases across all four presets. The 1080p results, with a maximum of 258.7 FPS and minimum of 125.6 FPS, demonstrate that this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming. At 1440p, the system remains highly capable, with all presets exceeding 80 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium settings provide comfortable frame rates above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra require compromises.