Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a robust experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, with measurable performance scaling across resolutions and presets. The data shows this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and solid 1440p play, while 4K demands careful settings management. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS, component roles, and how this pairing ranks among the 1,733 tested combos.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average FPS drops from 230.9 on Low to 114.2 on Ultra, representing a significant 116.7 FPS gap. This indicates that Ultra settings nearly halve the frame rate, making the preset choice critical for competitive play.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 49,367 on average, which is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K (49,166) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (49,062). Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,889 reinforces its strong multi-threaded capability for gaming workloads.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards in the benchmark database?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 XT holds a 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30,097. It is virtually tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, which scores 30,109, a delta of 0%.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The measured data shows the GPU achieves 51.9 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. While 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth handles the load, the frame rate suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution.

Q: How much does the CPU's boost clock affect performance?

A: The i5-14600KF has a boost clock of 5.30 GHz across its 14 cores (20 threads). This high clock speed, combined with a 24 MB shared L3 cache, helps maintain high minimum frame rates, though the measured data only provides average FPS values.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested configurations?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 768th out of 1,733 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the upper-middle tier. This position reflects a balanced pairing that outperforms many older or lower-tier systems but is not at the very top of the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining playable frame rates. At 1920x1080, High yields 147.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors, while Ultra drops to 114.2 FPS, still playable but with diminishing returns in visual fidelity for a game from 2014.

For 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 99 FPS, which is excellent for most displays, while Medium achieves 117.1 FPS, offering a slight performance buffer. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 73.6 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but is less ideal for competitive scenarios. If maximizing frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 1080p produces 230.9 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that already has dated graphics.

At 3840x2160, the High preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, producing 51.9 FPS. Medium drops to 60.5 FPS, which seems counterintuitive, but the data shows High outperforms Medium at this resolution. Ultra at 4K is nearly unplayable at 37.2 FPS. Therefore, the recommended path is to use High settings for all resolutions, with the understanding that 4K will hover near the edge of 60 FPS tolerance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 147.9 at 1920x1080 to 99 at 2560x1440, a 33% reduction, and then to 51.9 at 3840x2160, a further 48% drop. This steep decline indicates that the Radeon RX 7700 XT is the limiting component as pixel count increases, with its 192-bit memory bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to feed the higher resolutions.

The Low settings data further confirms this: 230.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 148.7 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop) and 80.7 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). This consistent scaling pattern suggests that reducing settings does not alleviate the resolution bottleneck; the GPU's raw compute throughput of 35.17 TFLOPS is the primary driver. The CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions, as the i5-14600KF's strong single-thread performance (Geekbench single-core score of 2,778) is sufficient to keep up even at 1080p, where frame rates are highest.

Interestingly, the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p in percentage terms for most presets. This suggests that the memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s becomes a critical constraint at 4K, where the GPU must process significantly more pixels per frame. The data implies that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, balancing visual clarity with frame rates above 90 FPS on High settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of presets shows remarkable headroom. Low settings produce 230.9 FPS, Medium achieves 178.2 FPS, High reaches 147.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 114.2 FPS. The spread of 116.7 FPS between Low and Ultra demonstrates that the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows more variation. Low settings hit 148.7 FPS, Medium delivers 117.1 FPS, High provides 99 FPS, and Ultra falls to 73.6 FPS. This resolution appears to be the practical limit for Ultra settings, as the 73.6 FPS figure is still playable but no longer ideal for fast-paced action.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. High settings produce 51.9 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium achieves 60.5 FPS, slightly better than High, while Low reaches 80.7 FPS, making it the only preset that clears 60 FPS comfortably. Ultra settings bottom out at 37.2 FPS, which is not recommended for any gameplay scenario.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the clear performance limiter at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. With a boost clock of 2544 MHz and a game clock of 2171 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies, but its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration appears adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest it is insufficient for maintaining high frame rates.

The GPU's 3,456 shading units and 96 ROPs contribute to its 244.2 GPixel/s pixel rate, which is reflected in the 4K performance. The PassMark G3D score of 22,547 places it in the 73rd percentile, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,316 indicates solid DirectX 12 performance, which is relevant for a game like Minimum that supports modern APIs. The GPU's average benchmark score of 30,097 is nearly identical to the RTX 5060, suggesting comparable rasterization performance.

However, the data shows that at 4K High settings, the GPU delivers 51.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. This indicates that the 12 GB VRAM is not the bottleneck (as the game likely uses less than that), but rather the compute throughput and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The 5 nm process node and 28,100 million transistors provide ample compute power, but the 192-bit bus is a clear compromise for a card in this tier.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF plays a supporting role in Minimum, particularly at lower resolutions where frame rates are high. With 14 cores and 20 threads, a base clock of 3.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, the CPU provides substantial headroom for gaming. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,889 and single-core score of 4,643 indicate strong performance that prevents CPU bottlenecks, even at 1080p where the GPU is producing 230.9 FPS on Low settings.

The CPU's 24 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) help maintain consistent frame delivery. The PassMark multi-thread score of 38,697 and single-thread score of 4,273 further validate its capability. In the context of Minimum, which is a 2014 title likely optimized for fewer cores, the i5-14600KF's high boost clock is more important than its core count, and the data supports this: performance scales predictably with resolution changes, not with CPU load changes.

The CPU ranks in the 93rd percentile among all processors, and its average benchmark score of 49,367 is 0.4% higher than the i5-14600K. This suggests that the KF variant (without integrated graphics) offers nearly identical gaming performance, making it a reliable choice for this game. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility are standard for this class, but the focus remains on its ability to feed the GPU without becoming a limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 768th out of 1,733 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the 44th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a balanced mid-to-high-tier system that outperforms approximately 44% of tested combos but is not among the top performers.

The rank is influenced by both components' percentile standings: the CPU at 93rd percentile and the GPU at 73rd percentile. The CPU's strong performance relative to other processors helps boost the combo, while the GPU's mid-pack standing limits its overall position. Compared to the nearest rival combos, the GPU's performance is virtually identical to the RTX 5060 (0% delta), and the CPU is 0.4% ahead of the i5-14600K, suggesting that similar pairings would yield comparable rankings.

The measured FPS data supports this rank: at 1440p High settings, the combo achieves 99 FPS, which is respectable but not exceptional for a system with a 93rd percentile CPU. The 4K performance of 51.9 FPS on High settings further indicates that this combo is not optimized for ultra-high-resolution gaming, which likely contributes to its mid-pack ranking. However, for 1080p gaming, the combo's 147.9 FPS on High settings places it well above the average tested system, making it a strong choice for competitive play. The rank of 768th suggests that while this combo is capable, there are many other configurations with higher-end GPUs that achieve better performance in Minimum.