Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a wide spread of frame rates in Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter. Across the twelve measured data points, performance scales from a playable 38 FPS at 4K High to a fluid 170 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination ranks 2602nd out of 3712 tested combos for this title, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The following analysis interprets these numbers to reveal where the bottleneck lies and what settings provide the best experience.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, which is a classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p High, the combo produces 109 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 71 FPS, a reduction of 38 FPS or roughly 35%. The jump to 4K High cuts performance further to 38 FPS, which is a 65% drop from the 1080p High figure. This pattern is consistent across all settings tiers, indicating that the rendering workload is scaling heavily with pixel count.

The Low preset tells the same story with even more extreme numbers. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 170 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 110 FPS, a 60 FPS decline. At 4K Low, the average falls to 59 FPS. The fact that even the lowest settings cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K strongly suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary limiter at that resolution. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the 4K framebuffer, regardless of how low the graphical details are set.

Comparing the Medium preset’s minimum and maximum FPS values provides further insight. At 1080p Medium, the range is 111 to 150 FPS, a healthy spread. At 1440p Medium, the range tightens to 71 to 97 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range narrows dramatically to 38 to 52 FPS. The shrinking frame time variance as resolution rises indicates that the GPU is consistently working at its limit, leaving little headroom for variation. The data implies that for smooth 60 FPS gameplay, 4K is off the table for this combo, while 1440p remains viable for mid-range refresh rates.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594, placing it in the 90th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 0.3% higher on average, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388, which scores 0.8% higher. This level of processing power is far beyond what Minimum, a title from 2014, would require for logical and physics calculations.

The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The system achieves 170 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. If the CPU were limiting performance, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at a lower value regardless of resolution. Instead, frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution, indicating that the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them at higher resolutions. The i5-14600KF’s high single-thread performance from its 5.30 GHz boost clock is likely sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p without creating a bottleneck.

However, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent when considering the low preset at 4K. The 59 FPS result at 4K Low is roughly equivalent to the 60 FPS threshold often cited for smooth gameplay. The fact that it hovers right at this boundary suggests that while the GPU is the main constraint, the CPU is still contributing enough overhead to avoid causing a severe frame rate collapse. The 14 cores and 20 threads are likely overkill for this game, but the high clock speeds ensure that the game’s main thread is processed efficiently, allowing the GPU to work at its maximum potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for a consistent 60 FPS experience?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium produces an average of 84 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. This is the lowest resolution/setting combination that maintains an average above 60 FPS while staying below the 4K tier. At 1440p High, the average drops to 71 FPS, which is still above 60 but closer to the threshold. For a strict 60 FPS floor, 1440p Medium is the safest choice.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset perform?

A: The 4K Ultra preset yields an average of 29 FPS. This is the lowest measured score in the entire dataset and is not suitable for real-time gameplay. This result is consistent with the GPU being the limiting factor, as the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot handle the combined load of 4K resolution and maximum graphical details.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Low and High settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 170, while at 1080p High, it drops to 109 FPS. This represents a 61 FPS difference, or roughly a 36% performance penalty for enabling High settings. The trade-off is between visual fidelity and frame rate headroom.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured values for 1440p Medium show an average of 84 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. This indicates that frame times are relatively stable, with a spread of 26 FPS between the minimum and maximum. This range suggests that the GPU is handling the load consistently without major spikes.

Q: Does the combo’s rank in this game reflect its overall hardware performance?

A: The combo ranks 2602nd out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the lower 30% of all tested systems. Given that the CPU is in the 90th percentile for all CPUs and the GPU is in the 62nd percentile for all GPUs, the low game-specific rank suggests that the GPU is holding back the overall experience in this title.

Q: How does the 4K Low preset compare to the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: The 4K Low preset averages 59 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset averages 83 FPS. This shows that resolution has a more significant impact on performance than settings in this case. The 24 FPS difference between these two configurations highlights the GPU’s struggle with the 4K pixel count, even when visual details are minimized.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target frame rate and resolution. For players with a 1080p monitor, the High preset offers a strong balance, delivering 109 FPS on average. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a significantly better visual experience than the Low preset, which reaches 170 FPS but with reduced graphical quality. The Medium preset at 1080p, averaging 130 FPS, is also a viable option for those seeking a middle ground between visuals and performance.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It achieves an average of 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS, ensuring that frame rates stay above the 60 FPS mark even during demanding scenes. The High preset at 1440p, averaging 71 FPS, is playable but leaves less headroom for frame rate dips. The Low preset at 1440p, at 110 FPS, is smooth but sacrifices too much visual quality for the resolution. At 4K, no preset provides a consistently smooth experience, with the Low preset averaging 59 FPS and the Ultra preset dropping to 29 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only playable option, but it sits right at the edge of playability.

The data suggests that the "sweet spot" for this hardware is 1440p Medium or 1080p High. Both configurations maintain average frame rates above 84 FPS, which is sufficient for most gaming monitors. The 4K resolution should be avoided unless the user is willing to accept frame rates in the 30-60 FPS range, which is not ideal for a third-person shooter. The measured rows clearly indicate that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, making 1440p the practical ceiling for this processor-GPU combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination holds the 2602nd position out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This rank, which places the combo in the 70th percentile from the bottom, is notably lower than what the individual component benchmarks would suggest. The CPU alone is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. The discrepancy between these high individual scores and the low game-specific rank highlights the GPU’s dominant role in this title.

The nearest rivals for the GPU include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, which scores 0.4% higher on average, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, which scores 0.5% higher. These are comparable GPUs, and the small performance differences are unlikely to change the overall ranking significantly. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with a 0.3% higher average score, are also very close in performance. This indicates that the combo’s low rank is not due to a weak pairing of components, but rather the inherent limitations of the GPU when faced with the demands of Minimum at higher resolutions.

The rank of 2602 out of 3712 suggests that there are over 1000 tested combinations that perform better in this game. This is consistent with the GPU’s mid-range standing, as many systems with newer or higher-tier graphics cards would outperform it. The data implies that while the i5-14600KF provides ample processing power, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck that prevents this combo from achieving a higher ranking. For users looking to improve performance in Minimum, upgrading the GPU would yield a more significant benefit than upgrading the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 170 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. High settings produce 109 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 83 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs roughly 20-40 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 110 FPS, which is still a very playable frame rate. Medium settings average 84 FPS, with a range of 71 to 97 FPS. High settings drop to 71 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 54 FPS. The 1440p data shows a steeper decline between Medium and Ultra, suggesting that the higher settings are taxing the GPU more heavily at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset averages 59 FPS, which is the only setting that approaches playability. Medium settings average 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 52 FPS. High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The 4K data reveals that the GPU is completely overwhelmed by the pixel count, with even the lowest settings failing to maintain a consistent 60 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 30 FPS, compared to an 87 FPS difference at 1080p, illustrating the diminishing returns of lowering settings at extreme resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. Its 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 7.181 TFLOPS. These specifications place the GPU in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18093.

In the context of Minimum, the GPU’s role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game’s textures, as there are no signs of texture streaming issues or crashes. However, the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor at 4K. The 4K framebuffer requires significantly more memory bandwidth to move pixel data, and the GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates at that resolution suggests it is saturating its available bandwidth.

The GPU’s boost clock of 1650 MHz is moderate, and the data shows that the card struggles to keep up with the CPU at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU can deliver up to 170 FPS, which indicates it has enough raw compute power for lower pixel counts. But at 4K, the pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s is insufficient to fill the screen at high frame rates. The 29 FPS result at 4K Ultra is a direct consequence of this limitation. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the RTX 3060 Mobile with a 0.4% higher average score, would likely exhibit similar performance characteristics in this game, reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary performance constraint in this combo.