Minimum

Minimum, the 2014 third-person shooter, remains a demanding title for modern hardware, and the combination of an Intel Core i5-14600KF with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER produces a wide spectrum of performance across resolutions and settings. The data indicates this pairing is capable of triple-digit frame rates at 1080p, but struggles to maintain fluid motion at 4K, clearly illustrating where each component's influence begins and ends. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, the role of the CPU and GPU, and provides actionable settings recommendations based solely on the benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates demonstrate a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, which is a classic indicator of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with High settings, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers an average of 121 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 78 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls to 42 FPS. This progression shows a linear relationship between pixel count and frame time, confirming that the graphics card is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system produces 188 FPS, which drops to 121 FPS at 1440p and 65 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is roughly 65%, while at High settings, the same resolution jump results in a 65% decrease as well. This consistency across presets suggests the game's engine is scaling workload directly with pixel output, and the RTX 2070 SUPER's pixel throughput is being saturated.

However, the data also reveals a point where the CPU begins to assert its influence. The gap between 1080p Low (188 FPS) and 1080p High (121 FPS) is significant, but the gap between 1080p High and 1440p High (78 FPS) is even larger. This suggests that at 1080p Low, the frame rate is high enough that the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes a factor, preventing the system from reaching even higher numbers. The i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, but the data indicates that the system is nearing the ceiling of what this specific game engine can extract from the CPU at those frame rates.

The 4K results paint a clear picture: the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS collapses to 32, which is barely playable. The transition from 1440p Ultra (59 FPS) to 4K Ultra (32 FPS) is a 45% reduction, highlighting the massive pixel fill rate required at 3840x2160. This is a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU's high boost clock of 5.30 GHz and substantial cache cannot compensate for the graphics card's memory bandwidth and shader throughput limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In this benchmark, its role is to ensure the GPU is fed with enough draw calls and physics calculations to maintain high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lightest, the system achieves 188 FPS, indicating that the CPU is capable of handling the game's single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads well above the 144 Hz threshold.

The processor's performance in synthetic benchmarks aligns with its gaming capability. It scores 4594 points in Cinebench R23 single-core and 32544 points in multi-core, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, has an average benchmark score of 49228, a mere 0.3% difference, which suggests that in CPU-light scenarios, the i5-14600KF will perform virtually identically to its direct competition.

However, the game's engine appears to be more sensitive to raw single-thread performance than to multi-core scaling. The i5-14600KF's high boost clock and 24 MB of shared L3 cache are the key specifications that allow it to maintain high minimum frame rates, as evidenced by the 1080p Medium preset showing a minimum of 122 FPS. The PassMark single-thread score of 4273 points further underscores its strength in this area. The data suggests that for Minimum, a user upgrading from a weaker CPU would see the most benefit at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, where the frame rate is less constrained by the GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a Turing-architecture card with 2560 shading units, 40 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The measured frame rates indicate that this memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the higher resolution demands more memory capacity and bandwidth for textures and framebuffer operations.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1605 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, which are modest by modern standards. The data shows that the card's performance scales poorly with resolution increases, confirming that its 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput is the primary bottleneck at 4K. At 4K High, the system averages 42 FPS, which is below the ideal 60 FPS target, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 32 FPS. The card ranks in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Arc B570, which has an average score of 20556, a 1.3% difference.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's performance in DirectX 12 is notably weak, with a PassMark score of just 67 points, compared to 151 points in DirectX 11. This suggests that the game, being a 2014 title, is likely using an older DirectX 11 path, where the card performs relatively better. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1651 points is low, but this does not directly translate to Minimum's performance. The data strongly suggests that for this game, the GPU's raw fill rate and memory bandwidth are more important than its ray tracing or tensor core capabilities, which remain idle in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. For the 1920x1080 resolution, the system achieves an average of 188 FPS on Low, 144 FPS on Medium, 121 FPS on High, and 92 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 122 FPS and a maximum of 165 FPS, indicating good frame pacing consistency. At 1080p, all settings are playable, and even Ultra exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance becomes more moderate. The Low preset delivers 121 FPS, Medium drops to 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS, High produces 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 59 FPS. The 1440p Ultra preset is borderline, hovering just below the 60 FPS mark, which may be noticeable to users with high refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p offers a good balance, with an average that stays well above the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the performance is severely constrained. The Low preset averages 65 FPS, Medium drops to 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, High produces 42 FPS, and Ultra averages just 32 FPS. The 4K Medium preset is the only one that approaches playability, but its minimum of 42 FPS indicates that there will be noticeable stutters in demanding scenes. The 4K High and Ultra presets are not recommended for a smooth experience, as the average FPS falls below the 40 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF and RTX 2070 SUPER combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the system achieves an average of 78 FPS, and with Medium settings, it averages 93 FPS. However, at Ultra settings, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware to maintain a high refresh rate?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution for high refresh rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 188 FPS, and with High settings, it still achieves 121 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz monitors.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 4K?

A: No, the data shows that at 4K, the frame rates are entirely GPU-bound. The RTX 2070 SUPER's performance drops significantly from 1440p to 4K, while the CPU's high boost clock and core count are more than sufficient to handle the game's logic at those lower frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival for this game?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, which is 1.5% lower than the Intel Arc A750's score of 20582. This suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the Arc A750 is slightly faster, but the measured data for this specific game shows the RTX 2070 SUPER is capable of 42 FPS at 4K High.

Q: Which graphics settings should be prioritized for visual quality without a major FPS hit?

A: Moving from High to Ultra at 1440p results in a drop from 78 FPS to 59 FPS, a 24% decrease. The data suggests that the High preset offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance, as the jump to Ultra provides diminishing returns for the frame rate cost.

Q: Is the 4K Medium preset playable on this system?

A: The data shows that 4K Medium averages 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS. This is technically playable, but users may experience noticeable frame drops in intense combat scenes. The 4K Low preset, with an average of 65 FPS, is a safer choice for a smoother experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display resolution and performance targets. For users with a 1920x1080 display, the High preset is recommended, as it delivers an average of 121 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium. Users with 120 Hz or higher refresh rate monitors can consider the Medium preset, which yields 144 FPS, or even Low, which hits 188 FPS, to fully utilize their display's capabilities.

For 2560x1440 displays, the High preset is the best choice for a balance of visual quality and performance, achieving 78 FPS. Users who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity can drop to Medium, which offers 93 FPS, while those who want maximum visuals can use Ultra, but should expect an average of 59 FPS, which may result in occasional dips below 60. The data does not recommend using Low at 1440p, as the visual downgrade is significant for only a 43 FPS increase over High.

For 3840x2160 displays, the situation is more challenging. The data suggests that the Low preset, with an average of 65 FPS, is the only truly playable option for maintaining a smooth experience. The Medium preset, at 50 FPS, is playable but will have noticeable stutters, as indicated by its 42 FPS minimum. High and Ultra presets are not recommended for 4K, as their averages of 42 FPS and 32 FPS, respectively, fall below acceptable playability thresholds. The overall data indicates that this hardware pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant compromises to the settings preset.