Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The benchmark data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, rarely hitting a hard wall. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 311.6 FPS, dropping to 200.7 FPS at High settings. Moving to 4K, the Ultra preset still manages an average of 50.5 FPS, while the High preset achieves 66.7 FPS. This placement in the 292nd spot out of 1,733 tested combos suggests the pairing is firmly in the upper echelon of performance for this title, though not at the very top.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate curve from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low, the system hits 311.6 FPS, which is a massive number that points to the CPU and GPU both having ample headroom. However, the drop from Low to High at 1080p is significant—from 311.6 FPS down to 200.7 FPS—indicating that even at this resolution, the graphics settings are starting to load the GPU more heavily. The 4K results show a different dynamic: the gap between Low (109.3 FPS) and High (66.7 FPS) is proportionally smaller than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as pixel count rises.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly instructive. At 1440p High, the system delivers 126.4 FPS, but at 4K High, that number falls to 66.7 FPS—a reduction of roughly 47%. This halving of performance when doubling the pixel count is a textbook sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 4070 SUPER, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is being pushed hard at 4K, but it never falls below playable thresholds. At 4K Ultra, the 50.5 FPS average is the lowest measured point, but it remains within a range that many gamers would consider acceptable for a slower-paced shooter.

What is striking is the consistency of the scaling pattern. At every resolution, the Ultra preset costs roughly 25-30% of the frame rate compared to High. This uniformity indicates that the game engine scales predictably with the GPU's shading units and texture units, rather than hitting memory or bandwidth bottlenecks at specific resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 83 FPS versus the 4K High result of 66.7 FPS shows that the game's settings hierarchy has a clear, linear impact on performance, making it easy for users to predict the trade-offs they will face.

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 a game like Minimum, which originally launched in 2014, the CPU's role is less about raw multi-threaded throughput and more about sustained single-core performance. The benchmark data for this processor shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,643, which is a strong indicator of its ability to feed the GPU in frame-generation scenarios. The multi-core score of 32,889 in the same test suggests that even if the game were to scale to more threads, there is ample headroom.

The 14-core configuration is overkill for a third-person shooter from this era, but it ensures that background tasks and game logic never starve the main rendering threads. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which helps maintain consistent frame pacing. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 311.6 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show, and the frame rate only drops when the GPU workload increases.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-14600KF sits just 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K in average benchmark score, and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. These are marginal differences that would not manifest as perceptible frame rate changes in Minimum. The processor's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs further underscores that it is a top-tier part for gaming, though the game itself does not appear to stress it heavily. At 4K Ultra, the 50.5 FPS average is almost certainly dictated by the GPU, not the CPU, since the same processor can drive 311.6 FPS at lower settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Minimum. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, it features 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2,475 MHz and base clock of 1,980 MHz are relatively high, which helps explain the strong performance at lower resolutions. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that becomes relevant as resolution increases.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,627 and a Passmark G3D score of 29,995 place this GPU in the 84th percentile of all graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, is only 0.2% ahead in average score, while the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE trails by 0.3%. These are negligible differences in synthetic benchmarks, but in Minimum, the RTX 4070 SUPER's real-world results show a clear pattern: the GPU is the scaling factor when moving from 1080p to 4K.

At 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized until the Ultra preset is applied, which drops the frame rate from 240.1 FPS at Medium to 152.7 FPS. This suggests the game's Ultra settings introduce effects that hammer the shading units and memory bandwidth. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with the frame rate dropping from 109.3 FPS at Low to 50.5 FPS at Ultra. The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this title, even at 4K, as the game's age means texture sizes are modest by modern standards. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than enough for a game that launched nearly a decade ago, but the resolution-dependent scaling confirms that the GPU is the component that determines the experience at higher settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a straightforward path for optimizing the experience in Minimum. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays, the Medium preset at 240.1 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a significant jump from the High preset's 200.7 FPS without a visible quality compromise in most scenes. The Low preset at 311.6 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rates take precedence over visual fidelity, as the jump from Low to Medium costs only 71.5 FPS but likely delivers a much better image.

At 1440p, the High preset at 126.4 FPS is the recommended choice for most users, as it provides a smooth experience on 120Hz or 144Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 153 FPS is a viable alternative for those who prioritize frame rate, while the Ultra preset at 96.2 FPS still clears the 60 FPS threshold but may show minor dips in busy scenes. The Low preset at 200 FPS is excessive for 1440p and suggests the GPU is being underutilized.

For 4K users, the High preset at 66.7 FPS is the best balance of quality and performance. The Medium preset at 83 FPS is also excellent if the user is willing to sacrifice some visual effects, but High offers the best return on investment for a 60Hz display. The Ultra preset at 50.5 FPS is playable but not ideal, and the Low preset at 109.3 FPS demonstrates that the game can run exceptionally well at 4K if the user is willing to dial back settings. The data indicates that High is the default recommendation at any resolution, with Medium as a fallback for higher refresh rates and Ultra reserved for those with slower displays or a preference for maximum visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 292nd out of 1,733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 17% of all systems. This is a strong result for a mid-range to upper-mid-range pairing, especially considering the game's age and the fact that many higher-ranked combos likely feature more expensive GPUs or newer generations. The rank suggests that this system is well-balanced for this title, with no single component dragging down overall performance.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 84th percentile ranking both contribute to this solid overall position. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, is essentially tied in average score at a 0.4% delta, meaning the "F" suffix (no integrated graphics) offers no performance penalty in this game. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, is also virtually identical in score, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is well-positioned within its performance class.

The 292nd rank out of 1,733 combos means there are 291 systems that perform better in Minimum, but it also means the vast majority of systems—over 1,400—trail this pairing. For a game that is not particularly demanding by modern standards, this rank indicates that the combo delivers a high-quality experience across all tested resolutions and settings. The data shows that this is a pairing that will not struggle with Minimum under any configuration, making it a reliable choice for players who want to max out the game at 1080p or 1440p, or enjoy solid 4K performance at High settings.