Minimum

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptional experience in Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter. The benchmark data shows this combination ranks 41st out of 1733 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of all systems. The pairing proves remarkably balanced, though the scaling patterns reveal that the CPU becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions while the GPU takes over at 4K. This is a system that can push the game's engine to its absolute limits, with measured frame rates ranging from a floor of 67.2 FPS at 4K Ultra to a ceiling of 397.1 FPS at 1080p Low.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about which component governs performance at each setting. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces average frame rate from 397.1 to 254.7, a drop of 142.4 FPS. Moving further to 4K Low brings the average down to 137.7, meaning the jump from 1080p to 4K costs 259.4 FPS — a 65.3% reduction. This dramatic scaling indicates that at Low settings, the RTX 4090 is the primary driver, with its immense rasterization power being the bottleneck as pixel count rises.

At Ultra settings, the scaling pattern shifts noticeably. The measured averages are 193.9 FPS at 1080p, 121.3 at 1440p, and 67.2 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is similar in magnitude, but the absolute numbers are much lower, suggesting that the game's Ultra preset adds computational load that taxes the GPU more heavily relative to the CPU. The 4K Ultra result of 67.2 FPS is the only measurement below the 70 FPS threshold, indicating that this is the first point where the combination struggles to maintain high refresh rates.

The data reveals an interesting inversion: at 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 203.2 FPS, while at 4K that gap narrows to 70.5 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor at 4K, whereas at 1080p the CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads can still feed frames fast enough to let the GPU stretch its legs. The i5-14600KF's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is clearly sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 well-fed at 1080p, but the 4K results show that no amount of CPU headroom can overcome the raw pixel throughput demands.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At High settings, the average FPS is 161.3, which comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates, while 4K High drops to 86.8 FPS. The 1440p results maintain high frame rates across all settings, from 254.7 at Low to 121.3 at Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's VRAM affect performance?

A: The RTX 4090 comes with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. For a 2014 title like Minimum, this is far beyond what the game can utilize, as evidenced by the fact that even the lowest frame rate of 67.2 FPS at 4K Ultra does not suggest any memory-related stutter or capacity constraints.

Q: Is the i5-14600KF a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Given the measured 397.1 FPS at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely the limiting factor at this resolution. The 14-core, 20-thread processor with a 5.30 GHz boost clock delivers enough single-thread performance to reach these heights, but the frame rate ceiling appears to be set by the CPU's per-core speed rather than the GPU's capability.

Q: What settings preset should I use for a 4K 60 Hz display?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 yields 86.8 FPS, which provides headroom above 60 FPS. Ultra drops to 67.2 FPS, still above 60 but with less margin. Medium at 4K produces 104.4 FPS, offering a strong balance if you prefer higher frame rates over maximum visual fidelity.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to other systems?

A: With a combo rank of 41 out of 1733, this pairing sits in the top 2.4% of all tested configurations. This reflects the RTX 4090's position at the 91st percentile of all GPUs and the i5-14600KF's 93rd percentile ranking among CPUs.

Q: Can this system handle high refresh rate gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 254.7 at Low to 121.3 at Ultra. Even the most demanding preset clears the 120 FPS mark, making this combo well-suited for 144 Hz or even 240 Hz displays at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor built on Intel's 10 nm process with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 provide ample bandwidth for feeding a flagship GPU. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 32889 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4643 in single-core, with a PassMark single-thread score of 4273. These numbers place it at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with its average benchmark score of 49367 sitting just 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p where the measured frame rates reach 397.1 FPS at Low settings. This result indicates that the processor's high boost clock and strong single-thread performance are sufficient to drive the game engine to very high frame rates. The gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 142.4 FPS, which is larger than the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low at 117 FPS. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is more involved in frame generation, whereas the GPU takes over as resolution increases.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it a capable gaming processor, and its launch MSRP of $294 positions it as a mainstream option. However, the benchmark data shows that in Minimum, the CPU is rarely the primary bottleneck except at the lowest resolution and settings, where its 5.30 GHz boost clock becomes the limiting factor. The processor's nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4345P, scores 49595, a 0.5% delta, but the gaming results in this title are more dependent on the GPU's raw throughput than on multi-threaded CPU performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 41 out of 1733 tested configurations. This placement puts it in the 97.6th percentile of all combos, reflecting the strength of both components. The RTX 4090 itself holds a 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database are the NVIDIA Tesla T4 at 66733 (-0.4%), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 at 66127 (+0.5%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 at 67097 (-0.9%).

The i5-14600KF's 93rd percentile CPU ranking is slightly higher than the GPU's, but the game's performance is more heavily influenced by the graphics card. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra of 67.2 demonstrates that even with a top-tier CPU, the GPU's workload at high resolutions dominates. The rank of 41 out of 1733 means there are only 40 other combinations that perform better in this specific title, and given that this game launched in 2014, the combination of modern components is overkill for most scenarios but still delivers the highest possible frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data suggests that the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the optimal balance of visual quality and performance. At this setting, the average FPS is 161.3, which exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. If you prioritize maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers 121.3 FPS, making it viable for 120 Hz displays. At 1080p, the High preset produces 254.9 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, while even the Ultra preset manages 193.9 FPS.

For 4K users, the High preset is the recommended choice, providing 86.8 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K offers 104.4 FPS, which may be preferable if you want more headroom above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 67.2 FPS, which is playable but offers less margin for frame time spikes. The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for frame rates that exceed what most displays can show.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 397.1, Medium at 304, High at 254.9, and Ultra at 193.9. The gap between Low and Medium is 93.1 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 49.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 61 FPS. This shows diminishing returns as settings increase, but the absolute numbers remain high across the board.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 254.7, Medium at 194.7, High at 161.3, and Ultra at 121.3. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with each preset losing roughly 35-40% of its frame rate. The 1440p results show that the combination can maintain over 120 FPS even at Ultra settings, making this resolution the sweet spot for high refresh rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 137.7, Medium at 104.4, High at 86.8, and Ultra at 67.2. The 4K results show the RTX 4090 being pushed harder, with the Ultra preset barely staying above 60 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 70.5 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU's workload scales significantly with preset quality at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. Its AD102 chip, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, contains 76,300 million transistors across a 609 mm² die. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and its 16384 shading units deliver 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution rises. The measured FPS at 1080p Low of 397.1 is likely CPU-limited, but at 4K Ultra the 67.2 FPS result is clearly GPU-bound. The RTX 4090's 176 ROPs and 512 TMUs provide the texture and pixel processing power needed for high-resolution rendering, while its 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this 2014 title that predates ray tracing.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 38194 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 place it at the 91st percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 66473 is remarkably close to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4 at 66733, a difference of only -0.4%. The RTX 4090's 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler make it a power-hungry component, but for Minimum, the performance headroom is immense — even at 4K Ultra, the GPU maintains 67.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a smooth experience in this third-person shooter.