Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread desktop processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1151 platform. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz, and it boosts up to 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip has a 9 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, and its single-core score is 935; Geekbench results show 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. The processor sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its closest rivals in that metric include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, -0.2% delta), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, 0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4% delta). For a game released in 2014, this CPU provides ample headroom for the workloads in Minimum, as its six physical cores are sufficient for the game's era of threading, and its 4.10 GHz boost ensures responsive single-thread performance. The measured frame rates show that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 214 FPS, which is far above the refresh rates of most monitors, indicating that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. Even at 1440p Low, the CPU keeps pace at 138 FPS. The data suggests that the i5-9400's 47th percentile ranking is more than adequate for this title, as the bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution increases, but the processor's six threads prevent it from becoming a drag on the system in most scenarios. The lack of hyper-threading is not an issue here, as the game's engine from 2014 rarely utilizes more than four or six threads effectively.

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

The Core i5-9400 brings six cores and six threads to the table, a configuration that was mainstream at its 2018 release and remains relevant for a 2014 title like Minimum. With a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, the processor offers solid single-threaded performance, which is crucial for a third-person shooter where game logic and physics often rely on a primary thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935 places it in a capable range, and the Geekbench single-core score of 1389 confirms that it can handle the per-core demands of the game. In multi-threaded workloads, the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 shows that all six cores scale well, but Minimum likely does not stress all of them equally; the game's age means it was designed for quad-core or lower systems, so the i5-9400's extra cores provide a buffer rather than a necessity. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, and the 9 MB L3 cache helps with data locality for the CPU-bound portions of the frame. Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400 is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (-0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% delta), meaning any performance differences in games would be negligible. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 is also within 0.4%, so the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo's results. Looking at the measured FPS, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p Low, where the combo hits 214 FPS; this high frame rate suggests the CPU can feed the GPU quickly enough to avoid bottlenecks. At 1440p Low, the drop to 138 FPS is more attributable to the GPU, but the CPU still holds up, as the frame rate scales predictably with resolution. In summary, the i5-9400's six cores and 4.10 GHz boost are more than sufficient for Minimum, and the benchmark data shows no signs of CPU-induced stutter or frame drops, even at lower settings where CPU load is relatively higher.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2150 MHz, with a game clock of 2495 MHz and a boost clock of 2600 MHz, all based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 2560 shading units. The GPU's 166.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 416.0 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample fill for a 2014 title, and its 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is overkill for Minimum's older graphics pipeline. The 12 GB VRAM is far more than the game requires, even at 4K Ultra, so memory capacity is never a limiting factor. The GPU's percentile rank is 71 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26011, placing it well above the CPU's 47th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (25891, 0.5% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (25740, 1.1% delta), which shows that the RX 6750 XT punches above its weight in synthetic tests. In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes evident as resolution increases. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 105 FPS, which is smooth, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 36 FPS, indicating that the GPU is working hard to push all those pixels. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is more than sufficient for the game's textures, so the performance scaling is driven by the compute and rasterization capabilities rather than memory constraints. The boost clock of 2600 MHz ensures that the GPU sustains high throughput during intense scenes, and the data shows that at 1440p High, the combo achieves 89 FPS, which is a comfortable experience for most players. The RX 6750 XT's 12 GB VRAM is a future-proofing asset, but for Minimum, it is entirely wasted, as the game likely uses less than 4 GB even at 4K. The GPU's 71st percentile ranking relative to all GPUs underscores that it is a high-end part, and its performance in this game is limited only by the resolution and settings chosen, not by any architectural shortfall.

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

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. Starting at 1080p Low, the combo delivers 214 FPS, which drops to 138 FPS at 1440p Low (-35.5%) and then to 74 FPS at 4K Low (-65.4% from 1080p, -46.4% from 1440p). This steep decline as resolution increases is classic GPU-limiting behavior, where the CPU's job stays relatively constant but the GPU must render more pixels. At 1080p Medium, the average is 164 FPS, with a minimum of 139 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it falls to 106 FPS (min 90, max 122), and at 4K Medium, it drops to 57 FPS (min 48, max 66). The trend continues with High settings: 138 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings show 105 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between 1440p and 4K are more severe than between 1080p and 1440p, which is typical because 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, whereas 1440p is 1.78 times 1080p. For example, at High settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is -35.5% (138 to 89), and the drop from 1440p to 4K is -46.1% (89 to 48). This suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter at all resolutions, but the CPU's influence is minimal; if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see smaller FPS differences between resolutions because the CPU would cap the frame rate regardless of pixel count. The fact that Low settings at 1080p hit 214 FPS, which is near the CPU's practical limit for this title, while 4K Low only reaches 74 FPS, confirms that the RX 6750 XT is the component being stressed. The data also shows that the minimum FPS values (where available) track closely with the averages, indicating stable frame pacing without CPU-induced hitches. For a player targeting high refresh rates, 1080p is the sweet spot, but 1440p still offers playable frame rates on High, while 4K requires dropping to Medium or Low to stay above 60 FPS. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings, reinforcing that the GPU is the bottleneck, and the CPU's six cores are not holding back performance.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets are playable, but the data shows that Medium offers an excellent balance: 164 FPS average with a minimum of 139 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of many gaming monitors. High settings at 1080p give 138 FPS, which is also smooth, but the jump to Ultra reduces the average to 105 FPS, which still feels fluid but sacrifices some headroom. For competitive play, Low at 1080p yields 214 FPS, maximizing responsiveness, but the visual trade-off may not be worth it for a game like Minimum where the atmosphere matters. At 1440p, Medium is the best option for a high-refresh experience, with 106 FPS average and 90 FPS minimum, ensuring no drops below 90 FPS. High at 1440p dips to 89 FPS, which is still good, but the minimum FPS was not recorded, so Medium is the safer choice for consistent performance. Ultra at 1440p falls to 68 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced shooting. At 4K, the story changes: Ultra is out of the question at 36 FPS, and High only manages 48 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium at 4K hits 57 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS, which is borderline; Low at 4K reaches 74 FPS, making it the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. Therefore, the recommended approach is: for 1080p, use Medium or High depending on preference for frames versus fidelity; for 1440p, use Medium to guarantee a 90+ FPS minimum; for 4K, use Low to achieve 74 FPS, or accept Medium at 57 FPS if the visual uplift is worth the occasional dip. The measured rows indicate that the combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but 4K requires compromises. The minimum FPS data for Medium settings (139 at 1080p, 90 at 1440p, 48 at 4K) provides a realistic floor, and users should prioritize staying above 60 FPS, which is only guaranteed at 1080p and 1440p on Medium or lower. For the best overall experience, 1440p Medium stands out as the sweet spot, delivering high frame rates with improved image quality over 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1689 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 45th percentile of all systems evaluated. This rank is lower than what the GPU's individual 71st percentile might suggest, which indicates that the CPU is dragging the overall score down relative to other combos that pair high-end GPUs with stronger processors. In the context of the database, this rank means that 2023 other combos perform better in this game, while 1688 perform worse. The rank is influenced by the fact that many tested combos likely feature newer or higher-tier CPUs, such as Ryzen 7 or Core i7 parts, which can push frame rates higher at lower resolutions where CPU matters more. However, the combo's actual performance in the measured FPS is strong, especially at 1080p and 1440p, so the rank reflects the relative standing among all systems, not an absolute deficiency. The CPU's average benchmark score of 2254, which is at the 47th percentile, is the main culprit; many combos above this rank likely pair the RX 6750 XT with a CPU that has a higher percentile, such as an i5-10400 or Ryzen 5 3600. The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.4%, meaning that swapping to any of those CPUs would yield negligible changes in rank. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals are also close (within 1.1%), but the GPU's high absolute performance means that the combo's rank is more sensitive to the CPU. For a 2014 game, this rank is respectable, as the combo is in the top half of all tested configurations, and the measured FPS data shows that it can handle the game at high settings on 1440p without issue. The rank would be higher if the CPU were more powerful, but the data shows that in practice, the bottleneck is the GPU at higher resolutions, so the rank might be slightly misleading for real-world 4K usage. Nonetheless, for a builder looking at this database, a rank of 1689 out of 3712 signals a competent system that is neither at the top nor the bottom, and it is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Minimum.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 60 FPS on 4K?*

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which achieve an average of 74 FPS. Medium settings at 4K drop to 57 FPS average with a minimum of 48 FPS, so Low is the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high refresh rates?

A: At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 164 FPS average with a 139 FPS minimum, and even High settings hit 138 FPS. At 1440p, Medium achieves 106 FPS average with a 90 FPS minimum, making it suitable for 144 Hz monitors. 4K is not ideal for high refresh rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary limiter, as shown by the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (e.g., 138 to 48 FPS on High). If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, but the data shows a clear GPU-bound scaling pattern.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, which is within 0.4% of its closest rivals: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, -0.2% delta), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, 0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4% delta). There is no meaningful performance difference.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity, and is it sufficient for this game?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory. For a 2014 game like Minimum, this is far more than necessary, even at 4K Ultra, as the game's textures are unlikely to exceed a few gigabytes. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth also ensures no memory-related stutters.

Q: What preset should I use for the most consistent frame pacing?

A: The data includes minimum FPS for Medium settings, which shows 139 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and stable performance across all resolutions, as the minimums are the highest recorded for each resolution.