Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread desktop processor from the Coffee Lake family, running at a 2.90 GHz base clock and boosting up to 4.10 GHz. For a game like Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, this configuration is more than sufficient to feed the graphics card, as the title’s engine is far from being thread-hungry by modern standards. The CPU’s 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth are typical for its generation, but they are not a bottleneck here.

The benchmark data shows this CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 2254. This places it in the mid-pack, but its performance relative to the GPU in this specific title is what matters. The single-core performance, measured at 935 in Cinebench R23, is adequate for the game's primary thread, and the multi-core score of 6629 ensures that background tasks or the game’s own auxiliary threads won’t cause stutter. In practice, at 1080p, the CPU keeps up with the GTX 1080 Ti easily, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved; the limiting factor at lower resolutions becomes the GPU's ability to render frames, not the CPU's ability to issue draw calls.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 strong enough for this game at high frame rates?

A: Yes. The measured results show the combo achieving an average of 192 FPS at 1080p Low and 124 FPS at 1080p High. This indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the frame rates are extremely high and primarily limited by the GPU’s rendering capacity.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-9400’s average score of 2254 is nearly identical to its closest competitors. It is 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259), 0.3% faster than the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248), and 0.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246). It is 0.4% slower than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2264). In practical terms, these differences are negligible for gaming.

*Q: Does the CPU hold back the GTX 1080 Ti in Minimum?*

A: No. The data suggests the opposite. At 1440p, the average FPS drops from 124 (Low) to 80 (High), which is a GPU-related scaling pattern. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions on the same settings. Since the FPS scales with resolution, the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What kind of performance can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 33. This is a demanding configuration for this combo, and the frame rate drops to a level that is borderline playable. Lowering to High settings at 4K brings the average up to 43 FPS.

Q: Is the 6-core/6-thread configuration a concern for this game?

A: Not for Minimum. The game is from 2014 and does not heavily utilize multi-threading. The 6 cores provide ample headroom for the game’s main thread and any system overhead. The benchmark results confirm this, as the combo achieves very high frame rates at 1080p.

Q: How does the CPU’s overall percentile ranking affect its gaming performance here?

A: The 47th percentile ranking indicates it is an average CPU overall. However, for a game like Minimum, which is not CPU-intensive, this ranking is not a predictor of poor performance. The actual gaming results show that the CPU is more than capable of driving the GTX 1080 Ti to high frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the combo averages 124 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 80 FPS, a 35% decrease. At 4K High, the average further drops to 43 FPS, a 46% decrease from 1440p. This pattern is a classic signature of GPU-bound performance. The CPU is delivering frames as fast as it can, but the GPU’s workload increases exponentially with pixel count, causing the frame rate to plummet.

This is even more evident when comparing Low settings. At 1080p Low, the average is 192 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 124 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 67 FPS. The scaling is nearly linear with the pixel count, which is a strong indicator that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p Low to be much closer together, as the CPU would be maxed out and unable to feed the GPU with more frames. Instead, the GPU’s rendering speed is the constraint.

The data suggests that for a smooth 60 FPS experience, 1440p High is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 80 FPS. At 4K, the GTX 1080 Ti struggles to maintain playable frame rates on High settings, and only by dropping to Low settings can it reach an average of 67 FPS. The 33 FPS average at 4K Ultra is a clear sign that this combination is pushed beyond its limits at that configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ranks at position 2082 out of 3712 tested combos in this game. This places it in the 56th percentile of all tested system configurations, meaning it outperforms a majority of the other combos in the database. However, it is not at the top tier. The ranking suggests that while this is a solid pairing for Minimum, there are many other combinations of newer CPUs and GPUs that can achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K resolution.

The ranking is influenced by both components. The GPU, with an average benchmark score of 15548, is in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 47th percentile. The overall combo rank is a weighted result of these two parts. The GTX 1080 Ti’s strong performance is what pushes the combo ahead of many others, but the older CPU brings the overall rank down slightly. For a game like Minimum, which is not CPU-intensive, the GPU is the primary driver of the final frame rate, and its high performance is why this combo ranks as well as it does.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a high-end Pascal architecture GPU, featuring 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 ROPs. It comes with 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing a massive 484.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This is a crucial asset for Minimum, as the game’s textures and effects can be taxing at high resolutions. The GPU’s 11 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this title, even at 4K, preventing any texture swapping that could cause stutter.

The GPU’s clock speeds are 1481 MHz base and 1582 MHz boost, which are high for its generation. This, combined with the high memory bandwidth, results in a theoretical FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS. In the context of Minimum, this raw power translates to the high frame rates seen in the measured data. The GPU is the clear workhorse of this combo. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the GPU is able to push out an average of 192 FPS, which confirms its raw rasterization power.

However, the data also shows its limits. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 33, highlighting that the GTX 1080 Ti, while powerful, is not a 4K Ultra-capable card for this game. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 15548 places it at the 58th percentile, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, scores 15679, which is 0.8% higher. This puts the GTX 1080 Ti in a very competitive position relative to its peers, but the performance is not top-tier by modern standards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti combination in Minimum.

At 1920x1080, the performance is excellent across all settings. With Low settings, the average FPS is 192. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 147 FPS, with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169. On High settings, the average is 124 FPS. At Ultra settings, the average is 94 FPS. This shows that even at the highest settings, the combo can easily push past 90 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but starts to show the GPU's workload. With Low settings, the average FPS is 124. On Medium settings, the average drops to 95 FPS (min 81, max 109). High settings bring the average down to 80 FPS. At Ultra settings, the average is 61 FPS. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo, offering a good balance between visual fidelity and frame rate, especially when targeting 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes thoroughly taxed. With Low settings, the average FPS is 67. Medium settings drop the average to 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 and a maximum of 59. On High settings, the average is 43 FPS. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 33. This data indicates that 4K gaming is only viable on Low settings if you want to stay above 60 FPS, and even High settings will struggle to maintain a consistent 45 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at these higher resolutions.