Minimum

Minimum is a third-person shooter that launched on June 25, 2014. The data for this analysis pairs an Intel Core i5-9400 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, and all figures below are drawn from measured benchmark rows. The RTX 5060, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, carries 8 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 128-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The combination ranks 868th out of 1733 tested combos in this game, placing it near the middle of the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show a clear hierarchy across four settings presets at each resolution, but the optimal choice depends heavily on the target refresh rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 211 FPS, which is the highest measured score in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 165.1 FPS, High follows at 134.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 103.2 FPS. For players with 144Hz displays, the High preset at 134.3 FPS is the best balance, as it stays close to the refresh ceiling while offering substantially better visuals than Medium.

At 1440p, the Low preset still produces a very playable 139.5 FPS, but High at 85.6 FPS is the more sensible pick for quality, assuming a 60Hz to 100Hz monitor. Medium lands at 104.5 FPS, which is a strong middle ground for high-refresh 1440p panels, though the gap between Medium and High is only about 18 FPS. At 4K, the situation changes dramatically. The Low preset averages 75.3 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that clears 60 FPS. Medium drops to 56.1 FPS, High falls to 49 FPS, and Ultra sits at 38.9 FPS. For a smooth 4K experience, Low is the only viable preset, while Ultra is reserved for players who prioritize fidelity over frame rate.

The data suggests that this combo scales predictably: each step down in settings yields a roughly 20-30% FPS increase at most resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 211 FPS indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower settings, since the frame rate exceeds what most 60Hz displays can use. For the best experience per the measured rows, High at 1080p or Medium at 1440p offers the most balanced trade-off between visual quality and performance, while 4K users should stick to Low unless they accept sub-60 FPS averages.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 sits at rank 868 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. That places it just above the median, meaning roughly half of all tested combinations perform better and half perform worse. The rank reflects the entire system’s capability in this game, not just the GPU or CPU alone. Given that the RTX 5060 holds a percentileVsAllGpus of 73, the GPU is above average compared to all tested graphics cards, but the combo rank of 868 suggests the CPU is holding the system back from a higher position.

The Core i5-9400 has a percentileVsAllCpus of 50, which is exactly average. In the database’s nearest rivals, the i5-9400 scores 2305 on the average benchmark, with the Intel Core i3-10305 scoring 2300 (0.2% slower) and the Intel Core i7-8809G scoring 2319 (0.6% faster). This narrow spread indicates that the CPU is a mid-pack performer, and in a game like Minimum, the 6-core/6-thread configuration may limit frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The combo’s rank of 868 out of 1733 implies that many systems with faster CPUs or more balanced pairings achieve higher FPS, even if their GPUs are less powerful on paper.

The data suggests that this combo is not optimized for Maximum’s high-refresh potential. While the RTX 5060 can push 211 FPS at 1080p Low, the overall rank shows that the system is only average in the full context of tested hardware. Upgrading the CPU would likely improve the rank, but as configured, this combo delivers solid mid-range performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060’s 8 GB of GDDR7 memory is a defining characteristic for this game. With a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and a bus width of 128 bit, the GPU has ample throughput for a 2014 title, but the 8 GB capacity is not stressed at the resolutions tested. The core clock runs at 2280 MHz base and 2497 MHz boost, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These clocks enable a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s, which are more than sufficient for Minimum’s visual demands.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its mid-to-high tier positioning. It scores 120785 in Geekbench OpenCL, 116626 in Vulkan, and 20891 in Passmark G3D. Its Passmark DirectX 11 score of 200 and DirectX 12 score of 77 are more relevant to gaming performance. The RTX 5060’s percentileVsAllGpus of 73 means it outperforms 73% of all tested GPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, scores 30097 with a 0% delta, indicating near-identical average performance. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 and GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile are within 0.5-0.6% of the RTX 5060, showing that the 5060 sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In Minimum, the GPU is the dominant component at 4K and High/Ultra settings. The measured FPS drops from 134.3 at 1080p High to 85.6 at 1440p High and 49 at 4K High, showing that the GPU’s rendering load scales heavily with resolution. The 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor, as the game’s textures and effects are modest by modern standards, but the 128-bit bus could theoretically constrain performance at very high resolutions. The data does not show any VRAM-related stutters, so the GPU’s memory subsystem is adequate for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the RTX 5060 delivers 211 FPS on Low, 165.1 FPS on Medium, 134.3 FPS on High, and 103.2 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra is 107.8 FPS, meaning Ultra runs at roughly 49% of the Low preset’s speed. This is a typical pattern for a GPU-heavy title, where higher settings increase pixel shading and texture work. The 103.2 FPS on Ultra is still above 100, so even the most demanding 1080p preset is comfortably playable.

At 1440p, the same settings produce 139.5 FPS (Low), 104.5 FPS (Medium), 85.6 FPS (High), and 69.9 FPS (Ultra). The Ultra preset at 69.9 FPS is just below 70, which is acceptable for most monitors but not ideal for competitive play. The gap between Low and Ultra is 69.6 FPS, showing a similar proportional drop to 1080p. At 4K, the numbers fall to 75.3 FPS (Low), 56.1 FPS (Medium), 49 FPS (High), and 38.9 FPS (Ultra). The Ultra preset at 4K is the only measured result below 40 FPS, which would be noticeable in fast-paced third-person shooter gameplay.

The data reveals that the Low preset consistently provides the highest FPS across all resolutions, but the relative cost of Ultra increases with resolution. At 1080p, Ultra is 2.04x slower than Low; at 1440p, it is 2.0x slower; at 4K, it is 1.94x slower. This indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and shading units are the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, rather than memory bandwidth or CPU limitations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent. At High settings, the RTX 5060 goes from 134.3 FPS at 1080p to 85.6 FPS at 1440p, a 36% decrease, then to 49 FPS at 4K, a further 43% drop from 1440p. At Low settings, the progression is 211 FPS → 139.5 FPS → 75.3 FPS, with a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. These percentages show that the GPU is the limiting component as resolution increases, since the frame rate scales inversely with pixel count.

At 1080p Low, the 211 FPS result suggests that the Intel Core i5-9400 is not fully saturated, as the GPU is able to produce very high frame rates. However, at 4K Low, the 75.3 FPS indicates that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are being taxed. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS does not quarter, meaning the GPU has headroom at lower settings. The data implies that the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions and settings, while the GPU dominates at 4K and Ultra. This is a classic bottleneck shift, and the measured numbers confirm that the RTX 5060 is the primary driver of performance in Minimum.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 104.5 FPS, which is the best balance for high-refresh monitors. High at 85.6 FPS is fine for 60Hz displays, but Medium offers a 22% FPS increase over High.

Q: Can this system run 4K at 60 FPS?

A: Only at the Low preset, which averages 75.3 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 56.1 FPS, and High falls to 49 FPS, so 60 FPS is not achievable at higher settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097, which is a 0% delta from the RTX 5060’s average score, indicating identical performance. The NVIDIA Tesla M60 is 0.5% slower, and the RTX 5070 Mobile is 0.6% faster.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo hits 211 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not limiting at that setting. However, the combo rank of 868 out of 1733 indicates that the CPU is only average, so it may cap performance in CPU-heavy scenes.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Ultra and Low at 1080p?

A: The difference is 107.8 FPS, with Ultra at 103.2 FPS and Low at 211 FPS. Ultra runs at 49% of the Low preset’s frame rate.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues in Minimum?

A: No. The data shows no VRAM-related performance drops, and the game’s modest requirements are well within the 8 GB capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It features 9 MB of shared L3 cache, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 64 KB of L1 per core. This configuration is typical for a mid-range desktop CPU from the Coffee Lake generation, and its average benchmark score of 2305 places it exactly at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 2300 with a 0.2% delta, showing that the i5-9400 is not significantly faster than a newer i3.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 211 FPS average suggests the i5-9400 can feed the GPU enough data to reach very high frame rates. However, the combo’s rank of 868 out of 1733 implies that many other CPUs achieve higher performance in this game. The i5-9400’s 6 threads may be insufficient for heavily threaded game logic, but Minimum is a 2014 title that is not likely to use more than a few cores. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are adequate, and the lack of SMT (simultaneous multithreading) is not a major drawback for this game.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU’s rendering load dominates. At 1080p Ultra, the 103.2 FPS result indicates that the CPU can still keep up with the GPU’s output, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (107.8 FPS) is entirely due to GPU settings. This suggests that the i5-9400 is a capable partner for the RTX 5060 in Minimum, but it does not boost the combo above its median rank. For players seeking higher frame rates, a CPU with more threads or a higher boost clock would be needed, but the measured data confirms that this pairing is balanced for 60-144Hz gameplay at 1080p and 1440p.