Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a fascinating set of results in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The data shows this is a combination where the GPU’s raw power is frequently restrained by the older six-core processor, yet at lower resolutions and settings, the system still delivers extremely high frame rates. The measured FPS across resolutions and presets reveals a clear hierarchy: the game becomes less playable as settings climb to Ultra and resolution scales to 4K, but the mid-range options offer a strong balance for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured rows, the best experience in Minimum with this hardware is found at the High preset at 2560x1440. This configuration produces an average of 156.4 FPS, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors and represents a significant jump from the 4K High result of 84.2 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 34.8 FPS (dropping from 156.4 to 121.6), a substantial penalty for what is typically a marginal visual gain in a 2014 title. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 187 FPS, but High offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance, as the difference between Medium and High is only 30.6 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 221.5 FPS, which is excellent, but the Ultra preset still manages 183.2 FPS, making it viable for competitive play. However, the data indicates that Ultra at 1080p is less efficient than High at 1440p, as the latter provides higher FPS (156.4 vs 183.2 is not comparable across resolutions, but the 1440p High image quality is superior). The Low preset at 1080p hits 257.3 FPS, but this is unnecessary for smooth gameplay and sacrifices too much visual quality. For the best combination of frame rate and image quality, High at 2560x1440 is the clear winner, as it avoids the steep Ultra penalty while still leveraging the RTX 5080’s capabilities. At 4K, the High preset’s 84.2 FPS is playable, but the Medium preset’s 102.5 FPS is a safer choice for maintaining fluidity on a 4K display, given that Ultra at 4K drops to 61.7 FPS.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 5080 perform at 4K Ultra in this game?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 61.7. This is the lowest measured result for this combo, indicating that the Ultra preset at 4K pushes the system to its limits, likely due to the CPU’s inability to feed the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions.

*Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in Minimum?*

A: Yes, the data strongly suggests so. The Intel Core i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost of 4.10 GHz. At 1080p Low, the setup reaches 257.3 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 132.6 FPS. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings (257.3 to 221.3 FPS) compared to the larger drop from 1440p to 4K (221.3 to 132.6) hints that the CPU limits the maximum frame rate, while the GPU becomes more stressed at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution for maximum frame rate?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 257.3 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the absolute ceiling for this configuration, but it comes with significant visual compromises. For a more balanced experience, 1440p High at 156.4 FPS is more practical.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 159th out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 10% of all tested configurations, which is impressive given the age of the CPU, highlighting that the RTX 5080’s brute force can still overcome some limitations.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 187 FPS, while Ultra averages 121.6 FPS. This represents a 65.4 FPS drop, or roughly a 35% reduction in performance, when moving from Medium to Ultra. This suggests that Ultra settings are particularly demanding in this title.

Q: Does the RTX 5080’s 16 GB VRAM ever become a limiting factor?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory is ample for a 2014 title. The data shows no indication of VRAM limitations, as the FPS drops are consistent with settings and resolution changes rather than sudden stutters or crashes. The GPU’s 960.0 GB/s bandwidth and 256-bit bus are more than sufficient for this game’s textures.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a Coffee Lake processor with 6 cores and 6 threads, lacking Hyper-Threading. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz, boosting to 4.10 GHz. In Minimum, this CPU’s role is pivotal at lower resolutions. The benchmark results show that at 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 257.3 FPS, which is the highest measured value. This indicates that the CPU can push frame rates well beyond 200 FPS when the GPU is not heavily burdened. However, the lack of additional threads means that in scenes with heavy physics or AI, the CPU may max out its 6 threads, capping performance. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this game, but they are not cutting-edge.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, deltaPct 0.2) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, deltaPct 0.2). It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6% (2319 score). This puts the CPU at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it is a mid-pack performer. In Minimum, this mid-tier compute capability is sufficient to drive high FPS at 1080p, but the data suggests that a stronger CPU would yield even higher frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU is less of a constraint. The 4.10 GHz boost clock is crucial for single-threaded game logic, and the 6 cores handle the game’s multi-threaded aspects adequately.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 159th out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This is a strong result, placing the system in the top 9.2% of all configurations. The RTX 5080, which sits at the 89th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 59188, is the primary driver of this high ranking. Its performance is 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M (58239) and 2.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A580 (57756), while being 1.9% behind the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326). The CPU’s 50th percentile ranking does not drag the combo down significantly because Minimum is a 2014 title that does not require extreme CPU horsepower. The rank of 159 indicates that while many faster combos exist, this pairing delivers exceptional frame rates, especially at 1440p and 1080p, where the GPU can stretch its legs. The data implies that the combo’s ranking would improve substantially with a newer, higher-core-count CPU, but as it stands, it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS shows a clear pattern of how performance scales with resolution. At 1920x1080 Low, the system hits 257.3 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, the FPS drops to 221.3, a reduction of 36 FPS (14%). Further moving to 3840x2160 Low results in 132.6 FPS, a massive drop of 88.7 FPS (40%) from 1440p. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS does not drop by the same proportion at 1080p to 1440p. At High settings, the trend is similar: 1080p High yields 221.5 FPS, 1440p High drops to 156.4 FPS (a 29.4% reduction), and 4K High falls to 84.2 FPS (a 46.2% reduction from 1440p). This indicates that the CPU can maintain high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the RTX 5080’s shading units (10752) and pixel rate (293.1 GPixel/s) are taxed heavily, causing the frame rate to plummet. The data reveals that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at lower resolutions to the GPU at 4K, with the crossover point occurring somewhere between 1440p and 4K. For a 2014 game, these scaling behaviors are typical, but the absolute numbers are high due to the modern GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is uniformly high across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 257.3 FPS, Medium produces 233.6 FPS, High produces 221.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 183.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 74.1 FPS, showing that Ultra settings impose a significant cost. At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 221.3 FPS, Medium at 187 FPS, High at 156.4 FPS, and Ultra at 121.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 99.7 FPS, indicating that the higher resolution amplifies the settings impact. At 3840x2160, the performance drops considerably: Low averages 132.6 FPS, Medium averages 102.5 FPS, High averages 84.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 61.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the least desirable for smooth gameplay. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the best balance of FPS and visual quality, as it sits roughly halfway between Low and High in terms of performance. The data shows that the RTX 5080 can handle 4K Medium with ease (102.5 FPS), but Ultra is too demanding. For competitive play, 1080p Low at 257.3 FPS is the fastest option, while 1440p High at 156.4 FPS is the best overall experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing. With 10752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, its raw compute is massive. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2295 MHz and boosts to 2617 MHz, with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Minimum, this GPU’s role is to render frames at high resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as dropping from Low to Ultra at 4K reduces FPS from 132.6 to 61.7. This 70.9 FPS drop indicates that the GPU’s 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is fully utilized by the Ultra preset’s effects. The GPU sits at the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59188, placing it well above its nearest rivals. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 8637 and Passmark G3D score of 36565 confirm its high-end status. The 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores are not heavily leveraged in a 2014 title, but they ensure future-proofing. The GPU’s power draw of 360 W and suggested PSU of 750 W are high, but the performance it delivers in Minimum is exceptional, especially at 1080p and 1440p where it can achieve over 200 FPS on many presets. The data suggests that the RTX 5080 is overkill for this game at lower resolutions, but it provides a smooth 4K experience at Medium settings, which is a testament to its capabilities.