Minimum

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a highly playable experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The data shows this combination ranks 2635th out of 3712 tested combos for this game, placing it in the 29th percentile of all tested hardware pairs. This is a system that excels at high refresh rate 1080p gaming, remains strong at 1440p, and struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K, where the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck.

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

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. This processor features a hybrid design with a 25 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core. Its memory controller supports both DDR4 and DDR5 in a dual-channel configuration.

Benchmark results indicate this CPU has significant headroom for a game like Minimum, which was released in 2014 and is unlikely to stress all 20 threads. The processor scores 9979 in 3DMark's max-thread test and 1043 in the single-thread test, showing strong performance across both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. In Cinebench R23, it achieves 19784 points multi-core and 1850.5 points single-core, confirming its ability to handle modern game engines that rely on high single-core throughput.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 84th against all CPUs indicates it sits well above the median processor in the database. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700K performs within a narrow band: it is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-13600T, 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-12700KF, 0.3% behind the Intel Core i7-13700T, and 0.4% behind the Intel Core 5 213PE. These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the i7-12700K is effectively performance-equivalent to those chips for this title.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. Given the game's age and the i7-12700K's 12 cores with a 5.00 GHz boost, it is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution tested. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 170 FPS average, which is more likely capped by the GPU's raw throughput than by CPU limitations. The processor's Passmark single-thread score of 4013 further reinforces that it has ample compute power for this game's main thread.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Memory is provided by 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The card's benchmark scores show a mixed profile. It achieves 16461 in Passmark G3D and 1804 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, but its Passmark DirectX 12 score is only 61, which is notably low. This suggests the card performs better in older APIs that align with Minimum's 2014 release era. The GPU's percentile ranking of 70th against all GPUs places it above average but not in the top tier.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RX 6600 XT is 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, and 0.8% behind the Intel Arc A350M. These small deltas indicate that the RX 6600 XT sits in a tight competitive cluster, though the RTX 2080 SUPER being 1.1% behind is surprising given its higher tier in the product stack.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Minimum at all tested settings, as the game's textures and geometry are modest by modern standards. The GPU's 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate for the measured resolutions, though the 128-bit bus width becomes a constraint at higher resolutions and settings. The card's FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s provide the raw compute needed for the frame rates observed in the measured data.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the system averages 109 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 70 FPS, a 35.8% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 38 FPS, which is 65.1% below the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RX 6600 XT is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The Low settings preset shows the most extreme scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 170 FPS average. At 1440p Low, this drops to 110 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 59 FPS. The 4K Low result of 59 FPS is barely playable, showing that even at minimal settings, the GPU cannot maintain a smooth 60 FPS at 4K. This is a strong indicator that the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

Medium settings show a similar pattern: 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result includes a minimum FPS of 38 and maximum of 52, showing notable frame time variance. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 83 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable.

The scaling pattern confirms that the i7-12700K is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with pixel count, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The 1080p Low result of 170 FPS suggests the CPU can push well beyond 170 FPS, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth cap performance at that level.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Minimum at 4K smoothly?*

A: No. The measured data shows 4K High averages 38 FPS, 4K Medium averages 45 FPS, and 4K Low averages 59 FPS. Only 4K Low comes close to 60 FPS, but the minimum FPS is not recorded, so consistency is unverified. Ultra at 4K averages 29 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware combo?

A: 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. The average FPS ranges from 83 on Ultra to 170 on Low, with High at 109 FPS and Medium at 130 FPS. All settings at 1080p are above the 60 FPS threshold, and most are above 100 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rival, the GTX 1630?

A: The RX 6600 XT scores 0.7% higher than the GTX 1630 in average benchmark score. This is a minimal difference, meaning the two GPUs are effectively tied in synthetic benchmarks, though in-game performance may vary.

Q: Is the i7-12700K holding back the RX 6600 XT in this game?

A: No. The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, which indicates the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's high single-thread score of 1850.5 in Cinebench R23 and 1043 in 3DMark single-thread test suggest it can handle the game's CPU demands easily.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 70 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For comparison, 1440p Medium averages 84 FPS and 1440p Low averages 110 FPS, while Ultra drops to 54 FPS.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at any tested setting?

A: The data does not show any VRAM-related stutters or crashes. The game runs at all tested settings, though the 4K results are below 60 FPS. The minimum FPS of 38 at 4K Medium suggests some frame time spikes, but this is more likely due to the GPU's compute limits than VRAM capacity.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the optimal balance. It delivers 130 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS, ensuring consistent frame times without the visual compromises of Low settings. The High preset at 1080p also works well at 109 FPS average, but Medium offers a 19.3% FPS increase while likely retaining most visual quality in a 2014 title.

If the user prefers maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p averages 83 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset with 84 FPS average and a minimum of 71 FPS, keeping gameplay smooth. High at 1440p is acceptable at 70 FPS, but the 14 FPS drop from Medium may not justify the visual gains.

At 4K, no preset provides a consistently smooth experience. Medium averages 45 FPS and Low averages 59 FPS, but neither reaches a solid 60 FPS. Users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution or accept frame rates below 60. The Ultra preset at any resolution above 1080p is not recommended, as 1440p Ultra averages 54 FPS and 4K Ultra averages 29 FPS, both below the playability threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs best across all presets. Low settings produce the highest average at 170 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. Medium settings average 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS, providing the most stable frame delivery. High settings average 109 FPS, while Ultra settings average 83 FPS. All 1080p results exceed 60 FPS, making this resolution the clear choice for high refresh rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but drops notably. Low settings average 110 FPS, Medium averages 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS, and High averages 70 FPS. Ultra drops to 54 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset's minimum of 71 FPS is the most consistent at this resolution, ensuring no major frame drops during gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 59 FPS, just shy of the 60 FPS target. Medium averages 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS, showing significant frame time variance. High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. None of the 4K presets offer a consistent 60 FPS experience, with even the lowest settings falling short of the ideal threshold.