Minimum

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-12700K compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, placing it 84th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13600T, scores 35305, which is only 0.1% higher. The i7-12700KF scores 35365 (0.2% higher), the i7-13700T scores 35403 (0.3% higher), and the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428 (0.4% higher). Essentially, the i7-12700K sits at the very bottom of a tight four-way cluster, trailing by less than half a percent in each case.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to its nearest competitors?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852 and sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 370X, scores 15862 (0.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014 (1% higher). On the other side, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679 (1.1% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 (1.7% higher). The data shows the RX 7700 is bracketed by older and newer architectures within a narrow margin.

Q: Does this combo rank highly for this specific game?

A: The combo rank in game is 1298 out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the field. This means while the hardware is capable, there are 1297 other CPU-GPU pairings that achieve higher measured performance in Minimum. The rank suggests a balanced but not top-tier pairing for this title.

Q: What is the best measured FPS for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 214 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The Medium preset yields 164 FPS, High yields 137 FPS, and Ultra drops to 105 FPS. The data indicates that even at the most demanding preset, the combo maintains a playable frame rate well above 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Low?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 36, which is 178 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result of 214 FPS. This represents a dramatic drop of approximately 83%, highlighting how resolution and settings scaling heavily tax the GPU. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured result below 48 FPS across all configurations.

Q: What are the key memory specifications of the GPU that affect game performance?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective). This large frame buffer is relevant for high-resolution textures, and the bandwidth supports the measured FPS deltas between 1080p and 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 achieves a rank of 1298 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. This places the combo in the 44th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly 56% of configurations perform better. The rank is not a reflection of absolute weakness; rather, it shows that many other CPUs and GPUs—likely with higher-end components—produce faster frame rates in this particular title.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU sits at the 84th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 58th percentile among all graphics cards. The combo rank being lower than both individual percentiles suggests that Minimum is not heavily optimized for this specific pairing, or that the game's engine does not scale perfectly with the i7-12700K's hybrid architecture and the RX 7700's RDNA 3.0 design. The data implies a bottleneck dynamic where neither component can fully stretch its legs.

The nearest rival CPUs all score within 0.4% of the i7-12700K in average benchmarks, meaning the processor is not the limiting factor in the rank. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals are within 1.7% of its average score. This tight clustering indicates that the combo rank is influenced more by the game's specific engine demands than by raw synthetic performance. The takeaway is that this pairing is mid-pack for Minimum, adequate for smooth gameplay, but not a leaderboard-topper.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operations pipelines. The GPU also includes 40 ray tracing cores, though the game's 2014 release date suggests ray tracing is not a factor in these measurements. The pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 25.18 TFLOPS.

Memory configuration is critical for Minimum's performance. The 16 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 256-bit bus delivers 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, average FPS drops to 36, while at 4K Low it rises to 74. This 38 FPS swing between presets at the same resolution is primarily driven by GPU load, as lower settings reduce pixel shading and texture fetch demands. The 16 GB capacity is more than sufficient for this game, so the limiting factor is not capacity but raw throughput.

The GPU's clock behavior also matters. Base clock is 1900 MHz, boost clock reaches 2459 MHz, and the game clock is specified at 2041 MHz. The boost clock being 559 MHz above the base suggests thermal headroom is available. In Minimum, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (214 FPS) versus 4K Ultra (36 FPS) shows a massive scaling curve, indicating the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's percentile rank of 58 and average benchmark score of 15852 align with mid-range expectations, and the data confirms it handles 1080p and 1440p easily but struggles at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces the following average frame rates: Low settings yield 214 FPS, Medium yields 164 FPS (with min 139 and max 188), High yields 137 FPS, and Ultra yields 105 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 109 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact even at the lowest resolution. All 1080p results exceed 100 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop: Low produces 138 FPS, Medium produces 106 FPS (min 90, max 121), High produces 89 FPS, and Ultra produces 68 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 70 FPS, but every preset remains above 60 FPS. This resolution offers a balanced experience, with Medium and High providing smooth gameplay while maintaining visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls considerably: Low averages 74 FPS, Medium averages 57 FPS (min 48, max 65), High averages 48 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. Only the Low preset stays above 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 48 FPS indicates occasional dips below playable thresholds, while Ultra's 36 FPS average is borderline for a third-person shooter. The data clearly shows 4K is only viable at Low settings for a consistently smooth experience.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide the highest headroom, Medium offers a solid middle ground, and Ultra demands the most from the GPU. The measured min and max values only exist for Medium presets, showing a 26 FPS range at 1080p, a 31 FPS range at 1440p, and a 17 FPS range at 4K. This suggests frame pacing is more stable at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is stark. At Low settings, the average goes from 214 FPS at 1080p to 138 FPS at 1440p to 74 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the progression is 164 to 106 to 57 FPS, with percentage drops of 35% and 46% respectively. High settings show 137 to 89 to 48 FPS, a 35% and 46% drop. Ultra settings show 105 to 68 to 36 FPS, again matching the 35% and 46% pattern.

This consistent scaling pattern is revealing. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p, and by 125% from 1440p to 4K. The FPS drops do not perfectly match pixel count increases, indicating that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound. The near-constant percentage drops across all settings suggest a uniform bottleneck. The data implies that the RX 7700's memory bandwidth and shading throughput are the limiting factors, rather than the CPU.

The i7-12700K's role in this scaling is minimal. At 1080p Low, the CPU could theoretically become a limiting factor at 214 FPS, but the consistent scaling pattern shows the GPU is the dominant constraint. The 16 GB frame buffer does not appear to be exhausted at any resolution, as FPS drops are proportional to resolution increases. The conclusion is that for Minimum, resolution scaling is GPU-bound, and the CPU has sufficient headroom even at high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It is built on Alder Lake architecture with a 10 nm process, featuring a hybrid design of performance and efficiency cores. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is powerful for a 2021 processor, and its 84th percentile rank confirms strong overall performance.

In Minimum, the CPU's impact is most visible at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 214 FPS average suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. The 3DMark benchmarks show a single-thread score of 1043 and a max-thread score of 9979, indicating strong multi-threaded scaling. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and singlecore score of 1850.5 further confirm the CPU's capability. However, the game's 2014 release date means it likely does not utilize all 20 threads efficiently.

The benchmark data shows that the i7-12700K's nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score, meaning any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in Minimum. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.00 GHz is beneficial for single-threaded workloads, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4013 supports this. Yet, the FPS scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across settings, implying the CPU is not the limiting factor. The CPU's role is to maintain frame pacing and avoid bottlenecks, which it does effectively up to 214 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the constraint, as the CPU has ample headroom.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience in Minimum with this combo, the data suggests prioritizing resolution over settings at lower resolutions, and settings over resolution at higher resolutions. At 1080p, all presets exceed 105 FPS, so the Ultra preset is viable for maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The 105 FPS average at 1080p Ultra is well above the 60 FPS threshold, making this the recommended configuration for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 89 FPS, which is a good balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is also playable, but the 21 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains. The Medium preset at 106 FPS offers the smoothest experience, but the step up to High provides better image quality with only a 17 FPS penalty. For competitive play, Medium is recommended; for immersive play, High is the better choice.

At 4K, the Low preset is the only option that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 74 FPS. The Medium preset at 57 FPS is borderline, with a minimum of 48 FPS that could cause noticeable stutters. High and Ultra at 48 and 36 FPS respectively are not recommended for a third-person shooter that requires responsive controls. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires accepting significant compromises, and users should either lower resolution or settle for Low settings.

Overall, the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p High, which delivers 89 FPS with good visual quality. For users with 1080p displays, Ultra settings are fully playable. The measured FPS values suggest that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, so adjusting settings has a greater impact than lowering resolution. The recommended presets are 1080p Ultra, 1440p High, and 4K Low for the best balance of performance and quality in Minimum.