Minimum

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Minimum with the Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B570 spans four quality presets across three resolutions. Analyzing the average frame rates, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice for most users, delivering playable performance while maintaining visual quality. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 128 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at the same resolution yields 93 FPS, while Low reaches 145 FPS and Ultra drops to 71 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, Medium again provides the best experience with 72 FPS average and a minimum of 61 FPS, which keeps gameplay smooth even during demanding scenes. High at this resolution scores 60 FPS, placing it right at the boundary of acceptable performance, while Low reaches 94 FPS and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, Low at 1440p is the clear winner, but Medium offers 72 FPS with substantially better visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. Medium produces 39 FPS average with a minimum of 33 FPS, which is below the ideal range for a third-person shooter. High manages 32 FPS, Low reaches 50 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS. None of these presets at 4K achieve the smoothness expected for this genre, so users with 4K displays should strongly consider running at 1440p instead. The data indicates that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS that keeps frame times consistent. For 1080p users, Medium at 111 FPS provides an excellent balance, while Low at 145 FPS is optimal for competitive play where maximum frame rates matter.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this CPU/GPU pair?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 with Medium settings delivers 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum, making it the most balanced configuration. At 1920x1080, Medium offers 111 FPS average, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 71 FPS versus High's 93 FPS, a difference of 22 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra averages 46 FPS versus High's 60 FPS, a 14 FPS gap. At 4K, Ultra averages 25 FPS versus High's 32 FPS, a 7 FPS difference. The performance cost of Ultra increases at lower resolutions.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: The measured data shows the best 4K result is Low at 50 FPS average. Medium at 4K only reaches 39 FPS with a 33 FPS minimum, which falls short of smooth gameplay standards. 4K gaming is possible but requires significant settings compromises.

Q: What frame rates can I expect with Low settings across all resolutions?

A: Low settings produce 145 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 51 FPS drop, while moving from 1440p to 4K shows a 44 FPS drop.

Q: How consistent are frame times at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset includes minimum and maximum values. At 1080p, frames range from 95 to 128 FPS around the 111 average. At 1440p, the range is 61 to 82 FPS around the 72 average. At 4K, the range is 33 to 44 FPS around the 39 average.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K or the Intel Arc B570 the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The drop from 145 FPS at Low to 71 FPS at Ultra at 1080p suggests the GPU becomes the bottleneck as settings increase. The CPU's single-thread score of 1043 in 3dmark and 1850.5 in Cinebench R23 indicates it is not constraining performance at these settings levels.

CPU Role

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 boosts to 5.00 GHz, which provides strong single-thread performance critical for game logic in Minimum. The processor carries 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core, along with 80 KB of L1 per core. Its 125 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a versatile platform component.

Benchmark data places this CPU at the 84th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T with a deltaPct of -0.1 and the Intel Core i7-12700KF at -0.2, indicating near-identical performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and single-core score of 1850.5 demonstrate strong multi-threaded capability alongside excellent per-core speed. Geekbench results show 15790 multicore and 2308 single-core.

For Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game physics. The game's release date suggests it was designed for older hardware, and the i7-12700K's high single-thread performance is more than sufficient. The fact that at 1080p Low settings the system reaches 145 FPS indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. However, the consistent scaling of FPS with resolution changes—from 145 FPS at 1080p Low to 94 FPS at 1440p Low to 50 FPS at 4K Low—suggests GPU limitation begins to dominate as pixel count increases. The CPU's 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and 2-thread score of 2065 show it can handle the lightly-threaded workloads typical of this genre. The 8-thread score of 7202 and 16-thread score of 9276 indicate ample headroom for background processes while gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B570 achieves a rank of 2336 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the system in the lower half of all configurations, which is notable given the individual component specifications. The GPU's percentile rank of 65 out of 100 and the CPU's percentile rank of 84 out of 100 do not translate directly to a high combo ranking, indicating that pairing a strong CPU with a mid-range GPU creates a system that underperforms relative to more balanced configurations.

The combo's rank of 2336 means approximately 603 tested combinations perform worse, while 2335 perform better. This suggests that for Minimum specifically, many other CPU/GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0.1 and the Intel Arc A750 at -0.1, showing the B570 is closely matched with these alternatives. The CPU's nearest rivals are all within -0.4 deltaPct, indicating the processor itself is not the weak link.

The discrepancy between component-level performance and combo ranking points to the Arc B570 as the limiting factor. With a PassMark G3D score of 14195 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649, the GPU delivers mid-range performance that constrains the overall system. The CPU has substantial headroom, shown by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784, but the GPU cannot translate this into higher frame rates in Minimum. The ranking data suggests that users seeking better performance in this game should focus on GPU upgrades rather than CPU improvements, as the i7-12700K is already well above the 84th percentile of all CPUs.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system scales with pixel count. At Low settings, frame rates drop from 145 FPS at 1080p to 94 FPS at 1440p, a 35.2% decrease, then to 50 FPS at 4K, a 46.8% decrease from 1440p. This scaling pattern is consistent with GPU-bound performance, where the number of pixels directly impacts frame rate. The Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, which becomes the determining factor at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the progression goes from 111 FPS at 1080p to 72 FPS at 1440p to 39 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35.1% and 45.8% respectively, very similar to the Low settings pattern. This consistency indicates that the GPU's compute capability, rated at 11.52 TFLOPS FP32, is the primary constraint across all settings. The Ultra preset shows 71 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K, with drops of 35.2% and 45.7%. The uniformity of these scaling percentages, regardless of quality settings, strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting component.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal because the i7-12700K has sufficient single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and PassMark single-thread score of 4013. As resolution increases, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck. The B570's pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are the hardware specifications that determine performance at higher resolutions. The 4K results, with the best being 50 FPS at Low, indicate that this GPU cannot sustain smooth gameplay at 4K in Minimum, while 1440p Medium at 72 FPS provides a much better experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS data for this configuration covers all combinations of four settings and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low settings achieve 145 FPS average, Medium reaches 111 FPS with a range of 95 to 128 FPS, High produces 93 FPS, and Ultra drops to 71 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 74 FPS difference, with each step incurring a cost: 34 FPS from Low to Medium, 18 FPS from Medium to High, and 22 FPS from High to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 94 FPS average, Medium achieves 72 FPS with a range of 61 to 82 FPS, High reaches 60 FPS, and Ultra produces 46 FPS. The total spread from Low to Ultra is 48 FPS. The step costs are 22 FPS from Low to Medium, 12 FPS from Medium to High, and 14 FPS from High to Ultra. The smaller deltas compared to 1080p indicate the GPU is becoming more constrained, reducing the impact of settings changes.

At 3840x2160, Low settings yield 50 FPS average, Medium reaches 39 FPS with a range of 33 to 44 FPS, High produces 32 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS. The total spread narrows to 25 FPS. Step costs shrink further: 11 FPS from Low to Medium, 7 FPS from Medium to High, and 7 FPS from High to Ultra. This compression of performance differences at 4K confirms that the GPU's fill rate limits are being reached, making settings adjustments less impactful. The minimum frame rates at Medium settings—95 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K—show that only 1080p and 1440p maintain minimums above 60 FPS, while 4K falls short of smooth gameplay standards.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 72.1M per mm². It operates at a fixed 2500 MHz for both base and boost clocks, with memory running at 2375 MHz for 19 Gbps effective speed. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. Its compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16.

Memory configuration consists of 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are key specifications for understanding its gaming performance. In Minimum, the data shows the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the FPS scaling discussed earlier. The 4K results, with a maximum of 50 FPS at Low settings, indicate the GPU's bandwidth and fill rate are insufficient for high-resolution gaming.

Benchmark results place the B570 at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 20556. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, scores 20534 with a deltaPct of 0.1, showing nearly identical performance. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 with a deltaPct of -0.1, also matching closely. The PassMark G3D score of 14195 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 provide additional context for its gaming capabilities.

In Minimum, the GPU's role is dominant across all settings and resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 111 FPS average with a 95 FPS minimum shows the GPU can handle the game well at lower pixel counts. However, the 4K results reveal its limitations, as even Low settings only achieve 50 FPS. The 150 W TDP and 1x 8-pin power connector suggest efficient power delivery, but the raw compute power of 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 is what ultimately determines performance. The GPU's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures compatibility with modern APIs, though Minimum's age means it likely uses simpler rendering paths. The B570's 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game's textures at all settings, as no VRAM-related stuttering was observed in the FPS data.