Minimum

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB delivers a measurable performance profile in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The data indicates this combination ranks 1556th out of 1733 tested combos for this specific title, placing it in the lower percentile of systems. This ranking, combined with the measured frame rates, suggests a configuration where the graphics card is the primary constraint on overall performance, particularly at higher resolutions and detail settings. The benchmark results provide a clear picture of a system that can handle the game at 1080p with high fluidity but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this specific pairing at 1556 out of 1733 tested combinations. This is a low position, indicating that in the broader context of all hardware pairings tested for Minimum, this system falls well behind the majority. The data shows that a large number of other CPU and GPU combinations deliver higher average frame rates. This ranking is not a commentary on the CPU’s strength, which is substantial, but rather a reflection of the GPU’s limited capabilities relative to other cards in the database. The RTX 3050 4 GB sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, while the i7-12700K sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs. This stark difference in component tiering explains why the overall combo ranking is so low; the system’s performance ceiling is dictated by its weakest link, which the benchmark data confirms is the graphics card. The system is effectively a high-end processor paired with an entry-level graphics solution, resulting in a lopsided performance profile that ranks poorly against more balanced configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the limiting factor in this configuration. Its specifications reveal why it struggles in Minimum at higher settings. The card features 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. This is a modest memory configuration that can become a bottleneck in modern and demanding titles. The GPU is based on the Ampere architecture with a GA107 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung, containing 8,700 million transistors. Its base clock is 1545 MHz with a boost clock of 1740 MHz. The card has 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, which contribute to its 7.127 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The data shows that the GPU’s performance is the primary driver of the FPS drops observed when increasing resolution and settings. With a pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s, the card is capable of a baseline level of output, but it is quickly overwhelmed by the demands of 4K rendering and high-detail effects, such as those likely present in Minimum’s Ultra preset. The 90 W TDP and 250 W suggested PSU indicate a low-power card, reinforcing its position as an entry-level offering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K provides an exceptionally strong foundation for this gaming system. The data shows it has 12 cores (with 20 threads) based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This high boost clock is crucial for gaming performance, where single-threaded performance often matters most. The CPU’s benchmarks are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128. Its Passmark single-thread score is 4013. In the context of Minimum, the CPU is likely never the bottleneck. The measured FPS differences between 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra are almost entirely attributable to the GPU's workload, not the CPU's ability to feed it. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684, places it just 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13700T. These results confirm that the processor has ample headroom to handle the game's logic and physics, even at high frame rates, meaning the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is most capable. On Low settings, it achieves an average of 122.4 FPS, which drops to 93.4 FPS on Medium and 77.9 FPS on High. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields an average of 58.8 FPS. This demonstrates that at 1080p, the system can provide a smooth experience even at High settings, with only Ultra dipping below the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance impact is significant. The Low setting average is 77.9 FPS, which is a substantial drop from 1080p. Medium averages 61.5 FPS, and High averages 48.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 41.1 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid. At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. The Low setting average is 41.1 FPS, which is the same as the 1440p Ultra figure. Medium drops to 32.5 FPS, High to 30.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 21.4 FPS. The data indicates that at 4K, the system is only playable on Low settings, and even then, it is barely above the 30 FPS mark.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this system. Comparing Low settings, the average FPS drops from 122.4 at 1080p to 77.9 at 1440p and then to 41.1 at 4K. This represents a 36% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 47% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a rendering workload that is heavily dependent on pixel count and fill rate. The data for High settings shows a similar trend, with averages of 77.9 FPS at 1080p, 48.7 FPS at 1440p, and 30.1 FPS at 4K. This indicates that as the resolution increases, the gap between settings narrows in absolute FPS terms, but the relative performance hit remains significant.

The fact that the 4K Low average (41.1 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1440p Ultra average (41.1 FPS) is telling. It suggests that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are being saturated at these points, and the resolution increase is essentially equivalent to a massive settings increase. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor here; if it were, the FPS would be more consistent across resolutions. Instead, the linear drop in performance with resolution points directly to the RTX 3050 4 GB's bandwidth and processing limitations. The system is unable to maintain a 60 FPS average at 1440p on High or Ultra settings, and at 4K, it can only approach playability on the Low preset. This scaling analysis confirms that for Minimum, this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates on most settings, and that any move to higher resolutions will require significant compromises in visual fidelity.