Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i7-12700K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 in Minimum?

A: This combination ranks 548th out of 1,733 tested combos in the game, placing it in the upper third of all systems tested.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 35,787 is 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (score 36,101) and 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (score 35,860), while sitting 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (score 35,435).

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance relative to its multi-threaded score?

A: The Core i7-12700K achieves a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043, while its max-thread score reaches 9,979 — roughly 9.6 times higher, reflecting its 12-core, 20-thread configuration.

Q: What is the best measured FPS result listed for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate appears at 1920x1080 with Low settings, hitting 265.8 FPS. The same resolution at Ultra still delivers 131.2 FPS.

Q: How large is the performance gap between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings produce 57.6 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 42.6 FPS — a difference of 15 FPS, or roughly 26% lower performance for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the CPU’s percentile ranking suggest it is a bottleneck in this game?

A: The i7-12700K sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 3080 is in the 80th percentile among GPUs, suggesting the processor has more headroom relative to its peers than the graphics card does.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU packs 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, alongside 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. Its boost clock reaches 1,710 MHz from a 1,440 MHz base, and the memory subsystem runs at 1,188 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective on 10 GB of GDDR6X across a 320-bit bus. That configuration yields 760.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the GPU's role is primarily about raw fill rate and memory throughput. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s determine how quickly the card can shade and rasterize scenes. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 131.2 FPS, while dropping to Low settings more than doubles that to 265.8 FPS — an indication that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher preset. The RTX 3080's 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs means it outperforms most cards, but its nearest rivals in synthetic scores are within 1%, suggesting that in this game, the GPU's real-world position could shift depending on driver and game-specific optimizations.

The memory bandwidth becomes more important as resolution climbs. At 4K, the measured FPS falls from 57.6 at High to 42.6 at Ultra, a 15 FPS drop that aligns with the increased memory pressure from higher-resolution textures and effects. The 10 GB frame buffer is adequate for this 2014 title, but the card's end-of-life production status and its 320 W TDP suggest it is running near its design limits. The data implies that the RTX 3080's strengths — high FP32 throughput and fast GDDR6X — are what keep 4K playable, though not at high refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake-S processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It uses a hybrid architecture with performance and efficiency cores, though the fact pack does not specify the exact core distribution. The CPU has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. Its 3DMark scores show strong scaling: 2,065 for 2 threads, 4,011 for 4 threads, 7,202 for 8 threads, and 9,979 for max threads — nearly linear scaling up to 8 threads, with diminishing returns beyond that.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is less about pushing frame rates at low settings and more about maintaining consistent performance across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 265.8 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound territory, but the processor's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it has ample headroom. The single-thread score of 1,043 in 3DMark is relatively modest compared to the max-thread score, but the 12-core design ensures that any background threads from the game engine or operating system won't starve the main render threads.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (0.3% faster) and Intel Core i7-13700T (0.6% slower), showing that this chip is competitively placed in synthetic tests. For a game released in 2014, the i7-12700K's 20 threads are overkill, but the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz helps maintain responsiveness. The data indicates that at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor — the FPS drops from 89.7 at Low to 42.6 at Ultra, which is a GPU-driven trend. The processor's 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give it flexibility, but in this title, its main job is to stay out of the GPU's way.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a full picture of how this combo scales. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 265.8 FPS on Low, 205.3 on Medium, 171.7 on High, and 131.2 on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 134.6 FPS drop, or roughly 51% lower performance, which is substantial but leaves even the Ultra preset well above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 172.5 FPS on Low, 133.7 on Medium, 112.4 on High, and 81.4 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 91.1 FPS, about 53% lower, but the Ultra preset still clears 60 FPS comfortably. At 3840x2160, the results become more constrained: 89.7 FPS on Low, 70.8 on Medium, 57.6 on High, and 42.6 on Ultra. Here, the Low-to-Ultra drop is 47.1 FPS, or about 53% lower, but the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS, and High barely misses the mark.

The scaling pattern is consistent: each settings tier costs roughly 20-25 FPS at 1080p, 20-30 FPS at 1440p, and 13-19 FPS at 4K. The absolute drops shrink as resolution increases because the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the relative percentage loss stays around 50-53% from Low to Ultra across all resolutions. The data shows that this combo can handle 1080p and 1440p at any preset, but 4K users must choose between High (57.6 FPS) or Medium (70.8 FPS) for a smoother experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 548th out of 1,733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 68th percentile of all systems. This is a strong showing, especially considering the GPU's 80th percentile ranking and the CPU's 89th percentile. The rank suggests that while this combo is not at the top tier, it outperforms the majority of tested systems in this specific game.

The synthetic benchmarks back this up: the RTX 3080's average score of 35,787 is within 1% of its nearest rivals, and the i7-12700K's 35,684 average score is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802, 0.3% faster) and just 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13700T (35,468). The combo rank of 548 out of 1,733 means that roughly 1,185 other combinations score lower, which is a strong position for a 2020 GPU paired with a 2021 CPU.

What is interesting is the gap between the CPU's and GPU's percentile rankings. The processor is in the 89th percentile, while the graphics card is in the 80th, suggesting that the CPU has more headroom relative to its peers. This could mean that in a game like Minimum, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the GPU is the primary limiter, and the CPU's extra performance headroom does not translate into higher frame rates. The rank data indicates that this combo is well-balanced, but not perfectly so — a higher-tier GPU would likely push this CPU higher in the rankings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best settings preset depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, every preset delivers playable frame rates, with Ultra hitting 131.2 FPS and Low reaching 265.8 FPS. For a 144 Hz monitor, Ultra is the best choice because it stays above 120 FPS while providing the highest visual quality. For a 240 Hz display, High at 171.7 FPS is the sweet spot, as it remains above 144 FPS and is only 34.5 FPS slower than Medium.

At 2560x1440, Ultra produces 81.4 FPS, which is suitable for a 60 Hz or 75 Hz monitor. High at 112.4 FPS is better for 100 Hz displays, and Medium at 133.7 FPS supports 120 Hz panels. Low at 172.5 FPS is overkill for most monitors but ensures maximum frame consistency. The data suggests that High is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it balances visual fidelity with a 112.4 FPS average that exceeds most high-refresh displays.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. Ultra at 42.6 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay unless the user has a 40-50 Hz display. High at 57.6 FPS is borderline, while Medium at 70.8 FPS is the first preset to clear 60 FPS. For the best experience at 4K, Medium is the recommended preset, as it provides a 70.8 FPS average that is stable enough for most titles. Low at 89.7 FPS is an option for competitive play, but the visual trade-off is significant. Across all resolutions, the data shows that Medium offers the most balanced experience when the GPU is under heavy load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system scales with resolution and which component becomes the limiting factor. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 265.8 at 1080p to 172.5 at 1440p and 89.7 at 4K. That is a 66% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is more than the pixel-count difference (4x) would suggest, indicating that the GPU is not the only constraint at 1080p Low — the CPU likely caps performance at 265.8 FPS, and the GPU does not show its full scaling until higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the progression is 131.2 FPS at 1080p, 81.4 at 1440p, and 42.6 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 88.6 FPS, or about 68% lower. This is a larger absolute drop than at Low settings, which is expected because the GPU is doing more work per frame. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is 38% (131.2 to 81.4), and from 1440p to 4K is 48% (81.4 to 42.6). The scaling is not linear, with the 4K step costing more performance per pixel.

The data implies that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, where the frame rate is likely capped by the processor's single-thread performance. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the 68% drop from 1080p Ultra. The RTX 3080's memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s is sufficient for 1440p but strained at 4K, where the 10 GB frame buffer and 320-bit bus are pushed harder. The scaling pattern suggests that for this 2014 title, the i7-12700K provides enough headroom to avoid CPU bottlenecking at 4K, but the RTX 3080's 80th percentile ranking means it is not a top-tier card for 4K gaming, especially at higher presets.