Minimum

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a striking imbalance in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The data shows a powerful 12-core processor constrained by a GPU that ranks in the 9th percentile among all tested graphics cards. Benchmark results indicate this combination delivers playable frame rates only at 1080p with reduced settings, while higher resolutions and presets quickly exhaust the graphics subsystem. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions, settings, and component roles.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how sharply performance degrades as resolution increases, a classic signature of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 95 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 61 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 33 FPS, which is 65% lower than the 1080p Low result. This steep scaling curve indicates the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component, as the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are far beyond what a 2014 title requires.

The pattern repeats across all settings presets. With High settings, the transition from 1080p (61 FPS) to 1440p (39 FPS) loses 22 FPS, and the further jump to 4K (21 FPS) cuts the frame rate by nearly half again. The Medium preset shows the same trajectory: 72 FPS at 1080p, 47 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, yielding 46 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and just 16 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling data strongly suggests that the GPU’s rendering pipeline saturates well before the CPU’s capabilities are taxed. The Arc B390, with its 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs, delivers a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. These figures, while modest, are further constrained by system-shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." At 4K, the pixel throughput requirement overwhelms the GPU, causing the dramatic FPS collapse from 33 (Low) to 16 (Ultra).

Notably, the frame time consistency also worsens at higher resolutions. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a min FPS of 62 and max of 83, a 21 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 14 FPS (40 to 54), but the average drops to 47. At 4K Medium, the spread is 8 FPS (21 to 29), with an average of 25. This tightening range at lower averages indicates the GPU is consistently maxed out rather than encountering occasional spikes, reinforcing that resolution is the primary bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers a 95 FPS average, which is smooth for a third-person shooter. However, the Medium preset offers a 72 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS, which still provides a comfortable margin above typical 60 FPS thresholds. The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the jump to High (61 FPS) yields only a modest visual uplift for a 15% performance cost, while Ultra (46 FPS) sacrifices too much fluidity.

For 1440p, the situation changes. The Low preset produces 61 FPS, which is exactly at the standard refresh rate baseline, but any increase in settings pushes the average below 60 FPS. Medium drops to 47 FPS, High to 39 FPS, and Ultra to 30 FPS. Benchmark results indicate that 1440p Low is the only viable preset for consistent playability, and even then, the margin is thin. Users with 1440p displays should accept the reduced visual fidelity to maintain frame rate.

At 4K, no preset achieves a playable average. The Low preset tops out at 33 FPS, Medium at 25 FPS, High at 21 FPS, and Ultra at 16 FPS. These numbers fall below the minimum thresholds for responsive gameplay in a shooter. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a realistic target for this combination, regardless of settings. The GPU’s 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482, underscores its inability to handle 4K workloads.

The measured FPS breakdown suggests that the best experience per the data is 1080p Medium, where the 72 FPS average and 62 FPS minimum provide a stable foundation. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 95 FPS is the safer choice. The Medium preset at 1440p (47 FPS) and Low at 4K (33 FPS) are only suitable for slower-paced gameplay or screenshots, not competitive shooting.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?*

A: The highest measured average is 95 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 72 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 61 FPS at both 1080p High and 1440p Low.

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K?*

A: No. The best 4K result is 33 FPS on Low settings, which is below playable thresholds for a shooter. Medium, High, and Ultra at 4K yield 25, 21, and 16 FPS respectively, all of which are too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390’s average benchmark score is 1482, which places it 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710 (1443). These are marginal differences among very low-performing GPUs.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1080p Medium?

A: The 1080p Medium preset shows an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, a spread of 21 FPS. This indicates moderate variability but remains within a playable range.

*Q: Does the CPU limit performance in Minimum at any resolution?*

A: No. The i7-12700KF’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and single-core of 4071, far exceed the demands of a 2014 title. The GPU is the limiting factor at all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops with resolution increases.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2602 out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of systems for Minimum performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2602 out of 2939 tested combinations places it in the lower tier of systems for Minimum. This positioning is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU sits in the 85th percentile among all processors. The i7-12700KF’s average benchmark score of 35365 is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12700K (35287) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305), and within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403). This means the processor is competitive with mid-range modern CPUs, yet the system still ranks poorly due to the graphics bottleneck.

The disparity between the CPU’s percentile (85) and GPU’s percentile (9) highlights the fundamental mismatch. In a game like Minimum, which launched in 2014, the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are largely idle. The game’s rendering workload falls entirely on the GPU, which delivers only 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. This score places the Arc B390 in the same performance class as legacy NVIDIA parts like the GT 710 and GT 625 OEM, which are over a decade old.

The rank data shows that most of the 2939 tested combos outperform this pairing. The 337 combos ranked below it likely feature even weaker GPUs or CPUs that bottleneck in other ways. However, for a game of Minimum’s era, the CPU provides no uplift because the GPU cannot translate processing power into frame rate. The combo’s rank is a direct reflection of the GPU’s 9th percentile standing, not the CPU’s capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. Benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 28838, while single-core scores 4071. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1043 (single-thread) to 9983 (max threads), indicating robust thread utilization.

For Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, these specifications are excessive. The game’s engine was designed for the hardware of its era, which typically featured 4-core CPUs. The i7-12700KF’s 20 threads provide no measurable benefit in this workload, as evidenced by the fact that performance scales almost entirely with resolution and settings—both GPU-bound factors. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 95 FPS, but this is limited by the GPU’s pixel throughput, not the CPU’s ability to feed frames.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the i7-13700T (deltaPct -0.1), i5-13600T (deltaPct 0.2), and i7-12700K (deltaPct 0.2). These deltas are negligible, meaning the i7-12700KF performs identically to these processors in synthetic tests. In Minimum, swapping to any of these CPUs would likely yield the same FPS, confirming that the processor is not a determining factor. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs underscores its capability, but this capability is untapped in a GPU-limited scenario.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS spans from 95 (Low) to 46 (Ultra). The Medium preset averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 62 and maximum of 83. High settings average 61 FPS. The progression shows a 24% drop from Low to Medium, a 15% drop from Medium to High, and a 25% drop from High to Ultra. The 1080p results are the only ones where any preset exceeds 60 FPS, with Low and Medium both clearing that bar.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 61 (Low), 47 (Medium), 39 (High), and 30 (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a minimum of 40 and maximum of 54. The drop from Low to Medium is 23%, from Medium to High is 17%, and from High to Ultra is 23%. Only the Low preset maintains a 60 FPS average, and even that is borderline. The 1440p results indicate that the GPU’s rendering capacity is roughly half of what 1080p requires, consistent with the 2.25x pixel count increase.

At 3840x2160, the averages collapse to 33 (Low), 25 (Medium), 21 (High), and 16 (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a minimum of 21 and maximum of 29. The drop from Low to Medium is 24%, from Medium to High is 16%, and from High to Ultra is 24%. The 4K results are uniformly unplayable, with the highest average (33 FPS on Low) still below the 60 FPS target. The 4K pixel count is 4x that of 1080p, and the FPS reduction from 1080p Low (95) to 4K Low (33) is 65%, reflecting the GPU’s inability to scale with resolution.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by Intel. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz. The memory subsystem is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM, and bandwidth is labeled "System Dependent." The GPU’s FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, deltaPct 1.3), GeForce 800M (1460, deltaPct 1.5), GT 625 OEM (1446, deltaPct 2.5), and GT 710 (1443, deltaPct 2.7). These are all entry-level or legacy parts, confirming the Arc B390’s low-end positioning. The 80 W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate this is designed for portable or low-power devices, not desktop gaming.

In Minimum, the GPU’s role is decisive. The measured FPS across all resolutions and settings directly correlates with the GPU’s pixel and texture throughput. At 1080p, the GPU can maintain playable frame rates at Low and Medium, but High and Ultra exceed its fill rate. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is overwhelmed, as shown by the steep FPS drops. The system-shared memory further compounds the issue, as bandwidth is dependent on the CPU’s memory configuration, which for this combo is dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5.

The GPU’s 9th percentile ranking explains the combo’s 2602nd place among 2939 systems. The CPU provides no uplift because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to benefit from the processor’s speed. The Arc B390’s performance in Minimum is consistent with its synthetic benchmark scores: it is a capable IGP for basic tasks but falls far short of the requirements for smooth gaming at modern resolutions. The data shows that any of the GPU’s nearest rivals would produce nearly identical FPS, given their similar benchmark scores.