Minimum

# Minimum with Intel Core i7-12700KF + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2336 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 21st percentile of all configurations measured. This is a mid-to-low tier result for a third-person shooter from 2014, indicating that while the combo can run the game, it does so at frame rates that are competitive with much older or lower-end hardware. The CPU sits at the 85th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 65th percentile among all graphics cards, suggesting the pairing's overall rank is dragged down by the combination's real-world performance in this specific title rather than by either component's standalone benchmark standing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2336 out of 2939 means roughly 79% of tested configurations outperform it in Minimum. This is a surprisingly low position given the hardware involved. The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake-S processor that posts an average benchmark score of 35365, sitting just 0.1% below the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403) and 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305). The Intel Arc B570, meanwhile, has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is 0.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% below the Intel Arc A750 (20582). Yet in Minimum, this combination fails to leverage either component's relative strength. The game's age — released in 2014 — means it likely relies on single-threaded CPU performance and modest GPU features, but the measured FPS tells a story of a bottleneck that neither component fully overcomes. The 1080p Ultra result of 71 FPS and the 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS both indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher settings, while the CPU's strong single-core scores (3dmark single-thread 1043, Cinebench R15 single-core 410) are not translating into the high frame rates seen on other modern combos.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear tiering of performance across settings presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 145 FPS average, which is the highest measured result for this combo. Medium drops to 111 FPS, High to 93 FPS, and Ultra to 71 FPS. At 1440p, the pattern repeats: Low gives 94 FPS, Medium 72 FPS, High 60 FPS, and Ultra 46 FPS. At 4K, Low produces 50 FPS, Medium 39 FPS, High 32 FPS, and Ultra 25 FPS. For the best experience, the data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo sustains 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Medium, the average of 72 FPS with a 61 FPS minimum remains playable, and even 4K Medium at 39 FPS is within reach for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate. Low settings push frame rates higher but sacrifice the visual quality that a 2014 third-person shooter can offer, while Ultra settings cut performance by roughly 50% compared to Medium at every resolution without a proportional visual gain. The measured minimums for Medium (95 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, 33 FPS at 4K) indicate that Medium provides a stable frame pacing experience, avoiding the stutter that can occur when minimums dip below 30 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 111 at 1080p to 72 at 1440p (a 35% reduction) and then to 39 at 4K (a 65% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is consistent with a GPU bottleneck: as pixel count increases, the Arc B570's work per frame rises proportionally. The GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s. The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus delivers 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K High (32 FPS) and 4K Ultra (25 FPS) confirm that the GPU reaches its limits beyond 1440p. At 1080p Low, the 145 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the gap between 1080p Low (145 FPS) and 1440p Low (94 FPS) — a 35% drop — is nearly identical to the Medium preset's drop, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, are more than capable of handling the game's logic at any resolution; the data points to the Arc B570 as the component that determines the upper frame rate ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1080p is the only resolution where all settings presets achieve playable frame rates above 60 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS, while at 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the highest being Low at 50 FPS.

Q: Does this combo perform better at Low or Ultra settings?

A: Low settings always deliver higher average FPS than Ultra at every resolution: 145 vs 71 FPS at 1080p, 94 vs 46 FPS at 1440p, and 50 vs 25 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset reduces frame rates by roughly half across all resolutions.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582). It also sits 0.4% above the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480) and 0.5% below the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662).

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the opposite. The i7-12700KF has a 3dmark max-threads score of 9983 and a single-thread score of 1043, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent GPU-bound pattern, meaning the CPU is not the limiting component.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only minimum FPS values in the measured data are for Medium settings: 95 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. These represent the lowest frame rates recorded during testing for those specific configurations.

Q: How does this combo's rank compare to the CPU's percentile standing?

A: The CPU ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, but the combo ranks in the 21st percentile (2336 out of 2939) in Minimum. This discrepancy indicates that the GPU's performance in this title, not the CPU's raw capability, is what determines the overall ranking.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the dominant factor in this combo's Minimum performance. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is ample for a 2014 title, but the GPU's overall throughput is modest. The 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate translate into the measured frame rates, which are modest for modern standards. The GPU's base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 160-bit memory bus is narrower than many modern GPUs, which explains the significant FPS drop at 4K. The Arc B570's Passmark G3D score of 14195 and DirectX 12 score of 72 place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, but in Minimum, the performance is closer to a mid-range card from several years ago. The measured 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS is particularly telling — it shows that the GPU's 80 ROPs and 144 TMUs cannot sustain high pixel fill rates at extreme resolutions. However, at 1080p Low, the 145 FPS result demonstrates that the GPU has enough headroom for lower settings, and the 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 suggests the card handles modern APIs well. In this 2014 title, the GPU's architecture — Xe2-HPG on a 5 nm TSMC process — is overkill for the game's era, but the drivers and optimization for older titles may not fully exploit the hardware, resulting in the observed mid-pack performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF provides a strong foundation for Minimum, but the game does not appear to stress it heavily. The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads operate at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 25 MB of shared L3 cache. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071 place it well above the needs of a 2014 third-person shooter. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1043 and 2-thread score of 2065 indicate strong per-core performance, which is crucial for older games that often rely on one or two threads. The Passmark single-thread score of 3984 reinforces this. In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the FPS data suggests it does so without becoming a bottleneck — at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 145 FPS, which is a respectable frame rate for any CPU. The CPU's 85th percentile rank means it outperforms 85% of all CPUs in synthetic benchmarks, yet the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU. The nearest rivals for the CPU — the Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.1% delta), Core i5-13600T (35305, +0.2%), and Core 5 213PE (35428, -0.2%) — all have similar average scores, indicating that the 12700KF is competitive with newer low-power parts. However, in Minimum, the CPU's strong multi-threading (3dmark 16-thread score of 9282, max-threads score of 9983) is largely unused, as the game likely does not scale beyond a few threads. The CPU's TDP of 125 W and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory give it flexibility, but the measured FPS shows that even a high-end CPU cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of the combo's performance. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 145 FPS, Medium averages 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 128 FPS, High averages 93 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 94 FPS for Low, 72 FPS for Medium (minimum 61 FPS, maximum 82 FPS), 60 FPS for High, and 46 FPS for Ultra. At 3840x2160, the averages are 50 FPS for Low, 39 FPS for Medium (minimum 33 FPS, maximum 44 FPS), 32 FPS for High, and 25 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all resolutions, which allows for a more detailed analysis of frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the 95 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay, while at 1440p Medium, the 61 FPS minimum is just above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K Medium, the 33 FPS minimum is below ideal playability but above the 30 FPS floor for cinematic frame rates. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent: at 1080p, Ultra delivers 49% of Low's frame rate; at 1440p, Ultra delivers 49% of Low; and at 4K, Ultra delivers 50% of Low. This uniform scaling indicates that the settings presets affect the GPU workload proportionally, with no unexpected bottlenecks or driver issues. The data also shows that the jump from Medium to High costs roughly 16-18% of frame rate at each resolution, while the jump from High to Ultra costs another 22-24%, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest preset. For users with 60 Hz displays, 1080p Medium or 1440p Low are the recommended configurations, while 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings with a 50 FPS average.