Minimum

Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, demonstrates remarkably scalable performance on the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet transitions to a more balanced, CPU-influenced state at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates, component roles, and optimal settings for this specific hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern as resolution increases, with the most significant performance drop occurring between 1080p and 1440p. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 161 FPS at 1920x1080 to 104 FPS at 2560x1440, a substantial 35.4% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) at Ultra settings yields another steep decline to 56 FPS, representing a further 46.2% drop. This scaling behavior indicates that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the definitive bottleneck, with the GPU's rendering workload dominating the frame time.

The scaling pattern at High settings reinforces this interpretation. The average FPS at 1080p High is 211, which decreases to 136 at 1440p High (a 35.5% reduction) and then to 73 at 4K High (a 46.3% reduction from 1440p). The nearly identical percentage drops across both Ultra and High presets suggest that the performance scaling is primarily driven by resolution-dependent pixel throughput rather than specific settings features. This is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the fill rate and memory bandwidth of the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, rated at 250.6 GPixel/s and 672.3 GB/s respectively, become the limiting factors.

However, the Low settings data reveals a different story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves an exceptional 329 FPS average. When resolution increases to 1440p Low, the frame rate drops to 212 FPS, a 35.6% decrease. At 4K Low, the average is 114 FPS, a 46.2% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings presets—regardless of whether the absolute FPS is 329 or 56—strongly suggests that the game's rendering pipeline scales linearly with pixel count. The limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as even at Low settings the 114 FPS average is significantly lower than the 212 FPS seen at 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination holds the 449th position out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the top 12.1% of all configurations in the database. This percentile ranking reflects a system that is well above average for this title, though not at the extreme high-end. The combo's rank is likely constrained by the GPU's performance at 4K, where the 73 FPS average at High settings is respectable but not class-leading.

Examining the individual component rankings provides context for this overall position. The CPU sits in the 85th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700T (avgScore 35403, deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (avgScore 35305, deltaPct 0.2), indicating that the i7-12700KF is essentially performance-equivalent to these newer or lower-tier parts in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 76th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average score of 31087. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (deltaPct -0.4) and NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (deltaPct -0.4), which are vastly different products in terms of gaming capability, suggesting that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's percentile is dragged down by its performance in compute-oriented tests rather than gaming.

The data indicates that for Minimum, the combo's rank of 449 is strong but not exceptional. The system's 4K Ultra performance of 56 FPS average is playable but not smooth, while 4K High at 73 FPS is more acceptable. The ranking reflects a balanced system where neither component severely bottlenecks the other at the most common gaming resolutions, but where the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This hybrid design combines performance and efficiency cores, though the benchmark data does not differentiate between them. For Minimum, a 2014 title, the CPU's raw single-thread performance is likely more relevant than its multi-threading capabilities, given the game's age and typical engine design.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks support this analysis. In Cinebench R23, the i7-12700KF scores 28838 in multi-core and 4071 in single-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant, as older games often rely heavily on one or two threads for game logic and physics. The 3DMark tests show a scaling pattern: 2065 for 2 threads, 4011 for 4 threads, 7211 for 8 threads, and 9282 for 16 threads, with a max thread score of 9983. This indicates that the CPU scales well with additional threads up to 8, after which returns diminish significantly—a pattern consistent with a game that may not utilize more than 8 threads effectively.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence becomes apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 329 FPS. At this resolution and settings level, the GPU load is relatively light, allowing the CPU to become a more significant factor. The fact that the system does not exceed 329 FPS at 1080p Low—even though the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is capable of much higher frame rates in other titles—suggests that the CPU is providing a performance ceiling. However, the i7-12700KF's boost clock of 5.00 GHz and 25 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample headroom for this older title. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3984 and Geekbench single-core score of 2255 indicate strong per-core performance that should not bottleneck the game at any resolution below 1080p High.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo shows consistent performance scaling across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 329 FPS (Low), 252 FPS (Medium), 211 FPS (High), and 161 FPS (Ultra). The Medium settings preset includes minimum and maximum frame rates of 214 and 290 respectively, indicating a frame time variance of about 76 FPS. This variance is typical for a game running at high frame rates, where individual frame times become more variable.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 212 FPS (Low), 162 FPS (Medium), 136 FPS (High), and 104 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at this resolution shows a min of 138 FPS and a max of 187 FPS, narrowing the variance to 49 FPS. This tighter frame time distribution suggests that the GPU is becoming more consistently loaded as resolution increases, reducing the impact of CPU-side frame time spikes.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 114 FPS (Low), 87 FPS (Medium), 73 FPS (High), and 56 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at 4K shows a min of 74 FPS and a max of 101 FPS, a variance of 27 FPS. This progressive narrowing of frame time variance as resolution increases confirms that the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K, smoothing out the frame delivery. The data shows that the system can maintain 60+ FPS at 4K High, but drops below that threshold at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's clock speeds are 2340 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost, with 8448 shading units and 66 RT cores. These specifications position it as a high-end GPU, though its percentile ranking of 76 versus all GPUs suggests that it sits below the absolute top tier.

For Minimum, the GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU is not the primary bottleneck, as evidenced by the 329 FPS average at Low settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU's workload becomes the limiting factor, with the 56 FPS average indicating that the card is struggling to maintain playable frame rates at maximum settings. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this 2014 title, which likely uses less than 4 GB even at 4K Ultra, but the GPU's raw compute throughput is what limits performance.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 31811 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 provide context for its gaming performance. The DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 scores (278 and 119 respectively in PassMark) suggest that the GPU is well-optimized for modern APIs, which is relevant since Minimum supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. The GPU's pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s are the key specifications that determine its performance at higher resolutions, and the data suggests that these are the limiting factors at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 4K gaming, the High preset at 73 FPS average is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 56 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that is generally considered the minimum for smooth gameplay, while the Medium preset at 87 FPS offers a significant performance boost with only a minor visual quality reduction. The data indicates that 4K High is the sweet spot, providing a smooth experience without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 104 FPS average is the clear recommendation. This provides a high-refresh-rate experience with maximum visual quality, and the 104 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 136 FPS is also viable for players with 144Hz monitors, but the Ultra preset's 104 FPS is still smooth and offers better image quality. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 161 FPS is the best choice, as it provides an excellent high-refresh-rate experience without any performance concerns.

The Medium preset shows the most consistent frame times across all resolutions, with the 4K Medium data showing a min of 74 FPS and a max of 101 FPS. This consistency suggests that Medium settings may provide the most stable experience for players who are sensitive to frame time spikes, even if the average FPS is lower than High at certain resolutions. However, for most players, the High preset at 4K and Ultra at lower resolutions will provide the best overall experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 provides 73 FPS average, which is the highest quality setting that maintains a smooth frame rate above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 56 FPS, which may not be smooth enough for competitive play.

Q: Can this system handle 1080p gaming at maximum settings?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 achieves 161 FPS average, providing an excellent high-refresh-rate experience. The Low preset reaches 329 FPS, indicating the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 329 FPS, which appears to be CPU-limited. The i7-12700KF's single-thread performance of 4071 in Cinebench R23 and 5.00 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom, but the game's engine may not scale beyond this frame rate.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER a bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 4K Ultra the average FPS is 56, indicating the GPU is the limiting component. The resolution scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a consistent 46% performance drop across all settings, confirming GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at different resolutions?

A: The Medium preset data shows frame time variance narrowing from 76 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded at higher resolutions, reducing CPU-induced frame time spikes.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo holds the 449th position out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 12.1% of systems for Minimum. The CPU is in the 85th percentile and the GPU in the 76th percentile versus their respective component categories.