Minimum

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The data shows this combination ranks 3542 out of 3712 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems. While the CPU provides substantial headroom, the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and modest compute resources become the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The measured frames per second reveal a system that can handle 1080p Low comfortably but struggles to maintain fluid motion at 4K, regardless of quality preset.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows indicate that the best experience for this combo comes from the Low preset at 1920x1080, where the average frame rate reaches 82 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, making it the clear choice for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p still delivers a respectable 63 FPS average, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, which remains playable for most action sequences. However, the jump from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS on average, a 23% reduction that may not justify the visual improvements given the game’s age.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 53 FPS average, which is borderline for a third-person shooter where quick camera movements demand consistency. The Medium preset at this resolution drops to 40 FPS average, with a minimum of 34 FPS, which will feel stuttery during intense firefights. The High preset at 1440p yields only 34 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS, both of which are below the playability threshold for this genre. For 3840x2160, no preset achieves even 30 FPS average; the Low preset tops out at 28 FPS, while Medium averages 22 FPS with a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS. High and Ultra at 4K produce 18 FPS and 14 FPS respectively, making them unplayable for any practical purpose.

The data suggests that users should prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The Low preset at 1080p offers the only consistently smooth experience, with the Medium preset at 1080p serving as a viable alternative for those who want slightly better visuals without dropping below 53 FPS minimum. At higher resolutions, the Low preset remains the least bad option, but the system simply lacks the GPU horsepower to maintain playable frame rates. For a game that launched in 2014, the expectation of higher performance is reasonable, but this specific hardware combination falls short beyond 1080p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, and the chip packs 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The GPU’s FP32 performance is rated at 5.095 TFLOPS, which places it in the mid-range tier of its generation. The measured benchmark scores for this GPU include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 880, a Geekbench Metal score of 39349, an OpenCL score of 32084, and a Vulkan score of 42752. Its average benchmark score of 28766 puts it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (deltaPct 0.7), and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct -0.8).

The VRAM capacity of 4 GB proves to be a limiting factor in Minimum at higher settings and resolutions. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces only 14 FPS average, which is the lowest score in the entire dataset. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a steep decline: 28 FPS at Low, 22 FPS at Medium, 18 FPS at High, and 14 FPS at Ultra. This pattern indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering, even for a game from 2014. The texture-heavy environments and particle effects in third-person shooters require more VRAM than this card can provide at high resolutions.

The clock speeds of 1168 MHz base and 1244 MHz boost are relatively modest by modern standards, but they are not the primary issue. The GPU’s 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the real constraint, as it must process geometry, lighting, and post-processing effects simultaneously. The data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 1440p and above, where even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS. At 1080p, the GPU can keep up with the CPU’s demands, but only at the Low and Medium presets. The High preset at 1080p drops to 53 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s shading units are overwhelmed by the additional effects.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 82 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 53 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 28 FPS, a 66% reduction from 1080p. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where increasing pixel count directly impacts rendering time. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions, but the RX 570 cannot translate that CPU capability into higher frame rates at higher pixel densities.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K. The High preset scales from 53 FPS at 1080p to 34 FPS at 1440p and 18 FPS at 4K. Ultra follows the same pattern: 40 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. Across all settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p averages around 35-40%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K averages around 45-50%. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and fill rate become increasingly strained as resolution increases.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even the Low preset at 3840x2160 cannot reach 30 FPS, which means the system is not viable for 4K gaming in Minimum. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS, indicating significant frame time variance that would cause noticeable judder. The data indicates that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU, as the CPU’s performance metrics (such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and single-core score of 2116) far exceed what this game requires. The GPU’s 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS are insufficient for the pixel throughput demands of 4K, making 1080p the practical ceiling for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS ranges from 82 at Low to 40 at Ultra. The Low preset achieves the highest score, with no minimum or maximum reported. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 72, providing a solid playable window. High averages 53 FPS, which is exactly at the threshold where some players might notice stutter in fast-paced scenes. Ultra drops to 40 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but still technically playable for less demanding titles. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra, with each step costing roughly 10-19 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 53 FPS for Low, 40 FPS for Medium, 34 FPS for High, and 26 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset again provides the only min/max data, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset at 1440p is the most consistent option, though its 40 FPS average is below the ideal for a shooter. The Low preset at 1440p matches the High preset at 1080p in terms of average FPS (53), but the higher resolution means more pixel detail is rendered, which could affect visual clarity. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 26 FPS, making it unsuitable for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 28 FPS for Low, 22 FPS for Medium, 18 FPS for High, and 14 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 25 FPS, showing that even the best-case scenario at 4K remains below 30 FPS. The data shows a consistent degradation of about 4-6 FPS per settings tier at 4K, which is smaller in absolute terms than at lower resolutions but represents a larger percentage drop. For instance, moving from Low to Medium at 4K costs 6 FPS (21% reduction), while the same move at 1080p costs 19 FPS (23% reduction). The relative impact is similar, but the absolute frame rates at 4K are too low for any practical use.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3542 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 4.6% of all systems tested. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, as the CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46881. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (avgScore 46971, deltaPct -0.2), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (avgScore 47022, deltaPct -0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (avgScore 46654, deltaPct 0.5). The i7-13700K’s performance is essentially on par with these rivals, differing by less than 1% in either direction.

The GPU, by contrast, ranks in the 74th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 28766. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (avgScore 28874, deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (avgScore 28580, deltaPct 0.7), and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (avgScore 28996, deltaPct -0.8). The RX 570’s score is within 1.2% of these rivals, indicating that its performance is typical for its class. However, in Minimum, the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 5.095 TFLOPS are insufficient to leverage the CPU’s capabilities, resulting in the poor overall ranking.

The combination’s rank of 3542 out of 3712 means that 95.4% of tested systems outperform this pairing in Minimum. This is a stark contrast to the CPU’s individual standing, which is in the top 11% of all CPUs. The data suggests that pairing a high-end 13th-gen CPU with a mid-range 2017 GPU creates a significant bottleneck, where the CPU spends most of its time waiting for the GPU to finish rendering frames. In games that are less GPU-intensive, this combo might perform better, but Minimum’s third-person shooter gameplay with its detailed environments and effects exposes the GPU’s limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K features 16 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it uses the Intel Socket 1700 with a 125 W TDP. Its benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and single-core score of 2116, a Geekbench multicore score of 19429 and single-core score of 2529, and a Passmark multithread score of 45887 with a single-thread score of 4333. The CPU’s 3DMark scores include 12412 for max threads and 1136 for single thread.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is largely to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game’s 2014 release date means it was designed for CPUs with far fewer cores, so the i7-13700K’s 16 cores are rarely fully utilized. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution or settings preset, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a manner consistent with GPU limitation. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, which is not the case.

The CPU’s single-thread performance, with a Passmark single-thread score of 4333 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1136, is more than adequate for Minimum’s game logic and AI. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that even lightly threaded workloads are handled quickly. The CPU’s 30 MB of L3 cache provides fast access to frequently used data, reducing memory latency. However, the measured FPS data indicates that the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 5.095 TFLOPS are the limiting factors, as the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p High or above. The CPU’s performance headroom is evident from its percentile rank of 89, but this headroom is wasted when paired with the RX 570 in this particular game.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 with a deltaPct of -0.2, perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks, yet the combo’s in-game rank is determined by the GPU. This suggests that for Minimum, the choice of CPU matters little as long as it has sufficient single-thread performance. The i7-13700K’s 16 cores and 24 threads provide future-proofing for more modern games, but in this title, the GPU is the sole determinant of playable frame rates. The data shows that the CPU is not a contributing factor to the low ranking; rather, the RX 570’s age and capacity constraints are responsible for the 3542nd place finish out of 3712 combos.