Minimum

This combo—Intel Core i7-13700K paired with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650—ranks very low for Minimum, placing 1645th out of 1733 tested combinations. That bottom-5% placement signals a severe bottleneck, and the data confirms it is almost entirely GPU-bound. The GTX 1650’s modest 4 GB VRAM and Turing-era architecture struggle with even a 2014 title at modern resolutions, while the i7-13700K’s massive core count and high clocks go largely unused. The result is a system that can handle 1080p Low respectably but falls apart at higher settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1645 out of 1733 places it in the bottom 5% of all tested pairings for Minimum. This is a poor result, driven by the GPU dragging down an otherwise top-tier CPU. The i7-13700K alone sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282. Its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-13700KF (47334, -0.1% delta), AMD EPYC 4364P (47131, +0.3%), Intel Core i9-12900F (47081, +0.4%), and AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 (47527, -0.5%)—show it is competitive at the very top of CPU performance.

On the GPU side, the GTX 1650 sits in only the 43rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 8713. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746, -0.4%), AMD Radeon 550X (8749, -0.4%), NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671, +0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761, -0.5%). This is a mid-to-low-tier GPU by modern standards, and pairing it with a top-7% CPU creates a massive imbalance. The data indicates that for Minimum, the GPU is the primary limiter, making the CPU’s potential irrelevant in most scenarios.

GPU Role

The GTX 1650 is built on the TU117 chip using a 12 nm process from TSMC, with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. Memory bandwidth is 128.1 GB/s, which is the first major constraint. The GPU’s base clock is 1485 MHz, boosting to 1665 MHz, and it features 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel rate is 53.28 GPixel/s and texture rate is 93.24 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 2.984 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, these specs translate directly to poor frame rates at higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 11.7 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 4K High, it reaches just 18.4 FPS. The 4 GB VRAM is likely a significant factor—at 4K Ultra, texture and geometry data exceed what the card can efficiently handle, causing the frame rate to collapse. The GPU’s DirectX 12 support (12_1) is present, but the card’s raw throughput is insufficient for the game’s demands at high resolutions.

The GTX 1650’s percentile rank of 43rd among all GPUs underscores its mid-range status. Its average benchmark score of 8713 is very close to its nearest rivals, all within ±0.5% delta, indicating that this GPU is at a performance plateau—there is no headroom to push higher. For Minimum, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck, and the data shows it cannot maintain playable frame rates above 1080p Medium without dropping below 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a Raptor Lake-S part with 16 cores and 24 threads, base clock of 3.40 GHz, and boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It has 30 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB L2 per core, and 80 KB L1 per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, with a dual-channel bus and PCIe Gen 5 (20 lanes). Its TDP is 125 W, and it has an integrated UHD Graphics 770.

Benchmark results show the CPU is exceptionally strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 39000, with a single-core score of 5505. Geekbench multi-core is 17731 and single-core is 2850. PassMark multi-thread score is 45887, and single-thread is 4333. These numbers place the CPU in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282, putting it nearly 0.1% behind the i7-13700KF and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is minimal because the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the combo hits 82.1 FPS, but this is still not bottlenecked by the CPU—the GTX 1650 simply cannot push higher. The CPU’s massive multi-threading capability (16 cores, 24 threads) is wasted on a game that likely uses only a few cores. The single-thread performance (Cinebench R15 single-core 554, R23 single-core 5505) is excellent, but it cannot compensate for the GPU’s limitations. The CPU is not the issue; the data shows it is far more capable than what this GPU allows it to demonstrate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings, with average FPS only (no min/max values provided). At 1080p, the results are: Low 82.1 FPS, Medium 62.1 FPS, High 54.2 FPS, and Ultra 43.1 FPS. This is the only resolution where the combo approaches playability, and even then, only on Low and Medium settings.

At 1440p, the frame rates drop significantly: Low 54.8 FPS, Medium 39.9 FPS, High 33.5 FPS, and Ultra 26.2 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low (82.1 FPS) to 1440p Low (54.8 FPS) is a 33% reduction, showing the GPU struggling with increased pixel count.

At 4K, the results are mostly unplayable: Low 30.8 FPS, Medium 21.6 FPS, High 18.4 FPS, and Ultra 11.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 11.7 FPS is the worst in the entire dataset, and even 4K Low (30.8 FPS) is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low (82.1 to 30.8 FPS) is a 62% drop, confirming the GPU is overwhelmed at high resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 60 FPS at any setting?*

A: Yes, but only at 1080p Low, where it achieves 82.1 FPS. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 62.1 FPS, which is just above 60. No other resolution or setting reaches 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best playable setting for this combo?

A: The data shows 1080p Medium at 62.1 FPS is the highest setting that maintains a smooth experience. 1080p High (54.2 FPS) is borderline, while 1080p Ultra (43.1 FPS) is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the GPU’s VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The GTX 1650 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with 128.1 GB/s bandwidth. The severe drop from 1080p Medium (62.1 FPS) to 1440p Medium (39.9 FPS) suggests VRAM capacity or bandwidth is a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

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

A: No. The i7-13700K is in the 93rd percentile of CPUs with a max-thread 3DMark score of 12412. The GPU is the clear bottleneck, as shown by the combo’s low rank (1645th of 1733) despite the CPU’s strength.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, the combo goes from 82.1 FPS at 1080p to 30.8 FPS at 4K, a 62% reduction. This indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s performance would not degrade with resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GPU’s nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1650’s average benchmark score of 8713 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals (RTX 3050 A Mobile, Radeon 550X, Quadro P2200, Radeon Pro WX 5100). This means swapping to any of those would yield nearly identical results in Minimum.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo are 1080p Medium, delivering 62.1 FPS. This is the only configuration that balances visual quality and smoothness, staying above the 60 FPS threshold. If the user prioritizes frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 82.1 FPS is the best choice, providing a 32% FPS boost over Medium. 1080p High (54.2 FPS) is playable but may feel slightly stuttery on a 60 Hz display, while 1080p Ultra (43.1 FPS) should be avoided.

At 1440p, the only viable option is Low at 54.8 FPS, which is below 60 but playable on a VRR display. 1440p Medium (39.9 FPS) and higher are not recommended. At 4K, no setting achieves playable frame rates—even Low (30.8 FPS) is too low for a smooth experience. The data clearly shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with Medium as the sweet spot.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combo. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 82.1 FPS (1080p) to 54.8 FPS (1440p) to 30.8 FPS (4K). This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 44% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 62%, which is consistent with a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more severe: 43.1 FPS (1080p), 26.2 FPS (1440p), and 11.7 FPS (4K). The drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 73%, indicating that the GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are severely taxed at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance is resolution-independent—its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39000 would not change—so the FPS drops are entirely attributable to the GPU. This confirms that for Minimum, the GTX 1650 is the limiting component, and upgrading the GPU would yield far greater gains than any CPU change.