Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Minimum across three resolutions reveal a system that is progressively more GPU-bound as pixel count rises, though the CPU remains a significant contributor even at 1080p. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination produces 153.9 FPS average. Dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 240.9 FPS, while Medium sits at 184.3 FPS and Ultra at 120.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is exactly 120 FPS, indicating that the graphics card's shading and rasterization throughput are heavily taxed by the higher preset, but the CPU can still feed frames well above 120 FPS in all cases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same preset ladder shows a clear scaling pattern. High settings deliver 101.7 FPS, Low reaches 154.4 FPS, Medium produces 118.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 77.3 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings represents a 34% reduction in average frame rate, from 153.9 to 101.7 FPS. This is a substantial drop that points to the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth becoming a limiting factor as the pixel workload increases. The GPU's 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate and 339.8 GTexel/s texture rate are being saturated more fully at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced. High settings yield 54.5 FPS, Low produces 82.1 FPS, Medium achieves 61.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The 4K High result is less than half of the 1080p High figure, a 65% reduction in frame rate. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is hitting its memory bandwidth ceiling; the 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is shared across four times the pixel count of 1080p. The data suggests that at 4K, the RTX 3070 Ti is the dominant bottleneck, while at 1080p the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads with a 5.40 GHz boost clock can still keep the GPU adequately fed.

The scaling efficiency between Low and Ultra settings also varies by resolution. At 1080p, Low is 99% faster than Ultra (240.9 vs 120.9 FPS). At 1440p, Low is 100% faster than Ultra (154.4 vs 77.3 FPS). At 4K, Low is 111% faster than Ultra (82.1 vs 39 FPS). This widening gap at higher resolutions underscores that the GPU's compute resources—21.75 TFLOPS FP32 and 192 TMUs—are increasingly the constraint, making preset selection more impactful as resolution rises.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The maximum measured average is 240.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only preset and resolution combination that exceeds 240 FPS in the dataset.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Ultra produces 39 FPS average, which is 15.5 FPS lower than High's 54.5 FPS. This represents a 28% reduction in performance when moving from High to Ultra at the highest resolution.

Q: Is this system capable of 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only with Low settings. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 82.1 FPS, comfortably above 60. Medium achieves 61.3 FPS, which is just barely above the 60 FPS threshold. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS at 54.5 and 39 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Medium at 1440p?

A: Low produces 154.4 FPS while Medium achieves 118.1 FPS. The delta is 36.3 FPS, meaning Medium is 23.5% slower than Low at this resolution.

Q: How does the 1080p Ultra result compare to the 1440p High result?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average is 120.9 FPS, while at 1440p High it is 101.7 FPS. The 1080p Ultra configuration is 19.2 FPS faster, or about 18.9% higher frame rate, despite using a higher preset at the lower resolution.

Q: Does the frame rate scale linearly with resolution?

A: No. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the drop is 52.2 FPS (153.9 to 101.7). From 1440p to 4K at High, the drop is 47.2 FPS (101.7 to 54.5). The percentage decline is steeper in the second step, indicating non-linear scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². Its 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units define its raw throughput capabilities. The base clock is 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and memory runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed.

The 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This figure is critical for Minimum, as the resolution scaling data shows steep frame rate penalties at 4K. The pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are the limiting factors at Ultra settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the GPU produces 120.9 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 39 FPS—a 68% reduction. This aligns with the 4x increase in pixel count, combined with the memory bandwidth being shared across more pixels.

The RTX 3070 Ti's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are present but not specifically leveraged by Minimum's measured data, which shows no ray tracing or DLSS-specific benchmarks. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 21.75 TFLOPS and FP16 of 21.75 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio) indicate balanced compute for this title. The 290 W TDP and dual-slot cooling design suggest sustained performance, but the measured FPS values show that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Comparing to its nearest rivals in the overall benchmark database, the RTX 3070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 30849, sitting just 0.3% above the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (30755) and 0.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (31112). The NVIDIA Quadro M5000 is 0.9% higher at 31142, and the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is 1.2% higher at 31220. These deltas are minimal, indicating that the RTX 3070 Ti's raw compute is closely matched by older and workstation-class parts, though in Minimum the measured FPS demonstrates its practical gaming performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 705th out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 59th percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking is notable given the CPU's strong benchmark scores—the i7-13700K achieves a 93rd percentile ranking against all CPUs—but the GPU's 74th percentile ranking against all GPUs pulls the overall combo down. The CPU is clearly not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The i7-13700K's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks show how tight the competition is at the top. The Intel Core i7-13700KF scores 47334 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the 13700K's 47282. The AMD EPYC 4364P is 0.3% lower at 47131, the Intel Core i9-12900F is 0.4% lower at 47081, and the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 is 0.5% higher at 47527. These sub-1% deltas confirm that the 13700K is in a performance tier where silicon lottery and thermal headroom matter more than architectural differences.

For the GPU, the RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rivals in the overall benchmark database are all within 1.2% of its average score. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 is the closest competitor at 31112, which is 0.8% higher. This near-tie in synthetic benchmarks contrasts with the measured FPS in Minimum, where the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB memory and Ampere architecture deliver specific results. The combo's 705th rank out of 1733 suggests that while the hardware is capable, many other combinations of CPUs and GPUs achieve higher frame rates in this title, likely due to the GPU being the bottleneck at higher presets.

The data indicates that the i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads with a 5.40 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom for Minimum, but the RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit memory bus cap the system's performance at 4K. The combo rank is therefore more reflective of the GPU's position in the hierarchy than the CPU's.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear guide for optimal settings based on target frame rates and resolution. At 1920x1080, all four presets exceed 120 FPS, making the choice dependent on visual quality preferences. Ultra delivers 120.9 FPS, which is sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors at 120 Hz. For 144 Hz displays, High at 153.9 FPS is the better fit, while Medium at 184.3 FPS and Low at 240.9 FPS are options for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts. High settings at 101.7 FPS are suitable for 100 Hz monitors, but for a 144 Hz display, Low at 154.4 FPS is the only preset that fully utilizes the refresh rate. Medium at 118.1 FPS is a compromise that stays above 100 FPS, while Ultra at 77.3 FPS is only appropriate for 75 Hz monitors or when visual quality is paramount.

For 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Low settings at 82.1 FPS provide the most playable experience, exceeding 60 FPS with headroom. Medium at 61.3 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it viable for standard 60 Hz displays. High at 54.5 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS fall short of 60 FPS, so they are only recommended if the user accepts lower frame rates for higher fidelity, perhaps with adaptive sync technologies.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on the user's hardware. For a 1080p 144 Hz monitor, High is the recommended preset because it delivers 153.9 FPS, exceeding the refresh rate while maintaining higher visual quality than Medium or Low. For 1440p 144 Hz, Low is the only preset that reaches the refresh rate, but users with 120 Hz displays can choose Medium at 118.1 FPS. For 4K 60 Hz, Medium at 61.3 FPS is the sweet spot, offering better quality than Low while staying above the 60 FPS target. The data shows that the RTX 3070 Ti is best utilized at 1440p with Medium or High presets, where its 8 GB memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain competitive frame rates without the severe penalties seen at 4K Ultra.