Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter that remains a useful benchmark for modern hardware, and the data for the Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 shows a combination that is decisively capable across all tested presets and resolutions. The measured frames per second indicate that this pairing delivers a fluid experience even at demanding 4K settings, while the CPU and GPU specifications explain why the system scales so well from high-refresh 1080p gaming to cinematic 2160p output.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combo in Minimum?

A: The combination ranks 1051 out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 28% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the combo delivers an average of 60 FPS on High settings and 71 FPS on Medium settings, with the Ultra preset dropping to 45 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 171 FPS on High settings and 267 FPS on Low settings, making it suitable for 144Hz and 240Hz displays.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The i7-13700K scores 1136 in 3DMark single-thread and 12412 in max-threads, showing strong scaling across its 16 cores and 24 threads.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 3080 features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 1440p Ultra?

A: Yes, the 2560x1440 Ultra preset averages 84 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of frame rate in Minimum, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, built on the Ampere architecture with 8704 shading units. The 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective 19 Gbps, and the 320-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. This substantial memory bandwidth is critical for handling the texture-heavy environments of a third-person shooter at high resolutions.

The GPU's performance ceiling is evident in the 4K results. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to 45 FPS, suggesting that the RTX 3080 is the limiting factor at the highest fidelity setting. However, the data shows a clear progression: moving from Ultra to High at 4K yields a 33% improvement to 60 FPS, and dropping to Medium raises the average to 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS. This indicates that the GPU's 10 GB frame buffer is sufficient for the game, but the raw compute throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 begins to strain under the full Ultra load at 4K.

At lower resolutions, the GPU's role shifts. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset achieves 84 FPS, and at 1920x1080, even the Ultra preset reaches 131 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is not linear, which is typical for a game from this era; the GPU's pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are more than adequate for 1080p but become constraining as pixel count quadruples. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 3080 is a balanced performer for Minimum, offering high refresh rates at 1440p and solid 60 FPS performance at 4K with settings adjustments.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1051 out of 3712 tested combinations places this system in the 71st percentile of all tested hardware pairings. This is a strong position, indicating that the i7-13700K and RTX 3080 together are well-matched for Minimum's engine. The CPU's percentile rank against all processors is 89, and the GPU's percentile rank against all graphics cards is 68, suggesting that the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card in this pairing.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 46881, which places it within a narrow band of competitors. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900 scores 46971, a delta of -0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 scores 47022, a delta of -0.3%. On the other side, the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535 both score slightly lower at 46654 and 46653 respectively, with deltas of 0.5%. This indicates that the i7-13700K is essentially tied with its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks, but the measured game data shows that this CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 3080 in Minimum.

For the GPU, the RTX 3080's average benchmark score is 23172, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23249 (-0.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M at 23273 (-0.4% delta). While these synthetic scores are comparable, the RTX 3080's real-world advantage in Minimum is demonstrated by its ability to maintain 60 FPS at 4K High, a result that aligns with its 68th percentile standing among all GPUs. The combination's overall rank of 1051 reflects a system that is better than the majority of tested configurations, though not at the very top tier, which is consistent with the GPU being a previous-generation product.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the gaming experience in Minimum. For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the 3840x2160 Medium preset is the optimal choice, as it delivers an average of 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, ensuring no drops below the target. The High preset at 4K also averages 60 FPS, but the lack of a reported minimum FPS makes the Medium preset the safer recommendation for consistent performance.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the best balance of visual quality and performance, averaging 110 FPS with headroom above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 84 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset at 132 FPS offers a significant frame rate advantage for players with 144Hz monitors. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 131 FPS is the recommended choice for users with high refresh rate displays, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium (204 FPS) while still exceeding the 120 FPS threshold.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is generally reserved for players with 1080p panels, as the performance penalty at higher resolutions is steep. At 4K, the Ultra preset's 45 FPS average is below the ideal playable threshold, and even at 1440p, the 84 FPS average is only suitable for 60Hz monitors. The optimal settings strategy is to use Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p, which maximizes visual fidelity while maintaining smooth frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results for this combo show a consistent pattern across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 267 FPS on Low settings, 204 FPS on Medium, 171 FPS on High, and 131 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p has a reported minimum of 174 FPS and a maximum of 235 FPS, indicating a tight frame time distribution. The Ultra preset at 1080p has no reported variance, but the average of 131 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. Low settings produce 172 FPS, Medium averages 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS and a maximum of 151 FPS, High averages 110 FPS, and Ultra drops to 84 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 35% reduction in performance at Low settings (267 to 172 FPS) and a similar 36% reduction at Ultra (131 to 84 FPS), indicating that the GPU's fill rate is the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the performance is substantially lower. Low settings average 93 FPS, Medium averages 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 82 FPS, High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 45% performance drop (110 to 60 FPS), which is expected given the 2.25x increase in pixel count. The 4K Medium preset is the only configuration in the entire data set that provides both a minimum and maximum FPS, suggesting that this is the most stable point for the GPU at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K plays a supporting role in Minimum, but its specifications ensure that it never becomes a bottleneck for the RTX 3080. With 16 cores and 24 threads, the CPU has ample parallel processing power, and its boost clock of 5.40 GHz provides strong single-thread performance that is critical for game logic. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and a TDP of 125 W indicate a high-performance desktop part, and the 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency.

The CPU's benchmark scores confirm its capability. In Cinebench R23, the i7-13700K scores 30745 in multi-core and 2116 in single-core, showing a 14.5x scaling factor across its cores. The 3DMark results show a similar pattern: 1136 in single-thread and 12412 in max-threads, an 11x scaling. This scaling efficiency is important for Minimum, which can utilize multiple threads for physics and AI but still relies heavily on single-core performance for rendering commands.

The measured FPS data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 267 FPS, which is a typical CPU-bound scenario, but the fact that the frame rate scales down to 93 FPS at 4K Low shows that the GPU becomes the constraint as resolution increases. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 and Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, have nearly identical synthetic scores, but the i7-13700K's combination of high clock speeds and efficient core scaling ensures that it can feed the RTX 3080 with sufficient data to maintain the high frame rates observed in the 1080p and 1440p results. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors further confirms that this component is well above average for gaming workloads, making it a suitable match for the RTX 3080 in Minimum.