Minimum

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a strong performance profile in Minimum, with measured frame rates ranging from 51 FPS at 4K Ultra to 297 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions and increasingly CPU-bound at lower resolutions, making it a versatile combination for both high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and smooth 4K experiences.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 191 FPS at 1080p to 123 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 66 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K, illustrating the exponential cost of pixel count on the GPU.

The scaling behavior is more pronounced at lower settings, which indicates a shift in the bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 297 at 1080p down to 192 at 1440p and then to 103 at 4K. The jump from 1080p to 1440p is a 35% drop, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 46%, suggesting that even at Low settings, the 4K resolution is heavily taxing the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities.

Looking at the Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, the story becomes clearer. At 1080p Medium, the average is 228 FPS with a minimum of 193 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. The consistency of these frame times, with the minimums staying close to the averages, suggests that the system is not experiencing significant stuttering, but the overall performance ceiling is being lowered by the resolution increase.

The data indicates that the RTX 5070 is the primary limiting component at 4K, as the frame rates at all settings are well below what the CPU is capable of delivering. At 1080p, however, the high frame rates (297 FPS at Low) suggest that the CPU is becoming a more significant factor, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames quickly, but the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe than from 1440p to 4K, which is typical for a GPU with 12 GB of memory, as the memory bandwidth and fill rate become bottlenecks at the highest resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a 60 FPS average?

A: The only resolution and settings combination that fails to reach a 60 FPS average is 4K Ultra, which produces 51 FPS. All other measured combinations, including 4K High at 66 FPS, exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

*Q: How does the RTX 5070's performance in Minimum compare to its nearest rivals?*

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 40377, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318) and 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063). It is 1.2% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870) and 2% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568).

*Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this hardware in Minimum?*

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 297 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is followed by 228 FPS at 1080p Medium and 192 FPS at 1440p Low.

*Q: Does the CPU's performance in Minimum bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?*

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 297 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at extremely high rates. However, the CPU's multi-threaded benchmark scores, such as 30745 in Cinebench R23, indicate it has substantial headroom. The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as frame rates scale down significantly with resolution.

*Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM a limiting factor in Minimum at 4K?*

A: The data suggests that the GPU's rendering capabilities, not the memory capacity, are the primary constraint at 4K. The frame rate drops from 103 FPS at Low to 51 FPS at Ultra, a 50% reduction, which is consistent with a GPU compute and memory bandwidth bottleneck rather than a capacity issue.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Ultra and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 94 FPS, while the High preset averages 123 FPS. This represents a 24% performance increase when dropping from Ultra to High, making it a significant settings adjustment for higher refresh rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, with its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is a crucial factor in the 4K results, where the GPU is clearly the primary bottleneck. The measured FPS at 4K ranges from 103 at Low to 51 at Ultra, showing that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are heavily taxed at this resolution. The boost clock of 2512 MHz and the 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are the raw processing resources behind these numbers.

The GPU's benchmark results position it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 40377. This places it in a competitive tier, though its nearest rivals are professional-grade cards like the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, rather than consumer gaming GPUs. This suggests that the RTX 5070's performance in Minimum is strong but not exceptional, and the frame rates reflect a card that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and capable 4K gaming.

The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 151 FPS (297 vs 146), which is a 51% reduction. At 1440p, the same comparison yields a 98 FPS difference (192 vs 94), a 51% reduction. At 4K, the difference is 52 FPS (103 vs 51), again a 50% reduction. This consistent 50% drop from Low to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the RTX 5070's processing power is the limiting factor, and the settings are affecting the GPU's workload in a proportional manner.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's needs, as the frame rates do not show any signs of a memory capacity bottleneck, such as sudden drops or stuttering. The min FPS values for the Medium preset (193 at 1080p, 125 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K) are all within a reasonable range of their respective averages, suggesting stable memory management. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 192 TMUs are the units responsible for the pixel and texture throughput, and their performance is reflected in the scaling data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers an average of 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 51 FPS, which may be acceptable for some but falls below the ideal mark. The Medium preset at 4K offers 79 FPS, but the High preset provides a better balance of visual quality and performance.

At 1440p, the High preset is the standout choice, achieving 123 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over the Ultra preset's 94 FPS and provides a 31% performance boost with likely a minimal visual difference in most scenes. For gamers with 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors, the Medium preset at 147 FPS is also a viable option, but High offers a better visual experience while still maintaining a high frame rate.

At 1080p, the High preset delivers 191 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors up to 240 Hz. The Medium preset at 228 FPS is even better for esports-style play, but the visual fidelity difference may not be worth the extra 37 FPS for most users. The Low preset at 297 FPS is only recommended for competitive players who prioritize maximum frame rates above all else, as the visual quality will be significantly reduced.

The data clearly shows that the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. It provides a 24% performance increase over Ultra at 1440p (123 vs 94 FPS) and a 29% increase at 4K (66 vs 51 FPS), while likely offering near-identical visual quality in most scenarios. The Medium preset is a secondary option for those who want a higher frame rate buffer, but the High preset is the recommended default.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5070 and i7-13700K combination delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset produces an average of 297 FPS, which is the peak performance measured in this dataset. The Medium preset averages 228 FPS, with a minimum of 193 FPS and a maximum of 262 FPS, indicating a consistent frame delivery. The High preset averages 191 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 146 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 151 FPS, showing the significant impact of settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected reduction due to the increased pixel count. The Low preset averages 192 FPS, which is a 35% drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 147 FPS, with a minimum of 125 FPS and a maximum of 169 FPS. The High preset averages 123 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset averages 94 FPS, providing a solid experience for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and frame rates drop significantly. The Low preset averages 103 FPS, which is a 46% drop from the 1440p Low result. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS, showing that the system can maintain playable frame rates even in demanding scenes. The High preset averages 66 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset averages 51 FPS, which is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS data across all resolutions, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the range is 193 to 262 FPS, a spread of 69 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 125 to 169 FPS, a spread of 44 FPS. At 4K, the range is 67 to 91 FPS, a spread of 24 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the frame times are more consistent when the GPU is fully utilized.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads, provides a substantial processing foundation for Minimum. The CPU's benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 and a multi-core score of 30745. The 3DMark tests show a scaling from 1136 in the single-thread test to 12412 in the max-threads test, demonstrating the CPU's ability to leverage its core count effectively.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are exceptionally high. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 297 FPS, which is a result of the i7-13700K's ability to process game logic and draw calls quickly enough to feed the RTX 5070. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz is a key factor in this performance, as it allows for rapid single-threaded execution, which is often critical in game engines.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is competitive. Its average benchmark score of 46881 is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022). It is 0.5% higher than both the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654) and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653). This places the i7-13700K in a tight grouping with its direct competitors, indicating that the CPU is not a differentiator in this game compared to other high-end processors.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rates are clearly limited by the GPU. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 297 FPS, which reflects the CPU's capability. The lack of min FPS data for most settings makes it difficult to assess frame pacing, but the available data for Medium settings shows consistent performance, suggesting the CPU is handling the game's demands without issue.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 786th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 21.2% of all configurations tested, indicating a solid but not top-tier performance level. The rank is a composite measure that reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates across the tested resolutions and settings.

Given the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking and the CPU's 89th percentile ranking, the combined rank of 786 is lower than what either component's individual percentile might suggest. This discrepancy is likely due to the fact that the combination's performance is limited by the GPU at higher resolutions, preventing the CPU's full potential from being realized. The combo's rank suggests that while this is a capable system, there are many other configurations that deliver higher frame rates in Minimum.

The rank of 786 out of 3712 means that 2926 other tested combinations outperform this specific pairing. This is not a negative reflection on the hardware, but rather an indication of the competitive landscape of high-end components. The RTX 5070's performance, while strong, is not at the very top of the GPU hierarchy, and the i7-13700K, despite its excellent multi-threaded capabilities, is not the absolute fastest CPU for single-threaded workloads.

The data shows that this combo is well-suited for 1440p gaming, where it delivers excellent frame rates at High settings (123 FPS) and even maintains playable performance at 4K (66 FPS at High). For users targeting 1080p, the combo is more than capable of driving high-refresh-rate monitors, with 191 FPS at High settings. The ranking reflects the overall balance of the system, which is a strong performer but not an outlier in the broader database of tested configurations.