Minimum

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread desktop processor based on the Raptor Lake-R architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache, alongside 80 KB of L1 and 2 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 35,443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,003 in single-core, placing it at the 94th percentile among all tested CPUs.

For a third-person shooter released in 2014, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial headroom for modern game engines, but Minimum's age means it likely cannot utilize all of this parallelism. The high boost clock of 5.40 GHz is more relevant here, as older titles tend to favor single-thread performance. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 169.8 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 86 FPS, a 49.4% reduction. This spread indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as settings increase, not the CPU.

The benchmark results show the i7-14700F scores 41,765 in Passmark multithread and 4,261 in Passmark single-thread. Compared to its nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X scores 54,450 (0.6% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 54,681 (1.1% higher). The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53,469 (1.2% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53,206 (1.7% lower). This places the i7-14700F in a tight pack where the differences between CPUs are minimal, suggesting that in Minimum, the choice of CPU among these options would have negligible impact on frame rates. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking indicates it is well above the median processor, meaning it should not bottleneck the RTX 2060 SUPER in this title.

FAQ

Q: Does the i7-14700F bottleneck the RTX 2060 SUPER in Minimum?

A: The data shows the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 169.8 FPS, and the CPU's 94th percentile ranking among all processors indicates substantial headroom. The frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra settings (169.8 to 86 FPS at 1080p) is driven by GPU load, not CPU limitations.

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 54,097, while the Ryzen 9 9900X scores 54,450, a delta of -0.6%. This 0.6% difference is negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the two CPUs would perform nearly identically in Minimum.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a smooth experience?

A: At 1440p High, the combo delivers 69.7 FPS, which is above typical playable thresholds. At 1080p High, it reaches 107 FPS. The 4K Ultra setting drops to 31.1 FPS, which is below comfortable playability. The data indicates 1440p is the sweet spot for balance.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 107 at 1080p to 69.7 at 1440p, then to 37.4 at 4K. This represents a 65.0% reduction from 1080p to 4K, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Minimum's Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 4K Ultra produces 31.1 FPS, which is low, but that is more indicative of raw compute limits than VRAM capacity. At 1440p Ultra, the combo still manages 53.8 FPS, suggesting the 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for this 2014 title.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1,228 out of 1,733 tested combinations, placing it in the lower third of systems. This is primarily due to the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking, while the CPU sits much higher at the 94th percentile.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling across resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 107 at 1080p to 69.7 at 1440p (a 34.9% decrease), and then to 37.4 at 4K (a 46.3% decrease from 1440p). This steep degradation is characteristic of a GPU that is being pushed beyond its comfortable operating range.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 169.8 FPS at 1080p, 111.2 FPS at 1440p (34.5% lower), and 58 FPS at 4K (47.8% lower than 1440p). The fact that even at Low settings the 4K frame rate falls below 60 FPS indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's compute throughput, not texture memory or bandwidth, is the limiting factor. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent ~35% drop across all settings, suggesting a linear relationship with pixel count. The 1440p to 4K transition shows a larger ~47% drop, which could indicate additional overhead from memory pressure or shading complexity at 4K. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for 1440p but strained at 4K.

The data also shows that the CPU's high single-thread performance (5,003 in Cinebench R23 single-core) is not the bottleneck, as frame rates scale predictably with resolution. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect similar FPS across resolutions, but the measured values show a strong inverse relationship with pixel count. This confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the performance ceiling for this combo in Minimum.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings presets across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 169.8 FPS, which is far above any display's refresh rate and provides maximum responsiveness. The Medium preset yields 129.2 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 107 FPS remains smooth, while Ultra drops to 86 FPS — still playable but with diminishing returns.

For 1440p, the Low preset achieves 111.2 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors. Medium produces 84.2 FPS, comfortably above 60 FPS. High at 69.7 FPS is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it stays above the 60 FPS mark. Ultra at 53.8 FPS dips below this threshold, which could cause noticeable stutter on 60 Hz displays.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. Low delivers 58 FPS, which is just below 60. Medium drops to 46.8 FPS, High to 37.4 FPS, and Ultra to 31.1 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is only viable at Low settings, and even then, it barely maintains playable frame rates.

The optimal recommendation is 1440p High, which provides 69.7 FPS — a solid 60+ experience with good visual fidelity. For users with 1080p displays, Medium at 129.2 FPS offers a significant frame rate headroom while still looking better than Low. The Ultra preset at any resolution provides marginal visual improvements over High but costs between 19.6% (1080p: 107 to 86 FPS) and 16.9% (1440p: 69.7 to 53.8 FPS) of performance. Given the age of the game, the visual differences between High and Ultra are likely minimal, making High the recommended preset for most users.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 1,228 out of 1,733 tested combos, placing it in the 70.9th percentile of systems from the bottom. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's position: the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 94th percentile. This imbalance means the combo is held back by the graphics card.

The GPU's nearest rivals highlight its mid-range positioning. The RTX 2060 SUPER scores 19,774 on average, while the GTX TITAN scores 19,706 (0.3% lower), the RTX 2070 scores 19,680 (0.5% lower), the Quadro K5200 scores 19,623 (0.8% lower), and the Tesla K40m scores 19,519 (1.3% lower). These deltas are all within 1.3%, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is tightly grouped with its immediate competitors, and swapping to any of these would yield nearly identical performance in Minimum.

The CPU's rivals tell a similar story: the Ryzen 9 9900X is 0.6% faster, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is 1.1% faster, while the Xeon Phi 7290 and EPYC 7313P are 1.2% and 1.7% slower, respectively. This cluster of CPUs around the 54,000 benchmark score means the processor choice has virtually no impact on the combo's ranking in a GPU-bound title like Minimum.

The ranking of 1,228 out of 1,733 suggests that while this combo is not a high-end system, it is also far from the bottom. The 94th percentile CPU paired with a 63rd percentile GPU creates a system that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but struggles at 4K. To improve the ranking, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the CPU has significant headroom remaining.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance.

1920x1080 (Full HD):

• Low: 169.8 FPS average
• Medium: 129.2 FPS average
• High: 107 FPS average
• Ultra: 86 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all settings. The jump from Low to Medium costs 40.6 FPS (23.9%), from Medium to High costs 22.2 FPS (17.2%), and from High to Ultra costs 21 FPS (19.6%). The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a total reduction of 83.8 FPS (49.4%), showing that the GPU is the limiting factor as settings increase.

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

• Low: 111.2 FPS average
• Medium: 84.2 FPS average
• High: 69.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 53.8 FPS average

At 1440p, the combo remains capable. The Low to Medium drop is 27 FPS (24.3%), Medium to High is 14.5 FPS (17.2%), and High to Ultra is 15.9 FPS (22.8%). The Ultra preset is the only one below 60 FPS, with a 53.8 FPS average that may cause visible stutter on standard displays.

3840x2160 (4K UHD):

• Low: 58 FPS average
• Medium: 46.8 FPS average
• High: 37.4 FPS average
• Ultra: 31.1 FPS average

At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Only the Low preset approaches 60 FPS at 58 FPS, while Medium drops to 46.8 FPS, High to 37.4 FPS, and Ultra to 31.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 26.9 FPS reduction (46.4%), indicating that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is heavily loaded.

Across all resolutions, the data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 2060 SUPER is the performance bottleneck. The CPU's high benchmark scores (94th percentile) and the predictable FPS scaling with resolution confirm that upgrading the GPU would yield the most significant performance gains in Minimum. The combo's 1,228th rank out of 1,733 reflects this GPU limitation, though the system remains entirely viable for 1080p and 1440p gaming at medium to high settings.