Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose engine demands scale in a predictable way across resolutions and presets. For the Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, the measured frame rates show a system that remains fluid at 4K but truly flexes its muscles at 1440p and 1080p. The data indicates a balanced pairing where the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial core count ensures headroom at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this specific combination ranks against 3,711 other tested combos.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling curve for this title. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 356 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 230 FPS, a reduction of 35.4%, and at 4K Low the average falls to 124 FPS, which is 65.2% lower than the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count, placing the RTX 4080 under progressively more stress as resolution increases.

At High settings, the scaling pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The 1080p High average is 229 FPS, dropping to 148 FPS at 1440p (a 35.4% decrease) and then to 79 FPS at 4K (a 65.5% decrease from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High presets suggests that resolution scaling is independent of the graphical preset, reinforcing that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors as pixel count rises.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing than from 1440p to 4K. For Medium settings, the 1080p average of 273 FPS drops to 176 FPS at 1440p, a 35.5% reduction. However, moving from 1440p Medium to 4K Medium (95 FPS) represents a 46.0% drop. This non-linear behavior is typical of memory bandwidth saturation, where the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth of the RTX 4080 becomes increasingly strained at 4K. The data suggests that the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors is 1440p, where the combo maintains over 148 FPS on High and 176 FPS on Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide substantial data locality for game logic and physics. In Minimum, the CPU's role is evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p Low, the 356 FPS average demonstrates that the processor's single-thread performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958, is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4080.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this title. At 1080p, the FPS difference between Low and High settings is 127 FPS (356 vs 229), which is a 55.5% improvement for the lower preset. This wide gap indicates that the GPU is still the primary determinant of frame rate even at 1080p, as the CPU can maintain high throughput regardless of graphical load. The processor's multi-core capabilities, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122, suggest that even if the game were to utilize additional threads for AI or physics, the i7-14700F has ample headroom.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 53620, places it in the top tier of desktop CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which scores 53288 (0.6% higher deltaPct), and the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53206 (0.8% higher). This proximity in synthetic benchmarks indicates that the i7-14700F is competitive with flagship consumer and entry-level server parts, though the measured game data shows that the RTX 4080 is the limiting factor in Minimum at all tested resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process and features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 9728 shading units and boost clock of 2505 MHz provide a theoretical FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS. In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 61, which is the lowest measured value in the dataset, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this extreme preset.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is not a limiting factor in this game, as even at 4K Ultra the memory usage remains within capacity, evidenced by the playable 61 FPS average. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 (0.1% higher deltaPct), showing that the standard RTX 4080 is virtually indistinguishable from its SUPER variant in synthetic tests.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows the GPU's performance envelope. At 1080p, the difference between Low (356 FPS) and Ultra (174 FPS) is 182 FPS, a 51.1% reduction. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 118 FPS (230 vs 112), a 51.3% reduction. At 4K, the gap is 63 FPS (124 vs 61), a 50.8% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests that the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline scales linearly with graphical complexity, and the frame rate ceiling is determined by the GPU's compute and memory subsystems rather than any architectural bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 356 at 1080p with Low settings.

Q: Is the combo capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: Yes, the combo achieves 79 FPS at 4K High and 61 FPS at 4K Ultra, both of which are playable.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, 1080p is 232 FPS faster than 4K (356 vs 124). At High settings, the difference is 150 FPS (229 vs 79).

Q: Which component limits performance at 4K Ultra?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 61 FPS average at 4K Ultra, which is the lowest measured value.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: No, the data shows that FPS scales consistently with resolution, indicating the GPU is always the primary constraint.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for Medium settings?

A: The lowest min FPS recorded is 80 at 4K Medium, while 1440p Medium has a min FPS of 149 and 1080p Medium has a min FPS of 232.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 246th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 6.6% of all configurations. This high ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the combo exceeding 60 FPS at 4K Ultra and surpassing 170 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 91st percentile standing and the GPU's 86th percentile standing, resulting in a system that is well-matched for this title.

Compared to other combos, the ranking suggests that the RTX 4080's performance is the dominant factor, as the CPU provides sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking. The 3712 tested combos include a wide range of hardware, and this specific pairing lands in the upper echelon, likely due to the GPU's strong 4K performance and the CPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions. The rank of 246 indicates that only 245 other combinations deliver higher average FPS in Minimum, which is a testament to the RTX 4080's capability in this 2014 title.

The data shows that the combo's performance is not limited by the CPU's 65 W TDP or the GPU's 320 W TDP, as the measured FPS values are consistently high. The ranking also reflects the system's ability to handle the game's maximum settings at 1440p (112 FPS) and 4K (61 FPS), making it a versatile configuration for both high-refresh-rate and high-resolution gaming.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 4K displays, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 79 FPS average. This provides a smooth experience on 60 Hz displays with room to spare, while the Ultra preset drops to 61 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 4K (95 FPS) is a viable alternative if visual fidelity can be slightly reduced for a more comfortable frame rate cushion.

For 1440p monitors, the High preset (148 FPS) is the best balance, as it exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found on such panels. The Medium preset (176 FPS) offers additional headroom for 165 Hz or 180 Hz displays, while the Ultra preset (112 FPS) is still above 100 FPS and suitable for most high-refresh-rate screens. The Low preset (230 FPS) is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visuals.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset (174 FPS) is the recommended choice for the best visual experience, as it still exceeds 144 Hz and provides a significant quality improvement over High (229 FPS). The Medium preset (273 FPS) and Low preset (356 FPS) are only necessary for 240 Hz or 360 Hz esports displays, which are unlikely to be paired with this high-end combo. The data suggests that the Ultra preset at 1080p offers the best experience per the measured rows, as it delivers both high frame rates and maximum graphical fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 124 FPS average on Low, 95 FPS average on Medium (with a min of 80 and max of 109), 79 FPS average on High, and 61 FPS average on Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min/max values, showing a range of 29 FPS between the minimum and maximum.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are 230 FPS on Low, 176 FPS on Medium (min 149, max 202), 148 FPS on High, and 112 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset's min/max range of 53 FPS indicates some variance, but the average remains well above 144 Hz.

At 1920x1080, the averages are 356 FPS on Low, 273 FPS on Medium (min 232, max 313), 229 FPS on High, and 174 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a min/max range of 81 FPS, which is the largest variance across all settings, but the 273 FPS average ensures smooth gameplay.

The data reveals a consistent pattern where the difference between Low and Ultra is approximately 50% of the Low value at each resolution. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are also consistent across presets, with Low dropping by 232 FPS, Medium by 178 FPS, High by 150 FPS, and Ultra by 113 FPS. This linear scaling indicates that the game's rendering pipeline is well-optimized, and the RTX 4080's performance scales predictably with both resolution and graphical preset.