Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Minimum with the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT reveals a predictable yet steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 166 FPS average. Stepping up to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops that figure to 107 FPS, a substantial 35.5% reduction. Moving further to 3840x2160 at Low yields just 58 FPS average, representing another 45.8% decline from the 1440p result. This trajectory is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the RX 5700 XT's raw throughput becomes the primary constraint.

The scaling pattern tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the 166 FPS average indicates the CPU and GPU are working in relative balance, but the frame rate ceiling is still high enough to suggest the Radeon RX 5700 XT is not fully saturated. By 1440p, the 107 FPS at Low shows the GPU is starting to feel the load, and at 4K Low, the 58 FPS average confirms that pixel throughput is the bottleneck. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 108 FPS, or a 65.1% drop, which is far too large to attribute to CPU limitations given the i7-14700K's capabilities.

Looking at the Medium preset across resolutions provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 127 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS and maximum of 147 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 51 FPS. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min-max spread, remains relatively tight across resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is delivering steady performance rather than spiking or stuttering. The 4K Medium result of 44 FPS average is borderline playable, but the 38 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips below smooth thresholds.

The Ultra preset shows the harshest scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 82 FPS, which drops to 53 FPS at 1440p Ultra and further to 28 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable for a third-person shooter, where responsive aiming is critical. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra represents a 65.9% reduction in average frame rate, which closely mirrors the Low preset's drop-off, reinforcing that the GPU is the dominant factor at every quality level. The High preset sits between Medium and Ultra, with 107 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB per-core L2 cache and 80 KB per-core L1 cache. For a game like Minimum, which released in 2014, this CPU is overwhelmingly powerful. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 166 FPS average, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common in gaming monitors. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 82 FPS average indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the GPU is clearly struggling to maintain higher frame rates at this quality setting.

The CPU's multi-threaded strength is evident in synthetic benchmarks. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 33440.5, while the single-core score is 2160. Geekbench multi-core results in 20767 points, with single-core at 2569. PassMark multi-thread scores 52392, and single-thread scores 4472. These numbers place the i7-14700K in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 94% of processors in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% faster), while the AMD EPYC 9115 trails by 0.1%. This level of performance is far beyond what Minimum requires, even at high frame rates.

In practical terms for Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic without becoming a bottleneck. The data indicates this happens cleanly. At 1080p Low, the 166 FPS average suggests the CPU can push well beyond this figure if the GPU were capable. The fact that 1080p Medium drops to 127 FPS and 1080p High to 107 FPS is purely a GPU-side effect, as the CPU's clock speed and core count would not degrade under these settings. The 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures single-threaded performance is excellent for game logic, while the 28 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and streaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2758th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 74.3rd percentile of all configurations tested, meaning about 25.7% of combos perform worse and 74.3% perform better. The rank is primarily dragged down by the GPU, which sits in the 59th percentile against all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 94th percentile. This mismatch is the core story of this combo: a top-tier modern CPU paired with a mid-range GPU from 2019.

The GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are telling. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M scores 0.1% higher, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell scores 0.3% higher, the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 scores 0.3% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 scores 0.9% higher. These deltas are tiny, indicating that the RX 5700 XT's average benchmark score of 16361 is tightly clustered with a range of other GPUs. In Minimum, this translates to the measured FPS figures we see, which are respectable for 1080p and 1440p gaming but insufficient for 4K at higher settings.

The combo rank of 2758 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver better frame rates in this game. However, the data also shows that the CPU is not the weak link. If paired with a stronger GPU, the i7-14700K would likely push this combo's rank significantly higher, as its processing power is far above what Minimum demands. The bottleneck is unmistakably the RX 5700 XT, which limits the combo to 166 FPS maximum at 1080p Low and 28 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo covers four resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 166 FPS, the highest result in the entire dataset. Medium at 1080p averages 127 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS and maximum of 147 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. High at 1080p averages 107 FPS, while Ultra averages 82 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 50.6% reduction in average frame rate, which is consistent with the increasing graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 107 FPS, which is identical to the 1080p High result, suggesting that resolution scaling at lower quality settings is roughly linear. Medium at 1440p averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS. High at 1440p averages 69 FPS, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result of 53 FPS is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold many players prefer. The 1440p Medium result of 82 FPS with a 70 FPS minimum is a better target for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 58 FPS, which is barely playable for a shooter. Medium at 4K averages 44 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 51 FPS, indicating inconsistent performance during intense scenes. High at 4K averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. These 4K results are generally too low for competitive play, though the Low preset's 58 FPS average could suffice for casual single-player sessions. The 4K Medium result's 38 FPS minimum is particularly concerning, as it suggests drops below 40 FPS during action sequences.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture using TSMC's 7 nm process, with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1905 MHz and a game clock of 1755 MHz. The memory runs at 1750 MHz, or 14 Gbps effective.

In Minimum, the GPU's role is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 166 FPS average shows the GPU is capable of high frame rates when the load is light, but the 4K Ultra result of 28 FPS average demonstrates its limitations under heavy pixel load. The GPU's 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is modest by modern standards, which is reflected in its 59th percentile ranking against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 16361 places it near the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, AMD Radeon PRO W7500, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2, all within a 1% delta.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Minimum, which is a 2014 title, but the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s becomes a constraint at 4K with higher settings. The 4K Medium result of 44 FPS average, compared to 4K Low's 58 FPS, shows that texture and shader complexity directly impact performance. The GPU's pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggle to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings. The GPU's DirectX 12 support (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure it can run modern APIs, though Minimum likely uses older DirectX versions given its release date.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this setup in Minimum?*

A: The data shows 1080p Medium delivers 127 FPS average with a 108 FPS minimum, which is smooth and consistent. For higher fidelity, 1440p Medium at 82 FPS average with a 70 FPS minimum is also viable. 4K is only playable at Low settings, which averages 58 FPS.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo for Minimum?*

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 166 FPS average, but this drops to 58 FPS at 4K Low, a 65.1% reduction. The i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile for CPUs, while the RX 5700 XT sits in the 59th percentile for GPUs.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RX 5700 XT's average benchmark score is 16361. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M is 0.1% higher, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is 0.3% higher, the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 is 0.3% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 is 0.9% higher.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 58, which is playable. At 4K Medium, it drops to 44 FPS average with a 38 FPS minimum, which is borderline. 4K High and Ultra at 37 and 28 FPS respectively are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with this setup?

A: At 1440p Low, the average is 107 FPS. Medium averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. The Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness.

Q: How does the i7-14700K's multi-core performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i7-14700K scores 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.7% faster), AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.9% faster), and AMD EPYC 9115 (0.1% slower).