Minimum

# Minimum: Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 — Benchmark Analysis

This combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 places at rank 1051 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, a third-person shooter released on 2014-06-25. The rank puts this pairing in the 72nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 28% of combos outperform it while the vast majority trail behind. Given that the RTX 3080 is an end-of-life GPU from the GeForce 30-series and the i7-14700K is an active desktop processor from Core 14th Gen, the data suggests a mature, well-balanced platform that still holds its own in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1051 out of 3712 tested combos indicates a strong mid-to-upper-tier placement. To contextualize: the CPU sits at the 94th percentile versus all CPUs, while the GPU rests at the 68th percentile versus all GPUs. The disparity between these percentiles is telling — the processor is clearly the more capable component in absolute terms, but the graphics card anchors overall system performance in this game.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-14700K's average benchmark score of 69355 places it virtually tied with the AMD EPYC 9115 (69288, +0.1% delta) and just 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515). The delta against the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (-0.7%) and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (-0.9%) is also minimal. This cluster of scores within 1% suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor in most scenarios — any of these CPUs would likely produce similar frame rates.

For the GPU, the RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172 places it in a tight pack with the NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, -0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (23250, -0.3%), AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23273, -0.4%), and AMD Radeon R9 M290X (23276, -0.4%). The extremely small deltas here are remarkable — all five GPUs score within 0.4% of each other, which suggests that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3080's raw compute is comparable to a diverse set of older and mobile parts. However, the measured FPS in Minimum tells a more nuanced story, as the game's specific workload may favor features like the 10 GB of GDDR6X memory or the 68 RT cores.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K brings 20 cores and 28 threads to the table, operating at a base clock of 3.40 GHz with a boost of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 257 mm², features a substantial cache hierarchy: 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB shared L3. The memory controller supports both DDR4 and DDR5 in dual-channel mode, with ECC memory capability.

In Minimum, the CPU's impact is most visible at lower resolutions where the GPU is less taxed. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 267 FPS average — the highest reading across all tested configurations. This number drops to 204 FPS at Medium and 171 FPS at High, showing that even at 1080p, the game begins to shift workload toward the GPU as settings increase. The 5.60 GHz boost clock is likely critical for maintaining high frame rates in a 2014-era title, where single-thread performance often dominates.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks reinforce its strength: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 33440.5, single-core 2160; Geekbench multi-core 20767, single-core 2569; PassMark multi-thread 52392, single-thread 4472. The single-thread scores are particularly relevant for a game released in 2014, as older titles frequently rely on fewer threads with higher clock speeds. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and streaming, but the data suggests that Minimum likely doesn't utilize the full parallel capability — otherwise, we'd see more dramatic scaling from 1080p to 4K.

The TDP of 125 W with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz indicates a power-hungry processor, but the benchmark results show no thermal throttling issues in this tested configuration. The CPU's percentile of 94 versus all CPUs places it firmly in enthusiast territory, and its nearest rivals (EPYC 9115, Ryzen 9 7950X) are all high-core-count parts, suggesting the i7-14700K competes well beyond its desktop market segment.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The die is massive at 628 mm² with 28,300 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². The GPU operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz and boosts to 1710 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 45 FPS average — a 83% reduction from the 267 FPS at 1080p Low. This dramatic scaling points to the GPU being the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. The 10 GB VRAM capacity may also come into play at 4K Ultra, where texture and geometry demands could approach or exceed this limit.

The GPU's clock speeds of 1440 MHz base and 1710 MHz boost are modest by modern standards, but the 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs provide substantial raw throughput. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores offer ray tracing and AI acceleration, though a 2014 title like Minimum likely doesn't leverage these features. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are the specifications that matter most for this game's rasterization-heavy workload.

Synthetic benchmarks show the RTX 3080 scoring 25086 in PassMark G3D and 14397 in GPU compute. The DirectX 11 score of 207 is particularly relevant, as many games from 2014 primarily use DX11. The DirectX 12 score of 100 and DirectX 10 score of 170 suggest the card handles older APIs adequately, but the game's specific engine will dictate actual performance.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target typically considered smooth for a third-person shooter. The 4K Medium setting achieves 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 82, indicating a playable experience with some headroom.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 267 FPS, but this drops to 93 FPS at 4K Low — a 65% reduction. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 68th percentile further supports that the RTX 3080 limits performance in resolution-heavy scenarios.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings ratio for this combo?

A: At 1440p High, the combo achieves 110 FPS average, which balances visual quality with smooth performance. The 4K Medium setting at 71 FPS is also viable for those prioritizing resolution over detail, though it falls short of the 1440p High frame rate.

Q: How does the i7-14700K compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700K's average benchmark score of 69355 is within 1% of the AMD EPYC 9115 (69288), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

Q: Does the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (45 FPS) versus 4K High (60 FPS) shows a 25% drop when increasing to Ultra, which could indicate VRAM pressure or simply increased shader complexity. The 760.3 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient, but the 10 GB capacity may be a constraint at 4K Ultra in this title.

Q: Is this combo better suited for high refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: The measured 267 FPS at 1080p Low and 172 FPS at 1440p Low suggest this combo is overkill for 1080p if targeting 144 Hz. The 1440p High setting at 110 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 84 FPS make 1440p the sweet spot for balancing frame rate and visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops across resolutions reveal the system's scaling behavior. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS decreases by approximately 35-37% across all settings: Low drops from 267 to 172 (-35.6%), Medium from 204 to 132 (-35.3%), High from 171 to 110 (-35.7%), and Ultra from 131 to 84 (-35.9%). This consistent scaling pattern suggests a balanced workload shift between CPU and GPU as pixel count increases by 78%.

From 1440p to 4K, the drop becomes more severe. Low falls from 172 to 93 (-45.9%), Medium from 132 to 71 (-46.2%), High from 110 to 60 (-45.5%), and Ultra from 84 to 45 (-46.4%). The steeper decline in this transition — from roughly 35% to 46% — indicates the GPU is becoming the dominant limiting factor. The 4K resolution has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, and the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder.

The fact that the percentage drop is nearly identical across all settings within each resolution tier (35% for 1080p→1440p, 46% for 1440p→4K) is noteworthy. This uniformity suggests the bottleneck is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven — the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are the constraining factors, not shader complexity or texture filtering. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads appear to have ample headroom even at 1080p, as evidenced by the 267 FPS Low result.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured data, 1440p High at 110 FPS average represents the optimal balance of visual quality and smoothness. This setting delivers more than double the 4K Ultra frame rate (45 FPS) while still maintaining a high level of detail. The 1440p Medium setting at 132 FPS offers even more headroom for those with 144 Hz monitors, with a minimum of 112 FPS ensuring consistent frame delivery.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 71 FPS average (60 minimum, 82 maximum) is the most playable option — it maintains a 60 FPS floor, which is critical for a third-person shooter where frame pacing affects aiming. The 4K High setting at 60 FPS average is borderline, as any dip below 60 would be noticeable. The 4K Ultra at 45 FPS is not recommended for competitive play, though it could serve for slower-paced exploration or screenshot purposes.

For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 131 FPS provides the maximum visual fidelity while still comfortably exceeding 120 FPS. The High preset at 171 FPS and Medium at 204 FPS are excessive for most 144 Hz monitors, making Ultra the sensible choice unless targeting 240 Hz displays — in which case Medium at 204 FPS or Low at 267 FPS would be better suited.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 267 FPS average
• Medium: 204 FPS average (174 min, 235 max)
• High: 171 FPS average
• Ultra: 131 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 172 FPS average
• Medium: 132 FPS average (112 min, 151 max)
• High: 110 FPS average
• Ultra: 84 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 93 FPS average
• Medium: 71 FPS average (60 min, 82 max)
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

The Medium settings across all resolutions include min and max FPS data, which provides insight into frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the 174-235 FPS range shows a 61 FPS spread, indicating some scene complexity variation. The 1440p Medium range of 112-151 FPS (39 FPS spread) is tighter, while the 4K Medium range of 60-82 FPS (22 FPS spread) is the most consistent — likely because the GPU is fully saturated and frame times are more uniform under sustained load.

The data shows a clear progression: at 1080p, the CPU has headroom to push frame rates beyond 200 FPS, but the GPU's rendering capabilities cap the upper bound. At 4K, the GPU is the sole bottleneck, and the FPS drops to 45-93 depending on settings. The i7-14700K's 5.60 GHz boost clock and 20 cores never appear to be the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes rather than showing CPU-related stutters or inconsistencies.