Minimum

Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, presents a fascinating case study in hardware scaling when paired with the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D. The benchmark data reveals a combo that is overwhelmingly powerful, ranking first out of 2,939 tested combinations, yet the game's age means the performance curve is heavily dictated by resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to understand where the bottleneck lies and how to get the best experience from this top-tier pairing.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data tells a clear story about how this game scales with resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves a staggering 430 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 277 FPS, a reduction of 153 FPS (or about 36%). At 4K Low, the average falls further to 149 FPS. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K represents a significantly larger absolute drop (128 FPS) than the jump from 1080p to 1440p (153 FPS), showing the GPU is being increasingly stressed as pixel count rises.

This trend becomes more pronounced with higher settings. For High settings, the average FPS goes from 276 at 1080p, to 178 at 1440p, and then to 96 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 98 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 82 FPS. The pattern suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the Intel Core i7-14700K is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly. However, at 4K, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D begins to hit its limits, causing the performance to scale more directly with the GPU's workload.

The data implies that the game is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions. The fact that 1080p Low produces 430 FPS, a number far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, indicates the CPU is capable of feeding frames at an incredible rate. Yet, the GPU is not being fully utilized. As resolution increases, the GPU's rendering load grows, and the FPS drops, suggesting a shift in the bottleneck. The 4K Ultra result of 73 FPS is the only point in the data where the GPU is clearly the dominant limiting component, as the combination of high resolution and high settings creates a massive workload that even the RTX 5090 D cannot fully overcome.

The scaling between settings at a given resolution also reveals the CPU's role. At 1080p, the difference between Low (430 FPS) and Ultra (210 FPS) is 220 FPS. This massive gap shows that while the CPU can push incredibly high frame rates on simple settings, the increased GPU workload from Ultra settings does eventually bring the frame rate down, though it remains exceptionally high. This indicates a balance where the CPU is strong enough to prevent a complete collapse, but the GPU's workload still dictates the final output.

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

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. For a game released in 2014, this is an immense amount of processing power. The data shows that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the primary driver of performance, as evidenced by the extremely high frame rates. The processor's high single-core performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160, is likely crucial for Minimum's game logic and physics, which often rely on a few powerful threads.

The benchmark results show a CPU that is not a bottleneck. Its percentile ranking of 94 vs all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors in general benchmarks. In-game, this translates to the ability to maintain massive frame rates at lower resolutions. The processor's cache hierarchy, with 33 MB of shared L3 cache, also helps keep frequently accessed game data close at hand, reducing latency. The data suggests that the i7-14700K is so powerful that it essentially eliminates the CPU as a constraint until the GPU is pushed to its absolute maximum at 4K Ultra.

Comparing it to its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 69,355 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 69,515 (a -0.2% delta). This indicates that for this game, the choice between these top-tier processors would likely yield similar results. The 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than Minimum can utilize, but the high clock speeds ensure that the few threads the game does use are executed as fast as possible. The data implies that the CPU's role is to provide a vast, unshakeable foundation of performance that allows the GPU to operate at its full potential, except in the most extreme GPU-bound scenarios.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the measured rows, the ideal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset delivers an average of 210 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for any high-refresh-rate monitor. The Low preset at 430 FPS is overkill for most displays, but for competitive play, it would provide the lowest latency. The Medium preset at 329 FPS offers a balance, but the visual jump to High (276 FPS) might be more worthwhile, as the frame rate remains far above the threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the High preset (178 FPS) is the best recommendation for a premium experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor. It offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium (212 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate that is well above 144 Hz. The Ultra preset (136 FPS) is also viable, but the 42 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains for all users. The Low preset (277 FPS) is again only for those seeking absolute maximum frame rates at the cost of visual fidelity.

At 4K, the situation changes. The Ultra preset (73 FPS) is the most visually impressive but may dip below the 60 FPS target for some users during intense scenes. The High preset (96 FPS) is the sweet spot, providing a great balance of visual quality and smooth performance that is comfortably above 60 FPS. The Medium preset (114 FPS) offers even more headroom, but the visual step down from High is noticeable. The data suggests that for 4K, High is the recommended preset to ensure a consistently smooth experience, while Ultra is for those who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves the top ranking in Minimum, securing the number 1 spot out of 2,939 tested combos. This is a remarkable achievement, placing it above every other CPU and GPU pairing in the database for this game. The data confirms that no other tested combination can match the raw performance of this duo, making it the definitive choice for maximum frame rates in Minimum.

The ranking reflects the GPU's immense power. The RTX 5090 D, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, is the most powerful consumer GPU in the lineup. When paired with a CPU that can feed it data without bottlenecking, the result is a combo that leads all others. The i7-14700K, ranking in the 94th percentile for CPUs, provides the necessary foundation. The delta between the GPU and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (-1.6%), is small in synthetic benchmarks, but in-game, the combination's top rank suggests that the RTX 5090 D's architecture and driver optimization give it a decisive edge in this title.

This rank implies that users with this combo are experiencing the absolute pinnacle of performance in Minimum. There is no headroom for improvement without changing the hardware, as this pairing already outperforms all 2,938 other combinations. The data positions this as the reference point for maximum FPS, and any other setup will yield lower average frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 430, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this combo maintain a 60 FPS experience at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 73, which is above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rates are extremely high (276-430 FPS depending on settings), indicating the GPU has more capacity than the CPU can feed.

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

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69,355, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X's score of 69,515, indicating nearly identical general performance.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 178 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 136 FPS, a difference of 42 FPS.

Q: Does this combo rank first out of all tested combinations in Minimum?

A: Yes, this combo ranks 1st out of 2,939 tested combinations in Minimum.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptionally high across all settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 430 FPS. The Medium preset averages 329 FPS, with a minimum of 280 and a maximum of 379 FPS. The High preset reduces the average to 276 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding at this resolution, still delivering a robust average of 210 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high. The Low preset averages 277 FPS. The Medium preset averages 212 FPS, with a minimum of 180 and a maximum of 244 FPS. The High preset sees a drop to an average of 178 FPS. The Ultra preset brings the average down to 136 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes the primary constraint. The Low preset averages 149 FPS. The Medium preset averages 114 FPS, with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 131 FPS. The High preset averages 96 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 73 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops consistently, and the gap between settings becomes more pronounced, reflecting the GPU's escalating workload.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a behemoth of a graphics card, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding a massive 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and 21,760 shading units provide immense computational power. In Minimum, this translates to the ability to push incredibly high frame rates, especially at 1080p and 1440p, where the card is not fully taxed. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its top-tier status.

The GPU's role becomes most apparent at 4K resolution. The data shows that the RTX 5090 D is the limiting factor at 3840x2160, as the FPS drops significantly compared to lower resolutions. The 32 GB VRAM is far more than Minimum requires, even at 4K Ultra, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck. Instead, the sheer computational load of rendering at 4K with high settings is what limits the card. The data indicates that the GPU's raw compute power, as measured by its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance, is the key driver of the 4K results.

The card's performance is consistent with its synthetic benchmarks. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and Passmark G3D score of 44,065 reflect its high-end positioning. In-game, this translates to a smooth experience at 4K High (96 FPS) and a playable, albeit more demanding, experience at 4K Ultra (73 FPS). The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (with a -1.6% delta in average benchmark score), are significantly behind in this game, as evidenced by this combo's top ranking. The RTX 5090 D is the definitive component for maximizing performance in Minimum, particularly at higher resolutions where its power is most needed.