Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a playable experience across most of Minimum's settings, though the data shows a clear tension between the CPU's headroom and the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. This 2014 third-person shooter responds strongly to both processor and graphics card, but the bottleneck shifts decisively depending on resolution and preset. The measured frames per second range from 267.5 at 1080p Low down to 45.6 at 4K Ultra, indicating that while the combination is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions, it struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K with maximum quality settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a system that becomes progressively more GPU-bound as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 267.5 at 1920x1080 to 174.2 at 2560x1440, then to 90.5 at 3840x2160. That represents a 34.9% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests the RTX 3080's rendering capacity is the limiting factor once resolution climbs, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the same trend emerges: 204.7 FPS at 1080p, 131 at 1440p, and 72.9 at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% and 44.4% respectively. High settings show 171.2 FPS at 1080p, 108.8 at 1440p, and 57.6 at 4K — a 36.4% drop followed by a 47.1% drop. Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling, with 129.1 FPS at 1080p falling to 81.4 at 1440p (36.9% reduction) and then to 45.6 at 4K (44% reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K, while the CPU can maintain higher frame rates at 1080p where the rendering load is lighter.

The data points to a component balance that favors 1440p gaming. At 2560x1440, even Ultra settings maintain 81.4 FPS, which is comfortably above playable thresholds. At 4K, only Low settings (90.5 FPS) and Medium settings (72.9 FPS) remain above 60 FPS, while High dips to 57.6 and Ultra falls to 45.6. The scaling curve suggests that 4K performance is heavily dependent on preset selection, and that the RTX 3080's 10 GB memory and Ampere architecture begin to show their limits at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, built on the 8 nm process with the GA102 chip, provides the rendering foundation for this combination. Its boost clock of 1710 MHz and 8704 shading units drive the measured frame rates, while the 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The data shows that the GPU's performance percentile sits at 80 among all tested graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 35787. This places it close to the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860, 0.2% faster) and AMD Radeon 880M (35646, 0.4% slower), though the RTX 3080 trails the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36101) by 0.9%.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and quality settings. The frame rate differences between Low and Ultra at 4K — 90.5 versus 45.6 FPS — demonstrate that the graphics card's workload scales substantially with visual fidelity. The RTX 3080's memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s appears sufficient for this game, as the 10 GB capacity does not seem to cause stuttering or frame drops in the measured results. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s contribute to the card's ability to handle the game's rendering demands, though the 320 W TDP indicates a power-hungry component that requires adequate cooling and power delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 550 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. That places it in the top 31.7% of all configurations, which is a respectable position given the GPU's age and the presence of newer hardware. The combo rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing — the CPU is a high-end 14th-generation part that can keep pace with the GPU, but the RTX 3080, while still capable, is not the fastest graphics card available.

The CPU's benchmark performance helps contextualize this ranking. The i7-14700KF achieves an average benchmark score of 70104, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074, 0% difference) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, 0.4% faster), indicating that the processor is essentially at parity with other top-tier chips. The GPU's average score of 35787 places it lower in its own distribution, which suggests that the combo's rank is more constrained by the graphics card than the processor. In a game like Minimum, which appears to scale well with both components, the 550th rank reflects a system where the GPU limits the overall ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination delivers consistently high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 267.5 FPS on average, Medium reaches 204.7, High achieves 171.2, and Ultra maintains 129.1. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is CPU-bound at lower presets — the i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads can push the RTX 3080 to its limits, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as settings increase. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 138.4 FPS, showing that quality settings have a significant impact on performance even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU's growing influence. Low settings deliver 174.2 FPS, Medium produces 131, High achieves 108.8, and Ultra drops to 81.4. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 92.8 FPS, reflecting the increased rendering load at higher pixel counts. At 3840x2160, the performance gap becomes more pronounced: Low yields 90.5 FPS, Medium 72.9, High 57.6, and Ultra 45.6. The 44.9 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K demonstrates that the RTX 3080's capabilities are stretched by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings.

The data shows that the most significant performance jump occurs when moving from Ultra to High at any resolution. At 4K, High is 12 FPS faster than Ultra (57.6 versus 45.6), while at 1440p, the difference is 27.4 FPS (108.8 versus 81.4). This suggests that Ultra settings impose a particularly heavy load on the GPU, and that High offers a more balanced trade-off between visual quality and frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290 and Geekbench single-core score of 2972. The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help feed data to the cores efficiently, which is beneficial for gaming workloads that often rely on memory latency and cache performance.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p with lower settings, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. The 267.5 FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the processor can drive the GPU to very high output levels, and the i7-14700KF's multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557, Passmark multi-thread score of 52425) ensures that background tasks and game logic do not bottleneck the rendering pipeline. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70104, confirms that it is not the limiting factor in this combination — the RTX 3080's 80th percentile GPU ranking is the more likely constraint.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Core i7-14700K with a delta of 0% and the AMD EPYC 9115 with a delta of 0.3%, showing that this processor is competitive with other high-end parts. Its boost clock of 5.60 GHz is particularly beneficial for games like Minimum that may rely on single-thread performance, and the 28 threads provide ample parallel processing capability for any multi-threaded game systems.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings are clearly viable, with 129.1 FPS providing a smooth experience for any display. Even the most demanding preset at this resolution stays well above 120 FPS, so users with 1080p monitors can comfortably select Ultra without performance concerns.

For 2560x1440, the data suggests that High settings (108.8 FPS) offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. Medium (131 FPS) is also excellent for users prioritizing higher refresh rates, while Ultra (81.4 FPS) remains playable but may not fully utilize a 144 Hz display. At 3840x2160, the choice is more constrained: Medium (72.9 FPS) is the highest setting that maintains a 60 FPS average, while High (57.6 FPS) and Ultra (45.6 FPS) fall below that threshold. Low settings (90.5 FPS) provide the best 4K performance but sacrifice visual fidelity.

The data indicates that the most significant quality-to-performance trade-off occurs between Ultra and High. At every resolution, High delivers a substantial FPS improvement over Ultra while likely offering similar visual quality in this 2014 title. For 4K users, Medium is the practical ceiling for smooth gameplay, and for those with high refresh rate displays at 1440p, Medium or High will maximize frame rates without excessive quality loss. The system's ability to exceed 170 FPS at 1080p Low suggests that e-sports or competitive players could achieve extremely high frame rates by prioritizing performance over visuals.