Minimum

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The processor, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts to 5.60 GHz. This combination of high core count and strong single-thread performance provides ample headroom for a game of this era, ensuring that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and single-core score of 6290 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it will not hold back modern graphics cards in this title.

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

The i7-14700KF is an exceptionally capable processor for gaming, and its specifications suggest it is more than sufficient for Minimum. The 20 cores and 28 threads are far beyond what a 2014 title can utilize, meaning the game's workload will likely be spread across a few high-performance cores. The 5.60 GHz boost clock is critical for maintaining high frame rates, as it ensures low latency and rapid instruction processing. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 4480 and Geekbench single-core score of 2972 confirm its strength in lightly-threaded tasks, which is typical for game logic and physics.

In the benchmark results, the CPU demonstrates its capability by allowing the RTX 5070 to reach very high frame rates at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 303 FPS, a figure that is clearly not limited by the processor. The data indicates that even at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. For context, the i7-14700KF’s average benchmark score of 70104 puts it in a statistical tie with its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, -0.4% delta). This shows that the processor is at the top of its class, and its performance in Minimum is expected to be excellent, as confirmed by the measured FPS.

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

The measured data across all resolutions and settings presets provides a clear picture of how to optimize the experience. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 147.8 FPS, while the High preset achieves 190.6 FPS. The jump to Medium yields 229.4 FPS, and Low reaches 303 FPS. For players with a 144Hz monitor, the High preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, providing a 190.6 FPS average that comfortably exceeds refresh rates and offers better visual fidelity than Medium or Low. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, sacrifices nearly 43 FPS compared to High, which is a significant trade-off for a marginal improvement in image quality.

At 1440p, the analysis shifts. The High preset delivers an average of 122.5 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh gaming. The Ultra preset drops to 93.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The Medium preset at 150.7 FPS is the best balance for 1440p if you prioritize frame rate, but High remains the recommended choice for its balance of visuals and performance. At 4K, the High preset produces 68.4 FPS, which is playable on a 60Hz display, but the Medium preset at 77.8 FPS is the better option if you want a slight performance buffer. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 48.6 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay and should be avoided. The data suggests that High settings across all resolutions provide the best overall experience, with Medium being a viable fallback for higher resolutions or lower-end displays.

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

The FPS scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of GPU-bound performance. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 190.6 FPS at 1080p to 122.5 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 36%. Moving to 4K, the frame rate falls to 68.4 FPS, which is a 64% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline is directly attributable to the increasing pixel count, which places a heavier load on the GPU’s rendering pipeline. The RTX 5070’s 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are being fully utilized as resolution increases.

This pattern confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting performance, the frame rates at 1080p would not scale as dramatically as they do. For instance, at Low settings, the 1080p result is 303 FPS, while the 4K result is 102.3 FPS. The 1080p Low figure is so high that it suggests the CPU is still capable of pushing more frames, but the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity are the constraints. The data shows that the RTX 5070 is the limiting component in this configuration, which is expected for a modern graphics card paired with a top-tier processor. For a game like Minimum, the GPU is the component that determines the playable settings and resolution ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 376th out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 21.7% of all tested hardware pairings, which is a strong showing. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU’s high percentile (96th) and the GPU’s lower percentile (83rd). The GPU’s average benchmark score of 41687 is within a narrow margin of its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (41441, 0.6% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41610, 0.2% delta). This indicates that the RTX 5070’s raw compute power is competitive with previous-generation flagship cards.

The combo rank of 376 suggests that while the CPU is top-tier, the GPU is the limiting factor in achieving a higher ranking. Many of the 1,357 combos ranked above this one likely feature higher-end GPUs, which would push frame rates even higher at 4K. However, for the vast majority of users, this pairing offers a premium experience. The high CPU percentile ensures that there is no upgrade path needed for the processor, and the GPU’s performance is more than adequate for high-refresh 1080p and 1440p gaming, as well as playable 4K. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced, with the CPU providing a stable foundation for the GPU to excel.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 plays the central role in determining the game’s visual quality and frame rates. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a 2014 title, even at 4K with high-resolution textures. The GPU’s boost clock of 2512 MHz and base clock of 2325 MHz allow it to sustain high throughput across the 6144 shading units. The card’s 80 ROPs are responsible for pixel output, and its 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate is a key factor in the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU’s performance is clearly demonstrated in the benchmark results. At 1080p Ultra, the card averages 147.8 FPS, showcasing its ability to handle maximum settings at standard resolutions. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 48.6 FPS, which is the only preset where the card struggles. This is not due to VRAM capacity, as 12 GB is sufficient for this game, but rather the sheer computational load of rendering at 3840x2160. The PassMark G3D score of 29137 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 reflect the card's strong raw performance. The GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is a high-end part, but its performance in Minimum is more dependent on the settings preset than the CPU, as evidenced by the wide FPS variance across presets.

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

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 303 FPS, Medium produces 229.4 FPS, High produces 190.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 147.8 FPS. This shows a clear linear scaling where reducing settings yields significant FPS gains, with a 105.2 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low settings produce 193.9 FPS, Medium produces 150.7 FPS, High produces 122.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 93.1 FPS. The scaling is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower due to the increased pixel count. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 100.8 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low settings produce 102.3 FPS, Medium produces 77.8 FPS, High produces 68.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 48.6 FPS. At this resolution, even the Low preset struggles to hit triple-digit frame rates, and the Ultra preset is the only one below 50 FPS. The data shows that for a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Medium or High presets are the viable options. The overall pattern across all resolutions is that the RTX 5070 is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with almost any settings, while 4K requires a careful choice of preset to maintain smooth gameplay.