Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter that scales surprisingly well with modern hardware, and the measured data for the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 reveals a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie. This combination, ranked 1420th out of 1733 tested configurations for this title, delivers playable frame rates at most settings, but the experience varies dramatically based on resolution and graphical presets. The benchmark results indicate a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet capable of high refresh rate gameplay at 1080p, making the choice of settings crucial for the best experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across all presets and resolutions shows that the "Low" preset consistently provides the highest performance, but it is not always the optimal choice for a balanced experience. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers a very high 154.3 FPS average, which is excellent for competitive play. However, moving to the Medium preset still yields a highly respectable 121 FPS average, a drop of only 33.3 FPS, while likely offering a substantially better visual quality. The data suggests that for most users at 1080p, the Medium preset represents the best trade-off between visual fidelity and performance, as it comfortably exceeds the 100 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the picture shifts. The Low preset manages 100.6 FPS, which is still very smooth. The High preset, however, drops to 63.7 FPS. While this is still playable, it marks a significant 36.9 FPS reduction from Low. Given that the jump from Medium to High at this resolution is a 13.1 FPS difference (76.8 to 63.7 FPS), the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for 1440p, maintaining an average above 60 FPS while providing a significant visual upgrade over Low. For a 1440p monitor, Medium is the recommended starting point.

The 4K data tells a different story. Here, even the Low preset only achieves 51.5 FPS, and the High preset drops to 34.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at 24 FPS. The performance drop from Low to High at 4K is a substantial 16.6 FPS. Given the GPU's limitations at this resolution, the Low preset is the only viable option for achieving a frame rate that approaches 60 FPS. Even then, it falls short, indicating that 4K gaming on this configuration requires significant compromises. The data clearly shows that the best experience is found at 1080p with Medium, or 1440p with Medium, as these configurations provide the best balance of smoothness and quality. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields the lowest frame rates, including a 78.2 FPS average at 1080p, which is a 42.8 FPS drop from the Medium preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is an extremely powerful processor, and its specifications suggest it is not the limiting factor in this game. With 24 cores and 32 threads, a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and a large 36 MB shared L3 cache, the CPU has ample resources for a title from 2014. Its benchmark scores are equally impressive; for instance, the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 49872 and the single-core score is 7040. This places the CPU in the 97th percentile of all CPUs, indicating top-tier performance. The data strongly implies that the i9-14900K is providing a massive amount of headroom, ensuring that the game's physics and AI logic are processed with ease.

The benchmark results support this by showing how the frame rate scales with resolution. At 1080p, where the CPU's role is more prominent, the frame rates are high, reaching 154.3 FPS on Low. As the resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the average FPS drops significantly at the same settings. For example, at High settings, the frame rate falls from 102.1 FPS at 1080p to 63.7 FPS at 1440p, and then to 34.9 FPS at 4K. This pattern is a classic indicator of a GPU bottleneck; the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU more frames, but the GPU cannot keep up as the rendering load increases. The performance is so high that the CPU is effectively waiting on the GPU, making its role secondary in determining the final frame rate in this specific configuration.

The i9-14900K's closest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900KF with a 0.7% difference in average score, show that its performance is at the very top of the stack. This level of CPU performance means that in Minimum, it will not be the source of any stutters or frame drops. The game is simply too old and the CPU too powerful for that to occur. The data indicates that the processor's role is to provide a stable, high-performance foundation, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of the visual experience and frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the clear performance limiter in this pairing. Its specifications, while capable for its generation, are modest compared to the CPU. The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 1680 MHz. These specs translate to a PassMark G3D score of 14111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The benchmark data shows that this GPU is the component that dictates the frame rates, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 6 GB may also be a factor at 4K with High or Ultra settings, potentially causing texture swapping and performance degradation. However, the most telling data comes from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242, which is a modern, demanding test. This score, while not directly comparable to game FPS, indicates the GPU's overall rendering capability. The performance scaling in Minimum confirms this limitation: at 4K, the Ultra preset produces a 24 FPS average, which is a 30.3 FPS drop from the Low preset's 51.5 FPS. This massive difference shows how quickly the GPU's rendering resources are exhausted as visual complexity increases.

The RTX 2060's nearest rivals further contextualize its position. Its average benchmark score is 16074, which is 1.7% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. This puts it in a mid-range performance tier. For a game like Minimum, this means that at 1080p, the GPU can handle the load, providing 121 FPS on Medium and 102.1 FPS on High. However, at 1440p, it begins to struggle, with the High preset dropping to 63.7 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is overwhelmed, and only the Low preset provides a playable, albeit not ideal, 51.5 FPS. The data clearly shows that the RTX 2060 is the primary bottleneck, and its performance dictates the optimal settings and resolutions for this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Minimum with this hardware?

A: The benchmark data shows that 1920x1080 offers the highest frame rates, with the Low preset achieving 154.3 FPS and Medium achieving 121 FPS. This is the only resolution where the GPU can consistently deliver high refresh rate performance.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using in Minimum?

A: The data suggests it is not. At 1080p, the Ultra preset yields 78.2 FPS, which is a 42.8 FPS drop from Medium. At 1440p it drops to 48.2 FPS, and at 4K it is only 24 FPS. The performance cost is too high for the benefit.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 102.1 at 1080p to 63.7 at 1440p, a decrease of 38.4 FPS. At Low settings, the drop is from 154.3 to 100.6 FPS, a difference of 53.7 FPS.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU, being in the 97th percentile, provides more than enough performance.

Q: Can this system play Minimum at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which achieves an average of 51.5 FPS. The High settings at 4K only manage 34.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset is not playable at 24 FPS.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 76.8 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This is the most balanced option for 1440p, providing a solid frame rate above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable trend of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 154.3 FPS at 1080p to 100.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 51.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 48.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar for other settings, with High settings dropping from 102.1 FPS at 1080p to 63.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 34.9 FPS at 4K.

This scaling behavior is the definitive evidence of a GPU-bound scenario. The i9-14900K has more than enough power to handle the game's logic at any resolution, so the frame rate is entirely dependent on the RTX 2060's ability to render pixels. As the pixel count increases, the GPU's workload grows exponentially, causing the frame rate to plummet. The difference between 1080p and 4K is a 4x increase in pixel count, and the data shows that at Low settings, the frame rate drops by over 100 FPS (154.3 to 51.5). This is a clear sign that the system's performance ceiling is defined by the graphics card, not the processor. The 4K results, in particular, highlight the GPU's limitations, as even the lowest settings cannot maintain a stable 60 FPS. This analysis confirms that for this hardware combination, 1080p and 1440p are the viable gaming resolutions, while 4K is only for those willing to accept significant compromises in visual fidelity and smoothness.