Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose engine scales unusually well with high-end hardware, and the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a very consistent experience across all tested configurations. The measured data for this combination shows that the system is capable of pushing frame rates well past the range of high-refresh displays at 1440p, while still maintaining playable performance at 4K Ultra. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, the roles of the CPU and GPU, the combo's rank among 3,712 tested configurations, and the exact measured FPS at each setting tier.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 with this CPU-GPU combo reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling, as frame rates drop proportionally with the increase in pixel count. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 229 at 1080p to 148 at 1440p, a 35.4% reduction, and then to 79 at 4K, which is 65.5% lower than the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4080’s rendering throughput is the primary limiting factor as resolution climbs, which is expected given the massive pixel workload at 4K.

The scaling curve at Low settings is even more pronounced, showing that the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 356 FPS, which drops to 230 at 1440p (a 35.4% decrease) and 124 at 4K (a 65.2% decrease from 1080p). The fact that 1080p Low exceeds 350 FPS suggests that the i9-14900K’s high single-core performance is not a bottleneck here, as the frame rate is likely capped by the GPU’s fill rate even at this modest resolution.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution highlights how much headroom the GPU has when settings are reduced. At 4K, the jump from Ultra (61 FPS) to Low (124 FPS) represents a 103.3% improvement, while at 1440p the same settings change yields a 105.4% increase from 112 to 230 FPS. At 1080p, the gap narrows slightly but remains large, with Ultra at 174 FPS and Low at 356 FPS, a 104.6% difference. This consistent ~100% uplift across resolutions suggests that the game’s Ultra presets introduce heavy shading and post-processing effects that heavily tax the GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K provides 24 cores and 32 threads, running at a base clock of 3.20 GHz and boosting up to 6.00 GHz. In Minimum, a title built primarily around fast-paced third-person shooting, the CPU’s role appears to be ensuring that high frame rates are achievable without introducing frame-time inconsistencies. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the combo still manages 356 FPS, indicating that the CPU can sustain very high instruction throughput.

This processor’s single-core performance is exceptional, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and Geekbench single-core score of 2655. These numbers suggest that the i9-14900K can handle the game’s physics and AI calculations with ease, even when the frame rate exceeds 300 FPS. The multi-core performance is equally strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 21697, which helps if the game uses additional threads for background simulation.

The CPU’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache likely contribute to low latency access to game data, which is critical for maintaining high average FPS in a fast-paced shooter. The 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this a desktop-focused part, and its 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is among the fastest processors available for gaming workloads. In this game, the data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, as the FPS scales consistently with GPU load rather than showing CPU-related plateaus.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s 9728 shading units and 112 ROPs handle pixel throughput effectively, with a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s. These specifications directly correlate with the measured FPS, as the GPU’s raw compute power, rated at 48.74 TFLOPS FP32, drives the high frame rates seen at 1440p and the playable numbers at 4K.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant for Minimum at 4K Ultra, where the game may require large texture buffers. With 16 GB of VRAM, the RTX 4080 has ample capacity, and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming does not cause stutters. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (61 FPS) is respectable for such a demanding preset, and the fact that it drops to 79 FPS at High settings suggests that the GPU is not VRAM-limited but rather compute-limited.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2505 MHz, up from a base of 2205 MHz, provides the headroom needed for sustained performance during long gaming sessions. The RTX 4080’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the top of the performance hierarchy, and its benchmark scores, such as 34457 in Passmark G3D and 214739 in Geekbench OpenCL, confirm its strong compute capabilities. Compared to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, this card is only 0.1% slower in average benchmark score, meaning the performance difference in-game is negligible.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3,712 tested CPU-GPU combinations in Minimum, this pairing of the i9-14900K and RTX 4080 ranks 246th, placing it in the top 6.6% of all configurations. This rank is impressive given that the list includes many other high-end parts, and it indicates that the combo delivers near-top-tier performance. The CPU’s 95th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 86th percentile ranking combine to produce a system that is well-balanced for this game, with neither component holding the other back.

The CPU’s nearest rivals show how close the i9-14900K is to other top processors. The i9-14900KF scores 0.3% higher on average, while the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is 0.6% higher, and the AMD EPYC 7413 is 1.2% higher. Interestingly, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 1.7% lower, meaning the i9-14900K outperforms it in synthetic benchmarks. These small deltas suggest that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Minimum, as the game is likely GPU-bound at most settings.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080’s rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is 0.1% faster on average, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, which is 1.1% slower. The gap to the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% and to the Radeon 8060S is 2.7%, both in favor of the RTX 4080. This positioning means that the combo’s 246th rank is primarily determined by the GPU’s performance tier, as the CPU has enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers extremely high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 356 FPS, which is ideal for 360Hz monitors, while Medium settings yield 273 FPS with a minimum of 232 and a maximum of 313. High settings average 229 FPS, and Ultra drops to 174 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is never stressed, and even the most demanding preset remains well above the refresh rate of most gaming displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected scaling. Low settings average 230 FPS, Medium averages 176 FPS with a minimum of 149 and a maximum of 202, and High averages 148 FPS. Ultra settings still manage 112 FPS, which is perfectly playable on high-refresh 1440p monitors. The data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, as it balances visual fidelity with frame rates that exceed 100 FPS even at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings average 124 FPS, which is still very smooth for 4K gaming, while Medium averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 109. High settings drop to 79 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 61 FPS. While 61 FPS is below the 100+ FPS seen at lower resolutions, it remains above the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay, making 4K Ultra a viable option for this pairing.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates that 2560x1440 is the sweet spot, as it delivers 112 FPS at Ultra settings and 230 FPS at Low settings, balancing visual quality with very high frame rates.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: Yes, at 4K Ultra the combo averages 61 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, and at 4K Low it reaches 124 FPS, making 4K gaming very feasible.

Q: How does the i9-14900K compare to its closest CPU rival?

A: The i9-14900K is 0.3% slower than the i9-14900KF in average benchmark score, but it is 1.7% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, showing it is among the fastest CPUs available.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, but at 1080p and 1440p the CPU has enough headroom to avoid limiting frame rates.

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

A: At 1440p, Low settings average 230 FPS while Ultra averages 112 FPS, representing a 105.4% improvement when reducing settings from Ultra to Low.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 246th out of 3,712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested in Minimum.