Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose performance profile on this hardware combination is dominated by the GPU at higher resolutions, but which reveals a surprisingly balanced workload at 1080p. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shows a system that can push very high frame rates at 1440p and above, yet the scaling patterns between settings presets indicate that the CPU is not entirely idle in this older title. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data, the role of each component, and how this specific combo ranks against the broader benchmark database.

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

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a mobile processor built on the Meteor Lake architecture, featuring 14 cores and 18 threads. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, and it carries an 18 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and a single-core score of 1647.5, placing it at the 79th percentile among all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 27507 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, delta -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578, delta -0.3%), suggesting that in general compute tasks, this chip is effectively a peer of those desktop parts.

For a game released in 2014, the CPU’s 18 threads are more than sufficient, but the single-thread performance is what matters most for older game engines. The PassMark single-thread score of 3399 is respectable, and the Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1010 indicates solid per-core throughput. However, the measured FPS data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 256 FPS average. This is a very high number, but it is not unlimited, which suggests the CPU is imposing some ceiling even at the lowest graphical load. The fact that dropping from High to Low at 1080p only increases FPS from 164 to 256 (a 56% gain) while the GPU is clearly capable of more suggests that the Ultra 5 125H’s boost clock of 4.50 GHz is being utilized but may not be sufficient to fully saturate the RTX 4080 at low settings.

The game’s release date in 2014 means it likely relies on a limited number of threads, making the CPU’s 14 cores less relevant than its per-core speed. The L3 cache of 18 MB is ample for a game of this era, but the dependency on motherboard memory (DDR5 as listed) and dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is a potential bottleneck in theory, though the measured data does not show extreme frame drops. At 1440p Low, the system achieves 165 FPS, which is a 36% drop from the 1080p Low score, indicating that the GPU is starting to take over the workload. The CPU’s role is thus most pronounced at 1080p, where it helps achieve triple-digit frame rates, but it does not become the limiting factor at higher resolutions like 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS recorded for this combo at 1920x1080 is 256 FPS, achieved with Low settings. With Medium settings, it drops to 196 FPS, and with High settings, it is 164 FPS. At Ultra, the average is 125 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has an average benchmark score of 27507, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535) and 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578). It is 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G (27382), indicating performance parity with these desktop chips.

Q: Is the RTX 4080’s performance closer to the RTX 4080 SUPER or to AMD’s RX 6750 GRE?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is only 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209). In contrast, it is 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698), showing that it is nearly identical to the SUPER variant and slightly behind the AMD card in aggregate benchmarks.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 165 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 81 FPS. This represents a 51% reduction in frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra, with High and Medium landing at 106 FPS and 126 FPS respectively.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top third of all tested combinations?

A: The combo rank for this CPU and GPU pairing in Minimum is 918 out of 2939 tested combinations. This places it in the top 31.2% of all combos, indicating above-average performance for this specific game.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings?

A: For Medium settings, the minimum FPS values are as follows: at 3840x2160, the min is 58 FPS; at 2560x1440, the min is 107 FPS; and at 1920x1080, the min is 166 FPS. These are the only settings presets where min and max FPS data were provided.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 164. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 106 FPS, a 35.4% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 57 FPS, which is a further 46.2% drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K strongly indicates that the RTX 4080 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the frame rate drops by roughly 65% from 164 to 57 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe but still significant. At Low settings, the drop is from 256 FPS at 1080p to 165 FPS at 1440p, a 35.5% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 125 FPS at 1080p to 81 FPS at 1440p, a 35.2% reduction. This consistent ~35% reduction across all settings when moving from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the workload is scaling almost linearly with pixel count, which is typical of GPU-bound scenarios. However, the fact that the 1080p Low score of 256 FPS is not higher, given the GPU’s capability, hints at a CPU limitation at that specific low-resolution, low-settings configuration.

At 4K, the Ultra preset yields only 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle 4K if settings are moderated. The gap between Low (89 FPS) and High (57 FPS) at 4K is 32 FPS, or 36% of the Low score, indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s and 16 GB of VRAM are sufficient for the game’s assets, but the compute units are being stressed by the higher graphical fidelity. Overall, the data shows that this combo is GPU-limited at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU retains a more active role at 1080p.

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

For this hardware pairing, the data suggests that the High preset at 1440p offers the most balanced experience for competitive play. At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 106, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides smooth gameplay for a third-person shooter. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 126 FPS average with a minimum of 107 FPS, which is even smoother, but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is often worth the 20 FPS trade-off. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 81 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns for the added graphical load.

At 1080p, the High preset at 164 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, though the Medium preset at 196 FPS (min 166 FPS) provides a larger safety margin against frame drops. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 256 FPS, but this is likely unnecessary unless the user is targeting a 240 Hz display and prioritizes frame rate over visuals. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 68 FPS (min 58 FPS) is the highest settings level that maintains a consistent frame rate above 60 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 57 FPS, which is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for competitive play. The data indicates that Medium at 4K is the sweet spot for this resolution, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold while offering better detail than Low.

The best overall experience per the measured rows depends on the user’s display. For a 1440p monitor, High is the recommended preset, as it balances visual fidelity with a 106 FPS average. For 1080p, Medium or High both work, but High is preferable if the monitor supports 144 Hz or higher. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the FPS drops to 125 at 1080p, 81 at 1440p, and 43 at 4K, which are significantly lower than the next preset down without a commensurate visual leap.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 918 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 68.8th percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the tested systems. This ranking is notable because the RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU (86th percentile among all GPUs), but the CPU is a mobile part that sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The gap between the GPU’s percentile and the combo’s percentile suggests that the CPU is holding back the overall result in this specific game.

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and Intel Core i5-12600K both have nearly identical average benchmark scores, differing by only 0.1% to 0.3%. This implies that if the combo had used one of those desktop CPUs instead, the ranking might have been higher, as they likely provide better sustained performance for game engines. The RTX 4080’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score that is 0.1% lower, meaning the GPU is not the bottleneck in the ranking. The fact that the combo ranks 918th despite having a top-tier GPU points to the Ultra 5 125H’s mobile design being a limiting factor, particularly for a game that does not heavily multithread.

Compared to the full database of 2939 combos, a rank of 918 is solidly in the upper third, but it is not elite. The data shows that the combo is capable of high frame rates at 1440p, but the 4K Ultra performance of 43 FPS is below average for a system with this GPU. The ranking reflects that this pairing is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p gaming, rather than maxing out 4K settings.

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

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 256 FPS, Medium produces 196 FPS with a minimum of 166 and a maximum of 225, High produces 164 FPS, and Ultra produces 125 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 131 FPS, showing that settings have a major impact at this resolution. The Medium preset’s minimum of 166 FPS is higher than the High preset’s average, indicating that the step from Medium to High is more demanding than the step from Low to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 165, Medium at 126 with a minimum of 107 and a maximum of 145, High at 106, and Ultra at 81. The difference between Low and Ultra is 84 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but a similar relative drop of 51%. The Medium preset’s minimum of 107 FPS is nearly identical to the High preset’s average of 106 FPS, showing that the Medium preset offers a more stable frame rate with only a marginal visual penalty.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 89, Medium at 68 with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 78, High at 57, and Ultra at 43. The gap between Low and Ultra is 46 FPS, and the Medium preset’s minimum of 58 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold, while the High preset’s average of 57 FPS is also below it. This reveals that only the Low and Medium presets can maintain playable frame rates at 4K, with Medium being the highest recommended setting.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, showing a consistent pattern: at 1080p, the minimum is 166 FPS; at 1440p, the minimum is 107 FPS; and at 4K, the minimum is 58 FPS. The maximum FPS values follow a similar scaling, from 225 at 1080p to 145 at 1440p to 78 at 4K. This data suggests that the Medium preset provides the most stable frame pacing, as the delta between average and minimum is relatively consistent across resolutions.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a chip designated AD103, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 2205 MHz with a boost clock of 2505 MHz, and it contains 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 achieves a PassMark G3D score of 34457 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779, placing it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs.

For Minimum, the GPU’s 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient, as the game’s 2014 release date means it cannot fully utilize even a fraction of this capacity. The data confirms this, as the 4K Ultra setting with 43 FPS is not limited by memory but rather by the compute load of the AD103 chip. The boost clock of 2505 MHz is critical for maintaining high frame rates at 1440p, where the GPU is the primary driver of performance. The fact that the RTX 4080 scores nearly identically to the RTX 4080 SUPER (delta 0.1%) in average benchmarks suggests that the GPU is performing at its expected level, and any shortfall in game FPS is due to the CPU.

The GPU’s transistor count of 45,900 million and die size of 379 mm² indicate a large, powerful chip, but the measured FPS shows that at 4K Ultra, it only delivers 43 FPS. This is not a reflection of the GPU’s weakness but rather the game’s engine and the CPU’s inability to feed it enough data at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU is clearly not the bottleneck, as the 256 FPS result is more likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread speed. The GPU’s role becomes dominant at 1440p and 4K, where the data shows a clear scaling pattern with resolution, and the 16 GB VRAM ensures there are no texture loading hitches in this older title. The RTX 4080’s end-of-life production status and 1,199 USD launch MSRP are noted, but the performance data indicates it remains a formidable GPU for this game, provided the resolution and settings are chosen appropriately.