Minimum

# Minimum: Intel Core Ultra 5 125H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile

The data for this combination shows a system that comfortably handles Minimum across all tested resolutions, with the 1080p results particularly strong. The measured frame rates indicate a pairing where the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H becomes more relevant as resolution drops.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience, and the answer depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset still produces an average of 125 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs roughly 39 FPS (from 164 down to 125), but the visual fidelity gain from Ultra settings in a third-person shooter is typically substantial. For players with high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 196 FPS average, which is a strong middle ground.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts. Ultra drops to 81 FPS average, which remains playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. High at 1440p delivers 106 FPS average, which is the sweet spot for this resolution — it maintains smooth motion while keeping most graphical features enabled. The Low preset at 1440p hits 165 FPS, but such a drastic settings reduction is rarely necessary given the High preset's performance.

The 4K results tell a different story entirely. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages only 43 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for a fast-paced shooter. High at 4K manages 57 FPS, which is borderline but usable. The Medium preset at 4K produces 68 FPS average with a minimum of 58 FPS, making it the best choice for 4K gamers who want smooth performance without dropping to Low. Low at 4K reaches 89 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant.

The data suggests the following: for 1080p, Ultra is the recommended preset because the performance cost is acceptable relative to the visual payoff. For 1440p, High provides the best balance of frame rate and image quality. For 4K, Medium is the optimal choice, as it keeps the average above 60 FPS while avoiding the visual degradation of Low. The Medium preset's measured minimum of 58 FPS at 4K indicates that even in demanding moments, the system stays close to the target.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing for gaming workloads. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a mobile GPU. The memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed, and the GPU's boost clock reaches 1665 MHz. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die.

The GPU's compute capabilities are extensive: 7424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation units. The 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores indicate strong ray tracing and AI acceleration support, though Minimum being a 2014 title likely does not leverage these features heavily. The FP32 throughput of 24.72 TFLOPS gives the GPU plenty of raw horsepower for this game.

The benchmark results show the GPU's scaling behavior clearly. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 131 FPS (256 vs 125), which indicates the GPU is still the bottleneck even at this resolution. However, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower settings — the jump from Medium (196 FPS) to Low (256 FPS) at 1080p is 60 FPS, suggesting that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to push frame rates very high when graphical load is light.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 24926 places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with its strong gaming performance. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 with a deltaPct of -0.4, and it sits 1.3% ahead of the desktop RTX 4070. This positioning confirms that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a high-tier mobile part, though the deltaPct values indicate the competitive landscape is tight at this performance level.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how this system's balance shifts with resolution. At High settings, the progression is 164 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 65%, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where pixel count drives performance.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic: 256 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, and 89 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% and 46% respectively, showing similar proportional scaling. This consistency suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU remains the primary limiter — if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see less scaling at lower settings.

The Medium preset shows a different pattern. At 1080p, the average is 196 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 126 FPS; at 4K, it falls to 68 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium is 166 at 1080p, 107 at 1440p, and 58 at 4K. These minimum values track closely with the averages, indicating stable frame pacing without severe dips.

The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling: 125 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 35%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS average, confirming that Ultra at 4K is not a viable option for smooth gameplay.

The resolution scaling data indicates that this is a GPU-limited system across the board. The consistent percentage drops between resolutions, regardless of settings, point to the RTX 4080 Mobile as the component determining frame rates. The CPU has sufficient headroom to keep up even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is producing 256 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 256 FPS, which is exceptional for any title. Medium averages 196 FPS with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 225 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. High averages 164 FPS, while Ultra averages 125 FPS. All 1080p presets exceed the 120 FPS threshold, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's workload. Low averages 165 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium averages 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS. High averages 106 FPS, and Ultra averages 81 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that even the most demanding preset stays above 80 FPS, which is respectable for a mobile GPU.

At 3840x2160, the system's limits become apparent. Low averages 89 FPS, which is playable but below the 1080p Low figure by 167 FPS. Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS — the minimum is the only sub-60 result in the entire dataset. High averages 57 FPS, which is borderline. Ultra averages 43 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

The Medium preset stands out as the most consistent across resolutions. It is the only preset with min/max values recorded for all three resolutions, and the spread between minimum and maximum is relatively narrow: 59 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K. This indicates stable performance without significant frame spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile ranks 1228 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places the system in roughly the 67th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms two-thirds of the combos in the database for this specific game.

This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths. The GPU sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU is in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. The combo's ranking of 1228 out of 3712 suggests that while both components are above average, the pairing does not achieve the same relative standing as its parts individually. This could be due to the game's age — Minimum released in 2014 — and the fact that many other tested combos may include newer high-end parts that perform better in this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its contribution. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800 has an average score of 27535 with a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the Core Ultra 5 125H is essentially tied with it. The Intel Core i5-12600K and AMD Ryzen 7 5700X both have average scores of 27578 with deltaPct of -0.3, indicating the Ultra 5 125H is within 0.3% of these desktop parts. The AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G has an average score of 27382 with a deltaPct of 0.5, meaning the Ultra 5 125H is 0.5% ahead.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 has an average score of 38299 with a deltaPct of -0.4, while the RTX 5080 Mobile scores 38349 with a deltaPct of -0.6. The desktop RTX 4070 scores 37648 with a deltaPct of 1.3, meaning the RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% ahead. The Tesla P4 scores 37628 with a deltaPct of 1.3.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth.

For Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution or preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 256 FPS, which is a demanding scenario for any CPU. The fact that it reaches this level indicates the Ultra 5 125H has sufficient single-thread performance to keep up.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 scores are 12804.5 multi-core and 1647.5 single-core. The PassMark single-thread score is 3399, and the multithread score is 21100. These numbers place the CPU in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, which is solid for a mobile part. The PassMark physics score of 1439 is relevant for gaming workloads, as physics calculations often rely on CPU performance.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.50 GHz is particularly important for gaming. Minimum likely benefits from high single-thread performance, and the ability to sustain boost clocks during gameplay is critical. The 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample multi-threading capability, though a 2014 title may not fully utilize all cores.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is sufficient for this game, and the dual-channel configuration ensures the GPU has access to system memory if needed. The L3 cache of 18 MB shared is generous for a mobile processor and helps reduce memory latency in games.

The data indicates that the CPU's performance is well-matched to the GPU for this title. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 256 FPS, which suggests the CPU can handle even the highest frame rates the GPU can produce. The CPU's single-thread score of 3399 in PassMark and its boost clock of 4.50 GHz are the key specifications driving this capability.