Minimum

# Minimum Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 5 125H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H mobile processor paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti desktop GPU places 1065th out of 2939 tested combos in the 2014 third-person shooter Minimum, a position that reflects a mid-tier standing despite the GPU's high-end pedigree. The pairing is unusual—a power-efficient mobile CPU with a flagship-class desktop graphics card—and the data reveals a system where the processor consistently emerges as the constraining factor, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks

The 1065th rank out of 2939 total combos places this pairing in the 64th percentile of all tested configurations for Minimum. This is a respectable position, but one that undersells the GPU's raw capability. The RTX 5070 Ti alone sits in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, while the Core Ultra 5 125H ranks in the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The combined result falling to the 64th percentile suggests a meaningful bottleneck, as the system does not deliver performance commensurate with its individual component rankings.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 27507 nearly matches the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535, delta -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578, delta -0.3%), indicating the Ultra 5 125H delivers desktop-class compute performance in a mobile package. Yet in Minimum, the measured frame rates at 1080p High (150 FPS) versus 4K High (52 FPS) show a 65% drop across that resolution range—a scaling pattern that hints at the CPU's limitations becoming more pronounced as the GPU workload increases.

The rank disparity between component percentiles and the game-specific combo rank warrants scrutiny. With the GPU's 86th percentile standing, one might expect a higher overall rank, but the 1065th position reveals that Minimum is sensitive to CPU throughput in ways that the general benchmark averages do not capture. The Ultra 5 125H's 14 cores and 18 threads, while substantial, operate with a 28W TDP, which may limit sustained performance in gaming scenarios.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070 Ti brings 16 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth—a figure that places it in the upper echelon of graphics memory subsystems. The GPU's base clock runs at 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2452 MHz, and the memory operates at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 43.94 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes evident when examining the 4K results. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 40 FPS average, while dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 81 FPS—more than doubling the frame rate. This substantial scaling with settings indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the primary performance driver, and its ample VRAM (16 GB) ensures that texture-heavy settings do not cause capacity-related stutters.

The GPU's benchmark results further contextualize its capability. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6604 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 225122 demonstrate strong raw compute, while the Passmark G3D score of 32974 places it in the 86th percentile. Interestingly, the nearest rival by average benchmark score is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001, delta -0.1%), with the Intel Arc A550M (49737, delta 0.4%) close behind—though these comparisons reflect synthetic workloads rather than Minimum-specific performance.

The 300W TDP and dual-slot design indicate this is a power-hungry card, but the measured FPS data suggests it is not the limiting factor at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 234 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 115 FPS—a 51% reduction that likely stems from CPU-bound scenarios at high settings rather than GPU memory or bandwidth constraints.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H features 14 cores and 18 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. This Meteor Lake architecture chip includes 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. The 28W TDP is notably low for a processor with this core count, and the mobile BGA 2049 socket reinforces its laptop-oriented design.

In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 12804.5 in multi-core and 1647.5 in single-core—figures that align with desktop processors like the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (within 0.1%) and Intel Core i5-12600K (within 0.3%). The Passmark multithread score of 21100 and single-thread score of 3399 further confirm competitive compute performance. However, the data suggests that in Minimum, the CPU's gaming performance lags behind its synthetic benchmark standing.

The 1080p results illustrate this bottleneck clearly. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 234 FPS, but increasing to High settings drops the frame rate to 150 FPS, and Ultra yields 115 FPS. If the GPU were the sole constraint, we would expect frame rates to remain similar across settings until GPU-bound limits are reached. The significant drops at higher settings—which increase CPU overhead through more draw calls and physics calculations—indicate the Ultra 5 125H cannot feed the RTX 5070 Ti fast enough at 1080p.

The CPU's 14 cores include a mix of performance and efficiency cores typical of Meteor Lake, but the 28W TDP likely causes power throttling during sustained gaming loads. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1647.5, while respectable, may not provide the raw per-thread performance that Minimum's engine demands for high-FPS scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo's behavior. At 3840x2160, the results show a clear progression: Low averages 81 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS (with a min of 53 and max of 72), High averages 52 FPS, and Ultra averages 40 FPS. The Medium preset is the only 4K configuration with min/max data, showing a narrow 19 FPS range that suggests consistent frame pacing.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales upward substantially. Low averages 151 FPS, Medium averages 116 FPS (min 98, max 133), High averages 97 FPS, and Ultra averages 74 FPS. The 1440p Medium range of 35 FPS (98 to 133) shows more variance than the 4K equivalent, hinting at CPU-related frame time spikes that manifest more at mid-range resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low averages 234 FPS, Medium averages 179 FPS (min 152, max 206), High averages 150 FPS, and Ultra averages 115 FPS. The 1080p Medium range of 54 FPS indicates substantial variance, likely due to CPU bottlenecking causing occasional drops while the GPU rapidly renders other frames.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent pattern: Low settings deliver roughly double the frame rate of Ultra settings. At 4K, 81 FPS (Low) versus 40 FPS (Ultra) represents a 103% improvement; at 1440p, 151 versus 74 is a 104% improvement; and at 1080p, 234 versus 115 is also a 103% improvement. This consistent scaling suggests settings have a uniform impact on performance across resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals crucial information about where the performance bottleneck lies. At High settings, the combo delivers 150 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35% from 1080p to 1440p, and 46% from 1440p to 4K. At Low settings, the figures are 234 FPS (1080p), 151 FPS (1440p), and 81 FPS (4K), representing drops of 35% and 46% respectively.

This consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p followed by ~46% drop from 1440p to 4K suggests a primarily GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p, and by 125% from 1440p to 4K. If the system were purely GPU-limited, we would expect frame rates to scale inversely with pixel count, but the observed drops are less severe—indicating some CPU limitation even at 4K.

The 4K Low result of 81 FPS versus 1080p Low of 234 FPS shows a 65% reduction, while the pixel count increases by 400%. This disproportionate scaling reveals that the CPU is still a factor at 4K Low, preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential even when pixel throughput is the dominant workload. However, at 4K Ultra (40 FPS), the GPU is clearly the constraint, as the massive graphics workload overwhelms the CPU's ability to feed frames.

The pattern indicates that the RTX 5070 Ti is underutilized at 1080p due to CPU limitations, but becomes increasingly dominant at 4K. The 52 FPS at 4K High suggests the GPU is operating near its Minimum-specific limit, while the 150 FPS at 1080p High shows the CPU capping performance well below what the GPU could theoretically deliver.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank 1065th when the GPU is in the 86th percentile?

A: The CPU's 79th percentile standing and the game's sensitivity to CPU throughput pull the combined rank down. The 28W TDP mobile processor cannot sustain high frame rates at lower resolutions where the RTX 5070 Ti has headroom, capping the combo at 234 FPS maximum (1080p Low) rather than reaching the GPU's full potential.

Q: At which resolution and settings does this combo deliver the most balanced performance?

A: The 1440p Medium preset (116 FPS average, 98 min, 133 max) offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. It avoids the CPU bottleneck seen at 1080p while maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, with a 35 FPS variance indicating manageable frame time consistency.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Minimum at 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS average suggests the GPU is compute-limited rather than VRAM-limited. The 16 GB GDDR7 memory with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity and throughput for this 2014 title, as evidenced by the fact that reducing settings to Low at 4K more than doubles the frame rate to 81 FPS.

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

A: The Ultra 5 125H's average benchmark score of 27507 places it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (27535) and within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-12600K (27578). It also edges out the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G (27382) by 0.5%, indicating desktop-class compute performance despite its mobile form factor.

Q: What explains the 103% frame rate improvement from Ultra to Low settings across all resolutions?

A: The consistent doubling of performance from Ultra to Low at 1080p (115 to 234 FPS), 1440p (74 to 151 FPS), and 4K (40 to 81 FPS) indicates that Minimum's settings have a uniform impact on GPU workload. The Low preset likely disables post-processing and shadow effects that heavily tax the GPU, while the CPU overhead remains relatively constant.

Q: Does the combo perform better at 1080p or 1440p High settings?

A: The 1080p High result (150 FPS) is 55% faster than the 1440p High result (97 FPS), but the 1440p frame rate is still well above 60 FPS. The 1080p result likely suffers from CPU bottlenecking, as the GPU's capabilities are underutilized at this resolution, while the 1440p result represents a more balanced workload distribution.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high refresh rate gameplay, the 1080p Medium preset (179 FPS average, 152 min, 206 max) provides the smoothest experience without excessive CPU bottlenecking. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 234 FPS but may compromise visual fidelity unnecessarily, while the Ultra preset's 115 FPS introduces a 51% performance penalty that the CPU bottleneck makes difficult to justify.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (116 FPS average, 98 min, 133 max) delivers an excellent balance, ensuring frame rates remain above 98 FPS even in demanding scenes. The High preset (97 FPS) also maintains comfortable performance, but the Medium settings provide a 20% frame rate improvement with visually minor reductions. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS is playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing issues become noticeable, as the 35 FPS variance at Medium suggests the CPU is already contributing to inconsistent frame times.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset (81 FPS) is the only configuration that reliably exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (62 FPS) hovers near that threshold with a 53 FPS minimum. The High preset (52 FPS) and Ultra preset (40 FPS) fall short of smooth gameplay standards, and given the CPU's limitations at lower resolutions, they are unlikely to benefit from overclocking or driver tweaks. The 4K Low settings provide the most responsive experience, though the visual downgrade may not justify the frame rate gain for all players.

The data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1440p with Medium or High settings, where the CPU and GPU achieve their most harmonious balance. At 1080p, the CPU limits performance to a degree that makes the RTX 5070 Ti's capabilities redundant, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint, and only Low settings deliver acceptable frame rates. The 1440p Medium preset emerges as the recommended configuration for most users, offering the best combination of visual quality, frame rate, and consistency across the measured data.