Minimum

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Minimum with the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 148 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 96 FPS, a reduction of 52 FPS or roughly 35%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 52 FPS, which is about 46% lower than the 1440p result and 65% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep degradation as resolution climbs indicates that the RTX 5050 is the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

The scaling pattern intensifies with higher quality presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 95 at 1080p to 61 at 1440p (a 34 FPS drop) and then to 33 at 4K (a further 28 FPS drop). The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings represents a 45% performance loss, which is more severe than the 35% loss seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same preset. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and raw throughput become increasingly strained as pixel count grows.

Ultra settings tell a similar story with lower absolute numbers. The combo manages 73 FPS at 1080p Ultra, drops to 47 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and falls to 25 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is barely playable for a third-person shooter, indicating that this resolution and preset combination pushes the hardware beyond its comfortable operating range. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 48 FPS, which represents a 66% reduction in performance.

The Medium preset shows the most consistent scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average is 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 131. At 1440p Medium, those figures drop to 73 average with 62 minimum and 84 maximum. At 4K Medium, the average is 39 FPS with 34 minimum and 45 maximum. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings are notably close to the averages, suggesting that frame pacing remains stable even when the GPU is heavily loaded. The 4K Medium minimum of 34 FPS is the only 4K result with a recorded minimum, and it sits just 5 FPS below the average.

What this scaling data reveals is that the RTX 5050 is the primary bottleneck once resolution increases beyond 1080p. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU's compute resources and 8 GB VRAM capacity start to limit performance as the pixel workload grows. The 1080p results show the combo can deliver high refresh rates, but 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 52 FPS average leaves little margin for demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is designed for multitasking and multi-threaded workloads, which is reflected in its benchmark scores: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and single-core score of 1700. The PassMark multithread score of 22422 and single-thread score of 3521 further confirm its balanced performance profile.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU's, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 148 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU must be capable of feeding frames to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The 18 threads and boost clock of 4.60 GHz provide sufficient single-thread performance for game logic and draw call processing. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 244 and R20 single-core score of 1105 suggest that the CPU handles lightly-threaded tasks efficiently.

However, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are not fully utilized by Minimum, which is a game from 2014 that likely scales well with a handful of cores rather than requiring all 14. The PassMark physics score of 1482 and data compression score of 251651 indicate strong overall processing power, but these are not directly relevant to gaming performance. The CPU's percentile ranking of 81st among all CPUs places it above average, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has a nearly identical average benchmark score of 29123 versus the 135H's 29093, a delta of just -0.1%.

The CPU's 28 W TDP and mobile socket (Intel BGA 2049) mean it is designed for laptops, which typically have thermal constraints that can affect sustained performance. In Minimum, the measured FPS data suggests that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at any tested resolution. The fact that FPS drops consistently as resolution increases—from 148 at 1080p Low to 52 at 4K Low—shows that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings preset, which is not the case.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support provide adequate data transfer for the GPU, though the RTX 5050's own 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is far higher and more relevant to gaming performance. The 135H's 18 MB L3 cache is shared across all cores, which can help with cache-sensitive workloads, but Minimum is not particularly cache-hungry given its age. Overall, the CPU provides a solid foundation for this combo, but it is not the star of the show.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 95 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 73 FPS, still playable but with a 22 FPS penalty compared to High. For most players on a 60 Hz or 144 Hz monitor, High at 1080p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 114 FPS, which is 19 FPS higher than High, but the visual quality difference between Medium and High is often worth the minor FPS cost in a third-person shooter where environmental detail matters.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 61 FPS average, which is right at the edge of smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 73 FPS, providing more headroom while still maintaining decent visuals. For players with adaptive sync displays, the Medium preset at 1440p is the safer choice, as the 62 FPS minimum ensures fewer frame drops below the refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 47 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth and not recommended for competitive play. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 96 FPS, but the visual sacrifice is significant in a game that relies on atmosphere and lighting for its moody presentation.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset produces 52 FPS average, which is the only 4K setting that approaches playability. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 39 FPS, and High falls to 33 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is essentially unplayable at 25 FPS. For 4K gaming with this combo, Low settings are the practical choice, and even then, players should expect occasional dips in demanding scenes. The 4K Low result of 52 FPS is acceptable for a single-player third-person shooter, but it is not ideal for fast-paced action sequences.

The data suggests that the best overall experience is achieved at 1440p with Medium settings. This combination provides 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, which is smooth enough for most players while maintaining a reasonable level of visual fidelity. The 1080p High preset is a close second, offering 95 FPS with better visuals, but the resolution difference makes 1440p Medium the more immersive choice for modern displays. For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, 1080p Low at 148 FPS is the clear winner, but this sacrifices too much graphical detail for most users.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 2325th out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 21% of all configurations. This ranking is notably low, which is surprising given the individual component performance. The CPU ranks in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, yet their combined performance in this specific game is below average.

This discrepancy suggests that Minimum may be more demanding than expected for this hardware pairing, or that the mobile nature of both components limits their sustained performance. The RTX 5050's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which has a similar average benchmark score of 21153 versus the 5050's 21035, a delta of -0.6%. The RTX 5050 also sits close to the AMD Radeon HD 8970M and AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, with deltas of -1% and +1.6% respectively. These rivals are older or lower-tier GPUs, which underscores that the RTX 5050 is not a high-end part.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, which is a desktop processor, and the Intel Core i5-13500HX, which is a higher-tier mobile chip. The 135H's average benchmark score of 29093 is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 5800X's 29123, but the 5800X is a desktop part with higher power limits. The Intel Xeon Phi 7210 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT are also close in score, with deltas of -0.5% and +0.5% respectively. This indicates that the CPU is competitive with mid-range desktop parts from a few generations ago.

The combo's rank of 2325 out of 2939 means that 614 combos perform worse, and 2324 perform better. This puts the configuration in the lower third of tested setups, which is a poor showing for a system with a 2023 CPU and 2025 GPU. The data suggests that Minimum may be poorly optimized for this particular hardware combination, or that the game's engine favors different component characteristics than what this combo offers. Players considering this setup for Minimum should temper their expectations and rely on the settings recommendations above to achieve playable frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the primary driver of gaming performance in this combo, and its characteristics directly explain the measured FPS results. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K, where the pixel data exceeds what the GPU can efficiently process. The 8 GB capacity is also a constraint for high-resolution textures, though Minimum's age means it may not require as much VRAM as modern titles.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2317 MHz base and 2572 MHz boost, which are relatively high for a mobile part. The 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines provide a compute throughput of 13.17 TFLOPS FP32. This level of performance is sufficient for 1080p gaming at high settings, as evidenced by the 95 FPS average at 1080p High. The 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in Minimum, which predates widespread RT adoption.

The GPU's 130 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a power-hungry mobile component, which can affect thermal management in laptops. The 300 W suggested PSU and 1x 8-pin power connector suggest that this is not a low-power part, and sustained gaming sessions may cause thermal throttling if the laptop's cooling solution is inadequate. The PassMark G3D score of 17326 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 place the GPU in the 66th percentile, which is below average for current-generation parts.

The RTX 5050's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL and AMD Radeon HD 8970M, both of which are older or lower-tier parts. This indicates that the RTX 5050 is positioned as an entry-level to mid-range GPU in the 50-series lineup. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 90334 and Vulkan score of 89381 show that the GPU performs consistently across different APIs, but these scores are not directly indicative of gaming performance.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes clear when examining the resolution scaling. The 4K Low result of 52 FPS is the only 4K setting that approaches playability, and this is likely due to the GPU's raw compute power being insufficient for higher quality presets. The 1080p results, ranging from 73 FPS at Ultra to 148 FPS at Low, show that the GPU can handle the game's demands at lower resolutions. The 1440p results are the sweet spot, with Medium and High presets delivering 73 and 61 FPS respectively, which are playable for a third-person shooter. The GPU's performance is the bottleneck at 4K, and players should avoid Ultra settings at any resolution above 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?

A: The data shows that 1440p with Medium settings provides 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, which is the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay. At 1080p, High settings deliver 95 FPS, but 1440p Medium offers a more immersive experience without sacrificing frame rate stability.

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

A: At 4K, only Low settings are playable, with an average of 52 FPS. Medium settings drop to 39 FPS, High to 33 FPS, and Ultra to 25 FPS. The 4K Low result is acceptable for single-player play, but it is not recommended for competitive scenarios due to potential frame drops.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: The resolution scaling data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. FPS decreases consistently as resolution increases at the same settings preset, which would not happen if the CPU were the bottleneck. The CPU's single-core score of 1700 in Cinebench R23 and 3521 in PassMark are sufficient for Minimum's requirements.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, which is -0.6% compared to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153), -1% compared to the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237), and +1.6% compared to the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713). This places it in the 66th percentile among all GPUs.

Q: What settings should I use for 1080p gaming?

A: For 1080p, High settings provide 95 FPS average, which is the recommended choice for most players. Ultra settings drop to 73 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns. Low settings reach 148 FPS but sacrifice too much visual quality for most users.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H rank among CPUs?

A: The CPU ranks in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29093. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has a score of 29123, a delta of -0.1%. This places the 135H in line with mid-range desktop processors from a few generations ago.