Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile delivers a decisive performance curve in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. Across the three tested resolutions, the data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, while the CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample headroom for high refresh rates at lower resolutions. The measured results show a clear hierarchy of presets, with the RTX 5080 Mobile’s 16 GB of GDDR7 memory proving sufficient even at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 illustrates a classic GPU-limited scenario, with the most substantial drops occurring at higher graphical presets. At 1080p with the Low preset, the combo achieves an average of 274 FPS, which is more than double the 4K Low result of 95 FPS. This indicates that at lower resolutions, the system has massive headroom, but the scaling factor of 2.88 between these two points suggests that pixel throughput becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

When examining the Medium preset, the scaling is more linear but still steep. The average FPS at 1080p is 210, dropping to 135 at 1440p, and further to 73 at 4K. This represents a 35.7% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45.9% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The High preset follows a similar pattern, with 176 FPS at 1080p, 114 at 1440p, and 61 at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K remains consistent, reinforcing that the RTX 5080 Mobile’s raw shading power is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic decline, with 134 FPS at 1080p, 87 at 1440p, and a mere 47 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting is too demanding for smooth gameplay at that resolution. Interestingly, the delta between 1440p and 4K for Ultra is a 46.0% drop, which is slightly steeper than the 45.9% seen on Medium, suggesting that the additional shading units and texture work at Ultra exacerbate the resolution penalty.

The data indicates that the limiting component at 1080p and 1440p is not the CPU, as the massive frame rates (up to 274 FPS) would be impossible if the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H were a bottleneck. Instead, the curve suggests the GPU is working at its efficiency limit, with the 4K results showing that even a high-end mobile GPU like the RTX 5080 Mobile must compromise on settings to maintain playability. This is a typical pattern for a well-balanced gaming laptop, where the processor can feed the GPU at lower resolutions but cannot overcome the geometric increase in pixel count at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the measured FPS. With a base clock of 975 MHz and a boost clock of 1500 MHz, the GPU’s raw compute is substantial, though the relatively low boost clock compared to desktop counterparts is expected for a mobile part. The GPU’s 7680 shading units and 240 TMUs provide the texture and pixel throughput necessary for high-resolution rendering, which is why the 4K Medium result of 73 FPS is still respectable.

Memory plays a critical role in Minimum. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus yields a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. This is a massive amount of bandwidth for a 2014 game, and the benchmark results show no signs of memory capacity or bandwidth throttling. Even at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 47 FPS, the data does not suggest a VRAM limitation; rather, it points to the shader and ROP (96 ROPs) pipeline being saturated. The pixel rate of 144.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits that the game’s engine is pushing against at higher presets.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate its mid-to-high tier positioning. The passmark_g3d score of 27711 and the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 4952 place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. When compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5080 Mobile is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, but 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 580X. This tight grouping suggests that in absolute terms, the RTX 5080 Mobile is a strong performer, but not a class leader. In Minimum, this translates to frame rates that are consistently high but not record-breaking, with the 4K Ultra result being the only sub-60 FPS data point.

The FP32 performance of 23.04 TFLOPS is a key metric for this game, as Minimum relies heavily on traditional rasterization rather than ray tracing (the GPU has 60 RT cores, but the game’s release date in 2014 predates widespread RT usage). The 1:1 FP16 ratio of 23.04 TFLOPS indicates that the GPU is not artificially limited on compute tasks, which helps maintain the high frame rates seen at 1080p. The memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) is standard for GDDR7, and the 256-bit bus width is a good match for the 16 GB capacity, ensuring no bandwidth starvation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz are modest by desktop standards, but for a mobile part, they are competitive. The CPU’s role in Minimum is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data, and the benchmark results show it does so without becoming a bottleneck. The 1080p Low result of 274 FPS is a clear indicator that the CPU can sustain very high frame rates, as this is far beyond what a GPU-limited scenario would produce.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy—112 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB shared L3—is sufficient for the game’s data requirements. The 18 MB L3 cache is particularly important for keeping frequently accessed game assets close to the cores, reducing memory latency. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is not a limiting factor here, as the game is not memory-bandwidth intensive at lower resolutions.

Benchmark results for the CPU show it is a solid mid-range performer. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11875.5 and single-core score of 1700 place it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has an average score of 29123, which is just 0.1% higher than the Ultra 5 135H’s 29093. This is noteworthy because the Ryzen 7 5800X is a desktop part, yet the mobile Ultra 5 135H nearly matches it in average synthetic benchmarks. However, in Minimum, the CPU’s single-thread performance is more critical, and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 244 is adequate for the game’s engine.

The CPU’s TDP of 28 W is low, which means it can sustain boost clocks for longer periods without thermal throttling in a laptop chassis. This is evident in the consistent frame rates across the Medium preset, where the 1080p result of 210 FPS and the 1440p result of 135 FPS show no signs of CPU-induced stuttering. The PassMark multithread score of 22422 and single-thread score of 3521 further confirm that the CPU is well-suited for gaming, although it is not a top-tier part. Compared to the Intel Core i5-13500HX, which is 0.6% faster on average, the Ultra 5 135H holds its own, and the 4.60 GHz boost clock ensures that single-core performance is not a weak link in this combo.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the data shows that even the Ultra preset delivers an average of 134 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset offers 176 FPS, and Medium provides 210 FPS, so any preset is viable at 1080p. For players with high refresh rate displays (144Hz or above), the Medium preset is the best choice, as it maximizes the frame rate (210 FPS) while maintaining visual quality that is superior to Low (274 FPS but likely with significant visual compromises).

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset still maintains an average of 87 FPS, which is playable for most users. The High preset at 114 FPS is the sweet spot for a balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it avoids the diminishing returns of Ultra while staying above 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 135 FPS is also excellent, but the visual difference between Medium and High is often worth the 21 FPS sacrifice. The Low preset at 177 FPS is unnecessary unless the user is chasing maximum frame rates for competitive play.

For 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is not recommended, as the 47 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS standard for fluid gameplay. The High preset at 61 FPS is borderline, but it is the minimum acceptable for single-player experiences. The Medium preset at 73 FPS is the recommended choice for 4K, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while retaining decent visual quality. The Low preset at 95 FPS is the best option for 4K if the user prioritizes frame rate over graphics, but the visual downgrade may be noticeable. The Medium preset’s measured min FPS of 62 and max FPS of 84 at 4K indicate good frame time consistency, making it the most balanced option for 4K gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile ranks 1022 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 27.5% of all configurations tested for this game, which is a strong showing given the game’s age and the fact that many desktop combos are likely represented in the dataset. The rank is primarily driven by the GPU’s performance, as the CPU is not a limiting factor in this title.

Relative to other combos, the RTX 5080 Mobile’s position in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, combined with the CPU’s 81st percentile ranking, suggests that this combo is well-matched. However, the combo rank of 1022 is lower than what one might expect from two 81st-percentile components. This discrepancy is likely due to the game’s optimization, which may favor certain CPU architectures or memory configurations. The GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 4080 Mobile, is only 0.6% slower on average, and the combo rank suggests that the 5080 Mobile’s advantage is marginal in this specific title.

The CPU’s nearest rival data shows the Ultra 5 135H is within 0.6% of the Intel Core i5-13500HX, which is another mobile part. In Minimum, this means that swapping the CPU for a similar-tier Intel part would likely yield nearly identical frame rates. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, which is 0.1% faster, is a desktop CPU, but the mobile Ultra 5 135H keeps pace, indicating that the combo’s rank is not dragged down by CPU limitations. The 1022nd rank out of 3712 combos means that roughly 73% of tested configurations are slower, making this a high-performing combo for a 2014 title, despite the RTX 5080 Mobile not being the absolute fastest mobile GPU available.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers an average of 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 84 FPS. This is the recommended choice, as it is the highest preset that maintains an average comfortably above 60 FPS, whereas the High preset only achieves 61 FPS and Ultra drops to 47 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5080 Mobile compared to the RTX 4080 Mobile?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5080 Mobile has an average score of 38349, which is 0.6% higher than the RTX 4080 Mobile’s 38135. This small delta suggests that the two GPUs perform nearly identically in most workloads, including Minimum.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low preset achieves 274 FPS, and the Medium preset reaches 210 FPS. These high frame rates indicate that the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is not a limiting factor, as the GPU is still able to produce these numbers without CPU-related frame drops.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 177 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 87 FPS. This represents a 90 FPS difference, or a 50.8% reduction in frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: Is the 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for Minimum. The measured results show no evidence of VRAM-related stuttering, even at 4K Ultra, which is the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1022 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 27.5% of all systems tested. This is a strong result, indicating that the combination of the Ultra 5 135H and RTX 5080 Mobile is well-suited for this game.