Minimum

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT lands at rank 2064 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. That places this combo in the 30th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 70% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this title. The ranking is not a reflection of a weak component set, but rather the result of the GPU being the decisive bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings, which drags the overall standing down despite a strong CPU.

Benchmark results indicate this pairing is best understood as a mid-tier 1080p performer with occasional 1440p capability, rather than a high-refresh-rate powerhouse. The combo's rank is heavily influenced by the fact that the RX 6600 XT, while competent, sits at the 70th percentile against all GPUs, whereas the CPU sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs. This imbalance means the system's gaming ceiling is set by the graphics card, not the processor. In a game like Minimum, which is a third-person shooter from 2014, the engine is not particularly demanding by modern standards, yet the data shows the GPU still becomes the limiting factor as resolution and quality settings increase.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process. It carries 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These specifications are directly relevant to the measured results in Minimum because the game's frame rates scale predictably with the GPU's ability to fill pixels and process textures.

The data shows that the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for all tested settings at 1080p and 1440p, as there are no signs of memory-related stuttering or crashes in the measured FPS. At 4K, however, the card's 8 GB frame buffer and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth become strained, particularly at Ultra settings where the average FPS drops to 29. This is not a VRAM capacity failure—the game is old enough that 8 GB is ample—but rather a raw compute and fill-rate limitation. The pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are the figures that matter here; at 3840x2160, the GPU must push over four times the pixels of 1080p, and the data confirms it cannot sustain playable frame rates at high quality.

The GPU's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are consistent with its performance class. Its FP32 throughput of 10.60 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, but for Minimum's 2014-era engine, it is sufficient for 1080p gaming at high settings, as evidenced by the 109 FPS average at 1080p High. The card's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher average score), Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher). These deltas are tiny, meaning the RX 6600 XT is essentially performance-equivalent to a much older GTX 780 Ti and a much more expensive RTX 2080 SUPER in synthetic benchmarks, but in Minimum the real-world FPS data tells a more nuanced story.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-limited scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 170 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 110 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 59 FPS, a 65% reduction from 1080p Low. This is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting component—if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions because the CPU's workload does not change with pixel count.

The scaling is even more pronounced at High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 109 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 70 FPS (a 36% reduction), and at 4K High, it plummets to 38 FPS (a 65% reduction from 1080p High). The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~65% drop from 1080p to 4K across both Low and High settings strongly indicates that the RX 6600 XT's rendering throughput is the binding constraint. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 10 threads boosting to 4.90 GHz, is not being taxed by this game at any resolution; it is simply feeding the GPU as fast as it can, and the GPU cannot keep up at higher pixel counts.

The Ultra settings tell the same story with more severity. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 83 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 54 FPS (a 35% drop), and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 29 FPS (a 65% drop). This linear scaling pattern is the signature of a GPU bottleneck. Had the CPU been the limiting factor, we would see diminishing returns as resolution increases, not a consistent proportional decrease. The data confirms that any attempt to play Minimum at 4K with this combo will require Low settings to approach 60 FPS, and even then, the 59 FPS average at 4K Low is borderline.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo performs admirably across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 170 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors and indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution. Medium settings produce 130 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS, showing excellent frame pacing consistency. High settings deliver 109 FPS average, still very smooth for a third-person shooter. Ultra settings drop to 83 FPS average, which is playable but no longer high-refresh territory. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 87 FPS, meaning the GPU's performance scales with quality settings as expected.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but show the GPU beginning to strain. Low settings average 110 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings average 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally smooth gameplay. High settings drop to 70 FPS average, which is acceptable for most players. Ultra settings fall to 54 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for comfortable gaming. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is consistent at roughly 35%, confirming the GPU-bound nature of the system.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings. Low settings average 59 FPS, barely touching 60 FPS. Medium settings average 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS, which is noticeably choppy. High settings drop to 38 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS average, both of which are borderline unplayable for a fast-paced shooter. The data shows that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combo in Minimum unless the player is willing to accept Low settings, and even then, the average of 59 FPS leaves no headroom for drops during intense combat scenes.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Minimum?*

A: The data shows 1080p High (109 FPS average) or 1080p Medium (130 FPS average) are the sweet spots. At 1440p, High settings (70 FPS average) are playable, but 4K should be avoided unless using Low settings (59 FPS average).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p. Evidence: FPS drops consistently by ~35% from 1080p to 1440p and ~65% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is the signature of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock, is not being taxed.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 24442. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630, scores 24277 (0.7% higher). The Intel Arc A350M scores 24647 (0.8% lower). The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 24236 (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER scores 24170 (1.1% higher). These are all within 1.1% of each other.

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

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 59 FPS. At Medium, High, and Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 45, 38, and 29 respectively, which are not smooth enough for a third-person shooter.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured data shows a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS, with an average of 84 FPS. This indicates a 26 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, suggesting some frame pacing variance but generally acceptable smoothness.

Q: How does the CPU's synthetic benchmark performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (-0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (-0.4% delta), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (-0.5% delta). All are within 0.5% of each other.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture and manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU's cache configuration includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The processor sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data indicates it performs this role without becoming a bottleneck. The strongest evidence is the resolution scaling pattern: if the CPU were limiting performance, we would see frame rates plateau at a certain level regardless of resolution. Instead, FPS scales inversely with pixel count, which is the opposite of CPU-limited behavior. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 170 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to stress most CPUs, yet the processor keeps up. The 10 threads are more than sufficient for a 2014-era game engine, which likely uses only a few threads.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks reinforce its capability. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25891 and single-core score of 3655 place it in strong standing. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4412 is particularly relevant for gaming, as most game engines rely heavily on single-thread performance. The CPU's nearest rivals in the database—AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, and Intel Core i9-12900T—all have average scores within 0.5% of each other, indicating that the Ultra 5 225 is performance-competitive with a wide range of mid-range to high-end processors.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node suggest efficient operation, but more importantly for gaming, its 4.90 GHz boost clock provides the high single-thread throughput that Minimum's engine likely leverages. The data shows no evidence of CPU-related frame drops or stutters in the measured FPS, as the minimum FPS values at Medium settings (111 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, 38 FPS at 4K) are all proportional to their averages, indicating stable frame delivery. In summary, the Core Ultra 5 225 is not the limiting factor in this combo; it provides ample headroom for the RX 6600 XT to be the sole determinant of gaming performance in Minimum.