Minimum

The data for Minimum shows a clear and consistent pattern: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the dominant constraint in this pairing with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225. The measured frames per second (FPS) decline sharply as resolution increases, and the scaling behavior highlights where the graphics card’s limited memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity become insurmountable bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a textbook case of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 120 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 78 FPS, a reduction of 42 FPS (or 35%). At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 42 FPS, which is only 35% of the 1080p Low result. This steep decline is far beyond what a CPU-bound scenario would produce; it indicates the rendering pipeline is being choked by the graphics processor’s throughput.

The pattern holds across every preset. For Medium settings, the averages are 92 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling: a 27 FPS drop (from 59 to 32) despite the resolution increase being proportionally smaller than the 1080p-to-1440p jump. This nonlinear degradation points to the 4 GB VRAM buffer being exhausted, forcing the GPU to spill over into system memory or reduce effective fill rates. The High preset tells the same story: 77 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and a barely playable 27 FPS at 4K.

The measured minimum FPS values, where available, reinforce the GPU-bound interpretation. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 78 FPS with a maximum of 106 FPS, showing a stable window. At 1440p Medium, the minimum falls to 50 FPS and the maximum to 68 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 27 FPS and the maximum is 37 FPS. The fact that the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (27) is identical to the average FPS at 4K High (27) suggests the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of preset complexity at that resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is not graceful; it is a steep cliff, and the limiting component is unequivocally the graphics card.

GPU Role

The RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA107 chip, and its specifications explain why it struggles at higher resolutions. The memory configuration is the primary suspect: 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus yields 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a modest figure for a modern game, and Minimum appears to be sensitive to it. The GPU’s base clock is 1545 MHz with a boost of 1740 MHz, and it operates at a 90 W TDP, which is a low power envelope for a desktop card. The shading units number 2048, with 64 TMUs and 32 ROPs, and the pixel rate is 55.68 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s. These figures are adequate for 1080p but are stretched thin at 1440p and overwhelmed at 4K.

The FP32 performance is 7.127 TFLOPS, a number that places it in the mid-range of the GeForce 30-series stack, but the 4 GB VRAM is the standout limitation. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 20, which is unplayable. At 4K High, it rises to 27 FPS, still below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the bare minimum for fluid motion. The fact that 4K Low produces 42 FPS — a playable number — suggests that the game’s texture and geometry quality settings are what push the VRAM over the edge. Lowering the preset reduces the memory footprint and allows the GPU to function, but the bandwidth constraint remains, capping performance at 42 FPS.

The GPU’s own percentile ranking is 50, meaning it sits exactly in the middle of all GPUs in the database. This is not a high-end part, and the data for Minimum reflects that. The card’s end-of-life production status and its predecessor/successor lineage (GeForce 20 and GeForce 40, respectively) place it as a transitional product. The 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores are present but offer little benefit in a title that appears to rely on traditional rasterization. The measured results show that the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution above 1080p, and even at 1080p with Ultra settings, the 59 FPS average indicates the card is nearing its limit.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake-S architecture using TSMC’s 3 nm process. Its base clock is 3.30 GHz and boost clock is 4.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655. The PassMark single-thread score is 4412, and the multi-thread score is 30459. The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 85, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of processors in the database.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The evidence is in the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 120 FPS, which is a high frame rate that could still be CPU-bound in some titles, but the drop to 42 FPS at 4K Low is a 65% reduction that can only be attributed to the GPU. The CPU’s nearest rivals — the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, and Intel Core i9-12900T — all have average benchmark scores within a 0.5% delta of the Core Ultra 5 225. This means the CPU is operating in a performance tier where it should not be the limiting factor in a game like Minimum, which is a third-person shooter from 2014 and not a heavily threaded title. The CPU’s 10 cores and 20 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient for the game’s logic, and the DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures the processor is fed with data quickly.

The fact that the combo rank in the game is 2580 out of 2939 combos — placing it in the bottom 12% — is not a reflection of the CPU. A CPU with an 85th percentile ranking would not drag a system to the bottom 12% unless paired with a severely mismatched GPU. The data supports this: at 1080p Low, the system is producing 120 FPS, which is a strong result for any CPU. The CPU’s Cinebench R20 single-core score of 891 and multi-core score of 6317 confirm it has ample headroom to drive the RTX 3050 at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep up as resolution increases. The CPU role is to provide a stable foundation, and it does so without introducing frame time spikes, as evidenced by the consistent minimum FPS values at 1080p Medium (78 FPS) and 1440p Medium (50 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of playability. The 1080p resolution offers the best experience, with all presets except Ultra delivering playable frame rates. At 1080p Low, the average is 120 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium at 1080p produces 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS, making it a smooth experience. High at 1080p yields 77 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS target. Ultra at 1080p drops to 59 FPS, which is marginal for a competitive shooter but acceptable for slower-paced play.

At 1440p, the picture changes. Low produces 78 FPS, which is good, but Medium drops to 59 FPS and High to 50 FPS. Ultra at 1440p falls to 38 FPS, which is not smooth. For a 1440p display, the recommendation is to use Low settings to maintain a high frame rate, or Medium if the player accepts a 59 FPS average with a 50 FPS minimum. High at 1440p is borderline, and Ultra should be avoided.

At 4K, the options are limited. Low produces 42 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches playability. Medium drops to 32 FPS, High to 27 FPS, and Ultra to 20 FPS. None of these are ideal for a third-person shooter, but Low at 4K is the only viable choice if resolution is paramount. The data indicates that the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, which balances visual quality with a 92 FPS average and a 78 FPS minimum. This preset avoids the VRAM strain of High and Ultra while providing a significant frame rate boost over those settings. For players prioritizing frame rate, 1080p Low at 120 FPS is the top option. The 4K Ultra result of 20 FPS is the worst measured, and it serves as a caution against enabling the highest settings on this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing in Minimum is 2580 out of 2939 tested combos. This places it in the 12th percentile, meaning 87.8% of all tested combinations perform better. This is a poor ranking, and it is directly attributable to the GPU’s limitations. The CPU’s own percentile is 85, so the processor is doing its job, but the RTX 3050 4 GB is holding the system back. The rank of 2580 indicates that this combo is not suitable for high-resolution gaming in this title.

The data shows that the combo’s performance at 1080p is respectable — 120 FPS at Low and 77 FPS at High are not embarrassing numbers. However, the ranking is calculated across all resolutions and settings, and the 4K results (20-42 FPS) drag the overall score down. The GPU’s 4 GB VRAM is a fundamental limitation that cannot be overcome with settings tweaks at higher resolutions. The combo is effectively a 1080p solution, and the ranking reflects that. Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing would likely be outclassed by systems with mid-range GPUs, even if they use weaker CPUs, because the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates in this game. The rank of 2580 is a warning sign for any user expecting to play at 1440p or above with this hardware.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the best resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 120, and at Medium, it is 92 FPS. Higher resolutions produce significantly lower frame rates, with 1440p High at 50 FPS and 4K High at 27 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Based on the measured results, 4K is not playable in most settings. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 42, which is borderline. At 4K Medium, it drops to 32 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 20 FPS. Only 4K Low approaches a playable frame rate.

Q: Which preset gives the highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 120, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 92 FPS at 1920x1080 Medium.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has a percentile rank of 85 versus all CPUs, while the RTX 3050 4 GB has a 50th percentile rank. The FPS drops by roughly 65% from 1080p Low to 4K Low, which is a GPU-bound scaling pattern.

Q: What is the lowest FPS recorded?

A: The lowest average FPS is 20, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The lowest minimum FPS is 27, recorded at both 3840x2160 Medium and matching the average at 3840x2160 High.

Q: How does this combo rank against others?

A: This combo ranks 2580 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is presented below, organized by resolution and settings. All values are averages unless otherwise noted, and minimum/maximum values are included where the data was recorded.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 120 FPS average.
• Medium: 92 FPS average, with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS.
• High: 77 FPS average.
• Ultra: 59 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 78 FPS average.
• Medium: 59 FPS average, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS.
• High: 50 FPS average.
• Ultra: 38 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 42 FPS average.
• Medium: 32 FPS average, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS.
• High: 27 FPS average.
• Ultra: 20 FPS average.

The data shows a consistent decline across all presets as resolution increases. The 1080p Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with a 92 FPS average and a 78 FPS minimum. The 4K Ultra preset is the worst performing, with a 20 FPS average. The GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are the key constraints, and the CPU’s strong benchmark scores — a Cinebench R23 multi-core of 25891 and a PassMark multi-thread of 30459 — are not enough to compensate. The combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it delivers smooth frame rates across most presets.