Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose hardware demands have aged in a specific way, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 provides a clear picture of where the bottlenecks lie. This combination, ranking 650th out of 2939 tested combos, demonstrates strong overall capability, but the frame rate behavior across resolutions reveals that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling, while the CPU provides ample headroom. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to interpret what these numbers mean for gameplay, settings selection, and the balance between the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 278 FPS, which drops to 179 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 97 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The consistent decline with each resolution step indicates that the rendering workload, not the processor, is the limiting factor.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 179 FPS. Moving to 1440p High yields 115 FPS, a 35.8% drop, and 4K High produces 62 FPS, a 46.1% drop from 1440p. The similarity in percentage drops across Low and High settings suggests that the game's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, and the RTX 4070's compute resources are being fully utilized at higher resolutions.

At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 47, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth for action games. The gap between 4K Low (97 FPS) and 4K High (62 FPS) is 35 FPS, while the gap between 4K High and 4K Ultra is only 15 FPS. This non-linear progression indicates that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately heavy effects that tax the GPU more than the step from Low to High. The data suggests that at 4K, users seeking higher frame rates should prioritize Medium settings, which deliver 74 FPS, over High or Ultra.

The 1440p resolution presents a more balanced picture. At Medium settings, the combo reaches 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and maximum of 158 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and approaches the refresh rates of many high-end monitors. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p costs 22 FPS (137 to 115), while the jump from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS (115 to 88). The Ultra preset at 1440p still maintains 88 FPS, which is playable but shows the GPU is working harder.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 brings 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This processor, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process node, posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655. These numbers place it in the 85th percentile against all CPUs, indicating strong processing power for gaming workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU based on the FPS data. At 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lightest, the average FPS reaches 278. This high ceiling suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to maintain very high frame rates. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau or diminishing returns at lower resolutions, but the data shows continued scaling from 1080p Low to 1080p Medium (213 FPS) and High (179 FPS).

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. For a game from 2014, this is more than sufficient to handle the game's logic and draw calls. The Passmark multi-thread score of 30459 and single-thread score of 4412 further reinforce that the processor is not a limiting factor at any of the tested settings.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 225 shows near-identical average benchmark scores. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945, a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018, a -0.2% delta. This indicates that in synthetic CPU benchmarks, the Core Ultra 5 225 is on par with these alternatives. In Minimum, the game's engine appears to be more sensitive to GPU performance, so CPU differences would likely be minimal in practice.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience at each resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with Low at 278 FPS, Medium at 213 FPS, High at 179 FPS, and Ultra at 136 FPS. The Medium preset offers a strong balance, providing 213 FPS average with a minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 245 FPS. This is high enough to take advantage of 144Hz or even 240Hz displays while maintaining visual quality above the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again stands out. It delivers 137 FPS average with 117 FPS minimum and 158 FPS maximum. This is the only preset at 1440p that stays above 100 FPS throughout the measured range. High at 115 FPS is also viable for 100Hz displays, but the minimum FPS data is not provided for High, making Medium the safer recommendation for consistent frame pacing. Ultra at 88 FPS is playable but sacrifices the headroom needed for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. Medium is the highest preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, hitting 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS. High drops to 62 FPS average, which is borderline, and Ultra falls to 47 FPS, which is not ideal for a third-person shooter requiring responsive aiming. For 4K gamers, Medium is the clear recommendation, as it provides the best visual fidelity while keeping frame rates in a playable range.

The data shows that the Low preset is only worth considering at 4K if maximum frame rate is the absolute priority, as it boosts the average to 97 FPS. However, this comes at a significant visual quality cost. The Medium preset at 4K offers a 59% improvement in average FPS over Ultra (74 vs 47) with a more modest visual downgrade compared to High.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds the 650th rank out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 22.1% of all configurations tested, indicating that this pairing is well above average for this game. The high rank reflects the RTX 4070's strong performance at 1440p and 1080p, where most gamers likely play.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 81 against all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 85th percentile ranking, suggests that both components are well-matched for this title. The combo rank of 650 is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile, which could indicate that other pairings with higher-end GPUs or CPUs achieve better results, but this setup remains competitive.

The nearest rivals for the GPU include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile with an average score of 38135, which is 1.3% higher, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a score of 37507, which is 0.4% lower. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4070's performance is finely positioned among its peers. For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is essentially tied at 0% delta, meaning users could expect similar CPU-bound performance in Minimum.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the FPS data confirms its central role. With 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, the GPU is built to handle modern rendering workloads. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the texture and geometry demands of a 2014 title even at 4K.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1920 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 5 nm process node and Ada Lovelace architecture contribute to a FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS. In Minimum, these specifications translate to the frame rates observed, with the GPU being the primary determinant of how FPS scales with resolution and settings.

The RTX 4070's Passmark G3D score of 26927 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 place it in the 81st percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628 with a 0.1% delta, showing how close the performance margins are. The GPU's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a mainstream high-end card, not an ultra-premium model, yet it still delivers 278 FPS at 1080p Low in this game.

The data shows that the RTX 4070's performance headroom is most apparent at 1080p, where the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 47 FPS average. This is expected for a game released in 2014, where the visual effects in the Ultra preset may include legacy features that are not optimized for modern hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable preset at 4K resolution?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS, making it the highest setting that maintains a consistent frame rate above 60 FPS. High drops to 62 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 47 FPS.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 137 FPS average with 117 FPS minimum and 158 FPS maximum, which is suitable for 144Hz displays. The High preset at 115 FPS also works for 100Hz monitors, but Medium offers more consistent frame pacing.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting component based on the resolution scaling data. Frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases, from 278 FPS at 1080p Low to 97 FPS at 4K Low, indicating the RTX 4070 is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 278 FPS, while Ultra averages 136 FPS. This represents a 142 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers about 51% of the frame rate of Low.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and RTX 4070 combination ranks 650th out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 22.1% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 181 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 117 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 63 FPS. These values show consistent frame delivery without major dips.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 in Minimum is as follows:

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 47 FPS. The High preset averages 62 FPS. The Medium preset averages 74 FPS, with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS. The Low preset averages 97 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS. The High preset averages 115 FPS. The Medium preset averages 137 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and maximum of 158 FPS. The Low preset averages 179 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 136 FPS. The High preset averages 179 FPS. The Medium preset averages 213 FPS, with a minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 245 FPS. The Low preset averages 278 FPS.

These numbers reveal a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions, with Low always providing the highest frame rate and Ultra the lowest. The Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, especially at 1440p and 4K. The step from Medium to High costs approximately 35-38% of the frame rate at each resolution, while the step from High to Ultra costs approximately 26-32%. This data provides a clear roadmap for users seeking to optimize their experience in Minimum based on their display's resolution and refresh rate capabilities.