Minimum

# Minimum: Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + AMD Radeon RX 580 — Benchmark Analysis

This combo pairs Intel's 14-core Arrow Lake desktop processor with AMD's Polaris-based RX 580, producing a system that ranks 2682nd out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. The ranking places this pairing in the lower 9th percentile of all tested combos, indicating that while the CPU is a strong performer, the GPU significantly constrains the overall gaming experience. The data shows a system capable of playable 1080p performance at medium settings, but one that struggles at higher resolutions and demanding presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 580 achieves a rank of 2682 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the pairing in the bottom 8.7% of all configurations tested, which is a clear signal that this is not a high-performance gaming combination for this title. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, and the data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck dragging down the overall position.

To contextualize the CPU's contribution, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 holds the 89th percentile among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (avg score 46030, delta 0.1%), Intel Core i9-13900HX (avg score 46098, delta -0.1%), AMD EPYC 4364P (avg score 45970, delta 0.2%), and AMD EPYC 7303 (avg score 45960, delta 0.2%). These deltas are all within 0.2% of the Ultra 5 235's score, meaning the CPU is competitively positioned against both mobile HX-series parts and server-grade EPYC processors in synthetic benchmarks.

However, the GPU's percentile ranking tells a different story. The RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12928. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (avg score 12940, delta -0.1%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (avg score 12986, delta -0.4%), AMD Radeon 740M (avg score 12870, delta 0.5%), and AMD FirePro W5100 (avg score 12847, delta 0.6%). The GPU is essentially tied with these parts in synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS in Minimum reveals its age when handling modern game workloads.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile (89th) and the GPU's mid-tier percentile (53rd) explains the overall combo rank. The Ultra 5 235 is capable of feeding frames far faster than the RX 580 can render them, especially at lower resolutions where CPU headroom is less of a factor. This imbalance is the defining characteristic of this pairing, and it shows up clearly in the resolution scaling behavior discussed later in this analysis.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is built on the Arrow Lake architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor has no hyper-threading, which means each core handles one thread, and the 14 threads are the physical cores. The TDP is rated at 65 W, and it uses the Intel Socket 1851. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

For a game like Minimum, which is a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The 14 cores at up to 5.00 GHz boost provide substantial single-thread performance, which is critical for older game engines that may not scale well across many cores. In synthetic benchmarks, the Ultra 5 235 scores 2085 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 14769 in multi-core, indicating strong performance in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads.

The CPU's memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, offering a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This bandwidth is more than sufficient for the RX 580's needs, as the GPU's own 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the limiting factor for texture streaming and data throughput. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 20 lanes (CPU only) ensures that the RX 580, which uses PCIe 3.0 x16, is not bottlenecked by bus bandwidth.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's benchmark results suggest it is not the limiting component at any resolution. The measured FPS drops are much more pronounced when increasing resolution or settings, which points to GPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking, combined with its competitive scores against the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Core i9-13900HX, indicates that it has ample headroom to support a more powerful GPU in this game. The data shows that the Ultra 5 235 can handle even the highest settings at 1080p without being the constraint, as evidenced by the 45 FPS at Ultra settings being a GPU-side limitation.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 at Low settings delivers 91 FPS, which is the highest measured average FPS. At 2560x1440, the best result is 59 FPS at Low settings, while 3840x2160 only reaches 32 FPS at Low. For a playable experience, 1080p is the recommended resolution.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 scores 12928 on average, with the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile at 12940 (0.1% higher), GTX 1660 SUPER at 12986 (0.4% higher), Radeon 740M at 12870 (0.5% lower), and FirePro W5100 at 12847 (0.6% lower). These differences are negligible, indicating the RX 580 performs on par with its peers in raw compute.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the FPS drops from 91 at Low to 45 at Ultra, a 50% reduction, while the CPU's high percentile (89th) suggests it has plenty of headroom. The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.2%, confirming it is not the limiting factor.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are at Medium settings: 21 FPS at 3840x2160, 38 FPS at 2560x1440, and 59 FPS at 1920x1080. No minimum FPS data is available for other settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Ultra 5 235 scores 14769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core. Its nearest rivals, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030) and Core i9-13900HX (46098), have average benchmark scores within 0.1% of the Ultra 5 235's 46062, indicating very similar overall performance.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 32 at Low settings, with Ultra dropping to 15 FPS. These results are below typical playability thresholds, so 4K is not recommended for this pairing in Minimum.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings deliver 91 FPS average, Medium settings deliver 70 FPS average (with a range of 59 to 80 FPS), High settings deliver 58 FPS average, and Ultra settings deliver 45 FPS average. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs roughly 15-20% of the frame rate, with the gap between Low and Ultra being a 46 FPS difference (91 to 45).

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS drops significantly. Low settings average 59 FPS, Medium settings average 45 FPS (with a range of 38 to 52 FPS), High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The pattern holds, but the absolute numbers are lower across the board. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is 32 FPS (91 to 59), which represents a 35% reduction in performance.

At 3840x2160, the results are the weakest. Low settings average 32 FPS, Medium settings average 24 FPS (with a range of 21 to 28 FPS), High settings average 20 FPS, and Ultra settings average 15 FPS. These numbers are all below the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for playable frame rates, making 4K impractical for this combo.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with measured minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, the range is 59 to 80 FPS, at 1440p it is 38 to 52 FPS, and at 4K it is 21 to 28 FPS. These ranges indicate that the frame pacing is relatively consistent, with the minimum values staying within roughly 15-20% of the average.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals important characteristics about this combo's balance. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops by 35% at Low settings (91 to 59), by 36% at Medium settings (70 to 45), by 34% at High settings (58 to 38), and by 36% at Ultra settings (45 to 29). These consistent drops of roughly one-third indicate that the GPU is being stressed proportionally to the pixel count increase, which scales by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p.

From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the scaling is even more severe. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 59 to 32, a 46% reduction. At Medium, it drops from 45 to 24, a 47% reduction. At High, it drops from 38 to 20, a 47% reduction. At Ultra, it drops from 29 to 15, a 48% reduction. The pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1440p to 4K, but the FPS drops by less than half, suggesting the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated and the scaling is flattening out.

The overall scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low shows a drop from 91 FPS to 32 FPS, a 65% reduction. This is less than the 4x pixel count increase would suggest if the system were perfectly GPU-bound, indicating that at 1080p the CPU is providing some headroom that gets consumed at higher resolutions. The data strongly indicates that the RX 580 is the limiting component: the FPS drops correlate with pixel count increases, and the CPU's high percentile (89th) versus the GPU's mid-tier percentile (53rd) confirms this imbalance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 91 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings at 70 FPS also provide a comfortable margin, with the added benefit of better visual quality. High settings at 58 FPS are borderline, while Ultra at 45 FPS is likely to feel less responsive.

For 2560x1440, Low settings at 59 FPS is the only preset that clears 60 FPS, and it does so barely. Medium settings at 45 FPS are playable but not ideal for fast-paced third-person shooter action. High at 38 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS are below comfortable thresholds. At 3840x2160, all settings fall below 32 FPS, making 4K impractical for this game.

The best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The 70 FPS average with a range of 59 to 80 FPS provides a good balance between visual fidelity and performance. The 59 FPS minimum ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays near the 60 FPS target. If higher visual quality is preferred, High settings at 58 FPS is viable, but the minimum FPS is not measured for this preset, so frame pacing consistency is uncertain.

For players prioritizing frame rate above all else, 1920x1080 Low at 91 FPS is the clear choice. This setting provides a 30% performance boost over Medium while sacrificing some visual details that may be less noticeable in a fast-paced shooter. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for most users, as it maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS with improved graphics.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip, using the GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The GPU has a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with memory clocked at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory is paired with a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 6.175 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1 ratio). The pixel rate is 42.88 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 193.0 GTexel/s. The RX 580 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which covers the API requirements of Minimum.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 580 scores 8813 in Passmark G3D, with a GPU compute score of 3488. Its DirectX 11 score is 60, DirectX 12 score is 43, and DirectX 10 score is 46. The Geekbench scores show 45235 in Metal, 37453 in OpenCL, and 45173 in Vulkan. These scores place the GPU at the 53rd percentile, which is exactly average for the current GPU landscape.

The 185 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector indicate that this is a power-hungry card by modern standards, but the data does not show any thermal throttling effects in the measured FPS. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for Minimum at all tested settings, as the game's demands are well within this capacity based on the FPS results.

The GPU's role in this combo is the limiting factor. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions follows the GPU's workload pattern, and the 53rd percentile ranking versus the CPU's 89th percentile confirms that the RX 580 is the bottleneck. The data shows that the GPU is capable of 1080p Medium at 70 FPS, which is a respectable result for a 2017 card, but it cannot sustain higher resolutions or settings. The 4K results, with a maximum of 32 FPS at Low, demonstrate that the GPU is outclassed for this resolution in Minimum.