Minimum

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 lands at rank 2267 out of 2939 tested combinations for Minimum. This places the combo in the 23rd percentile of all tested systems, indicating that while it is far from the top of the leaderboard, it sits comfortably ahead of the bottom quarter of configurations. The ranking reflects a mid-pack position that is heavily influenced by the GPU's overall standing rather than the CPU's strength.

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 holds the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (score 19030, delta 0%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (score 19049, delta -0.1%), and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m (score 19089, delta -0.3%). These deltas are remarkably tight—within 0.4%—meaning the RX 6600's performance profile is essentially indistinguishable from these competitors in synthetic workloads. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation sits just behind with a score of 18954 and a delta of 0.4%, showing that the RX 6600's position is narrowly defined.

On the CPU side, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 achieves the 89th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (score 46030, delta 0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HX (score 46098, delta -0.1%), the AMD EPYC 4364P (score 45970, delta 0.2%), and the AMD EPYC 7303 (score 45960, delta 0.2%). The CPU is clearly the stronger component in this pairing, scoring at the high end of the desktop processor hierarchy, while the GPU is more modestly positioned. This asymmetry matters for Minimum: the benchmark data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but at 1080p the CPU's headroom allows the RX 6600 to stretch its legs.

The combination's rank of 2267 out of 2939 suggests that many other pairings—likely those with higher-tier GPUs—outperform it. However, given the GPU's 63rd percentile standing, the combo's overall rank is consistent with expectations. The data indicates that this is a balanced mid-range setup where the CPU outperforms the GPU in relative terms, which is a useful characteristic for a third-person shooter that may not be exceptionally demanding on either component.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Minimum provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 156 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate across all configurations. However, the Medium preset still achieves 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 137 FPS, offering substantially better visual fidelity while maintaining a frame rate well above the 100 FPS threshold that competitive shooters often target.

The High preset at 1080p drops to 100 FPS average, which is still playable but represents a 16% reduction from Medium. The Ultra preset falls to 76 FPS average, which may feel less responsive for fast-paced third-person shooter gameplay. Given that Medium provides 119 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS, it is the recommended preset for 1080p gaming. The minimum FPS figure is particularly important—it indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not dip below 101 FPS, ensuring consistent gameplay without stutters.

At 2560x1440, the data tells a similar story. Medium delivers 77 FPS average with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS. Low achieves 100 FPS average, which is smoother, but the visual downgrade may be noticeable. High drops to 65 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p offers the best compromise, with a minimum of 65 FPS that remains above the 60 FPS threshold for acceptable playability, while providing better graphical detail than Low.

For 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Medium delivers 41 FPS average with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. Low achieves 54 FPS average, while High drops to 35 FPS and Ultra falls to 26 FPS. At 4K, the Low preset is the only option that approaches smooth gameplay, but even at 54 FPS average, the minimum frame rates are likely to dip below comfortable levels. The data suggests that 4K is only viable with the Low preset, and even then, the experience will be marginal. For the best experience overall, Medium at 1080p is the clear recommendation, offering both high frame rates and acceptable visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how Minimum scales across resolutions and what this says about the limiting component. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 119 to 77, a reduction of 35%. From 1440p to 3840x2160, the average FPS falls from 77 to 41, another 47% reduction. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario—the frame rate decreases disproportionately as pixel count increases, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the pattern is similar: 156 FPS at 1080p drops to 100 FPS at 1440p (36% reduction), then to 54 FPS at 4K (46% reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across different presets reinforces that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, provides ample headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions. The data shows no evidence of CPU saturation—if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller FPS differences between resolutions, as the GPU would be waiting on the processor.

The fact that 1080p Low reaches 156 FPS average while 4K Low only achieves 54 FPS highlights the GPU's pixel-pushing limitations. The RX 6600's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution demands more memory bandwidth and fill rate than the card can provide. The pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s are modest figures that explain the steep drop at 4K.

At 1080p, the FPS differences between Low (156) and Ultra (76) are substantial, but even Ultra maintains a playable frame rate. At 1440p, the range narrows from 100 FPS on Low to 49 FPS on Ultra, suggesting that higher settings at this resolution start to tax the GPU significantly. At 4K, the range compresses further to 54 FPS on Low and 26 FPS on Ultra, confirming that the RX 6600 is simply not designed for 4K gaming in this title. The limiting component is unambiguously the GPU, with the CPU's strong single-thread and multi-thread performance playing a supporting role.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 156. Medium follows with 119 FPS average, a minimum of 101 FPS, and a maximum of 137 FPS. High achieves 100 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 76 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 80 FPS, indicating that settings choices have a significant impact on performance at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 101 FPS is notable—it ensures that frame times remain consistent even during intense action sequences, which is critical for a third-person shooter where dodging and aiming require smooth motion.

2560x1440: Low provides 100 FPS average, which is identical to the High preset at 1080p. Medium delivers 77 FPS average with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS. High drops to 65 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS average. The Medium preset's minimum of 65 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the lowest acceptable setting for smooth gameplay at this resolution. The data shows a 51 FPS spread from Low to Ultra, slightly narrower than at 1080p, reflecting the GPU's increasing workload.

3840x2160: Low achieves 54 FPS average, which is the only preset that approaches playable frame rates. Medium delivers 41 FPS average with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. High drops to 35 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS average. The Medium preset's minimum of 35 FPS is below the threshold for comfortable play, making 4K gaming impractical except at Low settings. The spread from Low to Ultra is 28 FPS, the narrowest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is overwhelmed at this pixel count.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the best balance of average FPS and minimum FPS. At 1080p, it offers 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum; at 1440p, 77 FPS average with a 65 FPS minimum; and at 4K, 41 FPS average with a 35 FPS minimum. The minimum FPS figures are only provided for Medium settings, which limits direct comparisons, but the available data suggests that Medium is the most stable preset across the board.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU and GPU combination for Minimum?*

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2267 out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: Which settings preset provides the best experience at 1080p?

A: Medium at 1920x1080 delivers 119 FPS average with a minimum of 101 FPS, offering a strong balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay. Low achieves 156 FPS but with reduced graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036, with the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at 19030 (0% delta), the RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (-0.1% delta), and the Tesla K20m at 19089 (-0.3% delta).

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset reaches 54 FPS average; Medium drops to 41 FPS average with a 35 FPS minimum, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062, placing it well above the GPU's 63rd percentile.

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

A: The CPU scores 14769 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, with rivals like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030 avg score, 0.1% delta) and Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098 avg score, -0.1% delta) showing near-identical overall performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 brings 14 cores and 14 threads to the pairing, a configuration that prioritizes parallel throughput without hyper-threading. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085. The 14-core design, built on TSMC's 3 nm process with Arrow Lake architecture, delivers a multi-core R23 score of 14769 and a Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 6202. These figures place the CPU in the 89th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46062.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 156 FPS average, which is a high frame rate that demands substantial CPU involvement for game logic, physics, and draw call submission. The single-thread score of 4516 in PassMark and 210 in Cinebench R15 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a primary simulation thread. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is particularly relevant here—it allows the processor to ramp up to maximum frequency when the game's main thread is active, ensuring that frame times remain low.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides sufficient data throughput to keep the GPU's 8 GB frame buffer fed. The L3 cache of 24 MB shared across all cores helps mitigate memory latency, which is beneficial for the random access patterns common in third-person shooter environments. The PassMark data compression score of 390711 and integer math score of 87948 reflect strong general-purpose compute capabilities, though these are more relevant to productivity workloads than gaming.

The nearest CPU rivals—AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, Intel Core i9-13900HX, AMD EPYC 4364P, and AMD EPYC 7303—all score within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 235 in average benchmarks. This suggests that the CPU's performance is highly competitive with a range of mobile and server processors, but for Minimum, what matters most is the combination of high boost clock and efficient multi-threading. The 14 threads, while not as numerous as some high-end desktop CPUs, are sufficient for a game released in 2014 that may not fully utilize many cores. The data indicates the CPU does not constrain the GPU at any tested resolution, as the FPS scaling follows the GPU's expected performance curve.