Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile delivers a performance profile in Minimum that is heavily dictated by the graphics settings selected, rather than the resolution. The data shows this combination is capable of high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it encounters a significant bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Minimum with this combo?*

A: The data shows 2560x1440 on High settings delivers an average of 116 FPS, which balances visual quality with smooth gameplay. While 1920x1080 on High hits 180 FPS, the 1440p result provides a substantial increase in pixel density without dropping below a 60 FPS average, making it the sweet spot for this hardware.

Q: How does the Ultra preset performance compare to Low at 1080p?

A: The difference is stark. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 280 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 137 FPS. This represents a 143 FPS drop, or roughly a 51% reduction in average frame rate, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy load on the system even at the lowest resolution tested.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 Mobile the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes, the benchmark results strongly suggest a GPU limit at 3840x2160. The average FPS at this resolution scales inversely with the preset load: Low hits 97 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS, and Ultra drops to 48 FPS. This pattern indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's role becomes less significant at such high pixel counts.

Q: Which preset provides the highest minimum frame rate?

A: The Medium preset is the only one reporting minimum FPS values. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 182 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 117 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 63 FPS. These figures show the Medium preset maintains a floor above 60 FPS even at 4K.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested combinations?

A: The data lists a combo rank of 834 out of 3712 tested combinations. This places the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX + RTX 4090 Mobile setup in the top 22.5% of all systems tested for Minimum, indicating it is a high-performing combination.

Q: Does the CPU's benchmark score align with its gaming performance here?

A: The CPU's Passmark multithread score is 40849 and its single-thread score is 4683, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. However, in Minimum, the gaming results show that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, so the CPU's strong compute scores are not fully utilized at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 34731 and a single-core score of 4903.

In Minimum, the CPU's role appears to be supplementary rather than primary. The game's frame rates at 1080p with Low settings reach 280 FPS, which is a very high figure that suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly. However, the data shows that as resolution increases, the frame rate drops consistently. For instance, at 1440p Low, the average is 180 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 97 FPS.

This pattern indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 14 cores provide ample processing power, but the game's workload at 4K is clearly dominated by the GPU. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with a deltaPct of 0.2%, show it is competitive in compute tasks, but this does not translate to a linear gain in Minimum's frame rates.

The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, which is a decent amount for gaming. The memory bandwidth is 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 bus. These specifications help maintain stable frame pacing, but the data suggests that the game engine is not heavily reliant on CPU cache or memory throughput, given the consistent FPS drops tied to GPU load rather than CPU limits.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1335 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz, with a TDP of 120 W.

The GPU's benchmark results show it is a top-tier mobile part. Its Passmark G3D score is 27212, and it sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. In Minimum, the GPU's performance is the deciding factor for the experience. The data shows a clear correlation between the graphics preset and the average FPS, which is the signature of a GPU-bound workload.

At 1080p, the RTX 4090 Mobile can push the Low preset to 280 FPS, but this drops to 137 FPS on Ultra. This 143 FPS difference is due to the increased shading, texture, and geometry work required by higher settings. The GPU's 9728 shading units and 304 TMUs are capable, but the Ultra preset's demands are significant.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is not stressed at any tested setting, as the game is from 2014 and likely has modest memory requirements. The GPU's memory clock is 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective, and this bandwidth is sufficient to avoid memory bottlenecks at all resolutions tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide spread of performance across the four presets. The Low preset averages 280 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo. The Medium preset averages 214 FPS, with a minimum of 182 FPS and a maximum of 246 FPS. The High preset averages 180 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 137 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. The Low preset averages 180 FPS, which is a 100 FPS drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 138 FPS, with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 159 FPS. The High preset averages 116 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are more pronounced. The Low preset averages 97 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 60 FPS. The Medium preset averages 74 FPS, with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 86 FPS. The High preset averages 62 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS, which is the lowest recorded score and is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The Medium preset is the only one with reported minimum and maximum FPS values, which allows for a more detailed analysis. At 1080p, the minimum is 182 FPS, which is still well above the refresh rate of most monitors. At 1440p, the minimum is 117 FPS, and at 4K, the minimum is 63 FPS. These figures indicate that the Medium preset provides a stable experience across all resolutions, with the 4K minimum just barely exceeding 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 280 at 1080p to 180 at 1440p, and then to 97 at 4K. This is a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the drop is from 180 to 116 to 62, which is a 66% reduction. The consistency of this percentage across settings suggests that the GPU is the limiting component.

The Ultra preset shows a slightly different pattern. The average FPS goes from 137 at 1080p to 88 at 1440p, and then to 48 at 4K. This is a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K, but the absolute values are lower. The fact that the percentage drop is similar across all presets indicates that the resolution scaling is uniform, and the GPU's rendering capacity is the primary constraint.

The 1440p to 4K transition is particularly revealing. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 138 to 74, which is a 46% reduction. This is a larger percentage drop than the 1080p to 1440p transition, which only sees a 36% reduction. This suggests that the GPU's pixel throughput is being saturated at 4K, and the additional pixels require more processing power than the RTX 4090 Mobile can provide at higher settings.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this scaling. The CPU's performance is constant across resolutions, but the FPS drops are directly tied to the number of pixels being rendered. This is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the frame rate is determined by the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities rather than the CPU's ability to issue draw calls.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the data shows that the Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 137 FPS. At 1440p, the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, which is still above 60, but the High preset at 116 FPS provides a better balance. At 4K, the Ultra preset averages 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, so it is not recommended for this resolution.

The Medium preset is the most versatile option. At 4K, it averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS, which is the only preset that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS at this resolution. At 1440p, it averages 138 FPS, and at 1080p, it averages 214 FPS. The Medium preset also provides the only reported minimum FPS values, which are 182, 117, and 63 at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively.

For players with high refresh rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 280 FPS, which is the maximum performance available from this combo. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p averages 116 FPS, which is a good compromise for a 120 Hz or 144 Hz display.

The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p is the best overall experience. It provides a 116 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and it offers better visual quality than the Medium or Low presets. The 4K High preset averages 62 FPS, which is just above 60, but the 1440p option provides more headroom for frame time spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile combination has a rank of 834 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the top 22.5% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing for a mobile platform.

This ranking is notable because it places the combo above many desktop configurations, despite the CPU being a mobile part. The RTX 4090 Mobile is the primary driver of this performance, as its high benchmark scores and the game's GPU-bound nature at high resolutions give it an advantage over combos with weaker GPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with a deltaPct of 0.2%, show that the 235HX is competitive in compute tasks. However, the combo's ranking in Minimum is more dependent on the GPU. The RTX 4090 Mobile's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000 with a deltaPct of -0.9%, indicates that the GPU is slightly above average in its class.

The rank of 834 out of 3712 suggests that there are many combos that perform better, likely those with desktop-class CPUs and GPUs. However, for a mobile solution, this combo offers excellent performance, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The data shows that it can handle the game at high frame rates in most scenarios, with the only significant compromise being at 4K Ultra settings.