Minimum

# Minimum with Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a strong performance profile across Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter from 2014. The measured data shows this combination ranks 749th out of 2939 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the top 25% of all systems tested. The 14-core Arrow Lake-HX processor and 16 GB GDDR7-equipped Blackwell GPU work together to produce playable frame rates at every resolution and setting tested, though the relationship between settings and performance reveals where each component carries the load.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Minimum. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 134 FPS average, which is perfectly smooth for a third-person shooter, while High produces 176 FPS and Medium hits 210 FPS. The Low preset reaches 274 FPS. Since Minimum is a fast-paced shooter, higher frame rates translate directly to smoother camera movement and more responsive aiming. The data shows that Medium at 1080p offers the best balance, delivering 210 FPS average with a minimum of 178 FPS and maximum of 241 FPS — this is the only setting at 1080p that reports both min and max values, indicating consistent frame pacing.

Moving to 1440p, the Medium preset maintains 135 FPS average with min/max of 115/156 FPS, which remains excellent for competitive play. High at 1440p drops to 114 FPS, still very playable, but the Medium's higher average and reported frame consistency make it the better choice. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 87 FPS, which is acceptable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 4K, the picture changes significantly. Ultra drops to 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold most players consider mandatory for a shooter. High at 4K produces 61 FPS, barely crossing that line. Medium at 4K achieves 73 FPS with min/max of 62/84 FPS, and Low reaches 95 FPS. For 4K play, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation — it stays above 60 FPS even at the minimum, and the reported range of 62–84 FPS suggests stable performance. High at 4K is playable but offers no min/max data, meaning frame consistency is unverified. The data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions, providing the best combination of visual quality and frame rate headroom.

GPU Role

The RTX 5080's specifications explain much of its behavior in Minimum. With 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU has ample memory bandwidth at 960.0 GB/s — more than enough for a 2014 title, which means memory capacity is never a limiting factor. The GPU's 10752 shading units and 112 ROPs handle the game's rendering workload efficiently, as evidenced by the strong performance at lower resolutions.

The clock speeds tell a story of their own. The base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2617 MHz are substantial, and the GPU's ability to maintain performance across settings suggests it isn't thermally constrained. At 1080p Low, the system produces 274 FPS, which indicates the GPU is capable of far more than the game demands at lower settings. The pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for a game from this era.

The GPU's 87th percentile ranking versus all GPUs places it well above average, and its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which scores 2.2% higher on average. The RTX 5080 sits 0.6% above the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. These small deltas indicate the RTX 5080 is in a tightly contested performance tier, though in Minimum specifically, the measured FPS data shows it performing strongly across all settings. The GPU's FP32 compute of 56.28 TFLOPS provides ample raw compute power, and while Minimum likely doesn't stress this capability heavily, it ensures headroom for the game's rendering features.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system scales under increasing resolution load. At High settings, the system delivers 176 FPS at 1080p, drops to 114 FPS at 1440p (a 35% reduction), and falls to 61 FPS at 4K (a 65% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions — the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The Low settings scaling tells a similar story: 274 FPS at 1080p, 177 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent with the High settings data, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions regardless of quality preset. However, the fact that the system still produces 95 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that the RTX 5080 has substantial rendering headroom even at the highest resolution.

The Medium settings provide the most complete data, with min/max values reported at every resolution. At 1080p, the system averages 210 FPS with a 178–241 FPS range; at 1440p, it averages 135 FPS with a 115–156 FPS range; at 4K, it averages 73 FPS with a 62–84 FPS range. The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another ~46% drop from 1440p to 4K indicates linear scaling that points to the GPU as the limiting component. The CPU's 14 cores and 24 MB of L3 cache are sufficient to keep up at all resolutions, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate drops track the pixel count increases rather than plateauing.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 749th out of 2939 tested combos, placing it in the 74.5th percentile of all systems tested in Minimum. This is a strong showing for a mobile CPU paired with a desktop-class GPU, though the ranking suggests there are many faster combinations. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 91, and the GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 87, so both components individually rank highly — the combo ranking reflects that Minimum is not particularly demanding on either component.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD EPYC 8124P scores 0.1% lower, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X scores 0.2% higher, the Intel Core i7-14700 scores 0.4% lower, and the Intel Core i9-13900F scores 0.7% higher. These are all desktop processors, and the gap between them and the mobile Ultra 5 235HX is remarkably small — the mobile chip is essentially trading blows with high-end desktop CPUs from a few generations back.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which scores 2.2% higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, which scores 2.3% lower. The RTX 5080 also sits 0.6% above the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. These small margins indicate that the RTX 5080 is in a highly competitive performance tier — in Minimum, the measured FPS data shows it performing strongly, but the ranking suggests other GPUs would produce similar results in this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which matters for Minimum's game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 results of 34731 multi-core and 4903 single-core show the CPU's capability, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4683 confirms strong per-core performance.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game simulation. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system produces 274 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions — if it were, the frame rate would plateau regardless of GPU load. The fact that FPS scales consistently with resolution indicates the CPU maintains sufficient headroom even at 4K.

The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample capacity for the game's assets, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for a 2014 title. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52073, places it in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 8124P, scores 0.1% lower, and the Intel Core i9-13900F scores 0.7% higher — the mobile chip is competing with much larger desktop processors on raw performance.

The Cinebench R20 results of 14587 multi-core and 2059 single-core, along with the R15 results of 3500 multi-core and 494 single-core, paint a picture of a CPU that handles both heavily threaded workloads and latency-sensitive tasks well. In Minimum, this translates to consistent frame delivery — the system rarely experiences CPU-induced stutters, as evidenced by the tight min/max ranges at Medium settings across all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K play?

A: Medium at 4K delivers 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 84 FPS. High at 4K produces 61 FPS average but lacks reported min/max values, while Ultra drops to 47 FPS — below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. Medium is the recommended choice for 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5080 scores 2.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, 0.6% higher than the AMD Radeon 8060S, 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and 2.3% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X. These are tight margins, indicating a competitive performance tier.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 274 FPS, which drops to 177 FPS at 1440p and 95 FPS at 4K. The consistent scaling with pixel count indicates the GPU is the bottleneck — the CPU's frame delivery remains sufficient at all settings.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p Ultra?

A: The system produces 134 FPS average at 1080p Ultra. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides smooth gameplay, though Medium at 1080p delivers 210 FPS with a reported range of 178–241 FPS, suggesting more consistent frame pacing.

Q: How does the Ultra 5 235HX compare to desktop CPUs?

A: The Ultra 5 235HX's average benchmark score of 52073 places it 0.1% above the AMD EPYC 8124P, 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 0.4% above the Intel Core i7-14700, and 0.7% below the Intel Core i9-13900F. It competes directly with high-end desktop processors despite being a mobile chip.

Q: Does the game benefit from the RTX 5080's 16 GB of VRAM?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is far more than a 2014 title requires. Memory capacity is not a limiting factor in Minimum, as evidenced by the consistent performance scaling across settings and resolutions.