Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core Ultra 5 245 + Intel Arc B370

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a set of measured frame rates in Minimum that are consistently low across all resolutions, with the GPU clearly acting as the primary constraint. The Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all tested GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 1184 places it near the bottom of the database hierarchy. The measured FPS data reflects this positioning: even at 1080p with Low settings, the combo averages only 85 FPS, and the curve falls off rapidly as resolution increases. This is not a combination designed for high-refresh gameplay, but the data does reveal a consistent scaling pattern that can inform settings choices for users who prioritize playability over visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all four settings presets, which strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor in this configuration. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 85 FPS at 1920x1080 to 55 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 30 FPS (a 35% decline), and then to 30 FPS at 3840x2160, which is less than half of the 1440p figure. The High preset shows a similar pattern: 55 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. Medium settings produce 65 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K, while Ultra drops from 42 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 1440p and finally to 15 FPS at 4K.

The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is roughly linear in percentage terms across all settings, with an average reduction of about 36% from the 1080p figure. The drop from 1440p to 4K is even more pronounced, averaging about 45% across presets. This accelerating decline as resolution increases is a classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario — the Arc B370's limited shading units (1280) and texture mapping units (40) cannot keep up with the pixel throughput demanded at 4K, particularly given its modest 20 ROPs and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate.

At 1080p, the frame rates are playable for a 2014-era shooter, with Low hitting 85 FPS and Medium reaching 65 FPS. However, even at this resolution, the Ultra preset only manages 42 FPS, suggesting that the GPU begins to struggle with the game's higher-fidelity effects. The 4K results are uniformly poor — the best 4K figure is 30 FPS at Low, which is marginal for smooth gameplay, and Ultra at 4K drops to 15 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow. The data shows that resolution scaling is the dominant factor in this combo's performance profile, and users targeting higher resolutions will need to accept significant frame rate penalties.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, delivering 65 FPS average with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS. This is the only resolution/preset combination that provides both a comfortable average above 60 FPS and a minimum that stays above the 50 FPS threshold for acceptable responsiveness. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 85 FPS, which is higher, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra 20 FPS for most users, especially given that the game is a third-person shooter where environmental detail contributes to situational awareness.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable choice for smooth gameplay, averaging 55 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 42 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS target that many users prefer for fast-paced shooting. High at 1440p averages 35 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS, both of which are likely to feel sluggish in combat situations. For 4K, none of the presets deliver acceptable performance — Low at 30 FPS is the best option, but even that falls short of the 60 FPS standard and will require frame pacing tolerance from the user.

The Ultra preset at 1080p, averaging 42 FPS, is not recommended over Medium given the substantial drop from 65 FPS. The data suggests that the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, providing a 65 FPS average that stays within a narrow 56-75 FPS band, indicating consistent frame delivery. If a user prioritizes frame rate above all else, Low at 1080p offers 85 FPS, but the Medium preset's combination of measured stability and visual uplift makes it the stronger recommendation from the available data.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution built on the Xe3-LPG architecture, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory is designated as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the host system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This shared memory architecture is a fundamental constraint: the GPU cannot access dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM, and its performance is inherently tied to the system's memory configuration. The Arc B370's 25 W TDP and IGP slot width confirm its integrated nature, and it draws power through no external connectors.

The GPU's compute resources are modest — 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs — which translate to a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS and FP16 of 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1) provide a baseline for compute performance, but the measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places the Arc B370 at the 5th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, delta -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, delta 1.4%) — all of which are over a decade old, underscoring how far behind modern discrete GPUs this integrated part sits.

The game's performance data aligns with this GPU profile. At 1080p, the Arc B370 can push 85 FPS on Low, but the frame rate drops sharply as settings increase, suggesting that the GPU's limited ROP count and pixel throughput become bottlenecks when more complex shading and post-processing effects are enabled. The 4K results are particularly poor — even at Low settings, the 30 FPS average indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel count. The system shared memory configuration likely exacerbates this, as the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, and the "System Dependent" bandwidth figure means performance can vary based on the installed memory configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo covers four resolutions and four settings presets, with average FPS recorded for every combination and min/max FPS only for Medium presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 85 FPS, Medium averages 65 FPS with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 75, High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 43 FPS, showing that the settings preset has a significant impact on performance even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 and maximum of 48, High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 28 FPS, a narrower gap than at 1080p, which indicates that resolution scaling compresses the settings-based performance range. At 3840x2160, Low averages 30 FPS, Medium averages 23 FPS with a minimum of 19 and maximum of 26, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K narrows to just 15 FPS, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution regardless of settings.

The Medium preset's min/max data provides insight into frame consistency. At 1080p, the 56-75 FPS range shows a 19 FPS swing, which is acceptable for a shooter. At 1440p, the 36-48 FPS range shows a 12 FPS swing, indicating tighter frame pacing relative to the average. At 4K, the 19-26 FPS range shows only a 7 FPS swing, but the absolute frame rates are too low for smooth gameplay. The data shows that as resolution increases, the frame time variance decreases in absolute terms, but the frame rate itself falls below playable thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 2703 out of 2939 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This ranking is consistent with the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all GPUs, while the CPU's 90th percentile among all CPUs (average benchmark score 48995) indicates that the processor is not the limiting factor. The combo ranking reflects the GPU's dominance in determining this game's performance, as the Arc B370's integrated-class performance drags down what would otherwise be a high-end CPU pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all within a narrow band: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, delta -0.4%), AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, delta -0.5%), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, delta 0.6%), and Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, delta 0.8%). These deltas of less than 1% show that the Core Ultra 5 245's compute performance is competitive with these alternatives, yet the combo ranking in Minimum is heavily influenced by the GPU. The data suggests that swapping the Arc B370 for a more capable discrete GPU would dramatically improve the combo's rank, while CPU choice within this performance class would have minimal impact on the game's frame rates.

The combo's rank of 2703 out of 2939 means that 236 tested combinations performed worse, but the vast majority of configurations delivered better results in this game. For context, the GPU's nearest rival, ATI Radeon HD 5770, is a discrete card from 2009, and its score is within 0.5% of the Arc B370 — yet the Arc B370 is an integrated solution from 2026. This underscores the performance gap between the Arc B370 and even entry-level discrete GPUs from the database.

FAQ

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve in Minimum?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 85, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 65 FPS at the same resolution with Medium settings.

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: No. The highest measured average at 2560x1440 is 55 FPS, which occurs at Low settings. All other 1440p presets fall below 42 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is within 1.4% of its nearest rivals: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168).

Q: What is the frame consistency like at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, the Medium preset ranges from 56 to 75 FPS (average 65). At 1440p, it ranges from 36 to 48 FPS (average 42). At 4K, it ranges from 19 to 26 FPS (average 23).

Q: Does the CPU contribute to the low frame rates?

A: No. The Core Ultra 5 245 ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 48995, and its nearest rivals are within 0.8% of its score. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking is the clear bottleneck.

Q: How many tested combos perform worse than this pairing?

A: This combo ranks 2703 out of 2939 tested combinations, meaning 236 combos performed worse. The bottom 8% ranking places it in the lowest tier of tested configurations for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm TSMC process with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide strong single-thread capability, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648. The multi-core performance is equally robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a Passmark multithread score of 38706, placing the CPU in the 90th percentile among all tested CPUs.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which supports the game's threading model. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel operation and a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, which is shared with the Arc B370's system-shared memory architecture. The CPU supports ECC memory, a feature that adds stability but is not directly relevant to gaming performance. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1851 compatibility position this as a mainstream desktop part, with a launch MSRP of $270.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as the measured frame rates are consistently GPU-bound. The processor's nearest rivals — AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, AMD Ryzen 9 7900, Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, and Intel Core i5-14600K — all have average benchmark scores within 0.8% of the Core Ultra 5 245, indicating that this CPU is competitive with a wide range of high-end processors. The Passmark single-thread score of 4394 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1952 confirm that the CPU has ample single-threaded throughput for the game's engine, which is a 2014-era title that likely does not scale well beyond a few threads.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this combo's performance. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the 85 FPS average does not approach the CPU's capability ceiling. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 468 and multi-core score of 3318 further demonstrate that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI workloads without bottlenecking. Users considering upgrades to this system should focus on the GPU, as the CPU provides a solid foundation that can support a significantly more powerful graphics card without becoming a constraint.