Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter that remains a useful stress test for modern hardware pairings, and the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 produces a surprisingly balanced, if ultimately mid-pack, experience. The data indicates this pairing is firmly in the lower half of tested configurations, though its behavior across resolutions reveals a clear and predictable bottleneck structure. Benchmark results show a system that can handle the game comfortably at mainstream settings but begins to struggle when pushed to the extremes of resolution and graphical fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 2292 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 22nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 78% of configurations tested deliver higher average frame rates. The ranking is not catastrophic, but it clearly indicates this pairing sits in the lower tier of what players might consider for this title, especially when compared against modern high-end rigs.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU performs much better in relative standing than the GPU. The Core Ultra 5 245 achieves an average benchmark score of 48995, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs tested. Its nearest rivals in terms of aggregate performance include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which scores 49196, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228. The Intel chip is essentially neck-and-neck with these parts, trailing by just 0.4% and 0.5% respectively. It also edges out the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K by 0.8%. This is a strong showing for the CPU, suggesting it is not the primary limiting factor in most gaming scenarios.

The GPU, however, anchors the system's overall position. The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (scoring 15283), the AMD Radeon 680M (scoring 15270), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (scoring 15199), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (scoring 15171). The RTX 2060 leads these parts by margins of 0% to 0.8%, which are negligible differences in real-world performance. The GPU's mid-pack standing, combined with the CPU's high standing, creates a lopsided pairing where the graphics card is clearly the bottleneck in demanding scenarios.

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 process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which provides substantial single-thread headroom for older game engines that rely on high clock speeds. The CPU supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus, offering a theoretical bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and it accesses a 24 MB shared L3 cache alongside 3 MB of L2 cache per core.

In Minimum, a game from 2014, the CPU's role is largely about maintaining a high minimum frame rate and avoiding stutters, rather than pushing maximum frames. The benchmark data shows the CPU is more than capable. Even at 1080p Low settings, where the GPU is least stressed, the system reaches 155 FPS on average. This suggests the CPU is not a significant limiting factor at these settings. The chip's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs supports this interpretation; it has far more processing power than this game requires at most settings. The single-core performance, highlighted by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, is particularly relevant for a 2014 title, as older games often struggle to utilize many cores effectively and depend heavily on one or two threads. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz should provide ample responsiveness in such scenarios.

The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924, is less critical for Minimum but ensures the system handles background tasks without impacting frame times. The 14 cores and 14 threads (notably lacking Hyper-Threading) are still sufficient to prevent CPU-bound scenarios in this game, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale down primarily with resolution changes, which is a hallmark of GPU-limited performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operations pipelines. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The card operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. It also includes 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, features that are largely irrelevant for a 2014 title like Minimum but contribute to its overall benchmark profile.

The GPU's 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor at higher resolutions. In Minimum, the measured data shows a sharp decline in performance as resolution increases, which is typical of a GPU with limited memory bandwidth and capacity. The GPU's 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack, but its absolute performance is modest by modern standards. Its PassMark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 are indicative of a card that was mid-range at launch and is now several generations old.

In the context of Minimum, the RTX 2060 is the primary determinant of frame rates. The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are sufficient for the game's DirectX 11-era graphics, but they are stretched thin at 4K. The data shows that at 1080p, the card can push over 100 FPS on high settings, but at 4K, it drops below playable thresholds on anything above Low settings. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is running out of raw compute and memory bandwidth as pixel count increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers playable frame rates across all presets. On Low settings, the average FPS is 155. Moving to Medium, the average drops to 119 FPS, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 137 FPS. High settings yield an average of 100 FPS. Ultra settings produce an average of 76 FPS. This shows a smooth scaling curve at 1080p, with a 79 FPS difference between the lowest and highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops become more pronounced. Low settings average 100 FPS. Medium settings average 77 FPS, with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS. High settings average 64 FPS. Ultra settings drop to an average of 49 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 15 FPS, which is a significant penalty for the visual upgrade. The 1440p results are generally playable, with even Ultra settings staying above 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle. Low settings average 54 FPS. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. High settings drop to an average of 35 FPS. Ultra settings produce an average of only 26 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 28 FPS, and the minimum frame rate on Medium (35 FPS) suggests the system is on the edge of playability at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior is the most telling aspect of this combo's performance. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by roughly 35-40%. For example, on High settings, the system goes from 100 FPS at 1080p to 64 FPS at 1440p, a 36% reduction. On Low settings, it goes from 155 FPS to 100 FPS, a 35% drop. This is a typical scaling factor for a GPU-bound scenario.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe, indicating a hard limit being hit. On High settings, the system goes from 64 FPS at 1440p to 35 FPS at 4K, a 45% drop. On Low settings, it goes from 100 FPS to 54 FPS, a 46% drop. This steeper decline suggests the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth and raw pixel throughput. The 6 GB VRAM buffer is also likely being maxed out at 4K, causing additional overhead.

These scaling patterns clearly identify the GPU as the limiting component. The CPU's performance remains relatively constant regardless of resolution, as evidenced by its high benchmark scores. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, which is not the case. The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a ~45% drop from 1440p to 4K, is the signature of a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with High settings. This preset delivers an average of 100 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and it leaves headroom for demanding scenes. The jump from High to Ultra at this resolution costs 24 FPS (from 100 to 76 FPS), which is a significant penalty for marginal visual gains in a game from 2014. The High preset strikes the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, making it the recommended choice for most players.

For players with 1440p monitors, the Medium preset is the best option. It delivers an average of 77 FPS with a minimum of 65 FPS, which remains smooth and consistent. High settings at 1440p average 64 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for frame drops. Ultra settings at 1440p, with an average of 49 FPS, are not recommended as they dip below the smoothness threshold.

At 4K, the system is not well-suited for this game. The Low preset delivers an average of 54 FPS, which is borderline playable but will experience noticeable dips. Medium settings at 4K average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and will feel stuttery in fast-paced action. High and Ultra settings at 4K are not recommended, as they produce averages of 35 FPS and 26 FPS respectively, which are too low for a third-person shooter. Players with 4K displays should either lower the resolution or accept the Low preset as the only viable option for this combination.