Minimum

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for Minimum with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER show a clear hierarchy across the four presets. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 170 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. Moving up to Medium yields 130 FPS average, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. High drops to 109 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 83 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, Low at 1080p is the only setting that pushes far beyond the 144 Hz threshold, offering a substantial 37% advantage over High.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low produces 110 FPS average, Medium 84 FPS (71 min, 97 max), High 71 FPS, and Ultra 54 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 26 FPS, which is a 24% reduction. If you have a 1440p 60 Hz display, Medium is the sweet spot, as it stays well above 60 FPS with a comfortable margin. High would also work, but the 13 FPS gap between Medium and High is noticeable, and the visual uplift from Medium to High may not justify the performance loss on this GPU.

At 4K, the situation becomes constrained. Low averages 59 FPS, which is just shy of a locked 60. Medium falls to 45 FPS (38 min, 52 max), High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. For 4K, Low is the only viable preset for playable frame rates, but even then, it is borderline. The data suggests that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Minimum beyond the lowest settings, and even Low will experience dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes.

The recommendation is straightforward: use Low for 1080p if you prioritize high refresh rates, Medium for 1440p as a balanced choice, and Low for 4K if you must push that resolution. Ultra settings are only practical at 1080p where the 83 FPS average is still fluid, but the 47 FPS drop from Low to Ultra indicates that the GPU is stretched thin at higher presets. The measured minimums for Medium at 1080p (111 FPS) and 1440p (71 FPS) provide a safety margin, whereas the lack of minimum data for High and Ultra suggests those presets may exhibit more variance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck in this pairing for Minimum, particularly as resolution and settings scale up. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for this game at 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The 4K High preset yields only 38 FPS average, and 4K Ultra drops to 29 FPS, indicating that the GPU's compute resources—2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs—are overwhelmed by the pixel workload.

The boost clock of 1650 MHz (base 1470 MHz) is modest by modern standards, and the FP32 throughput of 7.181 TFLOPS places this card in the mid-range tier. The benchmark data supports this: the GPU's percentile rank is 62, meaning it sits above the median but far from top-tier performance. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 0.4% higher in average benchmarks, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 is 0.5% higher. These small deltas indicate that the RTX 2060 SUPER is competitive with its immediate peers, but the 4K results show it lacks headroom for demanding presets.

The 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die explain the thermal and power characteristics, but the practical takeaway is that the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel rate (105.6 GPixel/s) are the deciding factors. At 1080p Low, the GPU can push 170 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 29 FPS—a 83% reduction. This is a clear sign that the RTX 2060 SUPER is not a 4K-class card for Minimum, and even at 1440p, Ultra settings (54 FPS) push it to the edge of playability.

The data shows that the GPU's role becomes more dominant at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to maintain high frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU's shading and rasterization limits cap performance. The 8 GB VRAM is ample for this 2014 title, as Minimum is not VRAM-hungry, but the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K exceeds what the TU106 chip can deliver. The passmark DirectX 12 score of 61 confirms that modern API workloads are not this card's strength, though Minimum likely relies on older DirectX paths where the card performs better.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 provides a strong foundation for this combo, but its role in Minimum is secondary to the GPU. The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads (no Hyper-Threading) run at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost up to 5.10 GHz. This is a high-frequency design that excels in single-threaded tasks, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce latency, which is beneficial for game logic and draw calls.

In Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU is unlikely to be a bottleneck at 1080p. The measured 170 FPS at Low settings suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. The CPU's percentile rank of 90 places it in the top 10% of all processors, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, is only 0.4% faster in average benchmarks. The Intel Core i5-14600K, a popular gaming CPU, is 0.8% slower than the Ultra 5 245 in this data, indicating that the CPU is not holding back the RTX 2060 SUPER.

The multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 38706. However, Minimum is not a heavily threaded game, so these scores are less relevant than the single-thread results. The boost clock of 5.10 GHz is likely the key factor in maintaining high frame rates, as the game's engine probably relies on a few fast cores rather than many moderate ones.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is adequate for feeding the GPU, but it is not a differentiator in this context. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU is present but irrelevant when a discrete GPU is installed. The data shows that the CPU's role is to avoid limiting the GPU, and at 1080p Low, it succeeds. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes further because the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as indicated by the 29 FPS Ultra result.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing is 2047 out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the 30th percentile of all combos in the database. This rank reflects the GPU's mid-range status rather than the CPU's strength. The RTX 2060 SUPER's percentile of 62 is significantly lower than the CPU's percentile of 90, which means the GPU drags down the overall ranking. In practical terms, this combo is better suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming than for 4K, and its rank reflects that limitation.

Compared to other combos with the same CPU but faster GPUs, this pairing would likely rank higher, but the data only shows this specific configuration. The GPU's nearest rivals—RTX 3060 Mobile, Radeon Pro 5700, RX 460, and Arc A770M—all score within 1.6% of the RTX 2060 SUPER in average benchmarks, so the combo's rank is representative of a mid-tier experience. The 4K results (29-59 FPS across settings) are below the 60 FPS target, which aligns with the 2047 rank: the combo is capable but not exceptional.

The rank of 2047 out of 2939 means that roughly 30% of tested combos perform worse, while 70% perform better. This is a sobering statistic for a CPU that ranks in the 90th percentile, but it underscores the GPU's dominance in gaming performance. For Minimum, the GPU is the deciding factor, and the RTX 2060 SUPER is a 1080p-class card with some 1440p capability. The combo's rank would improve if paired with a higher-tier GPU, but as configured, it sits in the lower-middle tier.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which highlights the GPU's role as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 170 at 1080p to 110 at 1440p (a 35% reduction) and then to 59 at 4K (a 46% reduction from 1440p). This scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K is particularly harsh because the pixel count quadruples, and the RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS cannot keep up.

At High settings, the drop is even more pronounced: 109 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is less than half of the 1080p High result, indicating that the GPU is severely overloaded at 4K. The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS at Medium also scales poorly, with 111 at 1080p, 71 at 1440p, and 38 at 4K, confirming that frame time consistency degrades at higher resolutions.

The resolution scaling analysis suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a consistent drop that tracks with the GPU's pixel throughput. At 1080p, the CPU's high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648) allows the GPU to hit 170 FPS at Low, but at 4K, the GPU's limitations cap performance regardless of the CPU's capability. The 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS is a clear indicator that the GPU is the primary constraint, as even a faster CPU would not meaningfully improve this result.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: Low delivers the highest average FPS at 170, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium (130 FPS) is a solid alternative if you prefer better visuals, but the 40 FPS difference is significant.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K in Minimum?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 59 FPS. Medium drops to 45 FPS, High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS, so 4K is not recommended beyond Low.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, but 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes, the GPU's percentile rank of 62 versus the CPU's 90 indicates a mismatch. The 4K results (29-59 FPS) and the steep resolution scaling confirm that the RTX 2060 SUPER limits performance.

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark score compared to its rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 0.4% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 0.5% higher and the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 1.5% higher.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 84 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 97 FPS. This is a smooth experience for 60 Hz displays and even allows for some headroom on 75 Hz monitors.