Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Minimum, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions. The data shows a system that prioritizes high frame rates at standard resolutions, while 4K Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience at 1440p and 4K, while High settings provide an excellent 1080p experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS and maximum of 190 FPS, which is comfortably above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1080p yields 138 FPS average, still a strong result that allows for enhanced visual fidelity without sacrificing responsiveness.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset again proves to be the sweet spot. The data shows an average of 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS and maximum of 122 FPS, providing a consistently fluid experience. High settings at 1440p drop to 89 FPS average, which remains playable but offers less headroom for demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 139 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial for a game where Medium provides such a solid frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset returns an average of 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that maintains a playable frame rate. High settings at 4K drop to 48 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS, both of which may feel sluggish in a third-person shooter where aiming precision matters. Low settings at 4K produce 75 FPS, but this comes at a significant visual cost that undermines the purpose of rendering at such a high resolution.

The optimal choice depends on the target resolution. For 1080p displays, the High preset provides the best combination of visual quality and performance. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset, delivering 106 FPS average with acceptable minimums. For 4K, Medium is the only viable option, as it maintains an average above 60 FPS, though users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity should consider dropping to 1440p instead.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This processor, built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC, demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities in synthetic benchmarks. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate a processor that handles both heavily threaded workloads and single-threaded tasks effectively.

In the context of Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The 14-core configuration with a 24 MB shared L3 cache provides ample parallelism for modern game engines, though this title's age means it likely doesn't utilize all available cores. The single-core performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, is particularly relevant for games that rely on a single main thread for simulation.

The processor's 90th percentile ranking among all tested CPUs places it well above the median, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at a 0.5% lower average score and the Intel Core i5-14600K at a 0.8% higher average score. This positioning indicates that the Ultra 5 245 provides competitive CPU performance that should not bottleneck the RTX 5060 in this game, especially at lower resolutions where frame rates are higher.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, brings 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2497 MHz and base clock of 2280 MHz, combined with 3840 shading units, produce 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. The 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support modern rendering features, though Minimum's 2014 release date means it likely relies primarily on traditional rasterization.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes a critical factor at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 37, which suggests the GPU is struggling with both compute load and memory capacity. The 128-bit memory bus, while paired with fast GDDR7 memory, limits the total bandwidth available for texture streaming at high resolutions.

The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all tested GPUs places it in the upper-middle tier. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M with a 0.3% lower average score and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT with a 1.2% higher average score. In Minimum, the RTX 5060's performance at 1080p Medium (165 FPS) and High (138 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU is well-matched to this game's requirements at standard resolutions, but the 4K results reveal its limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1651 out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the 55th percentile of all configs. This mid-pack ranking reflects the balance between a strong CPU and a mid-range GPU, where the overall system performance is constrained by the graphics card in this particular title.

The data shows that this combo is positioned well within the upper half of tested systems, but it is not among the top performers. The ranking suggests that many combinations with higher-tier GPUs outperform this configuration, particularly at 4K where the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus become limiting factors. However, the strong CPU component ensures that the system does not suffer from processor bottlenecks, which is evident in the solid frame rates at 1080p and 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component clearly. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 165 at 1080p to 106 at 1440p (a 35.8% reduction), and then to 57 at 4K (a 65.5% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the workload on the graphics card increases exponentially with resolution.

At High settings, the progression is similar: 138 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The consistent approximately 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p across both Medium and High settings indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at these resolutions. The CPU's performance headroom is sufficient to maintain frame rates at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 215 FPS result at 1080p Low settings.

The 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS represents a 64.8% drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 105 FPS. This steep decline, combined with the 8 GB VRAM capacity, suggests that the GPU is heavily constrained at 4K, and users seeking high frame rates at this resolution would need to consider a more powerful graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 215 FPS average
• Medium: 165 FPS average, 140 FPS minimum, 190 FPS maximum
• High: 138 FPS average
• Ultra: 105 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 139 FPS average
• Medium: 106 FPS average, 90 FPS minimum, 122 FPS maximum
• High: 89 FPS average
• Ultra: 68 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 75 FPS average
• Medium: 57 FPS average, 49 FPS minimum, 66 FPS maximum
• High: 48 FPS average
• Ultra: 37 FPS average

The only settings that recorded minimum and maximum frame values were Medium across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 50 FPS (140 to 190), indicating some scene-to-scene variability. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 32 FPS (90 to 122), and at 4K Medium, it further narrows to 17 FPS (49 to 66). This tightening range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing the variance that CPU-side bottlenecks might introduce at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS, providing the best balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset drops to 89 FPS average, while Low reaches 139 FPS but with significant visual compromises.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which produce an average of 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS. High settings drop to 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS, both of which may be below the comfort threshold for a shooter.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.8% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600K at 48618, and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49228. It outperforms the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G by 0.4% and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H by 0.6%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks in the 72nd percentile among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26331. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon 860M, which scores 26401, a 0.3% difference.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 165 at 1080p to 57 at 4K, a reduction of 65.5%. At High settings, the drop is from 138 to 48 FPS, a 65.2% reduction. This consistent scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data shows that 8 GB is sufficient for all tested settings, though the 4K Ultra result of 37 FPS suggests the GPU is heavily constrained. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s on a 128-bit bus appears adequate for this 2014 title, but the compute load at 4K Ultra is the primary bottleneck.