Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose performance profile on the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile combination reveals a clear, predictable scaling pattern. The measured data shows that this pairing is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the GPU becoming the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower ones. The following analysis breaks down the benchmark results, interprets the frame rate progression, and offers settings guidance based solely on the provided figures.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a steep and consistent performance drop, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 128 FPS at 1920x1080 to 82 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 44 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a reduction of 46 FPS (approximately 36%) when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 38 FPS (approximately 46%) when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear; the percentage loss accelerates at higher resolutions, which is typical of a GPU-bound workload where the render target's pixel count grows geometrically.

At Low settings, the pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average frame rate starts at 199 FPS at 1080p, drops to 128 FPS at 1440p, and further to 69 FPS at 4K. The relative drops are 71 FPS (36%) and 59 FPS (46%), respectively. Interestingly, the percentage losses at Low settings mirror those at High settings almost exactly, suggesting that the resolution scaling factor is independent of the quality preset. This consistency implies that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth—rated at 4608 shading units and 384.0 GB/s—are being saturated in a similar fashion regardless of the graphical workload.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 152 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, being the most demanding, yields the lowest figures: 97 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. Across all four settings, the 4K results are less than half of the 1080p results, which strongly indicates that the RTX 5070 Mobile's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K without significant compromises. The data shows that for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, only the Low preset comes close, and even then, it averages 69 FPS, leaving little headroom for demanding scenes.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Minimum?

A: The highest measured average is 199 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The next highest is 152 FPS at 1080p with Medium settings, followed by 128 FPS at both 1080p High and 1440p Low.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS with an average of 69 FPS. The Medium preset averages 53 FPS, High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. Therefore, 60 FPS at 4K is only achievable with the lowest quality settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Mobile compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 29928, which is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29945, deltaPct -0.1%). It is 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2080 Ti (29783) and 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30095). This places it in a competitive mid-range tier.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile relative to all processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H ranks in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32697. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T, scores 32707, a difference of 0%, indicating they are statistically equivalent in aggregate performance.

Q: Is there a significant frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the difference is 16 FPS. Medium averages 98 FPS (with a minimum of 83 FPS), while High averages 82 FPS. This is a 16% reduction in average frame rate when moving from Medium to High at 2560x1440.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile ranks 2051st out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the 55th percentile of all configurations tested for Minimum.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile is the defining component in this system's gaming performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its architecture is Blackwell 2.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, and it features 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units. The GPU's clock speeds are relatively modest for a mobile part, with a base of 907 MHz and a boost of 1425 MHz. These clocks, combined with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, yield a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s.

In the context of Minimum, the GPU's role is clearly to render the scene, and its limitations become apparent at 4K. The frame rates at 3840x2160 across all settings—69 FPS at Low, 53 FPS at Medium, 44 FPS at High, and 34 FPS at Ultra—suggest that the 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit interface are the primary constraints. The memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU delivers 128-199 FPS and 63-128 FPS respectively, but it struggles to feed the pixel pipeline at 4K. The data shows that the GPU's compute capability, rated at 13.13 TFLOPS FP32, is not the limiting factor; instead, the memory subsystem and the sheer number of pixels at 4K overwhelm the 48 ROPs, resulting in the observed frame rates.

Synthetic benchmarks for the RTX 5070 Mobile show a Passmark G3D score of 20355, which places it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs. Its DirectX 12 score of 93 in Passmark is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 192, which may reflect driver optimization or architectural differences, but in-game performance for Minimum—a 2014 title—relies more heavily on older API paths. The GPU's 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores are irrelevant for this game, as Minimum does not utilize those features, but they do contribute to the overall die size of 181 mm² and transistor count of 21,900 million.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3712 tested hardware combinations for Minimum, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile achieves a rank of 2051. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is somewhat surprising given the individual component performance. The CPU ranks in the 83rd percentile of all processors, and the GPU ranks in the 75th percentile, yet their combined performance in this specific game only puts them in the 55th percentile of combos. This discrepancy suggests that Minimum's engine is not fully utilizing the hardware, or that other combos with more powerful GPUs or better CPU-GPU balance outperform this pairing.

The rank of 2051 out of 3712 indicates that there are 1661 combos that perform better, and 2061 that perform worse. The data shows that the combo's strength lies in its ability to deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls behind at 4K where the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. When compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RTX 5070 Mobile is statistically tied with the RTX 3070 Ti (deltaPct -0.1%), so combos using that older GPU would likely achieve similar rankings, assuming similar CPUs. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T (deltaPct 0%), would also produce nearly identical results, reinforcing that this combo's rank is more a function of the GPU's mid-range positioning than any CPU deficiency.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Its memory support is dual-channel DDR5, with a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for feeding the RTX 5070 Mobile's 384.0 GB/s requirement in most scenarios.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls, and the data suggests it does so with significant headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 199 FPS, which is likely near the engine's frame rate cap or the CPU's ability to issue draw calls. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 97 FPS, indicating that the GPU is now the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743, is adequate for a 2014 title, and its multi-core score of 15028 provides ample parallel processing capability. The Passmark single-thread score of 3468 and multithread score of 24873 further confirm that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested.

The fact that the frame rates scale almost identically with resolution across all settings—with 4K being roughly 34-48% of 1080p performance—points to the GPU being the constraint. The CPU's 22 threads and 24 MB of L3 cache are more than enough for Minimum's workload, which likely uses only a few cores. The data shows that the CPU's performance is consistent with its 83rd percentile ranking, but its contribution to this game's frame rates is minimal beyond ensuring that the GPU is never starved of data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the highest frame rates: Low averages 199 FPS, Medium averages 152 FPS (with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 175 FPS), High averages 128 FPS, and Ultra averages 97 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 102 FPS, demonstrating a wide range of performance depending on quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are lower but still playable: Low averages 128 FPS, Medium averages 98 FPS (minimum 83 FPS, maximum 113 FPS), High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with an average reduction of approximately 36%. The minimum frame rate for Medium at 1440p is 83 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the combo can maintain smooth gameplay at this resolution with most settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal: Low averages 69 FPS, Medium averages 53 FPS (minimum 45 FPS, maximum 61 FPS), High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The minimum frame rate for Medium at 4K is 45 FPS, which would result in noticeable stuttering in a fast-paced third-person shooter. The data shows that 4K is only viable with Low settings, and even then, the average of 69 FPS leaves little room for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 34 FPS, is essentially unplayable for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rate data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the combo can easily handle Ultra settings with an average of 97 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium settings at 1080p provide a better experience with 152 FPS average, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Low settings at 1080p, at 199 FPS, are only necessary for competitive play on a 240 Hz monitor, which this combo can support.

For 1440p, the recommended preset is Medium, which averages 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS. This provides a good balance between visual quality and performance, ensuring that frame rates never drop below 60 FPS. High settings at 1440p average 82 FPS, which is also acceptable, but the minimum frame rate is not reported, so Medium is the safer choice for consistent performance. Ultra at 1440p averages 63 FPS, which is borderline; it may be playable, but any demanding scene could push it below 60 FPS.

For 4K, the only viable option is Low settings, which averages 69 FPS. Medium at 4K averages 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and would result in occasional stuttering, as evidenced by the 45 FPS minimum. High and Ultra at 4K are not recommended, as they average 44 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for a smooth experience. If a player insists on higher visual fidelity at 4K, they would need to accept frame rates in the 30-50 FPS range, which is not ideal for a shooter. The data clearly indicates that the RTX 5070 Mobile's 8 GB memory capacity is the limiting factor at 4K, and users should prioritize frame rate over visual quality at that resolution.