Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core Ultra 7 165H + AMD Radeon RX 7900M

This combination of an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H processor and AMD Radeon RX 7900M graphics delivers playable frame rates across all tested presets in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The dataset shows a clear scaling pattern from 1080p through 4K, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint at higher resolutions and the CPU maintaining a strong baseline throughout.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates demonstrate a predictable drop as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly by settings preset. At Low settings, average FPS falls from 229 at 1920x1080 to 147 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 82 FPS, then to 79 at 3840x2160, another 68 FPS drop. This represents a 65.5% decline from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest graphical preset, the rendering load at 4K nearly halves the output.

The High settings preset shows a similar but slightly shallower proportional decline: 147 FPS at 1080p, 95 at 1440p, and 51 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 52 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 44 FPS. This translates to a 65.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K, almost identical to the Low preset's percentage loss. The pattern suggests the GPU is consistently the limiting factor across all settings, as the relative scaling remains stable regardless of preset.

Medium settings produce 175 FPS at 1080p, 113 at 1440p, and 61 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is 65.1%, again matching the other presets closely. Ultra settings yield 112 FPS at 1080p, 72 at 1440p, and 39 at 4K, with a 65.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of these percentages — all falling within a 65.1% to 65.5% band — strongly indicates that resolution scaling is purely a function of pixel count and GPU throughput, with no unexpected bottleneck appearing at any resolution.

The min FPS values recorded only for Medium settings show the frame time consistency at each resolution: 149 at 1080p, 96 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K. These minimums are 85.1%, 85.0%, and 85.2% of their respective averages, showing remarkably uniform frame pacing across resolutions. This uniformity reinforces that the GPU is handling the workload without erratic spikes, even as the average FPS declines.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread Meteor Lake processor with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support provide a solid foundation for gaming workloads. In Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU rarely becomes the primary constraint, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns discussed above.

The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and single-core score of 1759 place it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with an average score of 33989 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 4244P at 34220 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X at 34260 (0.5% lower). These close margins indicate the 165H sits comfortably in the upper-midrange of CPU performance, sufficient to feed a high-end mobile GPU in most gaming scenarios.

At 1080p Low settings, the 229 FPS average suggests the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates when the GPU load is minimal. The fact that this drops to 147 FPS at 1440p Low and 79 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that the GPU scales down with resolution as expected, but the CPU maintains enough headroom to avoid becoming the limiting factor even at the highest measured frame rates. The PassMark single-thread score of 3509 and multi-thread score of 25933 further confirm that the processor has ample single-core and multi-core capability for a game of Minimum's generation.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon RX 7900M ranks 1620 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 56.3rd percentile of all combinations tested. This rank reflects the balanced nature of the pairing: the CPU is strong but not top-tier, while the GPU is exceptional, ranking in the 94th percentile among all GPUs.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 97487 places it very close to the AMD Radeon Pro VII at 97131 (0.4% higher for the 7900M) and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 at 101872 (4.3% lower for the 7900M). The AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 trails at 92466 (5.4% lower), and the NVIDIA RTX A4500 sits at 91671 (6.3% lower). This positioning shows the RX 7900M is a high-end mobile GPU capable of competing with professional workstation cards from the same era.

The combo rank of 1620 out of 3712 suggests that while the individual components are strong, the overall pairing is not in the top tier of tested combinations. This is likely because many higher-ranked combos pair the RX 7900M with even more powerful desktop CPUs, or pair top-tier CPUs with the GPU. The 165H, despite its strong performance, does not boost the combo into the upper quartile of rankings in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a wide spread across presets. Low settings deliver an average of 229 FPS, the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 175 FPS with a min of 149 and max of 201. High settings reduce the average to 147 FPS, while Ultra settings drop further to 112 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 51.1% reduction in average FPS at 1080p, showing that each preset tier imposes a significant additional GPU load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern persists with lower absolute values. Low settings average 147 FPS, Medium settings average 113 FPS with a min of 96 and max of 130, High settings average 95 FPS, and Ultra settings average 72 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 51.0%, nearly identical to the 1080p percentage reduction. This consistency indicates that the relative cost of each preset tier is resolution-independent, a sign of well-balanced render paths in the game engine.

At 3840x2160, the numbers become more demanding. Low settings still manage an average of 79 FPS, which is playable for a third-person shooter. Medium settings average 61 FPS with a min of 52 and max of 70, providing solid playability with some headroom. High settings drop to 51 FPS, which remains above the 30 FPS threshold but approaches the edge of smoothness. Ultra settings average 39 FPS, the lowest figure in the dataset, which may feel less responsive during fast-paced action.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 149 to 201 FPS, a spread of 52 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 96 to 130 FPS, a spread of 34 FPS. At 4K, the range is 52 to 70 FPS, a spread of 18 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame times become more consistent as the GPU becomes more heavily loaded, likely because the CPU has ample headroom to maintain a steady stream of draw calls.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is built on the Navi 31 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 render output units, along with 72 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2090 MHz, with memory running at 2250 MHz effective 18 Gbps.

The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Minimum's demands even at 4K Ultra settings. The 38.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 401.3 GPixel/s pixel rate indicate a GPU capable of handling modern titles at high resolutions, and the 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms this capability.

The GPU's benchmark results include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4201, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 129499, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 158760. These scores place the RX 7900M in the top tier of mobile GPUs, with nearest rivals including workstation-class cards like the Quadro RTX 6000 and Radeon Pro VII. In Minimum, the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, as shown by the measured FPS data.

The fact that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K is evident from the frame rates at that resolution: even at Low settings, the 79 FPS average is less than half of the 229 FPS achieved at 1080p Low. This confirms that the RX 7900M's rendering throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides more than enough processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 175 FPS average with a 149 FPS minimum provides an exceptionally smooth experience well above any display refresh rate. At 1440p Medium, the 113 FPS average with a 96 FPS minimum remains highly playable, suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum delivers a playable experience, though at the edge of what most players would consider smooth for a shooter.

The High preset is a viable alternative for players prioritizing visual fidelity. At 1080p, it delivers 147 FPS, still comfortably above 144 Hz thresholds. At 1440p, 95 FPS remains playable but may not fully utilize a 144 Hz display. At 4K, the 51 FPS average is borderline, acceptable for slower-paced segments but potentially problematic during intense firefights.

Ultra settings are only recommended for players at 1080p, where the 112 FPS average provides smooth gameplay. At 1440p, the 72 FPS average is playable but represents a significant compromise over Medium. At 4K, the 39 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS standard and is not recommended for competitive play. Low settings offer the highest frame rates at every resolution, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial given that even Medium provides excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: The data shows 2560x1440 Medium provides 113 FPS average with a 96 FPS minimum, which balances visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080 Medium, the 175 FPS average offers the smoothest experience, while 3840x2160 Medium at 61 FPS is the highest resolution that maintains playable frame rates.

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

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97487, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro VII at 97131, 4.3% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 at 101872, 5.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 at 92466, and 6.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A4500 at 91671.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings presets, with a 65.1% to 65.5% reduction in average FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the percentage drop would be smaller at higher resolutions, but the consistent pattern indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 39 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the lowest figure in the dataset and falls below the 60 FPS standard, making it less suitable for fast-paced gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1620 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the 56.3rd percentile. The GPU ranks in the 94th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs.

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

A: At Medium settings, the min FPS is consistently 85% of the average across all resolutions: 149 min vs 175 avg at 1080p, 96 min vs 113 avg at 1440p, and 52 min vs 61 avg at 4K. This indicates stable frame pacing with no major stuttering.