Minimum

Minimum, the 2014 third-person shooter, paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, delivers a performance profile that is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions but remarkably CPU-capable at lower settings. The combination ranks 1228th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the 67th percentile of all configurations tested for this title, which indicates a strong but not elite standing among the database's measured results. The data reveals a clear narrative: this hardware is overkill for 1080p gaming, exceptionally smooth at 1440p, and only begins to show its limitations at 4K, where the GPU's workload becomes the primary constraint on frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1228 out of 3712 represents a solid upper-mid-tier placement, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of all tested configurations in Minimum. This is a notable achievement given the game's age, as the hardware is clearly capable of leveraging the title's relatively modest rendering demands. The ranking suggests that while this setup is not at the absolute pinnacle of performance—where specialized high-end desktops with newer GPUs reside—it comfortably sits ahead of the vast majority of laptops and older systems, making it a highly competent platform for this specific shooter.

Examining the CPU's synthetic benchmarks provides context for this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 14,551 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,759 in single-core, with an average benchmark score of 34,083. This places it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H, which scores 33,989 and is only 0.3% behind. The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, a popular desktop processor, trails by 0.5% with a score of 34,260. These tight margins indicate that the Core Ultra 7 165H is delivering desktop-class multi-threaded performance in a mobile form factor, which is a significant factor in maintaining high frame rates in Minimum's CPU-bound scenarios. The GPU, with a Passmark G3D score of 24,926, also sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, though its nearest rivals show interesting variance, with the RTX 5080 Mobile being 0.6% behind and the RTX 4070 being 1.3% ahead in average score.

In practical terms, the data shows that this combination is well-balanced for Minimum, as the CPU's strong single-core performance prevents it from bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU's substantial memory bandwidth and compute power take over as the resolution increases. The rank reflects a system that can handle the game's most demanding presets at high resolutions, but it also highlights that there is headroom for improvement, particularly when pushing 4K Ultra settings where the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

For the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance, the data strongly points toward the High preset at 1440p as the sweet spot. At 2560x1440 High, the combo achieves an average of 106 FPS, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target and provides a smooth, responsive experience for a third-person shooter. This setting offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium while only sacrificing 20 FPS compared to the Medium preset's 126 FPS average at the same resolution. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p results in a substantial 25 FPS drop to 81 FPS, which is still playable but begins to compromise the fluidity that competitive shooters benefit from.

If the priority is maximum competitive advantage, the Low preset at 1080p delivers an extraordinary 256 FPS average, ensuring that the display's refresh rate is the only limiting factor. This setting is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors and provides the lowest input latency, making it the recommended choice for players who prioritize frame rate over graphical detail. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a more balanced experience with 196 FPS, while High at 1080p still produces an excellent 164 FPS, showing that the hardware is rarely stressed at this resolution.

At 4K, the recommendations become more nuanced. The High preset at 3840x2160 yields 57 FPS, which is just barely below the 60 FPS target and represents the most visually rich experience that maintains playability. The Medium preset at 4K provides a safer margin with 68 FPS, ensuring smoother motion but with reduced visual quality. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as it drops to 43 FPS, which can feel sluggish for a shooter. The Low preset at 4K, while producing 89 FPS, defeats the purpose of rendering at such a high resolution by sacrificing the visual detail that makes it worthwhile. Therefore, the data indicates that for 4K gaming, High is the best compromise, while for 1440p, High is the definitive recommendation.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 164 at 1080p to 106 at 1440p, a 35% reduction, and then further to 57 at 4K, a 46% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is being progressively saturated as the pixel count increases. The CPU, with its strong single-core score of 1,759 in Cinebench R23, is demonstrably capable of feeding the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 164 FPS average, but the GPU's rendering workload becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

The data at the Low preset further illustrates this dynamic. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 256 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation limit for this title. When moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 165, a 35% decrease, and at 4K Low, it falls to 89, a 46% decrease from 1440p. This consistent percentage drop across different settings strongly suggests that the RTX 4080 Mobile's fill rate and pixel processing power are the primary bottlenecks at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains a significant amount of headroom. The fact that the 1080p Low score (256 FPS) is not dramatically higher than the 1080p High score (164 FPS) also indicates that the game engine is beginning to be limited by the CPU's single-threaded performance at very high frame rates.

In summary, the resolution scaling data shows that this combo is excellent for 1440p gaming, where the GPU can maintain high frame rates with ample visual detail. At 1080p, the system is massively overprovisioned, with the CPU becoming the limiting factor only at the lowest settings. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint, and the performance drops become more pronounced, especially on the Ultra preset, which struggles to maintain a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers outstanding results across the board. The Low preset achieves an average of 256 FPS, which is exceptional for any hardware. Medium produces 196 FPS with a minimum of 166 FPS and a maximum of 225 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High delivers 164 FPS, still far above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 125 FPS, demonstrating that even the most demanding settings are easily handled at this resolution. These numbers confirm that the combo is never a bottleneck at 1080p, and all settings are highly playable.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the GPU beginning to work harder. The Low preset achieves 165 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. Medium produces 126 FPS with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, showing a slight dip but remaining very smooth. High delivers 106 FPS, which is a superb result for a high-detail setting at this resolution. The Ultra preset drops to 81 FPS, which is still playable but represents a noticeable step down from the other settings. This resolution offers the best balance between visual quality and performance, with the High preset being the standout choice.

At 3840x2160, the combo's limits become apparent. The Low preset achieves 89 FPS, which is surprisingly playable for 4K and suggests that the game's low-detail settings are not particularly demanding. Medium produces 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS, providing a stable experience that hovers around the 60 FPS target. High delivers 57 FPS, which is just below the ideal threshold and may incur minor stutters in fast-paced action. The Ultra preset drops to 43 FPS, which is generally considered too low for a smooth shooter experience. The data clearly shows that 4K Ultra is the only setting that pushes the combo to an unplayable level, while the other presets offer varying degrees of playability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the dominant component in this combo for Minimum, particularly at higher resolutions. Its specifications—12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth—provide ample resources for the game's textures and geometry at 4K. The GPU's 7,424 shading units and 80 ROPs are responsible for the pixel throughput that determines frame rates at high resolutions. The base clock of 1290 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz, while modest, are supplemented by the architecture's efficiency, resulting in a Passmark G3D score of 24,926. This places the GPU in the 81st percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, which is 0.4% behind in average score, a statistical tie.

The GPU's role as the primary limiting factor at 4K is evident in the FPS scaling. The 43 FPS result at 4K Ultra compared to the 57 FPS at 4K High shows that the additional rendering complexity of the Ultra preset, which likely includes higher shadow quality and draw distances, overwhelms the GPU's processing capabilities. The 12 GB VRAM buffer is likely sufficient for Minimum even at 4K, but the compute and pixel shading demands are what cause the performance drop. The GPU's FP32 performance of 24.72 TFLOPS and texture rate of 386.3 GTexel/s are used heavily in the game's particle effects and lighting calculations.

In contrast, the CPU's role is more supportive. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, with its 16 cores and 22 threads, provides the necessary physics calculations and game logic processing. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain low latency for frequently accessed data. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and close margins to rivals like the AMD EPYC 4244P (0.4% ahead) and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (0.5% ahead) indicate that it is not a weak point in this configuration. The data suggests that the GPU is the component that determines the ceiling for visual quality and resolution, while the CPU ensures that frame rates remain high when the GPU is not fully saturated.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Minimum at 60 FPS on a 4K monitor?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K with the Medium preset, the combo achieves 68 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target. The High preset yields 57 FPS, which is slightly below, while the Low preset produces 89 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 43 FPS, which is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 provides the best experience, delivering an average of 106 FPS. This is significantly higher than the 81 FPS of the Ultra preset and only slightly lower than the 126 FPS of Medium, while offering better visual quality than Medium.

Q: How does the CPU perform compared to its direct competitors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has an average benchmark score of 34,083, ranking in the 84th percentile. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, but 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC 4244P, indicating near-identical performance among these rivals.

Q: What is the limiting component when playing at 1080p with Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 256 FPS, which is extremely high. The data suggests the CPU's single-threaded performance becomes the limiting factor at this point, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 Mobile's memory capacity sufficient for Minimum?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The data does not indicate any memory-related performance issues, as the frame rates are primarily limited by the GPU's computational throughput rather than its memory capacity, even at 4K Ultra settings.

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this specific combo?

A: This combo ranks 1228th out of 3712 tested combinations for Minimum, placing it in the upper third of all results. This ranking is supported by the CPU's 84th percentile and the GPU's 81st percentile standings among their respective categories.