Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but has enough headroom to push very high frame rates at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics, scaling behavior, and optimal settings for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 300 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 193 FPS, a 35.7% reduction, and at 4K Low, the average falls to 104 FPS, a 65.3% reduction from the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases, which is expected for a modern high-end card tackling a legacy title at extreme resolutions.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For High settings, the average FPS goes from 193 at 1080p, to 124 at 1440p, and finally to 67 at 4K. This represents a 35.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The consistent percentage drops suggest that the workload is scaling linearly with the pixel count, a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is not a constraining factor in these scenarios.

The most demanding configuration, 4K Ultra, yields an average of 51 FPS. This is a stark contrast to the 147 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra. The data shows that while the RX 7900 XT can handle 4K, it requires a significant compromise in settings to maintain a smooth frame rate. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, suggesting that the 800.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 20 GB of GDDR6 memory are being taxed heavily by the higher resolution buffers and texture loads.

Interestingly, the scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent performance cost. At 1080p, the difference between Low (300 FPS) and Ultra (147 FPS) is a 51% reduction in average frame rate. At 1440p, the spread is from 193 FPS to 95 FPS, a 50.8% reduction. At 4K, the gap narrows slightly in absolute terms, from 104 FPS to 51 FPS, but the percentage reduction remains similar at 51%. This consistency implies that the graphical settings are adding a relatively fixed amount of GPU work, regardless of the base resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing. Its performance is defined by the RDNA 3.0 architecture on the Navi 31 chip. The card operates with a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2025 MHz. These clocks, combined with 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs, provide the raw compute power to drive high frame rates. The card's 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s, which is crucial for feeding the GPU at 4K resolutions.

The benchmark results confirm the GPU's strong position. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the card scores 5623 points. Its Passmark G3D score is 29009, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 71068. These numbers place the GPU in the 55th percentile of all GPUs tested, according to the data. The nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon 660M, NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, and AMD Radeon RX 570X, with average scores differing by less than 1%. However, the RX 9070 XT is a close competitor at only 1.5% higher average score.

The GPU's role becomes clear when analyzing the 4K results. At 4K High, the average is 67 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a fast-paced shooter. The 4K Medium preset, with a minimum of 68 FPS and an average of 80 FPS, offers a more stable experience. The card's performance at 4K is not limited by its compute power, but rather by the sheer amount of pixel throughput required. The 459.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 804.4 GTexel/s texture rate are substantial, but the demands of 4K are immense. The data indicates that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU has ample headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 serves as a capable partner to the RX 7900 XT, ensuring that the GPU is not starved of data. This processor features 20 cores and 20 threads, based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help to reduce memory latency and improve instruction throughput. The CPU's memory bandwidth is rated at 102.4 GB/s with dual-channel DDR5 support.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position as a high-end desktop processor. It scores 42216 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5960 in single-core. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 49682, and its single-thread score is 4689. These results place the CPU in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs tested. The nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P, which has a score 0.3% lower, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, which is 0.3% higher. This indicates the 265 is a top-tier consumer chip.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame times at 1080p. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 300, which is likely a frame rate cap or an absolute limit of the game engine. This suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than the RX 7900 XT can render at higher resolutions. The CPU's 20 threads are more than sufficient for a game from 2014, and its high single-core performance is beneficial for the game's main logic thread. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a limiting factor in any of the measured configurations, effectively shifting the entire performance profile to the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT pairing ranks 521st out of 2939 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the top 17.7% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing. The rank reflects the overall capability of the system to run this specific title, considering both the CPU and GPU's contributions. Given the game's age, the high ranking is expected, as modern high-end components are far more powerful than what was available at the game's release.

The rank is a holistic metric that balances the strengths of both components. While the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates, the CPU must be capable enough to avoid creating a bottleneck. In this case, the Ultra 7 265's high single-thread performance ensures that the RX 7900 XT can operate at its full potential. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a high-end GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for a game like Minimum, where the GPU will almost always be the limiting factor. The 521st rank out of 2939 combos indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of other configurations tested by the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the clear choice. The average FPS of 147 is well above the threshold for a smooth experience, and the visual fidelity improvements are worth the performance cost. The High preset at 193 FPS is also viable for players with high-refresh-rate monitors, but the Ultra preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance without dipping below 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the High preset is the recommended starting point, delivering an average of 124 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a high refresh rate. The Medium preset, with an average of 148 FPS, is a better option for those seeking maximum frame rates, offering a 19% performance increase over High. For players with a 144Hz monitor, the High preset is ideal; for those with a 165Hz or higher refresh rate, the Medium preset might be preferable to stay closer to the refresh limit.

At 4K, the choice is more nuanced. The Ultra preset is too demanding, averaging only 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. The High preset reaches 67 FPS, making it the minimum viable option for a playable experience. However, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, with an average of 80 FPS and a minimum of 68 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while offering a significant visual improvement over Low. The data suggests that 4K Medium is the best balance for a consistent, playable frame rate on this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset. The data is presented as measured by the benchmark database.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 300 FPS average. This is the maximum performance observed, likely hitting a game engine or VSync cap.
• Medium: 230 FPS average, with a minimum of 195 FPS and a maximum of 264 FPS.
• High: 193 FPS average.
• Ultra: 147 FPS average.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 193 FPS average.
• Medium: 148 FPS average, with a minimum of 126 FPS and a maximum of 170 FPS.
• High: 124 FPS average.
• Ultra: 95 FPS average.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 104 FPS average.
• Medium: 80 FPS average, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS.
• High: 67 FPS average.
• Ultra: 51 FPS average.

The data highlights a clear hierarchy: 1080p is effortless, 1440p is ideal, and 4K requires settings management. The Medium preset at 4K is the only configuration that provides a minimum FPS above 60, making it the safest choice for a consistent experience. The high minimum FPS values at 1440p Medium and 1080p Medium also indicate good frame pacing, which is critical for a Third-Person Shooter. The absence of min/max data for some presets (Low, High, Ultra at various resolutions) suggests that the database only recorded average FPS for those runs, but the available minimums show no significant stuttering issues.