Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core Ultra 7 265 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a broad performance envelope across Minimum's resolution and settings matrix, with the data showing a clear transition from GPU-bound behavior at 4K to an increasingly balanced workload at 1080p. The measured results span from 53 FPS at 4K Ultra to 310 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that this pairing can handle both high-fidelity and competitive play, though the scaling pattern reveals important nuances about where the bottleneck shifts.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets, confirming that Minimum scales heavily with pixel count. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 199 FPS at 1920x1080 to 128 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 36% reduction — and then falls further to 69 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 65% decline from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering throughput becomes the determining factor.

The Low settings preset shows an even more dramatic absolute drop: 310 FPS at 1080p falls to 200 FPS at 1440p (a 35% decrease) and then to 108 FPS at 4K (a 65% decrease from 1080p). The percentage drops are nearly identical between High and Low presets when moving from 1080p to 4K, which suggests that the scaling penalty is resolution-driven rather than setting-driven. This uniformity implies that the GPU's pixel throughput, not its shading or texture capabilities, is the primary limiter at 4K regardless of quality level.

Medium settings tell a similar story: 237 FPS at 1080p, 153 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The 1440p-to-4K drop for Medium is 46%, slightly steeper than the High preset's 46% and Low's 46%, indicating that the intermediate preset does not change the fundamental scaling relationship. Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates but follow the same pattern: 152 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 53 FPS at 4K (a 65% drop from 1080p).

The consistency of these scaling ratios — roughly 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 65% from 1080p to 4K — points to a GPU that is being saturated by pixel fill requirements at higher resolutions. The CPU does not appear to be the limiting factor at 4K, as the frame rates there are too low to be constrained by the Core Ultra 7 265's processing power. At 1080p Low, however, the 310 FPS result begins to approach the range where CPU overhead could become relevant, though the data does not show a plateau that would confirm this.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The maximum measured average is 310 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 237 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 199 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K Medium the average is 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, and at 4K High the average is 69 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 53 FPS average, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at the same resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 152 FPS versus High's 199 FPS — a 24% reduction. At 1440p, the difference is 98 FPS versus 128 FPS (23% lower), and at 4K, 53 FPS versus 69 FPS (23% lower).

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low settings produce 200 FPS average, while Ultra produces 98 FPS. This represents a 51% performance advantage for Low over Ultra at 2560x1440.

Q: Does the Medium preset offer a balanced experience?

A: Medium provides 237 FPS at 1080p, 153 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The 1440p Medium result is 19% faster than High and 36% faster than Ultra at the same resolution.

Q: Are there any resolutions where this combo struggles to stay above 100 FPS?

A: At 4K, all presets except Low (108 FPS) fall below 100 FPS: Medium averages 82 FPS, High 69 FPS, and Ultra 53 FPS. At 1440p, only Ultra (98 FPS) dips slightly below 100 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide substantial single-thread headroom, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core help feed data to the cores, while the dual-channel DDR5 memory interface offers 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Minimum, the CPU's role appears secondary at higher resolutions but potentially significant at 1080p Low. At 4K, the frame rates range from 53 to 108 FPS, which are well within the range where the GPU's rendering workload dominates. The RTX 4070 SUPER is likely the bottleneck at 3840x2160, as the CPU has ample headroom to issue draw calls and manage game logic at these frame rates. The 108 FPS at 4K Low further confirms that even at reduced settings, the GPU can keep up with the CPU's output.

At 1080p, however, the picture changes. The Low preset reaches 310 FPS, and the Medium preset hits 237 FPS. These numbers are high enough that CPU performance becomes more relevant, though the data does not provide direct evidence of a CPU bottleneck. The Core Ultra 7 265's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and PassMark multithread score of 49682 indicate strong overall throughput, while the single-thread score of 4689 in PassMark suggests it can handle lightly-threaded workloads efficiently.

The processor's 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for Minimum's demands, which is a title from 2014 and unlikely to scale beyond a handful of threads. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz is more relevant for this game than the core count, as older titles often rely on single-thread performance. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any measured resolution, as frame rates scale linearly with resolution and settings changes rather than showing CPU-induced plateaus.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 439th out of 2939 total combos. This places it in the top 15% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the breadth of hardware combinations tracked. The percentile ranking reflects the overall capability of the pairing across all measured resolutions and settings, not just a single point.

The CPU's individual percentile versus all CPUs is 93, meaning it outperforms 93% of processors in the database. Its average benchmark score of 64640 places it just below the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823, a -0.3% delta) and above the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438, a +0.3% delta). The closest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7343 at 64202 (+0.7% delta) and the AMD EPYC 9124 at 65104 (-0.7% delta), indicating that the Core Ultra 7 265 sits in a tightly packed cluster of high-performance server and desktop chips.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 83, with an average benchmark score of 43223. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, -0.1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, -0.2% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, -1% delta). This grouping shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER's compute performance is competitive with both workstation and mobile flagship parts.

The combination rank of 439 out of 2939 suggests that while both components are individually strong, there are many other pairings that achieve higher frame rates in Minimum. This is likely because Minimum is not an extremely demanding title, and many high-end GPUs paired with capable CPUs can exceed these results. However, the rank still places this combo well within the upper quartile of all tested systems.

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 delivers 237 FPS average with a minimum of 202 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 1440p, Medium produces 153 FPS average with a minimum of 130 FPS, comfortably exceeding 120 FPS for smooth gameplay. Even at 4K, Medium maintains 82 FPS average with a 70 FPS minimum, remaining playable on standard 60 Hz displays.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates. At 1080p, High achieves 199 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. At 1440p, High's 128 FPS average is sufficient for 120 Hz displays. However, at 4K, High drops to 69 FPS, which may be marginal for some players but remains above the 60 FPS threshold.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 1080p or 1440p displays who prioritize maximum visual quality. At 1080p, Ultra still delivers 152 FPS, and at 1440p it provides 98 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 4K, Ultra's 53 FPS average falls below 60 FPS and is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The Low preset is the best choice for maximizing frame rates, particularly at 1080p where it reaches 310 FPS. At 1440p, Low's 200 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, and even at 4K it achieves 108 FPS. However, the visual quality trade-off may not be worth the performance gain for most users, as Medium offers significantly better visuals at only a 23% performance penalty at 1080p (237 vs 310 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings produce the highest average at 310 FPS, followed by Medium at 237 FPS with a minimum of 202 and maximum of 273. High settings deliver 199 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 152 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 158 FPS, representing a 51% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to highest quality preset.

At 2560x1440, the results scale down proportionally. Low settings maintain 200 FPS average, which is still extremely high. Medium achieves 153 FPS with a minimum of 130 and maximum of 176. High settings produce 128 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 98 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 102 FPS, a 51% reduction that mirrors the 1080p scaling.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops become more pronounced. Low settings deliver 108 FPS average, which is the only 4K preset above 100 FPS. Medium achieves 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 95. High settings produce 69 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 53 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread at 4K is 55 FPS, representing a 51% reduction, consistent with the other resolutions.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values across all three resolutions, providing a more complete picture of frame time consistency. At 1080p, the minimum of 202 FPS is 85% of the average (237 FPS), indicating stable performance. At 1440p, the minimum of 130 FPS is also 85% of the average (153 FPS). At 4K, the minimum of 70 FPS is 85% of the average (82 FPS), showing consistent frame pacing across all resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, delivering 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Memory configuration is a key factor in Minimum's performance at higher resolutions. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's texture and geometry demands at 4K. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), and the data shows that the GPU does not appear to be memory-bandwidth limited, as frame rates scale smoothly with resolution changes.

The GPU's role in Minimum is dominant at all measured settings, particularly at 4K where it is clearly the limiting component. The PassMark G3D score of 29995 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 indicate strong overall graphics performance, and the Geekbench Vulkan score of 205624 suggests good API efficiency. The 83rd percentile ranking versus all GPUs places it well above average, though not at the top tier.

At 1080p, the GPU still plays a significant role, as evidenced by the 310 FPS at Low settings. The RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering capability is the primary driver of frame rates, even at lower resolutions where the CPU could theoretically become a factor. The consistent 51% performance reduction from Low to Ultra across all resolutions confirms that the GPU's workload scales directly with quality settings, making it the dominant component in this pairing for Minimum.