Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter that remains surprisingly demanding at high resolutions, and this pairing of an Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER shows exactly where the bottlenecks lie. The measured data reveals a system that crushes 1080p gaming, remains highly capable at 1440p, but starts to show its limits at 4K with the most aggressive settings. This analysis breaks down the resolution scaling, component roles, and optimal settings based strictly on the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about what limits this combo. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 354 FPS at 1920x1080 to 228 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 123 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a massive performance hit that points directly at the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. With High settings, the average drops from 228 FPS at 1080p to 147 FPS at 1440p and finally to 79 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset shows similar behavior: 271 FPS at 1080p, 175 FPS at 1440p, and 94 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, falling from 173 FPS at 1080p to 112 FPS at 1440p and just 60 FPS at 4K.

What this data indicates is that at 1080p, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the RTX 4080 SUPER has plenty of headroom. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 181 FPS, showing that the CPU can feed the GPU at very high frame rates. However, at 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 63 FPS, which suggests the GPU is now the limiting factor and settings changes have less relative impact.

The 1440p results represent the sweet spot for this combo. At High settings, 147 FPS is well above the 144Hz refresh rate that many monitors offer, and even Ultra settings at 112 FPS remain smooth. The 4K Ultra result of 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold of what many consider playable, but it lacks the headroom for competitive play or high-refresh displays.

Interestingly, the minimum FPS data available for Medium settings shows that at 4K, the frame rate can dip to 80 FPS, while at 1440p it bottoms out at 149 FPS, and at 1080p it never goes below 230 FPS. This suggests that even the average 4K Medium result of 94 FPS may not feel consistently smooth during intense gameplay scenes.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the 4K performance ceiling. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial but not unlimited. The boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units provide the raw compute power that drives those high frame rates at lower resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54209. Its nearest rival, the standard RTX 4080, scores 54247, a delta of just -0.1%, meaning the SUPER variant is essentially on par with its predecessor in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher, but this does not translate to better gaming performance in Minimum based on the measured FPS data.

The 4K results show the GPU's memory bandwidth becoming a factor. At 4K Ultra, the card produces 60 FPS, which is exactly half of what it achieves at 1080p Ultra (173 FPS). This halving of performance from 1080p to 4K is consistent with the pixel count quadrupling, meaning the GPU is scaling nearly linearly with resolution. This is a sign that the RTX 4080 SUPER is fully utilized at 4K and cannot overcome the increased pixel workload.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not likely a limiting factor in this game, given its 2014 release date. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the card maintains playable performance, and the memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s appears sufficient for this title. However, the 23 Gbps effective memory speed and 256-bit bus width do create a ceiling that prevents higher frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 80 RT cores are irrelevant for this game, which was released in 2014 and likely uses older rendering techniques. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 301 and DirectX 12 score of 134 show that the card is significantly faster in legacy APIs, which matters for a game of this era.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 211 out of 2939 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the top 7% of all systems tested. This is a strong showing, but not a top-tier result, which reflects the fact that the CPU is not the absolute fastest available and the GPU, while excellent, is not the flagship of its generation.

The CPU's overall percentile rank of 93 places it among the best processors available, and its average benchmark score of 64640 puts it in a tight cluster with its rivals. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64823, just 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438, a 0.3% deficit. These differences are negligible and mean the CPU choice has minimal impact on the combo's ranking.

The GPU's 86th percentile ranking is slightly lower than the CPU's 93rd percentile, which suggests the graphics card is the more limiting factor in this pairing. The RTX 4080 SUPER's average score of 54209 is within 2.8% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757, but the measured FPS in Minimum shows this card performing well above what its synthetic scores might suggest.

Given that the combo ranks 211 out of 2939, there are 210 combinations that perform better in this game. These would likely feature higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or possibly faster CPUs, but the data does not specify which combos outrank this one. What is clear is that this system is in the top percentile of all tested hardware, making it a high-end option for Minimum.

The rank of 211 out of 2939 also means that the vast majority of systems tested (over 2700) perform worse than this combo. This places the Intel Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4080 SUPER firmly in the enthusiast tier, capable of running Minimum at high settings across all resolutions, with only the most extreme 4K Ultra settings pushing it to its limits.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Minimum with this combo?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with 147 FPS at High settings and 112 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the frame rate drops to 79 FPS at High and 60 FPS at Ultra, which is playable but lacks headroom.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 354 at 1080p to 123 at 4K, a 65% reduction. At High settings, it falls from 228 to 79 FPS, and at Ultra, from 173 to 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is more likely the limiting factor, as frame rates exceed 350 FPS and the GPU has headroom. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the larger FPS drop and the narrowing gap between settings presets.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080 (54247) and 2.8% lower than the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757). These differences are minor and do not reflect real-world gaming performance.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 94, with a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 108. This provides a smooth experience for most games but may have occasional dips below 90 FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a good experience at any resolution?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 173 FPS, which is excellent. At 1440p, it drops to 112 FPS, which is still smooth. At 4K, it hits exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum for playable but does not offer any margin for frame drops.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience at each resolution. For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset at 173 FPS is the obvious choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while maintaining frame rates well above 144 FPS. There is no reason to sacrifice visual fidelity at this resolution, as even the most demanding settings do not push the system near its limits.

At 1440p, the High preset at 147 FPS is the recommended choice for competitive play, as it remains above 144Hz and provides a noticeable visual improvement over Medium (175 FPS) with only a 28 FPS cost. The Ultra preset at 112 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, as it remains above 100 FPS and should feel smooth on most displays.

For 4K, the decision is more nuanced. The High preset at 79 FPS is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it stays above 60 FPS and provides a significant improvement over Medium (94 FPS at 4K) in visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is only recommended for players with VRR displays or those who prioritize graphics over frame rate, as there is no headroom for frame drops.

The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the performance gains over Medium are not worth the visual degradation. At 4K, Low produces 123 FPS compared to Medium's 94 FPS, but the visual quality loss is severe. The Medium preset at 4K (94 FPS) is a viable alternative for those who want higher frame rates than High (79 FPS) but cannot tolerate the visual quality of Low.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests using High settings at 1440p, which delivers 147 FPS and provides a good balance of visual fidelity and performance. This combination ensures smooth gameplay on high-refresh monitors while maintaining the visual quality that the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of producing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high boost clock is critical for gaming performance, as Minimum likely relies on single-threaded performance for its core game logic. The CPU's single-core Cinebench R23 score of 5960 is impressive and explains why the system can achieve 354 FPS at 1080p Low settings.

The CPU's architecture is Arrow Lake, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain high IPC in gaming workloads, while the 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's multi-core performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216. This places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64823 (0.3% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438 (0.3% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7343 scores 64202 (0.7% lower). These differences are negligible and show that the Ultra 7 265 is well-positioned among high-end processors.

At 1080p, the CPU's performance is the primary driver of frame rates. The fact that the system can hit 354 FPS at Low settings and 271 FPS at Medium settings shows that the CPU can sustain very high frame rates without becoming a constraint. However, at 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor and the frame rate is determined by the graphics card's rendering capability rather than the CPU's processing speed.

The CPU's power efficiency, with a 65W TDP, is notable for a 20-core processor, and its support for DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration allows for high bandwidth that benefits both gaming and productivity workloads. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 32EU is present but irrelevant for this discrete GPU setup, as the RTX 4080 SUPER handles all rendering duties. Overall, the CPU provides ample performance for Minimum at all resolutions, and only at 4K Ultra does the GPU become the clear bottleneck, with the CPU having more than enough headroom to support even higher frame rates if the GPU could deliver them.