Minimum

# Minimum – Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX + AMD Radeon RX 7900M

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900M delivers a strong showing in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The data shows this combo ranks 1224th out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all systems. Across the measured presets, this hardware handles 1080p and 1440p gaming comfortably, while 4K requires some settings discipline to stay smooth. The RX 7900M's 16 GB of VRAM and the 265HX's 20 cores provide a balanced foundation, though the game's age means CPU overhead is rarely a bottleneck at lower resolutions. Below is a detailed breakdown of how this specific configuration performs, what settings to use, and where the hardware's strengths and limits lie.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear sweet spot at Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium produces 175 FPS average with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS — this is the only preset at 1080p that provides both a high average and a documented floor above 144 Hz. High settings at 1080p drop to 147 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Low settings at 1080p hit 229 FPS, but the visual quality loss in a third-person shooter is rarely worth the extra frames when Medium already exceeds most high-refresh displays.

At 1440p, Medium again stands out. The 113 FPS average with a 96 FPS minimum and 130 FPS maximum represents the best balance of fluidity and fidelity. High settings at 1440p deliver 95 FPS average, which is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but falls short of 120 Hz panels. Low settings at 1440p reach 147 FPS, but Medium's 113 FPS is close enough that the visual upgrade justifies the small frame hit. Ultra settings at 1440p drop to 72 FPS, which is playable for slower-paced sections but not ideal for a shooter's fast movement.

At 4K, Medium is the recommended choice. The 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum and 70 FPS maximum keeps gameplay above 60 FPS in most scenes, though the minimum dips slightly below. High settings at 4K average 51 FPS, which is borderline for smooth play. Low settings at 4K hit 79 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. Ultra settings at 4K fall to 39 FPS, which is too low for comfortable shooting. For the best experience, use Medium at 4K if you want native resolution; otherwise, consider dropping to 1440p High for a more consistent experience.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the primary driver of Minimum's performance, and the data reflects its capabilities. This GPU features 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation pipelines, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. The chip contains 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocks running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The GPU's base clock is 1825 MHz with a boost clock of 2090 MHz.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Minimum, a game from 2014 that was designed for far less memory. This means VRAM is never a limiting factor in any measured configuration. The GPU's bandwidth and compute throughput — 38.52 TFLOPS FP32 — are the more relevant specs here. At 1080p, the RX 7900M pushes 229 FPS on Low settings, indicating that the GPU is only modestly taxed at this resolution. The 576.0 GB/s memory bandwidth helps maintain consistent frame pacing, particularly noticeable in the Medium preset's narrow 52 FPS gap between minimum and maximum at 4K.

The RX 7900M's benchmark scores contextualize its performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 4201, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 129499 and 158760, respectively. The GPU's percentile ranking is 94th among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 97487. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RX 7900M is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII (97131), 4.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (101872), 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92466), and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91671). This places it in a competitive mid-to-high tier, well-suited for 1440p gaming and capable of 4K with settings adjustments.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX plays a supporting role in Minimum, but its specifications ensure it never holds the GPU back. This processor has 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It's built on Arrow Lake architecture using TSMC's 3 nm process, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3. The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes. The 55 W TDP is modest for a 20-core part, reflecting its mobile design.

In Minimum, the CPU's impact is most visible at lower resolutions where frame rates are high. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 229 FPS, which requires strong single-thread performance. The 265HX's PassMark single-thread score of 4500 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5737 indicate solid per-core capability. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz is high for a mobile chip, and this likely helps maintain frame pacing at high FPS. The CPU's multithreaded strength — Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642 — is less relevant for Minimum since the game is not heavily threaded, but it ensures background tasks don't interfere with gameplay.

The CPU's overall benchmark profile supports this interpretation. Its average benchmark score is 63173, ranking in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Compared to nearest rivals, the 265HX is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13790F (63080), 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (63331), 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (62839), and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (62738). These close margins suggest the 265HX is competitively positioned, though its performance in Minimum is more dependent on the GPU. The 20-thread count is overkill for this game, but it provides headroom for streaming or multitasking while playing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this hardware?

A: Medium settings at 1080p produce 175 FPS average with a 149 FPS minimum and 201 FPS maximum. This is the recommended balance, as High settings drop to 147 FPS average and Low settings reach 229 FPS but with reduced visual quality.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming smoothly?

A: At 4K, Medium settings deliver 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum and 70 FPS maximum, staying mostly above 60 FPS. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39 FPS, so Medium is the only viable preset for consistent play at 4K.

Q: How does the RX 7900M compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97487, placing it 0.4% above the AMD Radeon Pro VII, 4.3% below the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, 5.4% above the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, and 6.3% above the NVIDIA RTX A4500.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes. Minimum is a 2014 title, and the 16 GB GDDR6 memory on the RX 7900M far exceeds the game's requirements. VRAM is not a limiting factor in any measured settings or resolution.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 229 FPS, and the Core Ultra 7 265HX's single-thread score of 4500 in PassMark supports this capability. The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz helps maintain high frame rates.

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

A: At 1440p, Medium settings average 113 FPS with a 96 FPS minimum and 130 FPS maximum, while Ultra settings average 72 FPS. This represents a 41 FPS drop (approximately 36%) when moving from Medium to Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals how Minimum scales across resolutions for this hardware. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by roughly 35-38% across all settings. For example, High settings go from 147 FPS at 1080p to 95 FPS at 1440p — a 52 FPS decrease. Medium settings drop from 175 FPS to 113 FPS — a 62 FPS decrease. Low settings fall from 229 FPS to 147 FPS — an 82 FPS decrease. This consistent percentage drop suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at these resolutions, with the CPU maintaining adequate frame delivery.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced. High settings drop from 95 FPS to 51 FPS — a 44 FPS decrease (46%). Medium settings fall from 113 FPS to 61 FPS — a 52 FPS decrease (46%). Low settings go from 147 FPS to 79 FPS — a 68 FPS decrease (46%). Ultra settings drop from 72 FPS to 39 FPS — a 33 FPS decrease (46%). The consistent 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is entirely responsible for the scaling, as pixel count increases by 2.25x but the FPS drops by less than half — suggesting some efficiency in the 4K rendering path.

The limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates (up to 229 FPS on Low) suggest the CPU's single-thread performance is adequate, but the GPU is still the main constraint since lowering settings yields higher FPS. At 4K, the GPU is unambiguously the bottleneck — the 39 FPS on Ultra versus 79 FPS on Low shows a 40 FPS range driven entirely by GPU workload. The CPU's 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom, and the 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor at any resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 229 FPS, which is the maximum measured across all configurations. Medium settings average 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS — this is the only preset with documented frame variance at 1080p. High settings average 147 FPS, and Ultra settings average 112 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 117 FPS, highlighting the GPU's headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but scales down predictably. Low settings average 147 FPS, identical to 1080p High. Medium settings average 113 FPS with a 96 FPS minimum and 130 FPS maximum, making it the most stable preset at this resolution. High settings average 95 FPS, and Ultra settings average 72 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 75 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating increased GPU pressure.

At 3840x2160, the hardware is pushed to its limits. Low settings average 79 FPS, which is the only preset above 60 FPS at 4K. Medium settings average 61 FPS with a 52 FPS minimum and 70 FPS maximum — the minimum dips below 60 FPS, but the average is playable. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra settings average 39 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 40 FPS, the smallest range of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K.

The Medium preset's frame variance is documented at all three resolutions: 52-70 FPS at 4K, 96-130 FPS at 1440p, and 149-201 FPS at 1080p. This consistency suggests that Medium is the most thoroughly optimized preset for this hardware, balancing visual load and frame delivery. For competitive play, 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium are the best choices; for visual fidelity on a 4K display, 4K Medium is the only sensible option. Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution due to the significant FPS cost relative to High or Medium.