Minimum

# Minimum Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The measured FPS data for this combination in Minimum reveals a system that scales predictably across resolutions and presets, with the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM and the Core Ultra 7 265HX's 20 cores creating a balanced platform for this 2014-era third-person shooter. The combo ranks 1562 out of 2939 tested configurations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, with the data suggesting that the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps 1080p framerates exceptionally high.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how each preset performs across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 99 FPS average, which is fully playable for a shooter, but the jump to High at 130 FPS represents a 31% improvement while likely offering visually similar quality in most scenes. The Medium preset at 154 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and responsiveness, with a measured minimum of 131 FPS ensuring consistent frame pacing during intense combat sequences. For competitive play, the Low preset's 202 FPS average provides the highest headroom, though it sacrifices most visual effects.

At 1440p, the situation shifts slightly. High delivers 84 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while Ultra drops to 64 FPS — still playable but approaching the lower bound of what most players would consider acceptable for a fast-paced shooter. Medium at 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS presents the strongest case for 1440p gaming, offering a significant visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining fluid motion. The Low preset at 130 FPS is reserved for those prioritizing maximum frame rates over image quality.

At 4K, the data reveals that Ultra is largely impractical at 34 FPS average, and even High at 45 FPS struggles to maintain consistent motion. Medium at 54 FPS with a 46 FPS minimum is the only preset that approaches playability, while Low at 70 FPS becomes the recommended choice for 4K gaming. The overall recommendation across all resolutions is the Medium preset, as it consistently provides the best compromise between visual quality and frame rate, with measured minimums that keep the experience smooth.

CPU Role

The Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm TSMC process with 17,800 million transistors. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide substantial single-thread headroom, which is critical for Minimum's gameplay mechanics. The processor's L3 cache totals 30 MB shared, with 192 KB L1 and 3 MB L2 per core, enabling fast data access for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores contextualize its gaming performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 40,642 multi-core and 5,737 single-core, while PassMark's single-thread test shows 4,500. These numbers indicate strong per-core performance that translates well to older game engines like Minimum's, which typically rely heavily on a few threads. The processor's PassMark physics score of 2,978 suggests capable game physics processing, and the data compression score of 511,817 indicates efficient memory subsystem utilization.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the 265HX sits within 0.7% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX in average benchmark score, and it is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13790F while being 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G. This clustering places the CPU in a competitive position, though the 265HX's 20 cores give it an advantage in heavily threaded workloads that the game may not fully exploit. The 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that this processor is far from a bottleneck in most gaming scenarios, particularly at 1080p where the measured FPS of 202 on Low suggests the GPU is being fully utilized.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 mobile GPU, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, comes with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock of 1920 MHz boosts to 2475 MHz, and its 5,888 shading units work alongside 184 tensor cores and 46 RT cores. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, which is more than sufficient for Minimum's 2014-era textures and effects.

The GPU's synthetic performance shows a PassMark G3D score of 26,927 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854. These figures place the GPU in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.1% ahead), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (0.4% ahead), and RTX 4080 Mobile (1.3% behind). The GPU compute score of 14,720 and OpenCL score of 154,858 suggest robust compute capability that benefits modern rendering techniques, though Minimum's older engine likely relies more on traditional rasterization.

VRAM usage is unlikely to be a constraint at any resolution tested, as 12 GB provides ample capacity for the game's highest texture settings at 4K. The pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s indicate the GPU can handle the fill-rate demands of 4K rendering, though the measured FPS drops from 202 at 1080p Low to 70 at 4K Low (a 65% reduction) reveal that raw throughput limits performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it runs within thermal limits for sustained gaming sessions, and the 550 W suggested PSU provides adequate headroom for the entire system.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset delivers 154 FPS average with a 131 FPS minimum, offering smooth gameplay with better visual quality than Low. For maximum frame rates, Low reaches 202 FPS, while High provides 130 FPS and Ultra drops to 99 FPS.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes, but with limitations. The Low preset achieves 70 FPS at 4K, Medium hits 54 FPS with a 46 FPS minimum, High reaches 45 FPS, and Ultra is largely unplayable at 34 FPS. Players should stick to Low or Medium for 4K.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265HX averages 63,173 across all benchmark tests, placing it 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-13790F (63,080), 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (63,331), and 0.7% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (62,738).

Q: Is the GPU a bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The data suggests the GPU begins to limit performance at 1440p, as FPS drops from 154 at 1080p Medium to 100 at 1440p Medium, a 35% reduction. The CPU's strong single-thread score (5,737 in R23) indicates it can feed the GPU adequately at this resolution.

Q: What is the GPU's standing among all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 Mobile, scores 38,135 (1.3% higher), while the Tesla P4 scores 37,628 (0.1% lower).

Q: How does the combo rank overall among tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 1,562 out of 2,939 tested combos, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all systems tested for Minimum. This mid-pack ranking reflects the balance between the capable CPU and GPU rather than extreme performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance degrades as resolution increases, providing insight into which component limits the system. At Low settings, the progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows 202 FPS → 130 FPS → 70 FPS, representing drops of 35.6% and 46.2% respectively. This steep decline at 4K indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU would need to handle significantly more draw calls at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the pattern continues: 154 FPS at 1080p drops to 100 FPS at 1440p (35.1% reduction) and then to 54 FPS at 4K (46% reduction from 1440p). The minimum FPS values follow a similar trend, with 131 at 1080p falling to 85 at 1440p and 46 at 4K. The consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests the GPU is scaling predictably with pixel count, while the larger drop to 4K reflects memory bandwidth limits.

For High settings, the scaling shows 130 FPS at 1080p → 84 FPS at 1440p (35.4% drop) → 45 FPS at 4K (46.4% drop). Ultra settings follow the same pattern: 99 → 64 → 34 FPS, with drops of 35.4% and 46.9%. The uniformity across presets—roughly 35% for the first resolution step and 46% for the second—strongly indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth govern performance scaling, while the CPU's 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock keep pace even at lower resolutions where the FPS exceeds 200.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance across all presets. Low settings produce 202 FPS average, representing the absolute ceiling for this configuration. Medium settings yield 154 FPS with a minimum of 131 FPS and maximum of 178 FPS, providing a wide performance envelope that keeps gameplay smooth. High settings reach 130 FPS, while Ultra drops to 99 FPS, still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid motion.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the GPU beginning to work harder. Low settings achieve 130 FPS, matching the 1080p High result, while Medium produces 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS. High settings deliver 84 FPS, and Ultra falls to 64 FPS—the only preset at this resolution that approaches the edge of playability for a fast-paced shooter.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings reach 70 FPS, which is playable but requires visual compromises. Medium produces 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, creating noticeable frame pacing variability during demanding scenes. High settings drop to 45 FPS, and Ultra becomes difficult to play at 34 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires accepting either Low settings for smooth play or Medium for better visuals with occasional dips.

The complete dataset shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p Low (202 FPS) > 1080p Medium (154 FPS) > 1440p Low (130 FPS) > 1080p High (130 FPS) > 1440p Medium (100 FPS) > 1080p Ultra (99 FPS) > 1440p High (84 FPS) > 4K Low (70 FPS) > 1440p Ultra (64 FPS) > 4K Medium (54 FPS) > 4K High (45 FPS) > 4K Ultra (34 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration of the Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the RTX 4070 ranks 1,562 out of 2,939 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the distribution. The ranking reflects a system that performs well but is not exceptional for this game, likely because Minimum's 2014 engine does not fully utilize the modern hardware's capabilities. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all processors contrasts with the GPU's 81st percentile, suggesting the CPU has more headroom relative to its peers than the GPU does.

The combo's position becomes clearer when examining the component-level rival comparisons. The CPU sits within 0.7% of its nearest rivals, indicating that processor choice among modern options has minimal impact on gaming performance in this title. The GPU, similarly, is within 1.3% of its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 Mobile, showing that the 4070 holds its own against higher-tier mobile parts. However, the 1,562nd rank among 2,939 combos suggests that many systems with similar or better components achieve higher frame rates, likely due to differences in memory configuration, cooling, or driver optimization.

The data implies that this combo is well-balanced for Minimum, with neither component dramatically outperforming the other. At 1080p, the 202 FPS Low result indicates the system can push beyond typical display refresh rates, while at 4K, the 70 FPS Low result shows practical limits. Players seeking higher rankings in the combo hierarchy would need to consider faster GPUs, as the CPU's performance is already near the top of its class. The 1562nd rank out of 2939 combos means approximately 53% of tested systems perform better, which is a reasonable outcome for a mid-range mobile gaming configuration.