Minimum

Minimum, the 2014 third-person shooter, shows a stark performance split when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The data indicates this combo is heavily GPU-bound at 4K, but at 1080p, the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock prove sufficient to drive frame rates near 300 FPS. The measured results reveal a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory preventing any VRAM-related bottlenecks, even at Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic performance drop, highlighting the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 293 FPS average, but at 4K with Low settings, that figure falls to 102 FPS — a 65% reduction in frame rate. This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, though the magnitude varies with graphical load.

Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings, the average FPS drops from 121 to 65, a 46% reduction. The 1440p to 1080p transition at High settings shows a smaller relative drop, from 121 to 188 FPS, indicating that the GPU still has headroom at 1440p but begins to saturate at 4K. The Medium preset tells a similar story: 224 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Medium (a 46% drop) mirrors the High preset’s behavior, suggesting the RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute is the ceiling.

At Ultra settings, the pattern intensifies. The 1080p Ultra result of 143 FPS drops to 92 FPS at 1440p, then to 50 FPS at 4K. This represents a 65% decline from 1080p to 4K, the steepest of any preset. The 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, indicating that this setting combination pushes the GPU to its limits. The data suggests that while the RTX 5090 can handle 4K High at 65 FPS, 4K Ultra is only borderline playable, and the gap between 1440p and 4K widens as settings increase.

The measured FPS ranges for Medium settings provide additional insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 190 with a max of 258, producing a 68 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 123–166 FPS (43 FPS spread), while at 4K Medium, it tightens further to 66–89 FPS (23 FPS spread). This compression of frame times at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing variance but also capping peak performance. The 1080p Medium result of 224 FPS average suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as the GPU still has headroom to produce wide frame swings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090’s specifications directly explain its performance in Minimum. With a base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies, but the real differentiator is its memory subsystem. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a 2014 title. No measured result shows signs of VRAM capacity constraints, even at 4K Ultra, where texture loading and geometry data would be most demanding.

The GPU’s 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs contribute to its 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate. These figures explain why the RTX 5090 can push 293 FPS at 1080p Low — the raw rasterization throughput is enormous relative to the game’s age. However, the 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS suggests that even this massive GPU encounters a ceiling, likely due to the game’s draw call overhead and shader complexity at higher resolutions. The data shows a 82% drop from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra, a performance cliff that indicates the GPU is doing heavy lifting.

The RTX 5090’s percentile ranking of 92 versus all GPUs places it near the top of the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals — the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% faster), Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (0.6% faster), and RX 6850M XT (1.1% faster) — are all within a narrow band, but none of these are consumer gaming cards. The Radeon Pro Vega 64X trails by 1.4%. In Minimum specifically, the GPU’s 4K results indicate it is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s processing power is not the constraint at these frame rates.

The GPU’s 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU indicate a high-power design, but the measured FPS shows the power is well-utilized. The 4K Medium result of 78 FPS with a min of 66 and max of 89 suggests the GPU can maintain playable frame rates with some headroom, but the 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS shows the limits of even this flagship silicon. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 376728 provide additional context for the GPU’s compute capabilities, but the in-game results are what matter for this analysis.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of performance and visual quality. The 1440p Medium result of 144 FPS average with a min of 123 FPS ensures smooth gameplay without any noticeable frame drops. This is a 20% improvement over 1440p High (121 FPS) and a 36% improvement over 1440p Ultra (92 FPS), while the visual difference between Medium and High is typically minimal in a 2014 title.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 102 FPS is the only option that maintains triple-digit frame rates. The 4K Medium result of 78 FPS is playable, but the min FPS of 66 suggests potential stuttering in heavy scenes. The 4K High result of 65 FPS is borderline, and 4K Ultra at 50 FPS is not recommended for competitive play. If visual fidelity is the priority, 4K High at 65 FPS is acceptable for a single-player experience, but the data shows that 4K Medium provides a better frame time consistency with its 23 FPS range versus the High preset’s unmeasured variance.

At 1080p, the Low preset’s 293 FPS is excessive for most displays, but it demonstrates the combo’s ceiling. The 1080p Medium result of 224 FPS is more reasonable, and the 1080p High result of 188 FPS still offers excellent smoothness. The 1080p Ultra result of 143 FPS is the weakest 1080p option, but it remains above the 144 Hz threshold for high-refresh monitors. For esports-style play, 1080p Low at 293 FPS maximizes refresh rate potential, while 1080p High at 188 FPS provides a better balance of visuals and speed.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers 224 FPS (19% faster than High), at 1440p it hits 144 FPS (19% faster than High), and at 4K it achieves 78 FPS (20% faster than High). The consistency of this 19–20% improvement across resolutions indicates that Medium reduces GPU load uniformly, making it the most efficient setting for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 581st out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 20% of all configurations. This rank reflects the combo’s strong performance, particularly at 1080p where the CPU’s 20 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock shine. However, the rank is not higher because the 4K results, while strong, are limited by the GPU’s saturation, and many other combos with higher-end desktop CPUs may achieve similar frame rates.

The CPU’s benchmark profile supports its role in this ranking. The Core Ultra 7 265HX scores 40642 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5737 in single-core, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 47985 and single-thread score of 4500. Its average benchmark score of 63173 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-13790F (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (0.2% slower), and AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (0.5% faster). This CPU performance is more than adequate for Minimum, but the combo rank of 581 suggests that other factors, such as the GPU’s 4K bottleneck, drag the overall position down.

The GPU’s ranking of 92nd percentile versus all GPUs with an average score of 79842 indicates it is a top-tier part. In Minimum, the combo’s 581st rank out of 2939 means it outperforms roughly 80% of tested configurations, which is impressive given the game’s age and the prevalence of high-end desktop systems in the database. The data shows that this mobile CPU paired with a flagship GPU can hold its own against desktop combos, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU’s single-core performance matters most.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX’s specifications are well-suited for Minimum’s CPU demands. With 20 cores and 20 threads (no hyperthreading), the CPU provides substantial parallel processing power, though the game’s 2014 engine likely utilizes only a fraction of these threads. The base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz represent a 2.7 GHz boost range, allowing the CPU to ramp up quickly for single-threaded workloads. The 30 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast data access for the game’s physics and AI calculations.

Benchmark results confirm the CPU’s strength. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642 and single-core score of 5737 indicate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded tasks. The PassMark single-thread score of 4500 and multi-thread score of 47985 show balanced capabilities, while the physics score of 2978 in PassMark reflects the CPU’s ability to handle game physics. The 93rd percentile ranking versus all CPUs means the 265HX outperforms 93% of tested processors, making it a robust choice for gaming.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the 293 FPS Low result shows no CPU bottleneck. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the scaling patterns. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient for the game’s data throughput, and the PCIe Gen 5 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 5090. The 3 nm process node from TSMC ensures efficient power delivery, with a 55 W TDP that allows sustained boost clocks during gaming sessions.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database — the Core i7-13790F (0.1% faster), Ryzen AI 7 450G (0.2% slower), and Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (0.5% faster) — all have similar average scores. This indicates that the 265HX is competitively positioned among mobile and desktop processors, but no single rival stands out as significantly better. In Minimum specifically, the CPU’s 20 threads are more than enough, and the boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that even the most CPU-intensive scenes at 1080p will not drop below 143 FPS (the Ultra setting result).

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 293, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This result demonstrates the combo’s peak performance capability.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this setup?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the combo achieves 102 FPS average, and at 4K Medium it hits 78 FPS with a min of 66 FPS. However, 4K Ultra drops to 50 FPS, which may be too low for fast-paced third-person shooter gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX has an average benchmark score of 63173. It is 0.1% slower than the Intel Core i7-13790F (63080), 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (63331), and 0.5% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (62839).

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the combo produces an average FPS of 144, with a minimum of 123 FPS and maximum of 166 FPS. This 43 FPS range indicates good frame pacing, though not as tight as the 4K Medium result.

Q: Does the RTX 5090’s 32 GB VRAM ever become a limiting factor?

A: The data shows no evidence of VRAM limitations. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is far more than Minimum requires, even at 4K Ultra where the GPU’s compute power, not memory capacity, becomes the bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations in Minimum?

A: It ranks 581st out of 2939 total combos, placing it in the top 20% of all tested systems. This rank reflects strong overall performance, with the GPU being the primary limiter at 4K resolutions.