Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable experience in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the graphics card as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The dataset shows a consistent pattern where frame rates drop sharply as resolution increases, while the CPU's substantial core and thread count keeps the system from becoming the bottleneck even at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable and steep decline in performance as resolution scales from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 205 FPS at 1080p to 133.1 FPS at 1440p, and further to 68.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 48.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is similar across other settings, indicating that the rendering load is the dominant factor.

The gap between 1080p and 4K becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 100.2 at 1080p to 67.1 at 1440p, and then to 32.3 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than one-third of the 1080p Low result, which strongly suggests the GPU is nearing its limit when pushing 8.3 million pixels with maximum detail.

This resolution scaling behavior points to the RTX 4060 as the limiting component. The CPU's performance headroom is evident at 1080p Low where 205 FPS is achieved, but the GPU cannot maintain that pace as pixel count increases. The data does not include minimum or maximum FPS values, so frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average FPS trend is clear. For players targeting 4K, the Ultra preset is not viable, while 1080p offers ample headroom across all settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor from the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This combination of high core count and high boost frequency provides substantial compute capability for gaming workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 50009 and a single-core score of 7060, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs tested.

The CPU's role in Minimum is best understood by looking at the 1080p Low result of 205 FPS. This high frame rate indicates that the processor is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. The 20 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient for a game released in 2014, which would have been designed for far less capable hardware. The PassMark multi-thread score of 58838 and single-thread score of 4904 further confirm strong all-around performance.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 7 265K is essentially tied with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF and Intel Core i9-14900KF, showing a delta of -0.2% against both. It trails the Intel Core i9-14900K by -0.9% and the AMD EPYC 7413 by -1.2% in average benchmark score. These small deltas indicate that the CPU's performance is consistent with its direct competition, and none of these differences would meaningfully affect Minimum gameplay, given the GPU-bound nature of higher resolution settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is based on the AD107 chip with 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation pipelines. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). This specification set places the GPU in the 66th percentile of all GPUs tested.

The GPU's role in Minimum is defined by its memory capacity and bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 32.3 is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and the 8 GB VRAM may be a contributing factor. The 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest for 4K workloads, which is reflected in the steep performance drop from 1440p to 4K. At 1440p Ultra, the 67.1 FPS average is more reasonable, while 1080p Ultra at 100.2 FPS shows the GPU is capable when pixel count is lower.

In benchmark comparisons, the RTX 4060 is closely matched with the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (delta -0.6%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (delta -0.7%). It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Arc B580 and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon 760M. These narrow margins suggest the GPU is a mid-range performer, and the 4K results in Minimum align with this positioning.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 963 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the pairing in the middle of the database, which is consistent with the GPU's 66th percentile standing. The CPU is significantly stronger than the GPU, ranking in the 97th percentile, so the overall combo rank is dragged down by the graphics card.

The rank of 963 indicates that a substantial number of combinations achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is expected, as Minimum is not a demanding title by modern standards, and many systems with older or more powerful GPUs can outperform the RTX 4060. The combo's position suggests that while it is fully playable at 1080p and 1440p, it is not a top-tier performer for 4K gaming.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. If the GPU were upgraded, the combo rank would likely improve significantly, as the Core Ultra 7 265K has ample headroom. Conversely, pairing this GPU with a weaker CPU would likely yield similar results at higher resolutions, further confirming the GPU-bound nature of the system.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Low at 205 FPS, Medium at 156.1 FPS, High at 128.3 FPS, and Ultra at 100.2 FPS. For players with a 144 Hz monitor, the High preset provides a good balance of visual quality and performance, while Ultra still exceeds 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 133.1 FPS, Medium 101.4 FPS, and High 87.2 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 67.1 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot at this resolution, offering over 100 FPS while maintaining better visual fidelity than Low.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a comfortable frame rate at 68.2 FPS. Medium drops to 54.6 FPS, High to 44.9 FPS, and Ultra to 32.3 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, and even then, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS threshold. The data does not include minimum FPS values, so stutter or frame drops cannot be evaluated, but the averages suggest the Low preset is the safest choice at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 in Minimum is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 205 FPS, Medium 156.1 FPS, High 128.3 FPS, and Ultra 100.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 51.1% reduction in frame rate, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 133.1 FPS, Medium 101.4 FPS, High 87.2 FPS, and Ultra 67.1 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is roughly 35-37%, indicating consistent scaling with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 68.2 FPS, Medium 54.6 FPS, High 44.9 FPS, and Ultra 32.3 FPS. The 4K results show a dramatic falloff, with Ultra achieving less than half the frame rate of Low. The difference between 1440p and 4K at each setting ranges from 48.7% at Low to 51.9% at Ultra, confirming that the GPU is the sole limiting factor at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the relative spacing between presets remains consistent. The Low to Medium gap is approximately 24-25%, Medium to High is roughly 18-20%, and High to Ultra is about 22-25%. This uniform scaling suggests the game's settings have a predictable impact on GPU workload, with no single setting causing an anomalous performance hit.