Minimum

# Minimum with Intel Core Ultra 7 265K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Core Ultra 7 265K and RTX 5070 combination delivers strong performance in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, with measured results spanning three resolutions and four quality presets. The combo ranks 319th out of 1,733 tested combinations, placing it comfortably in the top quintile for this title.

FAQ

Q: How well does this combo perform at 1920x1080 Ultra?

A: The average frame rate at 1080p Ultra is 149.1 FPS, which is well above typical 60Hz display requirements and provides a smooth experience even in dense combat scenarios.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 2560x1440 High settings, the combo achieves 123.8 FPS average, offering a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. The 3840x2160 Ultra preset drops to 52.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players prefer.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K scores 79,102 in average benchmark score, sitting 0.2% behind the Core Ultra 7 265KF (79,240) and 0.9% behind the Core i9-14900K (79,824) in overall processor benchmarks.

Q: What GPU benchmark scores are relevant for this game?

A: The RTX 5070 posts a Passmark G3D score of 29,137 and a Passmark DirectX 11 score of 277, with the GPU's average benchmark score of 41,687 placing it at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the 3840x2160 resolution playable with this combo?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 4K Low, the combo averages 105 FPS, while 4K High delivers 68.3 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset at 52.4 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU rank against its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 5070's average score of 41,687 is 0.6% higher than the GeForce RTX 3090 (41,441) and 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41,610), though it trails the Tesla M40 by 0.5%.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 319 out of 1,733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the setup in the 82nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 1,400 other hardware pairings deliver lower average frame rates in this title.

The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing. The CPU sits at the 97th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks at the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards. This indicates the system is well-matched for Minimum, where the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance complements the GPU's solid rasterization capabilities.

Looking at the measured frame rates, the combo's rank is driven by consistently high averages across settings at 1080p and 1440p. The 4K results are more modest, but still put the combo ahead of the vast majority of tested systems. The gap between the best and worst measured results — from 301.8 FPS at 1080p Low to 52.4 FPS at 4K Ultra — shows a wide performance envelope that adapts well to different display configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K brings 20 cores and 20 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture processor, built on a 3 nm process, provides substantial compute headroom for Minimum's game logic and physics simulation.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its capability. It scores 50,009 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7,060 in single-core, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 58,838 and single-thread score of 4,904. These numbers indicate the processor can keep up with the RTX 5070's frame output even at high frame rates where CPU bottlenecks often appear.

At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 301.8 FPS average, a regime where CPU overhead typically dominates GPU load. The 265K's 20 cores handle the game's thread scheduling effectively at these extreme frame rates, while the 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain low latency for frequently accessed data. The processor's 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces its role as a strong foundation for this high-refresh-rate scenario.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 provides adequate data throughput for the game's asset streaming. With a TDP of 125 W, the 265K operates within a power envelope that allows the RTX 5070 to draw its full 250 W without power supply concerns in most systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 301.8 FPS average, Medium reaches 233 FPS, High hits 190.8 FPS, and Ultra manages 149.1 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low represents a 102.4% performance increase, showing the game's setting sensitivity at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results remain strong but show expected degradation. Low settings average 192.6 FPS, Medium achieves 150.6 FPS, High delivers 123.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 95.7 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 36% performance at Low settings, while the drop at Ultra is roughly the same percentage, indicating consistent resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, the combo still delivers playable results. Low settings average 105 FPS, Medium reaches 82.4 FPS, High hits 68.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52.4 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration below the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that extreme visual settings at this resolution exceed what the RTX 5070 can comfortably deliver in this title.

The scaling pattern across settings is consistent: Low to Medium provides the largest relative jump in quality for a modest frame rate penalty, while High to Ultra yields diminishing returns. At 1440p, the difference between High and Ultra is 28.1 FPS, while the gap between Low and Medium is 42 FPS, showing that the game's quality presets have varying performance costs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB205 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operation processors, with 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores for accelerated workloads.

The GPU's memory configuration includes 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock runs at 2325 MHz with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, while the memory operates at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These specifications position the RTX 5070 firmly in the upper-midrange segment, with a Passmark G3D score of 29,137 and a GPU compute score of 15,787.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU can feed frames quickly enough that the GPU's fill rate and shading throughput determine the ceiling. The pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s provide ample capacity for the game's visual effects at lower resolutions.

At 4K, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus become more critical. The 672.0 GB/s bandwidth handles the increased texture and geometry data, but the 4K Ultra result of 52.4 FPS indicates the GPU's compute capacity is the limiting factor at the highest settings. The FP32 throughput of 30.87 TFLOPS gives the RTX 5070 enough raw compute for Minimum's rendering workloads, but the game's age means it may not fully utilize newer architectural features.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that 2560x1440 with High settings offers the best overall experience for this combo. The 123.8 FPS average provides excellent smoothness while maintaining strong visual quality, and the 82.4 FPS at 4K Medium offers an alternative for users prioritizing resolution over frame rate.

For players with high refresh rate 1080p displays, the Medium preset at 233 FPS is recommended. This configuration delivers near-maximum smoothness while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity, and the jump from Medium to High costs 42.2 FPS at this resolution, which may not justify the visual improvement.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 105 FPS is the most practical choice for competitive play, while the High preset at 68.3 FPS suits those who prefer visual quality. The Ultra preset at 52.4 FPS should be avoided unless frame rate is not a priority, as the drop below 60 FPS can introduce noticeable stutter in fast-paced third-person shooter scenarios.

The 1440p Ultra result of 95.7 FPS provides a compelling middle ground for users with high-resolution displays who want maximum settings. This configuration stays comfortably above 60 FPS while offering the full visual experience, making it the recommended choice for most players using this combo with a 1440p monitor.