Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is an exceptionally potent combination for Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter from 2014. The benchmark data shows this pairing delivers high frame rates across all tested resolutions, firmly placing it as a top-tier option for this title. This analysis breaks down the measured performance to guide settings choices and explain what the numbers reveal about the hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes the optimal settings path clear for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 182.8 FPS, which is already far beyond what most displays can show. However, the data shows a significant jump in performance when stepping down to High settings, which yields 243.7 FPS—a 33% increase over Ultra. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 379.7 FPS, but the visual compromise is unnecessary when High already provides such a substantial frame rate.

For 2560x1440, the High preset is the sweet spot. It delivers 153.4 FPS average, which is comfortably above the 144Hz refresh rate that many high-end monitors use. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 118.4 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices the headroom that High provides. The Medium preset at 186 FPS is also viable, but High offers a better balance of visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes. The High preset produces 81.8 FPS average, which is smooth for a third-person shooter but does not fully utilize a 120Hz or 144Hz 4K display. The Medium preset at 100.6 FPS is the better choice for 4K gaming, as it maintains a triple-digit frame rate while being one step above the Low preset. The Ultra preset at 66.2 FPS is the only measured configuration that dips below the 70 FPS mark, making it the least desirable option for this resolution.

The overall recommendation is to use High settings for 1080p and 1440p, and Medium settings for 4K. This approach prioritizes frame rate consistency without abandoning visual fidelity. The Low presets across all resolutions produce high numbers, but the data suggests they are unnecessary given the headroom this combo has.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ultra 7 265K has an average benchmark score of 79102, placing it within 0.2% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (79240) and the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79245). It trails the Intel Core i9-14900K (79824) by 0.9% and the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041) by 1.2%. This indicates the CPU is a high performer, sitting in the 97th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic performance standing relative to other cards?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59188, which puts it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A570M (58239, 1.6% slower) and the Intel Arc A580 (57756, 2.5% slower). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (57661) is 2.6% slower, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326) is 1.9% faster.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming at high refresh rates?

A: At 4K with High settings, the combo achieves 81.8 FPS, which is suitable for a 60Hz or 75Hz display but not for a 144Hz panel. The Medium preset at 4K yields 100.6 FPS, which is a better match for higher refresh rate 4K monitors. The Low preset reaches 129.5 FPS, showing the GPU has headroom if settings are reduced.

Q: How does the CPU's core configuration affect performance in this game?

A: The Ultra 7 265K has 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. For a game like Minimum, this configuration provides ample processing power. The data shows that at lower resolutions like 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high (up to 379.7 FPS on Low), suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck in this scenario.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this specific CPU-GPU combination among tested combos?

A: This combo ranks 83rd out of 1733 tested combinations in Minimum. This puts it in the top 5% of all tested pairings, confirming that it is a high-performance setup for this title.

Q: Are the measured FPS numbers from real-world testing?

A: Yes, the "dataIsMeasured" field is true, indicating the FPS values are from actual benchmark runs, not theoretical estimates. This provides confidence in the reliability of the numbers for planning your settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination holds the 83rd position out of 1733 tested combos for Minimum. This places it in the top 4.8% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the game's age. The ranking suggests that while there are faster combinations—likely using more powerful GPUs like the RTX 5090 or overclocked variants—this pairing is decisively in the high-performance tier.

The rank is influenced by both the CPU's and GPU's synthetic standings. The CPU's 97th percentile ranking and the GPU's 89th percentile ranking create a balanced system where neither component is severely mismatched. The data shows that the combo performs exceptionally well at 1080p, with all settings producing frame rates above 182 FPS. This is a clear indicator that the system is not CPU-limited at this resolution, as the 20-core processor has enough headroom to feed the GPU.

The 4K results are more revealing about the GPU's role. The drop from 100.6 FPS at Medium to 81.8 FPS at High shows the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, which is expected given the pixel count. The combo's rank of 83 suggests it is a versatile pairing, capable of delivering high refresh rate gaming at 1440p and solid 4K performance, but it is not the absolute fastest option available.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Ultra 7 265K and RTX 5080 produce exceptional frame rates. The Low preset averages 379.7 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings bring the average down to 287.1 FPS, while High delivers 243.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at this resolution, averaging 182.8 FPS, but this is still well above the refresh rate of most gaming monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. The Low preset averages 241.2 FPS, a substantial 36% drop from the 1080p Low figure. Medium settings yield 186 FPS, while High produces 153.4 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 118.4 FPS, which is a significant reduction from the 1080p Ultra number but still within the range of high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates show the GPU working harder. The Low preset averages 129.5 FPS, which is a 46% decrease from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings deliver 100.6 FPS, while High averages 81.8 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing 66.2 FPS, which is the only measured average below 70 FPS across all resolutions and settings.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in settings reduces performance, and each resolution increase compounds that effect. For example, moving from High at 1080p (243.7 FPS) to High at 1440p (153.4 FPS) is a 37% drop, while moving from High at 1440p to High at 4K (81.8 FPS) is a 47% drop.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system's load shifts between the CPU and GPU. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 243.7 at 1080p to 153.4 at 1440p, a reduction of 37%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops to 81.8 FPS, a further 47% reduction. This steep decline is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load increases quadratically with pixel count.

The Low settings show a similar pattern. The 1080p Low average is 379.7 FPS, which falls to 241.2 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop) and then to 129.5 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution.

This scaling suggests that at 1080p, the system has excess GPU capacity, allowing frame rates to soar past 240 FPS on High settings. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 5.5 GHz boost clock, is capable of keeping up with this demand. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's compute resources become saturated, and the frame rates drop accordingly. The data strongly indicates that the RTX 5080 is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU is more than adequate for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with 30 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications make it a high-end desktop CPU, ranking in the 97th percentile of all processors.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data and handle game logic. The benchmark results show that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU is least taxed, the system achieves 379.7 FPS. This high number indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution, as it can process frames faster than the GPU can render them. The CPU's strong single-core performance, reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060, is likely a key factor in this capability.

The data also shows that the CPU's performance is competitive with its nearest rivals. The Ultra 7 265K's average benchmark score of 79102 is nearly identical to the Core Ultra 7 265KF (79240) and Core i9-14900KF (79245), differing by only 0.2%. This means that for Minimum, the CPU choice among these top-tier processors would have minimal impact on frame rates, as the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's 125W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support provide a solid foundation for gaming. The measured FPS data confirms that this processor is more than sufficient for Minimum, delivering high frame rates across all tested settings without showing signs of CPU limitation. The 20 cores are likely overkill for this game, but they ensure the system has headroom for future titles and multitasking.