Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti in Minimum?

A: This combination ranks 705th out of 2939 tested combos in the database for this game, placing it in the top 24% of all configurations measured.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus scores 93785 in average benchmark score, essentially tied with the Intel Xeon 6520P (93786, 0% delta). It trails the AMD EPYC 4564P by 1.5% (95183), the AMD EPYC 9175F by 1.9% (95615), and the AMD EPYC 4565P by 2.1% (95764).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti sits at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, indicating it outperforms roughly 83% of the graphics cards in the database.

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 277 at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings, which represents the most performance-oriented configuration tested.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average is 47 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings, showing the most demanding scenario tested still maintains a playable frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU have a high percentile ranking among all processors?

A: Yes, the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus achieves a 96th percentile ranking across all CPUs, placing it in the top 4% of processors in the database.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU contains 28,300 million transistors across a 628 mm² die, making it a large and complex chip. The memory configuration consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth — a crucial resource for Minimum's texture streaming and shader workloads.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The shading units number 10,240, paired with 320 texture mapping units and 112 ROPs. The 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 APIs. The pixel rate reaches 186.5 GPixel/s, and texture rate reaches 532.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 34.10 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales. At 1080p, the frame rates reach 277 FPS on Low settings, suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficient data. At 4K, however, the frame rates drop to 96 FPS on Low settings, indicating the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the textures used at 4K Ultra, where the combo still maintains 47 FPS average.

The GPU's benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077, Geekbench OpenCL score of 170037, and Geekbench Vulkan score of 192697. In PassMark tests, the GPU scores 26896 in G3D and 15282 in GPU compute. The GPU's average benchmark score is 41187, placing it at the 83rd percentile. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, scores 40870 (0.8% higher), while the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB scores 41707 (1.2% lower).

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns across the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 277 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, the frame rate drops to 179 FPS — a 35.4% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the frame rate falls to 96 FPS — another 46.4% reduction from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates that at lower settings, the GPU becomes the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

For Medium settings, the progression is 212 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 35.4% from 1080p to 1440p and 46.0% from 1440p to 4K. High settings show 178 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K, with drops of 35.4% and 46.1% respectively. Ultra settings demonstrate 136 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, with drops of 36.0% and 46.0%.

The consistency of these percentage drops — approximately 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 46% from 1440p to 4K — across all four settings presets indicates that the GPU is the limiting component throughout. The pixel count increases are 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p and 2.25x from 1440p to 4K, so the frame rate drops are roughly proportional to the pixel count increases. This behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where rendering resolution directly determines performance.

The data shows that the CPU has sufficient headroom to support even the highest frame rates measured. At 1080p Low, the 277 FPS average suggests the CPU can handle extreme frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The frame rate scaling follows the pixel count scaling closely, confirming that the RTX 3080 Ti's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the decisive factors in Minimum's performance profile.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The combo delivers its strongest results at this resolution. Low settings produce an average of 277 FPS, the highest of any tested configuration. Medium settings yield 212 FPS with minimum 180 FPS and maximum 244 FPS recorded. High settings produce 178 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 136 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 141 FPS, showing that settings have a substantial impact even at 1080p.

2560x1440: At this middle resolution, the frame rates remain high but show more sensitivity to settings. Low settings average 179 FPS. Medium settings average 137 FPS with minimum 116 FPS and maximum 157 FPS. High settings average 115 FPS. Ultra settings average 87 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 92 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to limit maximum performance.

3840x2160: At 4K, the combo still delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 96 FPS. Medium settings average 74 FPS with minimum 63 FPS and maximum 85 FPS. High settings average 62 FPS. Ultra settings average 47 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 49 FPS, the narrowest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is heavily loaded at 4K regardless of settings.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min/max values recorded. At 1080p Medium, the range is 180-244 FPS, a 64 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 116-157 FPS, a 41 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 63-85 FPS, a 22 FPS spread. The decreasing variance at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU approaches saturation.

Comparing settings at each resolution, the ratio of Low to Ultra performance is 2.04x at 1080p (277 vs 136), 2.06x at 1440p (179 vs 87), and 2.04x at 4K (96 vs 47). This consistent ratio across resolutions indicates that the settings presets adjust similar graphical features regardless of resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a rank of 705 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the combo in the top 24.0% of all configurations in the database. The ranking reflects the overall performance across all tested settings and resolutions, weighted by the measured FPS values.

The CPU component contributes significantly to this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6520P (93786, 0% delta), AMD EPYC 4564P (95183, -1.5% delta), AMD EPYC 9175F (95615, -1.9% delta), and AMD EPYC 4565P (95764, -2.1% delta). The CPU's performance is essentially tied with the Xeon 6520P and only slightly behind the EPYC parts.

The GPU component also performs well relative to its peers. The RTX 3080 Ti has an 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41187. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, 0.8% delta), NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (41707, -1.2% delta), NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897, -1.7% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (40377, 2% delta). The GPU is competitive with its immediate rivals, though it trails the Tesla parts by small margins.

The combination of a 96th percentile CPU and an 83rd percentile GPU yields a combo rank of 705th, which is slightly worse than the individual component percentiles might suggest. This indicates that Minimum's performance is somewhat more sensitive to GPU performance than CPU performance, as the GPU's lower percentile drags the combo ranking down. The high frame rates at 1080p Low (277 FPS) confirm that the CPU is not a limiting factor, while the 4K Ultra result (47 FPS) shows the GPU's constraints.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Minimum. For players targeting 60 FPS as a minimum acceptable frame rate, the 4K Ultra setting (47 FPS average) falls short of this target, while 4K High (62 FPS) meets it. At 4K Medium (74 FPS), there is additional headroom, and the minimum recorded FPS of 63 ensures that even the lowest frames stay above 60 FPS.

For 1440p displays, all settings presets exceed 60 FPS. Ultra averages 87 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS, and Low averages 179 FPS. Players with high refresh rate monitors (144 Hz or higher) should consider Medium or Low settings to take advantage of the higher frame rates. Medium provides 137 FPS average with a minimum of 116 FPS, which stays above 100 FPS throughout.

At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings reach 277 FPS, Medium reaches 212 FPS, High reaches 178 FPS, and Ultra reaches 136 FPS. For competitive play, Low or Medium settings will maximize frame rates. For visual quality, Ultra still maintains 136 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

The Medium settings preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K, it provides 74 FPS average with 63 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay. At 1440p, it provides 137 FPS with 116 FPS minimum, suitable for high refresh rate displays. At 1080p, it provides 212 FPS with 180 FPS minimum, far exceeding any monitor's refresh rate requirements. The Medium preset also has the most complete data recorded, with min and max values available for all three resolutions.

For players prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, Ultra settings remain viable at 1080p and 1440p, where the average FPS of 136 and 87 respectively provide smooth experiences. At 4K, Ultra drops to 47 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but is likely too low for competitive play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, codenamed Arrow Lake Refresh. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The processor is built on TSMC's 3 nm process node, containing 17,800 million transistors across a 243 mm² die. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration, providing 115.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It features PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU, and includes integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics with 64 execution units. The processor uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform and supports ECC memory. It has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking, with a part number of SA4V6 and a launch MSRP of $299.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Cinebench R15 multicore scores 6656, R20 multicore scores 24461, and R23 multicore scores 44253. Single-core scores are 354 (R15), 3453 (R20), and 2439 (R23). PassMark tests show a multithread score of 68574, single-thread score of 5068, physics score of 4064, and integer math score of 175986. The CPU's avgBenchmarkScore is 93785 with a 96th percentile ranking.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates indicate that the CPU is not the bottleneck in any tested configuration. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 277 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that would stress most processors. The fact that the CPU sustains this performance suggests it has ample headroom for this game. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 47 FPS, which is clearly GPU-limited given the CPU's demonstrated capability at lower resolutions.

The CPU's high core count (24 cores, 24 threads) and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide a balanced profile for gaming workloads. Minimum, released in 2014, is unlikely to utilize all 24 cores effectively, but the high single-thread performance (5068 PassMark single-thread score) ensures that the game's main thread is well-served. The 36 MB of L3 cache helps with game data locality, and the DDR5 memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s provides sufficient throughput for the GPU to access texture data.