Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose measured performance with the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination places it in the 300th position out of 2,939 tested combos. The data shows a system that delivers high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with a clear scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K that highlights the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions while the CPU's strong single-thread performance carries the load at lower ones.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this combo in Minimum?

A: The combo ranks 300th out of 2,939 tested combinations, placing it in the top 10.2% of all systems benchmarked for this game. This high percentile reflects the capability of both the 24-core processor and the 16 GB graphics card to handle the game's demands.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93,785, which is essentially identical to the Intel Xeon 6520P at 93,786 (0% delta). It trails the AMD EPYC 4564P by 1.5% (95,183) and the AMD EPYC 9175F by 1.9% (95,615), with the AMD EPYC 4565P being 2.1% faster at 95,764.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The highest average FPS is 329, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is significantly higher than the 4K Low result of 114 FPS, showing how resolution dramatically impacts performance even with a powerful GPU.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU have a higher benchmark percentile?

A: The CPU has a percentile of 96 versus all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile of 76 versus all GPUs. This indicates the processor is relatively stronger in its category than the graphics card is in its own, which aligns with the FPS scaling data showing the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the CPU support, and how much VRAM does the GPU have?

A: The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is nearly six times the CPU's memory bandwidth.

Q: Are there any settings where the average FPS falls below 60 at 4K?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 56. This is the only measured configuration that fails to maintain a 60 FPS average, while High settings at 4K manage 73 FPS and Medium settings reach 87 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 8,448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. Its base clock runs at 2340 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at an effective 21 Gbps, yielding a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s across the 256-bit bus. The GPU's compute capability is rated at 44.10 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, with a pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1080p, the FPS ranges from 161 (Ultra) to 329 (Low), suggesting the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions. However, at 4K, the average FPS at Ultra drops to 56, indicating the GPU is working near its limits. The measured data shows a consistent pattern: raising settings from Low to Ultra at any resolution reduces FPS by roughly a factor of two, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's 76th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 31,087, places it close to the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31,206, -0.4% delta) and NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (31,220, -0.4% delta), though those comparisons are synthetic benchmarks rather than game-specific results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 300 out of 2,939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the system in the top 10.2% of all configurations benchmarked, a strong showing for a game released in 2014. The rank reflects the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings, which consistently shows high performance even at demanding 4K Ultra settings.

To contextualize the rank, consider the CPU's percentile of 96 versus all CPUs and the GPU's percentile of 76 versus all GPUs. The CPU is exceptionally strong in its category, while the GPU is above average but not top-tier. The combination's overall rank of 300 suggests that the CPU's strength helps push the system higher than the GPU's percentile alone would predict, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU performance matters more. The nearest rival combos would need to pair similarly strong CPUs with faster GPUs to surpass this ranking, though the data does not provide direct comparisons for full system scores.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 329 FPS, Medium settings average 252 FPS with a minimum of 214 and maximum of 290, High settings average 211 FPS, and Ultra settings average 161 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, even the most demanding settings exceed 144 Hz refresh rates, making the combination suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS drops but remains comfortable. Low settings average 212 FPS, Medium settings average 162 FPS with a range of 138 to 187, High settings average 136 FPS, and Ultra settings average 104 FPS. The step from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by about 35-40% across settings, which is typical for a resolution increase of 1.78x the pixel count. At 1440p, all settings remain playable, with Ultra still exceeding 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the resolution demands become apparent. Low settings average 114 FPS, Medium settings average 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 101, High settings average 73 FPS, and Ultra settings average 56 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS average, suggesting that for maximum visual quality at 4K, some settings adjustments would be needed to maintain smooth gameplay. The Medium settings at 4K, with a minimum of 74 FPS, provide a better balance for 60 Hz displays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. It is built on a 3 nm process by TSMC with 17,800 million transistors on 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 in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s and ECC memory support.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 44,253 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,439 in single-core, with a Cinebench R20 multicore score of 24,461 and single-core of 3,453. Its Passmark multithread score is 68,574, and single-thread score is 5,068. These results place the CPU at the 96th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93,785. The nearest rivals in average score are all server-class chips: the Intel Xeon 6520P at 93,786 (0% delta), AMD EPYC 4564P at 95,183 (-1.5%), AMD EPYC 9175F at 95,615 (-1.9%), and AMD EPYC 4565P at 95,764 (-2.1%).

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p resolution. The jump from 211 FPS at High to 329 FPS at Low settings suggests that at lower settings, the CPU can push frame rates much higher, indicating it is not the limiting factor. The high boost clock of 5.50 GHz and strong single-core performance (2,439 in Cinebench R23) are critical for a 2014 game that likely relies on single-threaded performance. While the 24 cores are overkill for Minimum's engine, the high clock speed ensures the CPU never bottlenecks the GPU, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is less stressed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, Ultra settings at 161 FPS average is the best choice for maximum visual quality while still exceeding 144 Hz. For 1440p, Ultra at 104 FPS is viable for 100 Hz monitors, but High at 136 FPS is preferable for 144 Hz displays, offering a better balance of quality and speed.

For 4K, the data suggests Medium settings as the sweet spot. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 101, which is comfortable for 60 Hz displays and provides better visual fidelity than Low (114 FPS) without the steep drop to High (73 FPS) or Ultra (56 FPS). The Ultra preset at 4K falls below 60 FPS average, which is generally considered the minimum for smooth gameplay, so it is not recommended unless the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate and can tolerate occasional dips.

Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a consistent pattern: Low to Medium yields a 20-25% FPS reduction, Medium to High yields another 15-20% reduction, and High to Ultra yields another 20-25% reduction. This suggests that each settings tier has a meaningful visual impact, and the Medium preset offers the best performance-per-quality trade-off, particularly at 4K where the GPU is most constrained.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 329 at 1080p to 212 at 1440p to 114 at 4K, which is a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 161 at 1080p to 104 at 1440p to 56 at 4K, a 65% reduction as well. This consistent percentage drop across all settings indicates that resolution scaling is uniform, regardless of graphics quality.

The pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1080p to 1440p and by 4x from 1080p to 4K. The FPS reduction (approximately 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 65% from 1080p to 4K) is less than the pixel count increase would suggest, implying that the system is not purely GPU-bound. If it were, the FPS would scale inversely with pixel count, giving roughly 25% of 1080p FPS at 4K. Instead, the 4K FPS is about 35% of 1080p FPS (114/329 at Low, 56/161 at Ultra), which indicates the CPU is partially limiting performance at lower resolutions, allowing the GPU to have more headroom than a pure GPU-bound scenario would allow.

At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (2,439 in Cinebench R23 single-core) allows the GPU to run at higher utilization, but the game engine's limits may cap FPS below what the GPU could theoretically deliver. As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 56 FPS, which is close to the GPU's raw capability for this workload. This analysis is supported by the GPU's 76th percentile versus the CPU's 96th percentile, showing the CPU has more relative headroom than the GPU in this combination.