Minimum

# Minimum: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a wide spread of frame rates in Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter, depending on resolution and quality preset. The combo ranks 581st out of 2,939 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20% of all tested systems. Measured results show this pairing delivers playable performance across all tested settings, with 1080p Low reaching 293 FPS and 4K Ultra dropping to 50 FPS, revealing a substantial performance envelope that narrows considerably at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems in Minimum?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with RTX 5090 ranks 581st out of 2,939 tested combinations, which places it in the top 19.8% of all tested combos. This is a strong overall position, though not the absolute top tier for this game.

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

A: The Core Ultra 9 185H scores 35,670 average benchmark points, sitting 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35,719) and 0.2% below the Intel Core 7 250H (35,728). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 by 0.4% (35,802) and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X by 0.7% (35,909). These deltas are within 1% of all four nearest rivals.

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score and how does it rank?

A: The RTX 5090 achieves an average benchmark score of 79,842, which puts it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, scores 79,605, which is 0.3% lower, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959, which is 1.4% higher.

Q: What is the best measured FPS result across all tested configurations?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 293 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The lowest average FPS is 50 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings, showing a performance range of 243 FPS across all tested configurations.

Q: How much performance drops when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 188 FPS at 1920x1080 to 121 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 65 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 65.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU becomes progressively more limiting at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threaded performance suggest it can feed the GPU adequately?

A: The Core Ultra 9 185H scores 17,984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 10,356 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 29,376. These results indicate strong multi-threaded capability, which supports the high frame rates seen at 1080p Low where the CPU has more influence on results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 581 out of 2,939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the system in the 80.2nd percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly four out of every five tested combinations. The rank reflects a balanced pairing where both components contribute meaningfully to the game's performance.

The CPU's own percentile ranking of 85th among all CPUs suggests it is a strong processor, while the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking indicates it is an elite-class graphics card. The combined system rank of 581st out of 2,939 is slightly lower than what either component's individual percentile might suggest, which points to Minimum being a title that does not fully utilize the extreme capabilities of this hardware.

The nearest CPU rivals all score within 0.7% of the Core Ultra 9 185H, making synthetic CPU performance essentially equivalent across this group. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, scores 1.4% higher, while the Tesla P100 variants score 0.3% and 0.6% lower. These small deltas indicate the RTX 5090 sits in a tightly contested performance band despite its high absolute scores.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 brings substantial resources to Minimum, including 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock runs at 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s.

The 32 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what Minimum requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. The game's 2014 release date means it was designed for much smaller memory pools, so the RTX 5090's memory size is effectively never a bottleneck in this title. Instead, the GPU's raw compute throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 becomes the primary factor determining frame rates at higher resolutions.

Measured results show the GPU's performance scaling follows a predictable pattern. At 1080p Low, the RTX 5090 produces 293 FPS, but this drops to 143 FPS at 1080p Ultra. At 4K, the range narrows from 102 FPS at Low to 50 FPS at Ultra. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 79,842 confirm it is one of the fastest cards tested, yet Minimum's engine still imposes limits at extreme settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the RTX 5090 delivers high frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 293 FPS, Medium reaches 224 FPS with a minimum of 190 and maximum of 258, High achieves 188 FPS, and Ultra drops to 143 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 150 FPS, showing that quality settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease noticeably. Low settings yield 189 FPS, Medium produces 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 and maximum of 166, High reaches 121 FPS, and Ultra drops to 92 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 97 FPS, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope compresses further. Low settings average 102 FPS, Medium achieves 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 89, High reaches 65 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is now only 52 FPS, demonstrating that 4K resolution dominates the performance equation regardless of quality settings.

The Medium preset is the only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum of 190 FPS and maximum of 258 FPS show a 68 FPS variance. At 1440p, the range spans 123 to 166, a 43 FPS variance. At 4K, the range narrows to 66 to 89, just 23 FPS of variance, indicating smoother frame pacing at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is most pronounced at Low settings, where 293 FPS falls to 102 FPS, a 65.2% reduction. At High settings, the drop from 188 FPS to 65 FPS represents a 65.4% reduction. Medium settings see a decline from 224 FPS to 78 FPS, a 65.2% reduction. Ultra settings show the smallest percentage drop, going from 143 FPS to 50 FPS, a 65.0% reduction.

These remarkably consistent percentage drops across all quality settings indicate that resolution scaling is uniform and primarily GPU-bound. The near-identical 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K at every preset strongly suggests the RTX 5090's rendering throughput, rather than any other system component, determines the scaling behavior.

The step from 1080p to 1440p shows a more moderate decline. At Low settings, 293 FPS drops to 189 FPS, a 35.5% reduction. High settings fall from 188 FPS to 121 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. Medium goes from 224 FPS to 144 FPS, a 35.7% reduction. Ultra dips from 143 FPS to 92 FPS, a 35.7% reduction. Again, the consistency across settings points to resolution being the dominant variable.

From 1440p to 4K, the additional performance cost is also consistent. Low settings drop from 189 FPS to 102 FPS, a 46.0% reduction. High settings fall from 121 FPS to 65 FPS, a 46.3% reduction. Medium goes from 144 FPS to 78 FPS, a 45.8% reduction. Ultra drops from 92 FPS to 50 FPS, a 45.7% reduction. The uniform scaling across all settings confirms the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution tested.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H features 16 cores and 22 threads based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 45 W TDP. The CPU includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 112 KB of L1 cache per core.

Synthetic benchmarks show the CPU's strengths. Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 17,984.5, while single-core reaches 1,810.5. Geekbench results show 11,657 multi-core and 1,794 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score of 29,376 and single-thread score of 3,697 further characterize the CPU's capability. The 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above average but not at the extreme top.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the 293 FPS result suggests the processor can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate its output. At 1080p Ultra, the drop to 143 FPS indicates the GPU's workload increases, but the CPU still maintains adequate frame delivery. The consistent 65% resolution scaling pattern suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU remains the primary bottleneck, as the CPU's performance headroom appears sufficient across all tested settings.

The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.7% of its average benchmark, meaning any of these processors would likely produce nearly identical results in Minimum. The Core Ultra 9 185H's 16-core, 22-thread configuration provides ample processing power for this 2014 title, which was designed for far less capable hardware.

Settings Recommendations

At 1920x1080, all settings deliver playable frame rates. Low settings at 293 FPS are ideal for competitive play or high refresh rate displays, while Ultra at 143 FPS remains smooth for standard 144 Hz monitors. Medium at 224 FPS offers a balanced experience with a minimum of 190 FPS, ensuring consistent frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings produce 92 FPS, which remains playable on 60 Hz displays but may not fully utilize 144 Hz monitors. High settings at 121 FPS provide a better experience for higher refresh rates, while Low at 189 FPS and Medium at 144 FPS both offer excellent performance. The Medium preset's minimum of 123 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more constrained. Ultra at 50 FPS is playable but may feel less smooth on high refresh displays. High settings at 65 FPS offer a modest improvement, while Medium at 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS provides the best balance of visual quality and performance at 4K. Low settings at 102 FPS deliver the highest frame rates but sacrifice visual fidelity.

For the best overall experience, Medium settings at 2560x1440 provide 144 FPS average with a 123 FPS minimum, offering a strong combination of smoothness and visual quality. At 4K, Medium settings at 78 FPS with a 66 FPS minimum represent the most balanced choice, as the visual upgrade from High to Ultra is not justified by the performance cost at this resolution.