Minimum

Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, shows a clear scaling pattern with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile combination. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is decisively GPU-bound at higher settings, while the processor’s strength becomes more apparent only at lower resolutions and quality levels. This analysis walks through the measured data to explain where the bottleneck sits, how the hardware’s characteristics influence results, and which settings deliver the most consistent experience.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic drop in average frame rates across all quality presets, confirming that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 112 at 1080p to 72 at 1440p, then to 39 at 4K. That represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which points to the GPU hitting its throughput ceiling as resolution increases.

The Low preset exhibits the steepest absolute drop: from 175 FPS at 1080p down to 113 FPS at 1440p, and finally 61 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K is roughly 65%, which is substantial but still leaves the game playable at 4K on Low. Medium settings show a similar pattern, with averages of 134 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. Ultra is the most demanding, starting at 85 FPS at 1080p and falling to 55 FPS at 1440p, then 30 FPS at 4K.

The fact that even Low settings cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K (61 FPS average) suggests the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface become limiting factors at that resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 31 FPS (61 vs 30), whereas at 1080p the gap is 90 FPS (175 vs 85). This compression of frame rates at 4K indicates that the GPU is saturated regardless of quality settings, making resolution the dominant variable.

For a game from 2014, these numbers suggest the engine’s draw calls and shading complexity scale predictably with resolution. The data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo: even Ultra averages 55 FPS, which is above the 30 FPS floor seen at 4K Ultra. The 1080p results are uniformly high, with every preset except Ultra exceeding 110 FPS, meaning the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU at that resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB206 chip fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die, with 3,328 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The clock speeds are modest for a modern GPU: a base of 952 MHz and a boost of 1455 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

These specifications translate into a benchmark profile that places the GPU at the 67th percentile among all tested GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 22,435, which puts it in close competition with several AMD parts. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, scores 22,549, a delta of -0.5% relative to the RTX 5060 Mobile. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 scores 22,170 (1.2% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700S scores 22,154 (1.3% slower). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22,729, which is 1.3% faster.

In Minimum, the GPU’s role is clearly dominant at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly at the threshold of playability, and the 4K High result of 39 FPS is better but still below 60. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for a 2014 title, but the 128-bit memory bus may limit fill rate at 4K. The pixel rate of 69.84 GPixel/s and texture rate of 151.3 GTexel/s are the key figures here; at 3840x2160, the GPU must push over 8.3 million pixels per frame, and the measured frame times suggest the ROPs are the bottleneck.

The FP32 performance of 9.684 TFLOPS is respectable for a mobile part, but Minimum’s shading workload at 4K Ultra appears to exceed what the boost clock of 1455 MHz can sustain. The fact that 4K Low still only manages 61 FPS — barely above the 60 FPS target — reinforces that the GPU is the limiting component at that resolution, regardless of how much the CPU could theoretically contribute.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability, particularly at 1440p. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. The minimum frame rate of 73 FPS is well above the 60 FPS target, ensuring smooth gameplay without dips. At 1080p, Medium averages 134 FPS with a minimum of 114 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays.

High settings are viable at 1440p with an average of 72 FPS, but the lack of a recorded minimum makes stability uncertain. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 17 FPS on average (72 down to 55), which is a significant penalty for what is likely marginal visual improvement in a 2014 title. At 1080p, Ultra still averages 85 FPS, so it is playable, but the Medium preset’s 134 FPS provides a much larger safety margin.

For 4K, no preset achieves a fully smooth experience. Ultra averages 30 FPS, High averages 39 FPS, and Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS. Only Low, at 61 FPS, crosses the 60 FPS threshold, but that requires sacrificing most visual fidelity. The data suggests that 4K is not a practical target for this combo unless the user accepts Low settings.

The measured FPS breakdown shows that Medium at 1440p is the most consistent row: it has the only complete set of min/max values at that resolution (73 to 99 FPS), indicating stable frame pacing. The 1080p Medium row also has min/max data (114 to 154 FPS), which further supports the notion that Medium is the preset where this hardware operates within its comfort zone. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low at 1440p (113 FPS) or High at 1080p (112 FPS) are also strong choices.

FAQ

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Minimum?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 61. At Medium, High, and Ultra, the averages are 46, 39, and 30 FPS respectively, all below the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware in Minimum?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 provides the best balance. At Medium settings, it averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, which is smooth. At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 85 FPS, but 1440p offers more visual detail without sacrificing playability.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 Mobile compare to its nearest rival in raw benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 22,435. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is 1.3% faster at 22,729, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is 0.5% slower at 22,549, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 is 1.2% slower at 22,170.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU has more headroom. The average FPS ranges from 85 (Ultra) to 175 (Low), with the gap between presets widening, indicating that the GPU’s rendering workload is the bottleneck rather than the CPU’s processing speed.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p on High settings?

A: The average FPS is 72, with no recorded minimum or maximum. This is playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes compared to Medium, which averages 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS.

Q: How stable is the frame rate at 4K Medium?

A: The 4K Medium row shows an average of 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS. The variation of 14 FPS between min and max indicates moderate frame pacing, but the sub-60 average makes it less ideal for fast-paced gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: it achieves 35,589 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,204 in single-core, placing it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU at most settings. The 1080p Low result of 175 FPS is the highest measured value, and this is where the CPU’s single-thread performance of 2,204 (Cinebench R23) and boost clock of 5.40 GHz come into play. The game’s draw calls and physics calculations at 1080p Low are likely light enough that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them, but the 175 FPS ceiling suggests the GPU still caps the output.

The nearest CPU rivals provide context for its overall capability. The Intel Xeon w5-3525 scores 67,673 on average, which is 0.3% slower than the Ultra 9 275HX’s average score of 67,469 (the delta is -0.3% relative to the Ultra 9). The AMD EPYC 4484PX scores 67,822 (0.5% slower), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX scores 67,868 (0.6% slower). The Intel Xeon 6515P scores 67,006 (0.7% faster). These differences are negligible, meaning the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this game.

The data shows that at 4K, the CPU has no influence on frame rates: the 4K Low result of 61 FPS is nearly identical to the 4K High result of 39 FPS in terms of GPU saturation, and the CPU’s 24 cores are largely idle. At 1440p, the CPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the 113 FPS Low result, but the GPU’s limits become apparent at Ultra (55 FPS). The processor’s 24 threads and 3 MB L2 per core are more than sufficient for a 2014 title, and its 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth does not appear to be a constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low at 175 FPS, Medium at 134 FPS (with a minimum of 114 and maximum of 154), High at 112 FPS, and Ultra at 85 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 90 FPS, indicating that settings have a substantial impact at this resolution. The Medium row’s min/max values show a 40 FPS range, which is the widest of any recorded row, suggesting some scene-dependent variability.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 113 FPS on Low, 86 FPS on Medium (min 73, max 99), 72 FPS on High, and 55 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset retains a 26 FPS range between min and max, which is tighter than at 1080p, likely because the GPU is more consistently loaded. The gap between Low and Ultra is 58 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, confirming that resolution scaling compresses the settings-based differences.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 61 FPS on Low, 46 FPS on Medium (min 39, max 53), 39 FPS on High, and 30 FPS on Ultra. The Medium row’s min/max range is 14 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU is working at its limit and frame times are more consistent. The Low-to-Ultra gap is only 31 FPS, which is less than half of the 1080p gap. This pattern strongly suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s raw pixel throughput is the sole determinant of performance.

The progression from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at each settings level shows a consistent halving of frame rates at the highest resolution. For example, High goes from 112 to 72 to 39 FPS, which is roughly a 36% drop per resolution step. Medium goes from 134 to 86 to 46 FPS, and Low goes from 175 to 113 to 61 FPS. The consistency of these drops indicates that the game’s rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count, and the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the likely ceiling at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile is ranked 2,460 out of 3,712 combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested configurations, which is expected given the GPU’s 67th percentile overall standing and the game’s age.

The rank is primarily driven by the GPU’s performance, as the CPU is far more capable than the game requires. The combo rank of 2,460 means that approximately 1,252 other combinations achieve higher frame rates in Minimum, likely those with more powerful GPUs or lower resolutions. The CPU’s 94th percentile ranking does not translate into a high game rank because Minimum is not CPU-intensive; the bottleneck is the RTX 5060 Mobile’s fill rate and memory bandwidth.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RTX 5060 Mobile’s performance is within 1.3% of the RTX 4060 Mobile, which means this combo would rank similarly to one with that GPU. The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, despite being 0.5% slower in synthetic benchmarks, could potentially rank higher in Minimum if it has better driver optimization or higher memory bandwidth, but the data does not include direct game comparisons.

The rank of 2,460 out of 3,712 indicates that while this combo is not at the top, it is not the bottom either. The 1080p results (all above 85 FPS) and 1440p Medium result (86 FPS) are respectable for a mobile platform. The 4K results are the weak point, but for a 2014 shooter, 1080p and 1440p are the more relevant targets. The combo’s rank reflects its balanced but not exceptional gaming performance, with the CPU exceeding requirements and the GPU providing mid-tier capability.