Minimum

Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical presets. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti shows a configuration that is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings, while the CPU's substantial core and thread count ensures headroom in lighter scenes. This analysis breaks down the measured frame rates to identify the optimal experience and the role each component plays.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, clearly indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the primary bottleneck. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 234 FPS at 1920x1080 to 151 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 83 FPS. This trend continues to 4K, where the average drops further to 81 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 70 FPS loss, which is a substantial 46% decrease, highlighting how the increased pixel count directly taxes the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

This pattern is even more pronounced at higher settings. At the High preset, the transition from 1080p (150 FPS) to 1440p (97 FPS) represents a 53 FPS drop, and moving to 4K (52 FPS) nearly halves the 1440p result. The Ultra preset exhibits the most dramatic scaling, with averages of 115 FPS at 1080p, 74 FPS at 1440p, and a demanding 40 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the raw compute power is saturated by the game's effects and geometry at higher resolutions.

The frame time consistency, where measured, also degrades with resolution. At Medium settings, the minimum FPS at 4K is 53, which is 9 FPS below the 62 average. At 1440p, the minimum is 98 against a 116 average, and at 1080p, it is 152 against a 179 average. While the average frame rate drop is the primary indicator of GPU scaling, the narrowing gap between minimum and average FPS at lower resolutions shows that the CPU is less likely to cause hitches when the GPU load is lighter.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth and visually rich experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance in the measured data. It delivers an average of 116 FPS with a minimum of 98 FPS, which keeps the frame pacing stable and above common high-refresh-rate thresholds. While the High preset at 1440p produces a respectable 97 FPS average, the Medium preset's higher minimum frame rate suggests a more consistent experience, which is critical in a third-person shooter where quick camera movements are common.

At 1920x1080, players can comfortably use the High preset, which reaches an average of 150 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution still provides a very playable 115 FPS average, but the jump from High to Ultra yields a 35 FPS loss for what is likely a marginal visual improvement. The data shows that Low settings are primarily useful for maximizing refresh rate, achieving 234 FPS at 1080p, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. For 4K displays, the Medium preset is the highest recommended option, as it is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, with the High preset falling to 52 FPS and Ultra to 40 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the defining component in this configuration for Minimum. Its performance percentile of 86 versus all GPUs indicates it is a high-tier part, and its average benchmark score of 49957 places it in close competition with cards like the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 50951 (a 2% delta). The GPU's role is to manage the visual workload, and the measured FPS data shows that it scales predictably with resolution.

The card operates with a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2452 MHz, and it features 8960 shading units. These specifications directly influence the raw pixel and texture processing rates, which are 235.4 GPixel/s and 686.6 GTexel/s, respectively. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s, which is ample for the game's textures at all resolutions tested, as evidenced by the consistent performance scaling without unexpected crashes or extreme frame drops.

The GPU's 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in a 2014 title that does not feature ray tracing. The FP32 performance of 43.94 TFLOPS is the more relevant metric for this game's traditional rendering pipeline. The data shows that the RTX 5070 Ti is powerful enough to push very high frame rates at 1080p but is pushed to its limits at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 40, demonstrating that even a top-tier GPU can be fully saturated by high resolution and maximum settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope is narrow. The Low preset yields an average of 81 FPS. Moving to Medium drops the average to 62 FPS, with a measured minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The progression shows a clear cost for each visual fidelity step, with the gap between Medium and High being 10 FPS and between High and Ultra being 12 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are significantly higher. Low settings produce 151 FPS, Medium averages 116 FPS (with a 98-133 FPS range), High averages 97 FPS, and Ultra averages 74 FPS. The data here shows a more linear scaling, with each preset step costing approximately 20-25 FPS. This resolution is the sweet spot for the High preset, as it remains well above 60 FPS while providing improved visual detail over Medium.

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5070 Ti is rarely constrained. Low settings hit an average of 234 FPS, Medium reaches 179 FPS (with a minimum of 152 FPS), High averages 150 FPS, and Ultra still achieves 115 FPS. The delta between each preset is larger here, with a 55 FPS difference between Low and Medium, and a 64 FPS difference between Medium and Ultra. This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are both capable of keeping up, and the frame rate is more sensitive to the specific demands of each preset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for achieving high frame rates with this CPU and GPU?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates. With the High preset, the average is 150 FPS, and with Low settings, it reaches 234 FPS. This allows for maximum refresh rate utilization.

Q: Can this configuration handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 4K with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 62 FPS, which is playable. However, High and Ultra presets drop to 52 FPS and 40 FPS respectively, which may not be ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K?

A: The loss is significant. For example, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 97 at 1440p to 52 at 4K, a reduction of 45 FPS. At Low settings, it drops from 151 to 81 FPS, a reduction of 70 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most consistent frame times?

A: The Medium preset offers the most stable experience as it has recorded minimum FPS values. At 1080p, the minimum is 152 FPS against a 179 average, and at 1440p, the minimum is 98 FPS against a 116 average. This indicates fewer frame drops.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the GPU is still likely the primary limiter, but the CPU is more capable of keeping up. The average of 234 FPS shows that neither component is severely constrained, but the game's rendering thread still relies on the GPU's output.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The average benchmark score for the RTX 5070 Ti is 49957. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, has a score of 50951, which is 2% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is 3.1% lower with a score of 48477.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX provides the computational foundation for this gaming system. With 24 cores and 24 threads, it is a formidable processor, and its benchmark scores reflect this. It achieves a multicore score of 35589 in Cinebench R23 and 20795 in Geekbench, placing it in the 94th percentile versus all CPUs. In gaming, this raw multi-threaded power is often secondary to single-core performance, where the CPU scores 2204 in Cinebench R23 and 2458 in Geekbench.

The CPU's high boost clock of 5.40 GHz is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in scenarios where the game engine is not fully GPU-bound. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 234, which is high enough that the CPU's processing of game logic and draw calls can become a factor. However, the measured FPS does not show a hard ceiling, indicating the 275HX has sufficient headroom to feed the RTX 5070 Ti effectively.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and support for DDR5 memory ensures that data can be fed to the GPU quickly. While the game is from 2014 and may not utilize all 24 cores, the presence of 36 MB of L3 cache helps reduce latency for frequently accessed data. The CPU's performance relative to its rivals, such as being 0.3% behind the Intel Xeon w5-3525 in average benchmark score, shows it is a top-tier mobile part, but its role in this specific game is to avoid bottlenecking the GPU, which it does successfully at most settings, as evidenced by the clear GPU-driven FPS scaling across resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti ranks 1065 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the configuration in the top 36% of all tested systems, which is a respectable position, though not at the very top. This ranking reflects the balance between the high-end CPU and the capable, but not absolute-top-tier, GPU.

The ranking suggests that while this combo is powerful, there are many other configurations that achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. This is likely due to the GPU being the limiting factor at higher resolutions; a more powerful GPU would yield a better rank. The CPU's high percentile (94th) is somewhat offset by the GPU's slightly lower relative standing (86th percentile), but the combination is well-matched overall. The data implies that for Maximum, the RTX 5070 Ti is a strong partner for the 275HX, providing excellent 1080p and 1440p performance, while the CPU ensures that the system remains responsive and free from processor-induced frame drops, even if the overall rank is not in the top tier.