Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus's position relative to other CPUs in the database?

A: The processor sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs tested. Its average benchmark score of 84,003 places it marginally ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which scores 83,807, a difference of just 0.2%. It also edges out the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83,090, 1.1% slower) and the AMD EPYC 9135 (82,980, 1.2% slower), while trailing the AMD EPYC 7F72 (85,072, 1.3% faster).

Q: How does the Radeon RX 6750 XT compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 26,011, placing it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs. It leads the AMD Radeon R9 M395X by 0.5% (25,891), the AMD FirePro W7100 by 0.6% (25,856), and the AMD FirePro D700 by 0.7% (25,842). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile trails by 1.1% with a score of 25,740.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 214 FPS. Medium settings yield 164 FPS, High settings drop to 138 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 105 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 36 on Ultra settings to 74 on Low settings. Medium settings produce 57 FPS, and High settings yield 48 FPS. The only settings level with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium, which shows a minimum of 48 FPS.

Q: How many tested combinations does this pairing outperform in the game Minimum?

A: The combo ranks 1,284 out of 2,939 tested combinations. This places it in the upper-middle portion of the database, outperforming 1,655 other pairings while trailing 1,283.

Q: What is the GPU's launch MSRP?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT had a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The chip includes 36 MB of shared L3 cache, with 192 KB of L1 and 3 MB of L2 per core. This desktop processor draws 125 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 115.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In the context of Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's raw compute capabilities are substantial. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and single-core score of 7,303 indicate strong headroom for game logic, physics, and AI calculations. The Passmark multi-thread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 reinforce this picture. The processor's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is unlikely to be the limiting factor in this pairing.

The data shows that at lower resolutions, CPU performance becomes more relevant. At 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 214 FPS average, a figure that demands rapid instruction processing and minimal latency. The boost clock of 5.80 GHz helps in scenarios where single-thread performance matters, while the 24 threads handle background tasks and multi-threaded game engines without contention. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 21,727 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 3,067 in single-core, demonstrating balanced scaling across workloads.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the processor maintains a slight edge over the Core Ultra 9 285K (0.2% faster) and the EPYC 4584PX (1.1% faster). This margin is small, but in a game like Minimum, where frame times can be sensitive to CPU scheduling, even modest advantages can translate to smoother minimum frame rates. The processor's Passmark physics score of 3,315 further indicates its capacity to handle collision detection and object interactions typical of a third-person shooter.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process. It features 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz. Memory consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W power supply.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings scale upward. At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 214 FPS average, but at 1080p Ultra, this drops to 105 FPS. The gap widens at 4K: 74 FPS on Low versus 36 FPS on Ultra. This pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 6750 XT's 12 GB VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for texture streaming, but the compute throughput (13.31 TFLOPS FP32) begins to bottleneck at higher settings.

The GPU's 71st percentile ranking places it below the CPU's 96th percentile, confirming that the graphics card is the more likely performance limiter in this combination. Its nearest rival, the Radeon R9 M395X, is only 0.5% slower in average benchmark score, yet the RX 6750 XT's modern architecture provides features like DirectX 12 Ultimate support that the older card lacks. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,548 and Passmark G3D score of 20,700 quantify its rasterization capabilities in modern workloads.

The GPU's pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s directly influence fill-rate-bound scenarios. In Minimum, which features third-person over-the-shoulder camera work, the GPU must render detailed environments and character models. The measured FPS data shows that Medium settings at 1440p (106 FPS average) represent a sweet spot where the GPU's resources balance visual quality and frame rate. At 4K, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM remains adequate, but the 192-bit memory bus limits bandwidth-intensive operations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1,284 out of 2,939 tested combinations in Minimum. This places the pairing in the 43.7th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 44% of tested systems perform better. The ranking reflects the imbalance between the high-end CPU and the mid-range GPU: the processor can push far beyond what the graphics card can deliver.

The data indicates that this combo sits in the upper-middle tier of the database. While the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile among all processors, the GPU's 71st percentile ranking drags the overall combo position down. This is a classic case of CPU over-provisioning relative to GPU capability. In a game like Minimum, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the combo still delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but the 1,284 rank shows that many other pairings achieve higher performance.

Compared to the theoretical maximum, the combo trails 1,283 other tested configurations. The top-ranked combos likely pair high-end CPUs with flagship GPUs, whereas this setup uses a mid-range graphics card. However, the 1,284 rank also means the combo outperforms 1,655 other combinations, including those with weaker CPUs or older GPUs. The CPU's 24 threads and 5.80 GHz boost clock ensure that the GPU receives data without stalling, but the RX 6750 XT's 13.31 TFLOPS FP32 throughput caps overall frame rates.

The rank suggests that for users prioritizing CPU-intensive tasks beyond gaming, this combo is well-balanced. But for pure gaming performance in Minimum, the GPU is the constraining factor. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 214 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 36 FPS—a 83% reduction driven almost entirely by GPU load. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking means it could support a more powerful GPU in future upgrades without becoming a bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the GPU as the primary limiter. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, average frame rates drop by approximately 35-38% across all settings. From 1440p to 3840x2160, the drop is more severe, ranging from 45-48% depending on settings.

At Low settings, the progression is: 214 FPS at 1080p, 138 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 65%. At Ultra settings, the progression is: 105 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The drops are 35% and 47%, respectively, with a total reduction of 66%.

This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences between resolutions, particularly at lower settings where CPU load is relatively higher. Instead, the frame rate drops nearly proportionally with pixel count, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios.

The Medium settings data provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 164 with a minimum of 139 and maximum of 189. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 106 with a range of 90-122. At 4K Medium, the average is 57 with a range of 48-66. The minimum FPS values are notably close to the averages, suggesting consistent frame pacing without severe spikes. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS at each resolution is roughly 30-35% of the average, indicating stable performance.

The steep drop from 1440p to 4K—around 46-47%—is steeper than the 35-38% drop from 1080p to 1440p. This non-linear scaling is typical of memory bandwidth limitations. The RX 6750 XT's 432.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p but becomes strained at 4K where pixel throughput demands more than double the data. The 192-bit memory bus is the likely constraint, as opposed to the 12 GB VRAM capacity, which remains adequate for Minimum's textures.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 214 FPS, making this the only settings level to exceed 200 FPS. Medium settings yield 164 FPS average, with a minimum of 139 and maximum of 189. High settings drop to 138 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 105 FPS. The 1080p results span a wide range from 105 to 214 FPS, giving users flexibility to prioritize visual quality or frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings average 138 FPS, which remains highly playable. Medium settings average 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 and maximum of 122. High settings produce 89 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 68 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium settings offer the best balance for competitive play, with 106 FPS average and a minimum above 90 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 74 FPS, which is playable but not optimal for fast-paced third-person shooting. Medium settings average 57 FPS with a minimum of 48 and maximum of 66, indicating occasional drops below 60 FPS. High settings average 48 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 36 FPS. The 4K results are best suited for slower-paced gameplay or screenshots, as even Low settings cannot consistently hold 60 FPS.

The Medium settings data is the only complete dataset with minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 139-189 FPS (average 164). At 1440p, the range is 90-122 FPS (average 106). At 4K, the range is 48-66 FPS (average 57). The consistency of the range relative to the average—roughly 30% in all cases—suggests that frame pacing remains stable regardless of resolution, with no sudden spikes or drops.

The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Minimum. At 1080p, even Ultra settings maintain 105 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays. At 1440p, Medium settings provide 106 FPS average, and High settings stay above 60 FPS. At 4K, users must sacrifice settings significantly, with Low settings being the only option that approaches 60 FPS territory. The 48 FPS minimum at 4K Medium indicates that demanding scenes can push frame rates below playable thresholds.