Minimum

# Minimum — Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The data for Minimum shows a third-person shooter from 2014 that scales predictably across resolutions, with the RTX 2060 SUPER acting as the primary bottleneck at 4K while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides ample headroom at lower resolutions. Measured results span 1080p, 1440p, and 4K across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra presets, with average frame rates ranging from 29 FPS at 4K Ultra to 170 FPS at 1080p Low.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate curve from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at lower resolutions to firmly GPU-bound as pixel count rises. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 170 FPS average, which drops to 110 FPS at 1440p Low and 59 FPS at 4K Low — a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline indicates the GPU is already struggling to fill pixels even at the lowest settings, while the CPU has abundant compute capacity to spare.

The Medium preset tells a similar story: 130 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 35%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 46%. These are large percentage declines that point directly at the RTX 2060 SUPER's rendering limits rather than any CPU constraint. The 8 GB VRAM buffer and 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth become increasingly taxed as resolution climbs, with the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 throughput setting the ceiling.

High settings follow the same pattern: 109 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction is 35%, while 1440p-to-4K falls another 46%. Ultra settings — the heaviest load — produce 83 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 30 FPS average, which is noteworthy for a 2014 title running on a modern high-end CPU paired with a mid-range GPU.

Interestingly, the scaling between settings is not perfectly linear. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra costs 87 FPS (170 to 83), a 51% reduction. At 4K, the same settings sweep costs 30 FPS (59 to 29), a 51% reduction. This consistency suggests the GPU's pixel throughput, not CPU geometry or draw calls, dominates performance across all tested resolutions. The fact that the 1080p Ultra score of 83 FPS still exceeds the 4K Low score of 59 FPS reinforces that resolution — not settings — is the dominant performance variable in this pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the 12 nm TU106 chip with Turing architecture, shows its age in Minimum's higher presets. With 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the GPU delivers 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra where the 29 FPS average suggests VRAM capacity or bandwidth pressure.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 62 places it in the mid-range tier among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (deltaPct -0.4), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (deltaPct -0.5), AMD Radeon RX 460 (deltaPct -1.5), and Intel Arc A770M (deltaPct -1.6). The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18093 sits within 1.6% of these competitors, indicating that its Minimum performance profile is representative of its class rather than an outlier.

The GPU's clock behavior — 1470 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost — combined with 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, does not translate to meaningful advantages in this 2014 title, which predates ray tracing and DLSS. The DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) API support is irrelevant for a game released in 2014, and the measured FPS data shows no evidence of hardware-accelerated ray tracing benefits. The GPU's PassMark DirectX 11 score of 130 versus DirectX 12 score of 61 suggests this title's DX11 path is the better fit for the hardware.

At 1080p, the GPU delivers playable frame rates across all presets, with the 83 FPS Ultra average being the baseline. At 1440p, only Ultra dips below 60 FPS (54 FPS average), while High and Medium remain above 60. At 4K, the GPU manages 59 FPS on Low but falls to 38 FPS on High and 29 FPS on Ultra — figures that indicate the RTX 2060 SUPER is stretched beyond its comfortable operating range at this resolution for Minimum.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 84 FPS average with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS keeps frame rates comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold while providing higher fidelity than Low settings. The minimum FPS of 71 indicates no severe drops, making this configuration suitable for consistent gameplay.

For 1080p users, the High preset at 109 FPS average is the recommended choice. It delivers a 26% improvement over Medium's 130 FPS is not needed when High already exceeds 100 FPS, and the visual uplift from Medium to High is substantial. The 109 FPS average leaves headroom for demanding scenes, and the fact that Ultra at 83 FPS is still playable means High is a safe middle ground.

At 4K, the data shows only Low achieves an average above 60 FPS (59 FPS, which is marginally below but close). Medium at 4K produces 45 FPS average with a minimum of 38 FPS, which is borderline playable but not ideal for a third-person shooter requiring responsive aiming. The Low preset at 4K is the only viable option for smooth gameplay, though even that falls short of 60 FPS. Players prioritizing frame rate over fidelity should drop to 1440p Medium or High instead of accepting sub-60 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset provides no measurable benefit that justifies its performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra's 83 FPS is 24% slower than High's 109 FPS, and at 1440p it drops to 54 FPS, below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, Ultra bottoms out at 29 FPS, which is the only configuration in the measured set that falls below 30 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra in this 2014 title is unlikely to be visually significant given the era's graphics technology, making High the superior choice across all resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p High at 109 FPS average is the strongest configuration for smooth gameplay. 1440p Medium at 84 FPS is viable, while 4K only achieves 59 FPS on Low settings.

*Q: Can this setup run Minimum at 4K 60 FPS?*

A: No. The measured results show 59 FPS average at 4K Low, which is the highest 4K score recorded. Medium drops to 45 FPS, High to 38 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 18093 is 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile, 0.5% lower than the Radeon Pro 5700, 1.5% lower than the RX 460, and 1.6% lower than the Arc A770M.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU has ample headroom with 24 cores and a 5.80 GHz boost clock. The frame rate drops of 35-46% between resolution steps indicate the GPU is the limiting component, particularly at 1440p and 4K.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The only min FPS values provided are for Medium settings: 111 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium minimum of 38 FPS is the lowest recorded min FPS across all configurations.

Q: Does the game benefit from the RTX 2060 SUPER's ray tracing hardware?

A: No. The game released in 2014, predating ray tracing. The measured FPS data shows no indication of RT acceleration, and the GPU's RT cores (34) and tensor cores (272) are unused in this title's rendering path.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is an Arrow Lake Refresh part with 24 cores and 24 threads, boosting up to 5.80 GHz from a 3.70 GHz base clock. Its 36 MB shared L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core provide substantial on-die storage for game assets, while the 115.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth ensures the GPU receives data promptly. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs underscores its high-end positioning.

Benchmark results show the CPU's strength in multithreaded workloads: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 51731, while single-core scores 7303. PassMark multithread reaches 60860, and single-thread scores 4823. These figures indicate the CPU can handle Minimum's simulation and game logic with significant headroom, as the game's 2014-era threading model is unlikely to stress 24 cores fully.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (deltaPct 0.2), AMD EPYC 4584PX (deltaPct 1.1), AMD EPYC 9135 (deltaPct 1.2), and AMD EPYC 7F72 (deltaPct -1.3). The 290K Plus's average benchmark score of 84003 is within 1.3% of these competitors, confirming its position at the top of consumer desktop performance. For Minimum, this means the CPU is never the limiting factor — the measured FPS differences across resolutions are entirely attributable to GPU workload.

The CPU's dual-channel memory bus and DDR5 support provide adequate bandwidth for the RTX 2060 SUPER's 448.0 GB/s memory subsystem. The PCIe Gen 5 interface (20 lanes) is backward compatible with the GPU's PCIe 3.0 x16 bus, so no bandwidth bottleneck exists at the interconnect level. The 125 W TDP with a 3 nm process node from TSMC delivers high efficiency, though the 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die represent a dense design.

In gameplay terms, the CPU's PassMark physics score of 3315 and floating point math score of 214760 suggest it can handle complex physics calculations and game logic without dropping frames. The data compression score of 698346 and encryption score of 52563 are irrelevant to gaming but indicate general compute strength. For Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and maintain stable frame pacing, which the high core count and boost clock accomplish effortlessly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 170 FPS average
• Medium: 130 FPS average, 111 FPS minimum, 150 FPS maximum
• High: 109 FPS average
• Ultra: 83 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 110 FPS average
• Medium: 84 FPS average, 71 FPS minimum, 97 FPS maximum
• High: 71 FPS average
• Ultra: 54 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 59 FPS average
• Medium: 45 FPS average, 38 FPS minimum, 52 FPS maximum
• High: 38 FPS average
• Ultra: 29 FPS average

The complete dataset comprises 12 measured configurations. At 1080p, all presets exceed 83 FPS, with Low achieving 170 FPS — the highest score in the entire set. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a tight min-max spread of 111-150 FPS, indicating stable performance. At 1440p, Low (110 FPS) and Medium (84 FPS) remain above 60 FPS, while High (71 FPS) is playable and Ultra (54 FPS) dips below. At 4K, only Low (59 FPS) approaches 60 FPS, with Medium (45 FPS), High (38 FPS), and Ultra (29 FPS) all falling short.

The delta between settings at each resolution is consistent: Low-to-Medium costs roughly 24% at 1080p (170 to 130), 24% at 1440p (110 to 84), and 24% at 4K (59 to 45). Medium-to-High costs 16% at 1080p (130 to 109), 15% at 1440p (84 to 71), and 16% at 4K (45 to 38). High-to-Ultra costs 24% at 1080p (109 to 83), 24% at 1440p (71 to 54), and 24% at 4K (38 to 29). This uniform scaling suggests the GPU's compute units are the consistent bottleneck across all settings, with no single preset introducing a disproportionate performance penalty.

The combo rank of 2047 out of 2939 combinations places this pairing in the lower-middle tier for Minimum specifically. This ranking reflects the GPU's 62nd percentile standing relative to all GPUs, while the CPU's 96th percentile shows the processor is significantly stronger than the graphics card — an imbalance that the resolution scaling data confirms. Players seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need a more powerful GPU, while the CPU would not require an upgrade for this title.