Minimum

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a commanding performance profile in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter that remains surprisingly demanding at high resolutions. The measured data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at 4K, but transitions to a more balanced workload as resolution drops. This combination, ranking 403rd out of 3712 tested configurations, demonstrates that raw CPU horsepower from the 24-core Arrow Lake Refresh chip is more than sufficient to feed the Blackwell-based GPU, which becomes the primary determinant of frame rates in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-limited scenario, with the RTX 5070 Ti shouldering the bulk of the rendering load. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 yields a drop from 215 FPS to 139 FPS, a 35.3% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 results in 75 FPS, which is a 46.0% decrease from the 1440p figure and a 65.1% decline from the 1080p baseline. This steep, non-linear drop indicates that the game's pixel throughput demands are saturating the GPU's 896.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 43.94 TFLOPS FP32 compute capabilities as resolution climbs.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all presets, but the magnitude varies. With the Low preset, the system achieves 335 FPS at 1080p, 216 FPS at 1440p, and 116 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is 65.4%, nearly identical to the High preset's 65.1% decline. This consistency suggests that the rendering pipeline in Minimum scales linearly with pixel count, regardless of the complexity of the graphical effects being applied. The Ultra preset, however, shows a more dramatic collapse, falling from 164 FPS at 1080p to 106 FPS at 1440p and then to just 57 FPS at 4K, representing a 65.2% total reduction.

At 1080p, the high frame rates of 215 FPS (High) and 335 FPS (Low) suggest that the CPU is still capable of keeping pace, but the GPU is already the limiting factor. The Core Ultra 9 290K's 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 threads provide ample headroom for the game's logic and draw calls. However, the data indicates that even at this modest resolution, the RTX 5070 Ti's fill rate, measured at 235.4 GPixel/s, is the bottleneck. The 4K results, particularly the 57 FPS at Ultra, confirm that this combination is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming or smooth 4K at more moderate settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience in Minimum. The Medium preset emerges as the most balanced option, offering a significant performance uplift over High while maintaining respectable visual quality. At 1440p, Medium delivers 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 FPS, which is a 19.4% improvement over High's 139 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset achieves 89 FPS with a 76 FPS minimum, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while the High preset's 75 FPS average leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset is the clear winner. At 1080p, Low produces 335 FPS, which is 30.3% higher than Medium's 257 FPS and 55.8% higher than High's 215 FPS. Even at 4K, Low maintains 116 FPS, which is 30.3% faster than Medium's 89 FPS. This preset is optimal for competitive play where response time is paramount, though it likely sacrifices the visual fidelity that the game's 2014-era engine can produce.

The Ultra preset, while visually the most demanding, presents a challenging proposition. At 1440p, it achieves 106 FPS, which is still playable but 36.1% slower than Medium's 166 FPS. At 4K, Ultra drops to 57 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate displays. The data suggests that Ultra is best reserved for 1080p, where it hits 164 FPS, or for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate and are willing to accept the 4K compromise. The High preset serves as a middle ground, offering 215 FPS at 1080p and 139 FPS at 1440p, but it is outperformed by Medium in both resolutions, making it the least compelling choice in the lineup.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the undisputed performance driver in this configuration, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed frame rates. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for feeding the 8960 shading units at high resolutions. The 4K results, particularly the 75 FPS at High and 89 FPS at Medium, demonstrate that the memory subsystem is sufficient to handle the texture and geometry data of Minimum, but the compute units are the limiting factor.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2452 MHz, are relatively modest for a 300 W TDP card, but the Blackwell 2.0 architecture's efficiency is evident. The 43.94 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the primary driver of the pixel and texture processing rates, measured at 235.4 GPixel/s and 686.6 GTexel/s respectively. These figures explain why the 4K Ultra preset, which likely enables the most aggressive pixel shading and post-processing effects, drops to 57 FPS — the GPU is simply running out of compute throughput.

The RTX 5070 Ti's benchmark scores reinforce its position in the market. Its Passmark G3D score of 32974 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6604 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a 2% higher average score, show that this is a high-end part, but the measured FPS in Minimum demonstrates that the game's engine is well-optimized for NVIDIA's architecture. The GPU's 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this title, which predates widespread ray tracing, but the raw rasterization performance is what drives the 335 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combination reveals a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the frame rates span a wide range: Low produces 335 FPS, Medium 257 FPS with a minimum of 218 FPS and maximum of 295 FPS, High 215 FPS, and Ultra 164 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 51.0%, indicating that the game's graphical settings have a substantial impact on GPU load even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the same hierarchy holds but with reduced headroom. Low achieves 216 FPS, Medium 166 FPS (min 141, max 190), High 139 FPS, and Ultra 106 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 141 FPS is particularly notable, as it stays above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many gaming monitors offer, ensuring a tear-free experience on such displays. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 35% of the frame rate across all presets, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

The 3840x2160 results show the most variation in playability. Low maintains a playable 116 FPS, while Medium drops to 89 FPS (min 76, max 103) and High falls to 75 FPS. Ultra, with 57 FPS, is the only preset that dips below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset's 76 FPS minimum is the key takeaway for 4K users, as it provides a comfortable buffer against frame time spikes. The data shows that this GPU-CPU combo is capable of 4K gaming, but only at Low or Medium settings if consistent high frame rates are the goal.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 5070 Ti combination ranks 403rd out of 3712 tested configurations in Minimum, placing it in the top 10.9% of all systems. This ranking is impressive given the game's age, but it reflects the high-end nature of both components. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 84003, is a significant contributor to this result, as the game's engine benefits from the 24 cores and 24 threads running at up to 5.80 GHz boost.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database provide context for its performance. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K scores 0.2% lower, while the AMD EPYC 4584PX is 1.1% behind and the AMD EPYC 9135 is 1.2% behind. The AMD EPYC 7F72 is 1.3% ahead. These marginal differences indicate that the 290K Plus is at the very top of the desktop CPU performance hierarchy, and it is unlikely to be a bottleneck in this game.

The GPU's ranking is less dominant but still strong. The RTX 5070 Ti sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rivals being the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (0.1% lower), Intel Arc A550M (0.4% lower), AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (2% higher), and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (3.1% lower). The combination's 403rd overall rank suggests that the GPU's performance, while not class-leading, is more than adequate for Minimum when paired with a top-tier CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus plays a supporting role in this configuration, but its specifications ensure that it never becomes a limiting factor. With 24 cores and 24 threads, a base clock of 3.70 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, this Arrow Lake Refresh chip provides ample processing power for the game's simulation and draw call generation. The 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, delivers high efficiency and low latency, which is crucial for maintaining the high frame rates observed at 1080p.

The CPU's cache hierarchy, featuring 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3, ensures that frequently accessed game data is kept close to the cores. This is particularly important for a 2014 game like Minimum, which may have less optimized memory access patterns compared to modern titles. The 115.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth is sufficient to feed the 24 cores, and the ECC support adds stability for long gaming sessions.

Benchmark results for the CPU show its multi-threaded prowess, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The Passmark multithread score of 60860 and single-thread score of 4823 further validate its position. The data indicates that at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock is able to drive the game's logic fast enough to reach 335 FPS on Low settings. As resolution increases, the CPU's role diminishes, as evidenced by the 4K results being nearly identical in relative performance across presets. This confirms that the 290K Plus is an ideal match for the RTX 5070 Ti, providing all the headroom needed for the GPU to operate at its full potential in Minimum.