Minimum

# Minimum Performance Analysis: Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D sits at the absolute top of the tested field for Minimum, a 2014 Third-Person Shooter. The data places this pairing at rank 1 out of 2,939 tested combos, meaning no other hardware configuration in the database delivers higher average frame rates in this title. The CPU, with its 24 cores and 24 threads running at a 5.80 GHz boost clock, pairs with a GPU that holds 32 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 512-bit bus, creating a platform that appears built to overwhelm a game from a decade prior. Benchmark results indicate this is not merely a capable setup but the definitive reference point for what this game can achieve on consumer hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame field shows a rank of 1 out of 2,939 tested combinations, which places this pairing at the 99.97th percentile of all recorded configurations for Minimum. This is not a marginal victory; the measured FPS data shows the system producing 430 average FPS at 1080p Low settings, a figure that dwarfs typical results for a game released in 2014. The ranking suggests that the combination of the Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 5090 D creates a synergy where neither component bottlenecks the other in this specific title, allowing the full potential of both parts to be expressed.

The CPU itself holds a percentileVsAllCpus score of 96, meaning it outperforms 96% of all processors in the database across general benchmarks. Its avgBenchmarkScore of 84,003 places it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals: the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K scores 83,807 (0.2% slower), the AMD EPYC 4584PX scores 83,090 (1.1% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9135 scores 82,980 (1.2% slower). Interestingly, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85,072, which is 1.3% higher, showing that this CPU is not universally dominant but is within a narrow competitive band at the very top of the desktop and workstation spectrum.

For the GPU, the percentileVsAllGpus score of 92 indicates it outperforms 92% of all graphics cards in the database. Its avgBenchmarkScore of 77,712 is closely matched with rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, 1.6% higher) and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605, 2.4% higher), though those are notably different product categories. The RTX 5090 D's position in the ranking is less about raw benchmark scores and more about how its specific architecture—Blackwell 2.0 on a 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors—interacts with Minimum's rendering workload, which the measured FPS data shows to be exceptionally favorable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D brings 32 GB of GDDR7 memory operating at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) across a 512-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. For a game from 2014, this memory subsystem is vastly overprovisioned; Minimum is unlikely to approach the 32 GB capacity or saturate the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth in any scenario. The data suggests that the GPU's 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs are the more relevant specifications, as these directly influence pixel throughput and texture processing in a third-person shooter.

The boost clock of 2407 MHz (base 2017 MHz) allows the GPU to reach a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s. In Minimum, the measured FPS at 1080p Ultra is 210 average, which translates to roughly 3.7 pixels per frame at 3840x2160 resolution—the GPU is processing far more pixels than the game's visual complexity likely demands. The FP32 compute of 104.8 TFLOPS (with FP16 at 104.8 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio) means the GPU has substantial headroom for any shader complexity the game throws at it, though a 2014 title would have been designed for hardware with a fraction of this capability.

The RTX 5090 D's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are features that Minimum, released in 2014, almost certainly does not utilize, as ray tracing and AI-accelerated features were not standard in that era. This means the GPU's traditional rasterization pipeline—through the 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs—is doing the heavy lifting, and it is doing so with remarkable efficiency based on the FPS data. The 575 W TDP and dual-slot design with a 1x 16-pin power connector indicate the hardware demands significant power, but the performance payoff in this title is clear from the measured results.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system scales under increasing pixel load. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 430 at 1920x1080 to 277 at 2560x1440 to 149 at 3840x2160. This represents a 35.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. The pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases, since the CPU's workload remains relatively constant while the GPU must process 4 times the pixels at 4K compared to 1080p.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 276 FPS at 1080p, 178 FPS at 1440p (35.5% drop), and 96 FPS at 4K (46.1% drop from 1440p). This consistency across settings suggests that the resolution scaling is a function of GPU pixel throughput rather than any game-specific optimization or CPU limitation. The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical between Low and High settings reinforces that the GPU's fill rate is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, not the CPU or memory subsystem.

The Medium settings data provides the only min/max FPS measurements in the pack: at 1080p, the average is 329 with a min of 280 and max of 379; at 1440p, the average is 212 with a min of 180 and max of 244; at 4K, the average is 114 with a min of 97 and max of 131. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the narrow gap between min and max at each resolution, suggests that the system maintains stable performance without significant stutters or drops, even when the GPU is under heavier load at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 430 FPS, Medium produces 329 FPS (with min 280 and max 379), High produces 276 FPS, and Ultra produces 210 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 51.2% reduction in average FPS, which is a substantial penalty for the higher visual fidelity. The fact that even Ultra settings maintain an average above 200 FPS means the system has massive headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 277 FPS at Low, 212 FPS at Medium (min 180, max 244), 178 FPS at High, and 136 FPS at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 35-36% across all settings, which aligns with the increased pixel count of 77% more pixels—indicating that the GPU is scaling efficiently with resolution. Even at 4K Ultra, the system still maintains 73 FPS average, which is playable, but the jump from High (96 FPS) to Ultra (73 FPS) represents a 24% performance hit for the highest settings.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 149 FPS at Low, 114 FPS at Medium (min 97, max 131), 96 FPS at High, and 73 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results show that the system can handle this resolution comfortably at most settings, with only Ultra dipping below the 75 FPS threshold that some might consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data reveals that the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for 4K in this title, as the bottleneck appears to be compute throughput rather than memory capacity or bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Minimum?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 430 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which represents the maximum performance the system can deliver in this title.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system produces an average of 73 FPS, which is the lowest measured average across all tested configurations but still playable for most users.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 430 FPS average, which suggests the CPU (with its 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 threads) is keeping up with the GPU's output. The 0.2% performance delta between the Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Ultra 9 285K indicates the CPU is not a significant bottleneck.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the min/max FPS are 280/379 at 1080p, 180/244 at 1440p, and 97/131 at 4K, showing the frame times remain stable even as resolution increases.

Q: How does the GPU's memory configuration affect performance in Minimum?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is far beyond what a 2014 game requires, so memory is not a limiting factor; the data shows no evidence of memory-related performance drops at any resolution or setting.

Q: What percentile does this combo rank in compared to other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 1st out of 2,939 tested combos, placing it at the top of the database for Minimum performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that High settings at 1440p (178 FPS average) or 4K (96 FPS average) provide the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1440p High, the system maintains a frame rate well above 144 Hz refresh rates, making it ideal for high-refresh displays. At 4K High, the 96 FPS average is sufficient for 90 Hz or 100 Hz displays, and the visual upgrade over Medium (114 FPS) is likely worth the 15.8% performance reduction, particularly given the 2014 game's art style benefits from higher detail settings.

For players prioritizing maximum smoothness, 1080p Low at 430 FPS is the clear choice, but this exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all consumer displays. The Medium settings at 1080p (329 FPS) or 1440p (212 FPS) offer a middle ground with the only recorded min/max data showing stable frame delivery. Ultra settings at 4K (73 FPS) should be reserved for those who value image quality over frame rate, though the 24% drop from High to Ultra at 4K is significant. The data indicates that High settings represent the sweet spot for this combo, delivering 96 FPS at 4K and 178 FPS at 1440p without the steep performance penalty of Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads, meaning no hyperthreading, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This configuration, built on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename with a 3 nm process from TSMC, provides the single-thread performance that Minimum—a 2014 title likely optimized for fewer cores—would rely on. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303 and multi-core score of 51,731 indicate strong performance in both single and multi-threaded workloads, though a decade-old game is unlikely to leverage all 24 cores effectively.

The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache, with 192 KB L1 and 3 MB L2 per core, provides ample cache for game data. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,823 and multithread score of 60,860 place this processor in the top 4% of all CPUs (percentileVsAllCpus of 96), and the 0.2% delta from the Ultra 9 285K shows it is at the leading edge of Intel's desktop lineup. In Minimum, the CPU's role is likely to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic; at 1080p Low where FPS reaches 430, the CPU must sustain a very high frame rate, and the data suggests it does so without bottlenecking.

The memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5, combined with PCIe Gen 5 (20 lanes from the CPU), ensures the GPU has fast access to game data. The CPU's integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU is irrelevant when paired with the RTX 5090 D, but its presence doesn't detract from performance. The Passmark physics score of 3,315 and data compression score of 698,346 suggest the CPU excels at the type of integer and floating-point operations that game logic requires, and the 5.80 GHz boost clock provides the raw speed needed for high-FPS scenarios in Minimum.