Minimum

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 clears the 60 FPS playable threshold at every preset. The most demanding setting, Ultra, still delivers an average of 199.3 FPS. That leaves a massive margin over the 60 FPS target, so there is no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution. The recorded data shows 272.2 FPS on Low, 248.2 FPS on Medium, and 232.7 FPS on High, but the Ultra preset at 199.3 FPS is the choice for maximum visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the picture is similar. Every preset stays well above 60 FPS, and Ultra remains the most demanding option with an average of 127.8 FPS. Low runs at 236.2 FPS, Medium at 200 FPS, and High at 166.9 FPS. Since even the heaviest preset nearly doubles the playable threshold, the recommendation is Ultra at 1440p. The gap between Ultra and High is 39.1 FPS, which is a meaningful visual upgrade for a relatively small performance cost.

At 3840x2160, the story changes slightly. The Ultra preset drops to 67.6 FPS, which still clears the 60 FPS threshold but with far less headroom than at lower resolutions. High runs at 89.5 FPS, Medium at 106.3 FPS, and Low at 141.9 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra is still playable at 4K, but the margin is only 7.6 FPS above the threshold. For players who want a safety buffer, High at 89.5 FPS is the more comfortable pick. However, if the goal is maximum fidelity and the frame rate target is strictly 60 FPS, Ultra works.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals which component carries the load. At 1920x1080, the CPU is the limiting factor. Moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p drops the average from 272.2 FPS to 199.3 FPS, a reduction of 72.9 FPS. The GPU is so fast that the Ryzen 5 3600 becomes the bottleneck, especially at lower presets where the GPU has less work to do. The 272.2 FPS result on Low suggests the CPU is maxed out before the RTX 5090 can stretch its legs.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts toward the GPU. The spread from Low to Ultra is 236.2 FPS down to 127.8 FPS, a difference of 108.4 FPS. The larger resolution increases the GPU workload, so the GPU starts to matter more. Still, the Ryzen 5 3600 keeps pace well enough that the system stays far above 60 FPS at every preset.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant factor. The Ultra preset delivers only 67.6 FPS, while Low reaches 141.9 FPS. The 74.3 FPS swing between Low and Ultra at 4K shows that the RTX 5090 is working hard at this resolution. The CPU is less relevant here because the GPU is the constraining component. The data indicates that this combo is GPU-bound at 4K, CPU-bound at 1080p, and balanced at 1440p.

Comparing across resolutions at the same preset makes this clearer. At Ultra, 1080p yields 199.3 FPS, 1440p yields 127.8 FPS, and 4K yields 67.6 FPS. The 71.5 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and the additional 60.2 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K are both substantial. At Low, the progression is 272.2 FPS at 1080p, 236.2 FPS at 1440p, and 141.9 FPS at 4K. The smaller drop between 1080p and 1440p on Low, only 36 FPS, confirms that the CPU is holding the system back at lower resolutions. The larger drop between 1440p and 4K on Low, 94.3 FPS, shows the GPU workload scaling with pixel count.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination at 237 out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. That places it in the top 6.4 percent of all configurations in the database. The ranking reflects the RTX 5090's dominance in the GPU hierarchy, even though the Ryzen 5 3600 is a mid-range CPU from the 3000 series. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 92, while the CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 71. The combination of a top-tier GPU with a capable but not flagship CPU lands this setup in the upper tier of the database.

The high rank is driven by the GPU. The RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 79842, and its nearest rivals in the database are close in synthetic scores. The Ryzen 5 3600, with an average benchmark score of 17035, is not near the top of the CPU charts, but it is sufficient to feed the GPU at most resolutions. In a game like Minimum, which is from 2014 and designed for older hardware, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The data shows that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, which is expected given the GPU's position at the top of the performance stack.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Core i7-1260P, the Intel Core i5-11400, the AMD EPYC 7573X, and the AMD EPYC 7742. The Intel Core i7-1260P has an average score of 17007, which is 0.2 percent lower than the Ryzen 5 3600's 17035. The Intel Core i5-11400 scores 17067, 0.2 percent higher. The AMD EPYC 7573X scores 17070, also 0.2 percent higher. The AMD EPYC 7742 scores 16998, 0.2 percent lower. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these CPUs would behave nearly identically in Minimum when paired with the RTX 5090. The Ryzen 5 3600's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game, and the rivals in this range will not produce a measurable frame rate difference.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X. The Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605, 0.3 percent higher than the RTX 5090's 79842. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396, 0.6 percent lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, 1.1 percent lower. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80959, 1.4 percent higher. These are synthetic benchmark comparisons, and the deltas are small. In practice, any of these GPUs would deliver similar frame rates in Minimum, though the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and Blackwell architecture are not directly comparable to the older Tesla and Radeon parts in terms of feature support.

The practical takeaway is that the CPU can be swapped for any of its nearest rivals without changing the gaming experience in Minimum. The GPU alternatives would also land in the same performance ballpark, but the RTX 5090 remains the strongest option in the group for modern features and driver support.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers three resolutions and four settings each, with average FPS recorded for every combination. Minimum and maximum frame rates were not recorded, so the analysis relies on averages.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 272.2 FPS. Medium reaches 248.2 FPS, High drops to 232.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 199.3 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 72.9 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 24 FPS, from Medium to High costs 15.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 33.4 FPS. The Ultra preset takes the largest single hit, which is typical for the highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, Low runs at 236.2 FPS. Medium follows at 200 FPS, High at 166.9 FPS, and Ultra at 127.8 FPS. The total spread is 108.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 36.2 FPS, from Medium to High is 33.1 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 39.1 FPS. The scaling is more uniform at 1440p compared to 1080p, where the Ultra preset was the outlier.

At 3840x2160, Low produces 141.9 FPS. Medium drops to 106.3 FPS, High falls to 89.5 FPS, and Ultra reaches 67.6 FPS. The spread is 74.3 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is 35.6 FPS, from Medium to High is 16.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 21.9 FPS. At 4K, the Low to Medium transition is the largest single drop, while the High to Ultra step is moderate.

Comparing the same preset across resolutions, the scaling is consistent with GPU-bound behavior at 4K and CPU-bound behavior at 1080p. At Low, 1080p is 272.2 FPS, 1440p is 236.2 FPS, and 4K is 141.9 FPS. At Medium, 1080p is 248.2 FPS, 1440p is 200 FPS, and 4K is 106.3 FPS. At High, 1080p is 232.7 FPS, 1440p is 166.9 FPS, and 4K is 89.5 FPS. At Ultra, 1080p is 199.3 FPS, 1440p is 127.8 FPS, and 4K is 67.6 FPS.

The 4K Ultra result of 67.6 FPS is the only measurement that approaches the 60 FPS threshold. Every other combination clears it by a wide margin. The data suggests that the RTX 5090 is the deciding factor at 4K, while the Ryzen 5 3600 limits the system at 1080p.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum, and it does so with authority. The verdict by resolution is clear: every preset at every resolution clears the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 199.3 FPS, which is more than triple the threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 127.8 FPS, more than double the threshold. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 67.6 FPS, which clears the threshold by 7.6 FPS.

The playable settings list for each resolution includes High, Low, Medium, and Ultra. There is no preset that fails to reach 60 FPS in this dataset. The only caveat is the 4K Ultra result, which has limited headroom. Frame rate dips below the average are possible, but the recorded data does not include minimum FPS values, so the analysis rests on averages. For a game from 2014, the hardware is far more than sufficient.

The Ryzen 5 3600 is the weaker link in this pairing, but it does not prevent playable performance at any setting. The RTX 5090 carries the load at 4K, while the CPU becomes the bottleneck at 1080p. For players targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo is overkill for Minimum. For 4K Ultra, it is just enough, with the RTX 5090 doing the heavy lifting. The data shows a system that can handle this game at maximum quality across all tested resolutions, with the strongest performance at lower resolutions and the narrowest margin at 4K Ultra.