Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a wide performance envelope in Minimum, ranging from a smooth 4K experience at reduced settings to a high-refresh 1080p experience at maximum quality. The measured data shows a clear pattern: this combination is fully capable of exceeding the 60 FPS threshold at every tested resolution, provided the settings are chosen to match the target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combination shows its limits. With the Low preset, the average frame rate is 65 FPS, which clears the playable threshold. Moving to Medium drops the average to 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 42 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 32 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming is viable only at the lowest settings, where the frame rate stays comfortably above 60.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the picture improves substantially. The Low preset produces an average of 121 FPS, while Medium averages 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. The High preset averages 78 FPS, and the Ultra preset just misses the 60 FPS mark with an average of 59 FPS. This resolution offers a wide range of playable options, with only the highest quality setting falling below the target.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the hardware is clearly not the bottleneck. The Low preset reaches an average of 187 FPS. The Medium preset averages 143 FPS, with a minimum of 122 FPS and a maximum of 165 FPS. The High preset averages 120 FPS, and even the Ultra preset maintains a strong 92 FPS average. Every preset at this resolution is far above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating a very comfortable experience.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a typical reduction in frame rates. For example, the High preset drops from 120 FPS at 1080p to 78 FPS at 1440p, a decrease of about 35%. The jump from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with the High preset falling from 78 FPS to 42 FPS, a reduction of roughly 46%. This suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of performance changes across resolutions.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU each have close rivals that would produce similar behavior in this game. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 sits in a tight cluster of processors with nearly identical average scores. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, is just 0.1% ahead, which is a negligible difference. The Intel Core 5 221E is 0.2% behind, and the AMD Ryzen 9 270 is 0.4% behind. The Intel Core i9-13905H is 0.6% behind. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver virtually the same frame rates in Minimum.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 has a more varied set of neighbors. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 0.7% faster, which is a marginal difference. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 are both 1% slower. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 2.1% slower. In practice, a system with an RTX 3060 Ti would perform nearly identically, while a system with an RX 7700 would be slightly slower but still within a few percentage points. The percentile data places the CPU in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, suggesting the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in Minimum, particularly as resolution increases. The frame rate drops are steep when moving from 1440p to 4K, which is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads. For instance, the Medium preset at 1440p averages 92 FPS, but at 4K it falls to 50 FPS. This 46% reduction in performance is far larger than the 23% reduction seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p for the same preset (143 FPS to 92 FPS). The pattern strongly indicates that the Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting component.

The CPU's role is less prominent but still relevant. The Ryzen 7 7700 has a high multithreaded score of 18,760 in Cinebench R23, which is more than sufficient for a game released in 2014. The CPU's single-thread performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2,525, also appears adequate. The fact that the frame rate scales so predictably with resolution and settings suggests that the CPU is not introducing any noticeable stutter or bottleneck. The data shows that at 1080p, where CPU load is typically higher relative to GPU load, the frame rates are exceptionally high, which implies the CPU is handling the game logic without issue.

The scaling between presets at a fixed resolution further confirms the GPU's importance. At 1440p, the difference between Low (121 FPS) and Ultra (59 FPS) is a factor of about 2.05x. This wide gap is typical of a GPU-limited scenario where the graphics card's workload increases significantly with visual quality. A CPU bottleneck would compress this range, as the processor would cap the maximum frame rate regardless of settings.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 4K resolution?*

A: Yes, but only at the Low preset, which averages 65 FPS. The Medium preset falls to 50 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets drop to 42 FPS and 32 FPS, respectively.

Q: What is the best setting at 1440p to stay above 60 FPS?

A: The High preset is the most demanding option that stays above the threshold, averaging 78 FPS. The Ultra preset just misses the mark at 59 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti is 0.7% faster in average benchmark score, which translates to a negligible difference in real-world frame rates for this game.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700 a strong CPU for gaming?

A: The CPU sits in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.6% of its average score. Its high single-thread performance (2,525 in Geekbench) suggests it can handle older game engines well.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 92 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Why is the frame rate drop so large between 1440p and 4K?

A: The data shows a steep decline, such as the Medium preset dropping from 92 FPS at 1440p to 50 FPS at 4K. This is consistent with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 2179 out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the upper portion of the tested hardware pool, roughly in the 41st percentile of all combos. The ranking reflects that while the GPU is only in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, the CPU's strong 87th percentile standing helps pull the overall combination higher. The rank suggests that many other systems are faster, but a significant majority of tested combinations are also slower. The measured frame rates at 1080p and 1440p confirm that this ranking still translates to a very playable experience in this specific title.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is identified below.

• 3840x2160: The Low preset is the best choice, achieving an average of 65 FPS. All higher presets fall below the threshold.
• 2560x1440: The High preset is the optimal choice, with an average of 78 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 59 FPS, which is just under the target.
• 1920x1080: The Ultra preset is fully playable, averaging 92 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available and it clears the threshold with a comfortable margin.

The Verdict

The data clearly answers the question: yes, this PC can run Minimum. The verdict by resolution is straightforward. At 3840x2160, the only playable setting is Low, which averages 65 FPS. At 2560x1440, three presets are playable — High at 78 FPS, Medium at 92 FPS, and Low at 121 FPS — with High being the best quality option. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, including Ultra at 92 FPS, High at 120 FPS, Medium at 143 FPS, and Low at 187 FPS. The system delivers a playable experience at every resolution tested, with the only caveat being that 4K requires a significant reduction in visual quality to maintain smooth frame rates. For users targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combination offers a wide range of settings that comfortably exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold.