Minimum

This PC combination handles Minimum with a comfortable margin at most settings, but the data shows a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER deliver strong frame rates across the board, with the highest playable preset at 4K being High at 77 FPS, while lower resolutions allow for Ultra settings with substantial headroom.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4080 SUPER has no trouble pushing maximum visual quality. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 171.3 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Even the most demanding setting at this resolution leaves significant performance on the table, making Ultra the clear choice for any 1080p display. High settings run at 225.9 FPS, Medium at 272 FPS, and Low at 351.9 FPS, but none of these lower presets are necessary given the headroom at Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the story remains similar. The Ultra preset delivers 112.9 FPS on average, comfortably clearing the 60 FPS target. This resolution offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with the system still producing well over 100 FPS at maximum settings. The measured data shows High at 144.5 FPS, Medium at 176.2 FPS, and Low at 226 FPS, but again, the Ultra preset is fully playable and should be the default choice for 1440p gaming.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Ultra preset drops to 57.8 FPS, which falls just below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data indicates that High is the best playable setting at 4K, averaging 77 FPS. Medium runs at 93.3 FPS, and Low at 120.3 FPS. While the Ultra preset is technically not playable by the 60 FPS standard, the High preset provides a strong experience with only a modest visual downgrade. The 4K High result of 77 FPS still offers smooth gameplay, but users with 4K displays will need to accept High rather than Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the CPU plays a more significant role because the GPU can render frames quickly enough that the processor becomes a limiting factor. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a drop from 351.9 FPS to 171.3 FPS, a reduction of roughly 51% as the GPU workload increases. This indicates that at lower resolutions, the Ryzen 9 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads are still capable of feeding the RTX 4080 SUPER, but the GPU is not yet the primary bottleneck.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take on more responsibility. The Ultra preset at 1440p runs at 112.9 FPS, which is about 34% slower than the 1080p Ultra result of 171.3 FPS. This proportional drop suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases, though the CPU still has enough throughput to maintain high frame rates. The Ryzen 9 5950X's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 944, helps ensure that even at 1440p, the system avoids CPU-related frame rate dips.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant component. The 4K Ultra preset runs at 57.8 FPS, which is about 49% slower than the 1440p Ultra result. This steep decline aligns with the GPU's rendering load quadrupling from 1440p to 4K. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are being fully utilized at this resolution. The CPU's role diminishes further, as the frame rates are now entirely governed by the GPU's ability to process pixels. The data shows that the Ryzen 9 5950X, with its 3DMark max-threads score of 11597, is not holding back the system at any resolution, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 4K?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 averages 77 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 4K only reaches 57.8 FPS, so High is the best choice for 4K displays.

Q: Can this system run the game at 1440p with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 112.9 FPS, well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four presets at 1440p are playable.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The 1080p Ultra average is 171.3 FPS, while the 4K Ultra average is 57.8 FPS. This represents a performance drop of approximately 66% between the two resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important at 1080p?

A: The CPU plays a larger role at 1080p, as the GPU can render frames quickly enough to be limited by processor throughput. The Ryzen 9 5950X's 16-core design helps maintain high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What frame rate can I expect with the Low preset at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 averages 351.9 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the dataset. This makes the combination ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of memory matter for this game?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for all tested presets and resolutions. The data shows no memory-related performance anomalies, even at 4K Ultra where the GPU is most stressed.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Ryzen 9 5950X sits close to several other processors in the benchmark database. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX has an average score of 52073, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 9 5950X's average. The AMD EPYC 8124P scores 52121, just 0.3% below. The Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51730, which is 0.4% higher than the Ryzen 9 5950X. The Intel Core i7-14700 scores 52301, putting it 0.7% higher. These processors would deliver nearly identical in-game performance, meaning users with any of these chips should expect similar frame rates in Minimum.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER is closely matched by the standard RTX 4080, which has an average score of 54247, just 0.1% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209 average. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, a 2.7% difference, and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, a 2.8% difference. These GPUs would produce very similar frame rates in Minimum, with the measured differences likely being within a few frames per second at any given resolution and preset.

The Verdict

This PC can run Minimum successfully across all tested resolutions, with the only limitation being the 4K Ultra preset. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 171.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets are also playable, with Ultra reaching 112.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the High preset is the best playable option at 77 FPS, while Ultra falls just short at 57.8 FPS. The system comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for the vast majority of settings and resolutions, making it a strong choice for this game. The only scenario where users must compromise is 4K Ultra, where the frame rate dips slightly below the playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 348th out of 3712 tested combinations in the database for Minimum. This places it in the top 9.4% of all tested systems, indicating that it performs well above the median. The high ranking reflects the balanced capabilities of both components, with the CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs and the GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs. For a game released in 2014, this modern hardware pairing provides substantial performance headroom, and the benchmark data confirms that the system is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, with solid 4K performance at High settings.