Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile pairing delivers a highly capable gaming experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. This mobile combination demonstrates strong performance across all tested resolutions, with the data indicating a clear path to high-refresh-rate play at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires some settings compromise to maintain smooth frame rates. The combination ranks 2029th out of 3712 tested system configurations, placing it in the upper half of the field. The benchmark results reveal a system that is well-balanced for this title, with the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor only at the demanding 4K resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this CPU-GPU pairing show a predictable scaling pattern across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally strong, with the Low preset producing an average of 202 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 154 FPS with a minimum of 131 FPS and a maximum of 178 FPS, indicating a consistently high frame rate experience. High settings yield an average of 130 FPS, while the Ultra preset, the most demanding, still maintains an average of 99 FPS. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the system is never bottlenecked, and users can expect a fluid experience even in the most graphically intensive scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains very strong, though the scaling shows the expected impact of increased pixel count. The Low preset produces an average of 130 FPS, while Medium averages 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS. High settings maintain an average of 84 FPS, and Ultra still clears the 60 FPS threshold with an average of 64 FPS. The data indicates a performance drop of approximately 35% from 1080p to 1440p across all presets, which is a typical result for a modern GPU and shows that the RTX 4070 Mobile has sufficient headroom to handle the higher resolution without significant compromises.

At 3840x2160, the performance characteristics change more dramatically, and the system begins to show its limits. The Low preset is the only 4K setting that provides a playable experience, with an average of 70 FPS. The Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. High settings average 45 FPS, and Ultra drops to an average of 34 FPS. These figures demonstrate that while the GPU can handle 4K in this older title, it requires a reduction in graphical fidelity to stay within the playable range; the benchmark data shows a 36% performance drop from 1440p to 4K at the same preset level.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for this system at 1920x1080?

A: The Ultra preset delivers an average of 99 FPS, which is the highest fidelity setting that maintains performance well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This makes it the recommended choice for 1080p gaming.

Q: Can this system handle 2560x1440 with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the data shows that the Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 64 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS playable threshold, confirming that the highest quality settings are viable at this resolution.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with this hardware combination?

A: 4K gaming is possible only with the Low preset, which averages 70 FPS. Higher settings at 3840x2160, such as Medium (54 FPS) and High (45 FPS), fall below the 60 FPS threshold and are not considered playable.

Q: How does the system's performance scale between 1080p and 1440p?

A: The average frame rate drops by approximately 35% when moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the same preset. For example, the High preset drops from 130 FPS at 1080p to 84 FPS at 1440p.

Q: What is the frame rate variance like at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average is 154 FPS, with a measured minimum of 131 FPS and maximum of 178 FPS. This indicates a relatively stable frame rate with a variance of 47 FPS between the minimum and maximum.

Q: What is the most demanding preset that remains playable at 2160p?

A: The Low preset is the only 4K setting that maintains a playable frame rate, averaging 70 FPS. All other presets at this resolution average below the 60 FPS threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearestRivals data for the CPU and GPU provides context for how this combination compares to other hardware. The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76212, with its closest rival being the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX at 76155, a negligible delta of 0.1%. The AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P scores 76492 (-0.4%), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX scores 76513 (-0.4%). The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores 75779, representing a 0.6% delta. These results indicate that the 8945HX performs essentially identically to its closest competitors, with all deltas within one percent.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 27435. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT with a score of 27425, a delta of 0%. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 scores 27565 (-0.5%), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell scores 27135 (1.1%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 27839 (-1.5%). These figures show that the RTX 4070 Mobile is closely matched with desktop-class graphics cards like the RX 6700 XT and RTX 3090, suggesting that in Minimum, a system with these alternative GPUs would likely produce very similar frame rates.

Based on this data, a laptop or desktop configuration using any of these rival components would be expected to deliver nearly identical performance in Minimum. The negligible deltas mean that users with these alternative CPUs or GPUs would see frame rates within a few percent of those measured for this system, making them equally viable for playing this game at high settings.

The Verdict

The verdictByResolution data clearly indicates that this system can run Minimum effectively at all three tested resolutions, though with different preset capabilities. At 1920x1080, the system is fully playable across all presets, with the best setting being Ultra at an average of 99 FPS. This comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold, providing a high-refresh-rate experience. At 2560x1440, all presets are also playable, with Ultra averaging 64 FPS, which is just above the threshold but still provides a smooth experience. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, averaging 70 FPS.

The data shows that for a 60 FPS target, the system is versatile. At 1080p and 1440p, users have full freedom to choose any preset, including the most demanding Ultra setting. At 4K, the system requires a significant compromise, as the Low preset is the only option that maintains a playable frame rate. The benchmark results confirm that this is a strong gaming system for a 2014 title, with performance that scales predictably with resolution and settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS varies by resolution, according to the measured data. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 99 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available and provides a substantial margin above the playable threshold, ensuring smooth gameplay even in complex scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also remains the best option, with an average of 64 FPS. This is a much narrower margin above the 60 FPS threshold compared to 1080p, but it still guarantees a playable experience without needing to reduce graphical quality. Users who prefer a higher frame rate buffer could consider the High preset at 84 FPS, but Ultra remains viable.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes, and the Low preset is the only option that clears the 60 FPS threshold, averaging 70 FPS. The Medium preset, at 54 FPS, falls short of the playable threshold, so for a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Low preset is the recommended choice. This represents a significant visual compromise, but the data shows it is necessary for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile ranks 2029th out of 3712 tested system configurations in Minimum. This places the system in the 55th percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it performs above the median but is not among the top-tier systems for this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the high-end mobile CPU and the mid-to-high-end mobile GPU.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 95 indicates it is in the top 5% of all processors, while the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 73 places it in the top 27% of all graphics cards. This disparity suggests that the GPU is the more limiting component in this pairing. The rank of 2029 out of 3712 is consistent with this assessment, as the system's overall position is dragged down by the GPU relative to the CPU. A system with a higher-ranking GPU would likely place higher in the combo rankings, while the CPU's high percentile ensures that it is not a bottleneck in this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the CPU and GPU each contribute to performance in Minimum across different resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system exhibits classic GPU-limited behavior. The frame rates are exceptionally high across all presets, with the Low preset hitting 202 FPS and Ultra at 99 FPS. The scaling between presets is significant, indicating that the GPU is the primary factor in determining frame rates. The CPU's high single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, ensures it is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance scaling continues to show a GPU-centric pattern. The frame rates drop by about 35% compared to 1080p, which is a typical result for increased pixel count. The CPU's role becomes slightly more prominent as the frame rates remain high, but the GPU is still the limiting factor. The Ultra preset at 64 FPS shows that the GPU is working hard, while the CPU has enough headroom to feed it.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor. The frame rates drop significantly, with the Ultra preset averaging only 34 FPS. This is a clear indication that the RTX 4070 Mobile's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at this resolution. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, has ample performance to handle the game's logic, but the GPU cannot keep up. The data shows that the scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The CPU's role is thus most important at lower resolutions where high frame rates demand strong single-thread performance, while the GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution rises.