Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a dominant performance in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The measured data shows that this pairing is capable of high frame rates across all tested resolutions, with the primary bottleneck appearing at 4K Ultra settings. While the game is from 2014, the modern hardware stack still demonstrates clear scaling patterns that reveal the relationship between CPU and GPU workload.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is High, which produces 64.4 FPS. Moving up to Ultra at this resolution drops the average to 50.6 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low and Medium settings at 4K achieve 106.9 and 81.1 FPS respectively, but High is the optimal balance for visual fidelity while staying above the target.

At 2560x1440, the data shows that Ultra settings are fully playable, with an average of 94.1 FPS. This is a significant jump from 4K, indicating that the resolution reduction relieves enough GPU pressure to enable maximum settings. The other presets—Low, Medium, and High—all exceed 125 FPS, with Low reaching 190.5 FPS, but Ultra represents the highest quality option that remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings deliver 147.1 FPS, making it the clear best choice. The performance headroom is substantial, with Medium at 230.6 FPS, High at 194.2 FPS, and Low at 301.2 FPS. The 1080p resolution is so far below the hardware's limits that even the most demanding preset leaves massive headroom for future games or higher refresh rate displays.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Minimum at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 50.6, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best playable setting at 4K is High, which averages 64.4 FPS.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average is 147.1 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average drops to 94.1 FPS. This represents a 36% reduction in frame rate, showing that the GPU is still the primary driver of performance at these settings.

*Q: Is the RTX 5070's 12GB VRAM sufficient for Minimum?*

A: The measured data indicates yes. Even at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate dips to 50.6 FPS, there is no indication of VRAM limitations causing stutters or crashes. The game's 2014 release date suggests it does not demand large memory pools.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 724th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 20% of all systems tested for this game. This high percentile is consistent with the strong frame rates measured across all resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution to use for competitive play?

A: For the highest frame rates, 1920x1080 with Low settings yields 301.2 FPS. Even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains 147.1 FPS, which is sufficient for high refresh rate competitive displays.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests not. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 301.2 FPS, which is typically where CPU limits would appear. Since the CPU is ranked in the 92nd percentile compared to all CPUs and has 12 cores and 24 threads, it does not appear to constrain performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination ranks 724th out of 3712 tested combos for Minimum. This places the system in the top 19.5% of all configurations tested, which is an impressive result for a game that is over a decade old. The ranking reflects the system's ability to maintain high frame rates even at the most demanding settings, particularly at 1440p and 1080p where Ultra presets remain well above 60 FPS.

The percentileVsAllCpus score of 92 for the CPU and percentileVsAllGpus score of 82 for the GPU indicate that both components are well above average, but the CPU is relatively stronger compared to its peers. This suggests that in Minimum, the GPU is more likely to be the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions where the gap between 4K and 1440p performance is most pronounced.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD EPYC 9015 has an average score of 57555, which is 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 9 9900X's 57498. The AMD EPYC 7313 scores 57399, 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 1.1% higher, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58323, 1.4% higher. These four alternatives are all within 1.4% of the Ryzen 9 9900X's performance, meaning any of them would behave nearly identically in Minimum.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (score 40318, 0.1% higher), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, 0.8% higher), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, 1.2% lower), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, 2% higher). These alternatives are all within 2% of the RTX 5070's average score of 40377, so they would produce very similar frame rates in Minimum. However, the RTX 5070's 12GB GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are notably higher than these rivals, which may matter more in newer games.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates are:

• Low: 106.9 FPS
• Medium: 81.1 FPS
• High: 64.4 FPS
• Ultra: 50.6 FPS

The progression from Low to Medium to High shows a consistent reduction of roughly 25 FPS per step, while the jump from High to Ultra is slightly larger at 13.8 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings introduce a disproportionately heavy workload, possibly related to shadow quality or post-processing effects.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are:

• Low: 190.5 FPS
• Medium: 148.5 FPS
• High: 125.7 FPS
• Ultra: 94.1 FPS

The scaling here is more linear, with each settings tier reducing performance by 20-25 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is 31.6 FPS, which is larger than the gap between Medium and High (22.8 FPS), indicating that Ultra still carries a significant penalty even at lower resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are:

• Low: 301.2 FPS
• Medium: 230.6 FPS
• High: 194.2 FPS
• Ultra: 147.1 FPS

The 1080p results show a clear pattern where each settings increase costs roughly 50 FPS, with the Ultra preset taking the largest single hit from High. The Low setting at 301.2 FPS likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame production capability, as 12 cores and 24 threads can only generate so many draw calls per second.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Minimum at 60 FPS or higher across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with the best being High at 64.4 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with Ultra achieving 94.1 FPS. At 1920x1080, every preset is playable, with Ultra reaching 147.1 FPS and Low hitting 301.2 FPS.

The only configuration that fails to clear the 60 FPS threshold is 4K Ultra at 50.6 FPS. For users with a 4K display, the choices are to run High settings for a stable experience or Ultra for slightly reduced smoothness. At 1440p and below, there is no compromise needed—maximum settings are fully playable.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance in Minimum. At 4K, reducing resolution from 3840x2160 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings yields a 43.5 FPS increase (from 50.6 to 94.1 FPS), which is a 86% improvement. This dramatic scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, as the CPU has plenty of headroom.

At 1080p, the frame rates become so high that CPU limitations begin to emerge. The jump from 1440p Ultra (94.1 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (147.1 FPS) is 53 FPS, but the jump from 1080p High (194.2 FPS) to 1080p Medium (230.6 FPS) is only 36.4 FPS. The Low setting at 301.2 FPS suggests that the CPU is approaching its maximum draw call throughput, as the Ryzen 9 9900X's 3dmark single-thread score of 1286 and passmark single-thread score of 4672 are strong but not unlimited.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system produces 301.2 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's ceiling for this game engine. The GPU, which is ranked in the 82nd percentile, has enough raw power to render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. This is why the scaling from 1440p to 1080p is less than linear—the CPU begins to constrain performance.

For users targeting 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor. The RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the key specifications driving performance at this resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads matter more, though the game's 2014 release date means it likely does not utilize all available threads efficiently. The measured data shows that this combination is well-balanced, with the CPU ranking higher (92nd percentile) than the GPU (82nd percentile), suggesting that future games with more demanding CPU workloads would still be handled competently.