Minecraft

Minecraft, a sandbox classic from 2011, is a unique case in benchmarking. It is far more dependent on a single CPU core than most modern titles, yet the data for this combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows how a top-tier GPU can still dominate at lower resolutions. This analysis of measured FPS from 1080p up to 4K reveals a system that is almost entirely GPU-limited at 1080p and 1440p, but transitions to a more balanced state at 4K Ultra. The data shows a powerful combination that will crush the game at high refresh rates, though its behavior at the highest settings is worth careful consideration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS values show a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates drop sharply, which is the behavior expected of a GPU-bound workload. At 1080p High, the combination produces 539 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, that number falls to 366 FPS, a drop of 173 FPS, and then at 4K High, it drops again to 191 FPS. This is a steep scaling curve. The performance loss from 1080p to 1440p is about 32%, and the loss from 1440p to 4K is about 48%. This indicates that the RTX 5090 is the limiting component at these settings, as the workload's demands on the GPU are the primary bottleneck.

The scaling is even more pronounced when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 637 FPS. This drops to 546 FPS at 1440p, a 14% reduction, and then to 304 FPS at 4K, a 44% reduction from 1440p. These numbers are still exceptionally high, suggesting that even at 4K, the GPU is not being fully saturated at Low settings. The fact that the FPS at 1440p Low is 546 FPS, while at 1080p High it is 539 FPS, is a strong indicator that at these lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's single-core performance is starting to cap the frame rate.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with 585 FPS at 1080p, 461 FPS at 1440p, and 241 FPS at 4K. The included min and max FPS data for Medium settings reveals a range of 498-673 FPS at 1080p, 392-530 FPS at 1440p, and 205-277 FPS at 4K. These ranges are relatively tight, suggesting stable performance without severe frame-time spikes. The Ultra preset, however, shows the most dramatic drop. At 1080p Ultra, the system still manages 362 FPS, but this falls to 229 FPS at 1440p and 119 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 37% drop, and from 1440p to 4K is a 48% drop, making Ultra the most demanding setting by a significant margin.

The data indicates that for the best experience, the limiting component is the GPU at all resolutions when using High or Ultra settings. At 1080p and 1440p Low/Medium, the CPU becomes the bottleneck, as the FPS differences between those resolutions are smaller than the differences at higher settings. The 5700X's strong single-threaded score of 921 in 3dmark_single_thread and a Passmark single thread score of 3385 are what allow these high frame rates, but the ceiling is still there. For a player with a 240Hz or 360Hz monitor, the 1080p numbers are more than enough, but for a 4K 120Hz display, the Ultra preset is the only one that will push the GPU to its limit, and it still delivers a solid 119 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 119 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: How does the FPS at 1440p High compare to 4K High?

A: The system delivers 366 FPS at 2560x1440 High, which drops to 191 FPS at 3840x2160 High. This is a 175 FPS decrease, or a 48% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the average is 637 FPS, while at 1440p Low it is 546 FPS. The difference is not proportional to the pixel count increase, indicating the GPU has headroom and the CPU's single-thread performance is capping the frame rate.

Q: What are the measured min and max FPS values for the Medium preset?

A: At 1080p Medium, the FPS ranged from 498 to 673. At 1440p Medium, the range was 392 to 530. At 4K Medium, the range was 205 to 277.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 the strongest component for this game?

A: In terms of benchmark percentile, the RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 5700X is at the 79th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU is clearly the more powerful component, which is why it is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the performance of this CPU/GPU combo rank compared to other configurations?

A:** The measured data places this combination at a rank of 160 out of 3710 tested combos for this game, placing it in the top 5% of all configurations.

Settings Recommendations

For players chasing the highest possible frame rates on a high refresh rate display, the Low preset is the logical choice, especially at 1080p and 1440p. The average of 637 FPS at 1080p and 546 FPS at 1440p are massive numbers, but the data also shows that the CPU is the limiting factor here. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p is a drop from 637 to 585 FPS, a gain of only 52 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is another 46 FPS lower. This indicates that the CPU is holding back the GPU, and the visual setting has a smaller impact.

For a more balanced experience, the High preset is a strong recommendation. At 1440p High, the system produces 366 FPS, which is still incredibly high, and the visual quality is far superior to Low. At 4K, High produces 191 FPS, which is still a very playable and smooth frame rate. The Ultra preset, however, is a different story. At 4K Ultra, the average is 119 FPS. This is a playable frame rate, but it is a 72 FPS drop from High. For players with a 120Hz 4K display, Ultra is the only preset that will push the GPU to its limit, and the measured 119 FPS is right at the edge of that refresh rate.

The data shows that the best experience is to avoid the Ultra preset at 4K if a high refresh rate is the goal, as the Medium preset at 4K produces an average of 241 FPS, which is more than double the Ultra's 119 FPS. The difference between Medium and Ultra is large, making Medium the more practical choice for maintaining a high frame rate. For the most demanding and visually rich experience, Ultra at 1440p, with an average of 229 FPS, is a solid option, but the 4K High preset at 191 FPS is also very strong. The measured FPS data suggests that the system can handle any of the settings, but the choice should be made based on the display's refresh rate and the user's preference for visual quality over raw frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 637 FPS, Medium averages 585 FPS with a range of 498-673 FPS, High averages 539 FPS, and Ultra averages 362 FPS. The order of performance is a clear hierarchy, but the gap between Low and High is only 98 FPS, while the jump to Ultra is a massive 177 FPS drop from High. This indicates that the Ultra preset includes effects that are far more demanding.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 546 FPS, Medium produces 461 FPS with a range of 392-530 FPS, High produces 366 FPS, and Ultra produces 229 FPS. The scaling is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower. The drop from High to Ultra is again a significant 137 FPS, which is exactly the same as the drop at 1080p, suggesting a consistent cost for the Ultra settings. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 304 FPS, Medium averages 241 FPS with a range of 205 to 277 FPS, High averages 191 FPS, and Ultra averages 119 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only one that dips below 200 FPS, and the 119 FPS average is the lowest of the entire data set.

The min/max values for the Medium preset provide useful information about frame time consistency. At 1080p, the range is 498-673 FPS, a span of 175 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 392-530, a span of 138 FPS. At 4K, the range is 205-277, a span of 72 FPS. The data shows that while the average frame rate decreases, the absolute variance also decreases, suggesting the at higher resolutions the frame pacing is more consistent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the most dominant component in this system, and the data shows it is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a 512-bit bus, it has a massive 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is a crucial factor in Minecraft, which can be texture-heavy, and the large memory pool ensures that even the most demanding texture packs will not hit a capacity limit. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and its 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are the raw processing power behind the impressive frame rates.

The RTX 5090 sits at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 79842. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, the P100 PCIe 12 GB, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X. The data shows that the RTX 5090 is only 0.3% ahead of the Tesla P100 16GB, which is the primary competitor, indicating that while the RTX 5090 is a top-tier card, its performance in synthetic benchmarks is not a huge leap over some specialized compute cards. However, in this game, the GPU's raw power is on full display. At 4K High, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the FPS drops to 191, proving that the GPU is being fully utilized. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely idle, waiting on the CPU.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 is a major part of the overall system, and its performance is what makes the high frame rates at 1440p and 4K possible. The 92nd percentile rank, combined with the measured FPS, ensures that a player will not be GPU-limited in Minecraft unless they are playing at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking, compared to the CPU's 79th percentile, is the reason why the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The performance of this GPU is so high that the CPU's limit is only truly visible at the lower resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is a strong 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. While it is not a top-tier part in terms of its percentile ranking (79th percentile), its data is still substantial. The CPU's single-core performance, as measured by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 921, is a key factor in Minecraft, a game that is notoriously single-threaded. The multi-core score is 6850, and the max threads score is 6850, showing that the 8-core CPU is well-utilized in those multi-threaded workloads, but Minecraft will rely more on the single-core score.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600K, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H. The data shows that the 5700X has an average score of 27578, which is identical to the i5-12600K and only 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 7 5800 and 0.3% higher than the Core Ultra 5 125H. This indicates that the 5700X is a very competitive CPU, and its performance in this game will be similar to these rivals. The 5700X's 3dmark_single_thread score of 921 is what the game will rely on, and this is a strong score.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role becomes apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 637 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it gets 546 FPS. This 91 FPS drop is less than the 148 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at Low (546 to 304), but it is still a substantial drop. The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the game is CPU-bound, and the GPU has more headroom. The fact that the 1440p Low number (546 FPS) is higher than the 1080p High number (539 FPS) is further proof of the CPU limit at low settings. The CPU's performance is enough to push frame rates to extremely high values, but for a player with a 360Hz monitor who wants to see the maximum FPS, the 5700X is the limiting factor. The CPU's 16 threads and 32 MB of L3 cache are more than enough for the game, but the single-core speed is the main driver.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is the limiting factor. However, for the best 1080p experience, the CPU's performance is the key. The 5700X is a capable CPU, and its performance in other benchmarks, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 13184 and single-core of 1499, shows it is a balanced CPU. For Minecraft, the user will get the best experience by pairing this CPU with a high refresh rate monitor, as the CPU can deliver high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU will be the bottleneck for the higher settings and resolutions.