Minecraft

Minecraft is not a typical GPU stress test, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER proves it. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo pushes 389 FPS, a figure that indicates the CPU is doing heavy lifting. But as resolution climbs, the frame rate drops in a pattern that clearly shows the Turing-based GPU taking over as the primary constraint, particularly at 4K Ultra where the average falls to 50 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior from 1080p to 4K in Minecraft reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound to GPU-bound. At 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 389 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 246 FPS, a 36.8% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 128 FPS, which is 67.1% lower than the 1080p Low result. This steep decline indicates that even at the lowest settings, the pixel throughput demand is scaling faster than the GPU can deliver, while the CPU’s 12 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock remain largely untapped.

The pattern persists across all settings. For High settings, the drop from 1080p (245 FPS) to 1440p (154 FPS) is 37.1%, and then to 4K (81 FPS) is another 47.4% decline. The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 308 FPS at 1080p, 195 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 4K. The most telling data point is the Ultra preset, where 4K performance collapses to 50 FPS—a 67.3% drop from the 1080p Ultra score of 153 FPS. This suggests that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 2060 SUPER is completely saturated, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggling to keep up with the rendering load.

What the scaling data says about the limiting component is clear: the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 9 9900X has ample headroom. The fact that 1080p Low hits 389 FPS—far beyond any typical display refresh rate—shows the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower resolutions. The 1440p Medium result of 195 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS also indicates that the system is still responsive, but the 4K numbers, particularly the 50 FPS Ultra average, confirm that this is a GPU-limited scenario for demanding configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Minecraft?

A: The highest recorded average is 389 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 308 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 245 FPS at 1080p High.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER’s performance compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 18093, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, scores 18159, which is a delta of -0.4%. The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 18189 (delta -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 18373 (delta -1.5%).

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: Yes. The CPU has a percentile rank of 92 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 57498. Its closest competitor, the AMD EPYC 9015, scores 57555, a delta of -0.1%. The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 1.1% higher.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded for this system at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 50. The only other 4K result with a minimum value is at Medium settings, where the average is 102 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank against all other tested combinations in Minecraft?

A: The combo ranks 2556 out of 3710 tested combinations, putting it in the lower half of the database for this specific game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU have more synthetic compute headroom for this game?

A: The CPU’s single-thread score in Cinebench R23 is 2253, while the GPU’s Passmark G3D score is 16462. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score is 1286, and its max-thread score is 13929, showing strong multi-threading capability that Minecraft may not fully utilize.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. These specifications, while dated (the GPU is end-of-life and was released in 2019), are the primary determinants of the frame rates seen at higher resolutions.

In Minecraft, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings escalate. At 1080p Low, the GPU is barely taxed, allowing the CPU to push 389 FPS. However, the data shows that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors at 4K. The pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are the raw metrics that dictate how many pixels can be shaded per second. At 4K Ultra, the 50 FPS average suggests these rates are being fully consumed.

The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM is also a factor. While Minecraft is not typically a VRAM-heavy title, the jump from 4K Medium (102 FPS) to 4K Ultra (50 FPS) is drastic—a 51% drop—which points to the GPU running out of memory bandwidth or capacity. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is the same across all settings, so the difference must come from the shading workload and memory access patterns. The GPU’s 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present, but Minecraft’s rendering pipeline in this test does not appear to benefit from them, as the frame rate drops are consistent with traditional rasterization limits.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 18093 and 62nd percentile ranking indicate it is a mid-range performer. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Mobile, is virtually identical in synthetic scores (delta -0.4%), but the desktop RTX 2060 SUPER maintains its position. The data suggests that for Minecraft, the GPU is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming with high frame rates, but 4K Ultra is beyond its comfortable envelope.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 389 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 308 FPS, with a minimum of 262 FPS and a maximum of 355 FPS. High settings yield 245 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 153 FPS. These numbers show that even at the highest 1080p preset, the frame rate is well above 144 Hz, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decline significantly. Low settings produce 246 FPS, a 36.8% decrease from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 195 FPS, with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 224 FPS. High settings drop to 154 FPS, and Ultra falls to 97 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is the first instance where the average dips below 100 FPS, indicating the GPU is starting to feel the pressure.

At 3840x2160, the system’s limits are exposed. Low settings average 128 FPS, which is still playable but a 67.1% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 102 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS. High settings produce 81 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 50 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only data point where the average falls below 60 FPS, making it the only configuration that would struggle on a standard 60 Hz display. The gap between 4K Medium and 4K High (102 to 81 FPS) is a 20.6% drop, while the gap between 4K High and 4K Ultra (81 to 50 FPS) is a 38.3% drop, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy penalty on the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Minecraft, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2556 out of 3710. This places the combo in the 31st percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 69% of combinations outperform it in this specific game. Given the CPU’s high standing (92nd percentile among all CPUs) and the GPU’s mid-range position (62nd percentile), the ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s limitations.

The CPU’s synthetic performance is far ahead of the GPU’s relative standing. The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, while the RTX 2060 SUPER has an average score of 18093. In Minecraft, the data shows that the CPU’s advantage is not fully realized because the game’s frame rate is capped by the GPU at higher settings. The 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS is a clear indication that the combo is GPU-bound, and the ranking reflects this.

Comparatively, the CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic tests—the AMD EPYC 9015 (delta -0.1%) and Intel Core i9-14900 (delta -1.1%)—would likely produce similar Minecraft results when paired with the same GPU, as the bottleneck is not the processor. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the RTX 3060 Mobile, would likely score similarly in Minecraft, reinforcing the fact that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the determining factor in this combo’s rank.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 64 MB L3 cache. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253, along with a Geekbench single-core score of 3010. These figures place it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs.

In Minecraft, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. The 389 FPS result at 1080p Low is only possible because the CPU can process game logic and draw calls faster than the GPU can render frames. The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.60 GHz and strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1286) are critical for Minecraft’s primary thread, which handles most of the game’s simulation. The 12 cores and 24 threads provide headroom for background tasks and chunk loading, but the game’s engine does not fully utilize the multi-threading capability, as evidenced by the fact that 1080p Low and 1080p High differ by 144 FPS (389 vs 245) due to GPU load.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support are sufficient for the game, but they are not the limiting factor. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idle while the GPU struggles to maintain 50 FPS. The CPU’s percentile rank of 92 and its average benchmark score of 57498 are far above the GPU’s 62nd percentile and 18093 average score, confirming that the processor is not the bottleneck in this pairing. The Ryzen 9 9900X’s launch MSRP is $499, but its performance in Minecraft is contingent on the GPU, which holds the combo back from higher rankings.