Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, with the GPU emerging as the primary bottleneck only at 4K. This pairing sits in the 77th percentile for both CPU and GPU, indicating a balanced mid-range platform that excels at high-refresh-rate gaming at mainstream resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 128.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 87 FPS, a 32% reduction. The jump to 4K further reduces performance to 47 FPS, which represents a 63% decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling curve indicates that the system is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, as the frame rate drops proportionally with the increased pixel count.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The 1080p result of 205.8 FPS falls to 131.3 FPS at 1440p and then to 68.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 67% lower than 1080p Low. This wide spread suggests that when the CPU is less constrained by graphical settings, the GPU's raw throughput becomes the limiting factor. The 4K Low frame rate of 68.6 FPS is still playable, but it highlights how demanding 4K is on the RX 6700 XT's 384.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The pattern across all settings shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K. For instance, at Medium settings, the 1080p result is 156 FPS, while 1440p yields 98.3 FPS, a 37% drop. At Ultra, the 1080p score of 98.9 FPS falls to 63 FPS at 1440p, a 36% drop, but then plummets to 36.4 FPS at 4K, a further 42% reduction. This suggests that while the system can handle 1440p with ease, 4K pushes the GPU beyond its optimal efficiency range, particularly at higher quality presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination based on the data?

A: The data indicates 1440p is the sweet spot. At High settings, the system produces 87 FPS at 2560x1440, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 1080p High result of 128.4 FPS is higher, but the visual fidelity gain at 1440p justifies the 32% performance cost.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, placing it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 and 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5000. It trails the AMD Radeon HD 7950 by 1% and the AMD Radeon RX 480 by 1%. These are tight margins, showing the GPU is competitively positioned within its performance class.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor. The Low settings result of 205.8 FPS suggests the CPU can push very high frame rates, but the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows only a 52% drop (205.8 to 98.9 FPS). At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as the CPU has more headroom relative to the GPU's output.

Q: What is the CPU's competitive standing in the market?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 has an average benchmark score of 19616, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. It is virtually tied with the Intel Core i5-1345U, which is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U, which is 0.6% faster. It is 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i5-11600KF and 0.7% faster than the Intel Core i7-10700F.

Q: What is the impact of Ultra settings on 4K performance?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 36.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for most players. This represents a 23% drop from the High preset's 47 FPS and a 47% drop from the Medium preset's 54.9 FPS. The data suggests that Ultra at 4K is only viable for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU's single-threaded performance hold up in this game?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1579 is modest by modern standards, but the game's 2014 release date means it was designed for older hardware. The PassMark single-thread score of 2239 suggests adequate per-core performance for the game's engine, as evidenced by the high 1080p Low frame rate of 205.8 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the observed frame rates. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1440p gaming, as the 87 FPS High result demonstrates. At 4K, the 12 GB capacity is not the limiting factor, but the 192-bit bus width restricts memory bandwidth, which contributes to the steep performance drop.

The clock speeds are high for a 2021 release: a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz. The game clock of 2424 MHz represents the expected sustained frequency during gaming workloads. These high clocks, combined with 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units, deliver a texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s. These figures explain why the card performs well at 1440p High (87 FPS) but struggles at 4K Ultra (36.4 FPS), as the pixel fill rate is stretched thin at 3840x2160.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. Its PassMark G3D score of 19786 places it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2435 reflects its DirectX 12 Ultimate capabilities, which are relevant for a game released in 2014 that has likely received updates. The DirectX 12 benchmark scores (PassMark DX12: 77) show strong API support, while the Vulkan score of 108032 in Geekbench indicates good low-level API performance.

The GPU's TDP of 230 W and suggested PSU of 550 W are consistent with its performance class. The dual-slot design with a 267 mm length (10.5 inches) makes it a standard-sized card for most mid-tower cases. The RX 6700 XT is listed as end-of-life, but its performance data shows it remains a capable 1440p card, with the 4K results being the only weak point.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the system is clearly capable of high refresh rates. Low settings produce 205.8 FPS, which drops to 156 FPS at Medium, 128.4 FPS at High, and 98.9 FPS at Ultra. This scaling shows a 52% reduction from Low to Ultra, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom at 1080p to handle increased graphical loads without catastrophic frame rate loss.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows more pronounced scaling. Low settings yield 131.3 FPS, Medium produces 98.3 FPS, High achieves 87 FPS, and Ultra drops to 63 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 52%, similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are lower. The 63 FPS Ultra result is still playable, making 1440p Ultra a viable option for gamers who prefer maximum quality.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Low settings produce 68.6 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 54.9 FPS, High to 47 FPS, and Ultra to 36.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 47% reduction, but the absolute values are below the 60 FPS threshold for all settings except Low. This indicates that 4K gaming is only recommended with Low or Medium settings, and even then, the frame rates are modest.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is approximately 30-40% across all settings, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 45-50%. This suggests that the RX 6700 XT has a performance ceiling that is reached at 1440p, with 4K requiring significant graphical compromises to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 plays a supporting role in this configuration, and its specifications are sufficient for the game's demands. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. This 2000-series processor uses the Zen+ architecture on a 12 nm process, with a 65 W TDP. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 96 KB L1 cache per core provide adequate memory hierarchy for gaming workloads.

The CPU's benchmark scores show it is a solid mid-range performer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11186 and single-core score of 1579 indicate balanced performance. The PassMark multithread score of 13160 and single-thread score of 2239 confirm that the CPU can handle both multi-threaded and single-threaded tasks effectively. The PassMark physics score of 673 is particularly relevant for gaming, as physics calculations are often CPU-bound.

The CPU's nearest rivals show it is competitive with newer mobile and desktop chips. The Intel Core i5-1345U is 0.4% faster, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U is 0.6% faster. The Intel Core i5-11600KF is 0.6% faster, and the Intel Core i7-10700F is 0.7% slower. These tight margins indicate that the Ryzen 5 2600, despite being released in 2018, remains relevant against newer processors.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU's 12 threads help maintain high frame rates at 1080p, where the GPU is less burdened. The 1080p Low result of 205.8 FPS demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to prevent a bottleneck. At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, as the GPU's rendering time dominates the frame time. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering or frame rate drops, as the minimum FPS values are not provided, but the average FPS figures are consistent across resolutions.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 at 46.9 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's requirements. The dual-channel memory bus and 16 MB L3 cache help reduce latency, which is beneficial for a third-person shooter that likely relies on rapid asset streaming. Overall, the Ryzen 5 2600 provides a stable foundation for the RX 6700 XT, ensuring that the GPU's performance is not artificially limited by the processor.