Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination in this game?

A: This combination ranks 103rd out of 1733 tested combos for Minimum, placing it in the top tier of configurations for this title.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its closest rival in overall CPU benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 scores 18129 on average, which is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150) and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101). It sits effectively at parity with both.

Q: What is the RTX 4090's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, scores 66733, a 0.4% difference.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination delivers the highest average FPS?

A: The highest recorded average is 271.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only measured row that exceeds 270 FPS.

Q: At which settings does the 4K resolution drop below 70 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 66.6. This is the only measured configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 70 FPS.

Q: What is the largest FPS gap between Low and Ultra settings at a single resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the gap is 68.7 FPS (135.3 Low vs 66.6 Ultra). At 2560x1440, the gap is 116.6 FPS (238.7 Low vs 122.1 Ultra). At 1920x1080, the gap is 77.4 FPS (271.9 Low vs 194.5 Ultra).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 3000 series, built on the Zen 2 (Matisse) architecture using a 7 nm process from TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows a clear scaling pattern from single-thread to multi-thread performance. The 3DMark scores progress from 696 (single-thread) to 1361 (2-threads), 2579 (4-threads), 3844 (8-threads), and finally 4605 (16-threads) and 4603 (max-threads). This indicates that the processor's performance scales well with thread count up to 8 threads, after which gains taper off. Cinebench R23 scores of 2124 single-core and 15045 multi-core reinforce this picture.

For Minimum, the data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 271.9 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the CPU is managing the game's thread workload effectively, since 12 threads provide ample headroom for a third-person shooter from 2014. The passmark multithread score of 17700 and the passmark physics score of 1152 indicate solid compute capability for game logic. The CPU's 76th percentile rank among all CPUs places it above the median, but the real-world gaming results show it can keep pace with a flagship GPU at lower resolutions.

The nearest rival comparison shows the Ryzen 5 3600 at 18129 average score, essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150, -0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158, -0.2%). This means in CPU-bound scenarios, the Ryzen 5 3600 should perform nearly identically to these alternatives. The AMD EPYC 9274F is also within 0.3% (18189), though that is a server-class chip.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 128 RT cores, and 512 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Memory consists of 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1313 MHz, with 21 Gbps effective speed.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 82.58 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s. These specifications translate into strong raw performance in synthetic benchmarks. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 9223, while Geekbench OpenCL scores 317684 and Vulkan scores 270615. The passmark G3D score is 38194, placing the GPU in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU is capable of pushing frame rates well above 230 FPS even at High settings (232.9 FPS). At 4K, the GPU's workload increases dramatically, with the Ultra preset dropping to 66.6 FPS. The 24 GB VRAM buffer provides ample capacity for any texture or geometry demands the game presents, so memory size is not a limiting factor here.

The nearest rival comparison shows the RTX 4090 at 66473 average score, with the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733, -0.4%) and NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127, 0.5%) being the closest matches. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097, -0.9%) and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320, -1.3%) are also within 1.3%. This suggests that in GPU-bound scenarios for this game, the RTX 4090's performance is comparable to these professional-grade cards.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Ryzen 5 3600 + RTX 4090 combination in Minimum covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All data points represent average FPS values.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 271.9 FPS, Medium delivers 251.0 FPS, High delivers 232.9 FPS, and Ultra delivers 194.5 FPS. The progression shows a steady decline as settings increase, with the largest single-step drop occurring between High and Ultra (38.4 FPS).

At 2560x1440, Low delivers 238.7 FPS, Medium delivers 196.5 FPS, High delivers 163.9 FPS, and Ultra delivers 122.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 42.2 FPS, and from Medium to High is 32.6 FPS, with High to Ultra dropping 41.8 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low delivers 135.3 FPS, Medium delivers 107.2 FPS, High delivers 89.6 FPS, and Ultra delivers 66.6 FPS. The gaps between presets are 28.1 FPS (Low to Medium), 17.6 FPS (Medium to High), and 23.0 FPS (High to Ultra).

The data reveals that at every resolution, the Low preset provides the highest frame rate, and Ultra provides the lowest. The absolute FPS ceiling is 271.9 at 1080p Low, while the floor is 66.6 at 4K Ultra. No measured configuration falls below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis shows how average FPS decreases as pixel count increases. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 represents a 78% increase in pixels (approximately 2.1 million to 3.7 million), and from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 a further 125% increase (to 8.3 million pixels).

At Low settings, the FPS progression is 271.9 → 238.7 → 135.3. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33.2 FPS (12.2% reduction), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 103.4 FPS (43.3% reduction). This steep decline at 4K indicates the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor.

At Medium settings, the progression is 251.0 → 196.5 → 107.2. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 54.5 FPS (21.7% reduction), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 89.3 FPS (45.5% reduction).

At High settings, the progression is 232.9 → 163.9 → 89.6. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 69.0 FPS (29.6% reduction), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 74.3 FPS (45.3% reduction).

At Ultra settings, the progression is 194.5 → 122.1 → 66.6. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 72.4 FPS (37.2% reduction), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 55.5 FPS (45.5% reduction).

The pattern shows that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting component, since the FPS differences between Low and Ultra are relatively modest (77.4 FPS). At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS reduction across all settings. The consistent ~45% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all presets indicates a purely GPU-bound scenario at those resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target frame rate and resolution. For competitive play at high refresh rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 271.9 FPS, which exceeds any current 240Hz monitor's capability and provides maximum headroom. The Medium preset at 1080p (251.0 FPS) and Low at 1440p (238.7 FPS) are also viable for high-refresh displays.

For players using 1440p monitors with 144Hz or 165Hz refresh rates, the Medium preset (196.5 FPS) comfortably exceeds these thresholds, while High (163.9 FPS) remains above 144Hz and Ultra (122.1 FPS) falls short of that mark. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p provides the best balance between visual quality and frame rate for this resolution class.

At 4K resolution, all presets exceed 60 FPS, but only Low (135.3 FPS) and Medium (107.2 FPS) provide smooth gameplay for high-refresh 4K displays. High at 4K (89.6 FPS) is playable on 60Hz displays, while Ultra (66.6 FPS) barely maintains 60 FPS and may experience frame pacing issues during intense scenes.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 2560x1440, which delivers 196.5 FPS. This configuration provides a substantial visual improvement over Low while maintaining frame rates well above 144Hz. For 4K users, the Medium preset at 107.2 FPS offers the best combination of fidelity and performance, as the jump to High only yields a 17.6 FPS reduction but the visual uplift is likely marginal for this 2014 title. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p users with 144Hz displays, where 194.5 FPS still provides a smooth experience.