Minimum

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates for this combination of AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB show a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the shape of that decline reveals which component is dictating performance. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 121 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same preset drops the average to 74.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 38%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 42.1 FPS, which is about 44% lower than the 1440p figure.

This scaling pattern—where each step up in resolution extracts a substantial penalty—indicates that the graphics card is the primary constraint once pixel count rises. The RTX 3050 4 GB, with its 128-bit memory bus and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply cannot feed enough pixels at 4K to maintain high frame rates. The data supports this interpretation: at 4K Ultra, the system bottoms out at 17.3 FPS, which is barely playable for any genre, let alone a third-person shooter.

However, the resolution scaling also shows that the CPU is not entirely idle. At 1080p Low, the 121 FPS result suggests the Ryzen 5 4600G is still able to keep up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions. The gap between 1080p Low (121 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (61.5 FPS) is nearly 2x, which is a larger relative spread than what appears at 1440p (74.7 FPS Low vs. 41.2 FPS Ultra). This widening at 1080p indicates that as settings increase, the GPU becomes the bottleneck even at the lowest resolution, while the CPU's headroom is only fully exposed at the most minimal settings.

The 4K results are telling: High preset yields 28.3 FPS, Medium yields 31.3 FPS, and Low yields 42.1 FPS. The difference between High and Medium at 4K is only 3 FPS, while the jump from Medium to Low is roughly 11 FPS. This non-linear response suggests that certain settings (likely texture quality or shadow complexity) have a disproportionate impact on the 4 GB VRAM buffer. When the card runs out of memory, performance collapses regardless of preset tuning.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Renoir, built on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its L3 cache is 8 MB shared, with 512 KB L2 per core and 64 KB L1 per core. For a third-person shooter released in 2014, this is more than adequate computational headroom, and the benchmark data confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The processor's benchmark scores place it in the 75th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17489. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (avg score 17482, delta 0%), the Intel Core i5-12450H (avg score 17475, delta 0.1%), and the Intel Core i3-13100F (avg score 17665, delta -1%). These deltas are all within 1% of each other, indicating that the 4600G sits in a tightly contested performance band. For this game, the 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient to drive the RTX 3050 without introducing a CPU-side ceiling.

The single-thread performance is also relevant. The 3DMark single-thread score is 726, and Cinebench R23 single-core is 1919. In a third-person shooter, game logic and physics typically rely on a few well-optimized threads. The 4600G's single-thread performance is modest compared to its multi-thread capabilities, but the measured FPS at 1080p Low (121) suggests that even this single-thread throughput is enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower settings. At 4K, where the GPU is clearly saturated, the CPU's role diminishes further; the 4K Ultra score of 17.3 FPS is almost entirely a GPU limitation.

The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s (dual-channel DDR4) also plays a supporting role. With the GPU's 192.0 GB/s bandwidth, the CPU's memory throughput is less critical, but the 4600G's integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics are not used in this configuration. The PCIe Gen 3 interface with 20 lanes is sufficient for the RTX 3050, which uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus—backward compatible, though it may slightly limit data transfer in some scenarios.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

For a third-person shooter, the target should be a stable frame rate above 60 FPS, and the data shows that this is achievable only at 1080p and 1440p with certain presets. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 79.9 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 and offers a balance of visual quality and responsiveness. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 90.7 FPS, which provides an additional 11 FPS headroom at the cost of some visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 61.5 FPS—still playable, but the margin over the 60 FPS threshold is thin, and any scene complexity could push it lower.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 53.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1440p gives 56.8 FPS, also short of 60. Only the Low preset at 1440p (74.7 FPS) exceeds the threshold, but it does so by sacrificing most graphical features. Given that the game is from 2014, the visual difference between Low and Medium may be less pronounced than in modern titles, but the data suggests that 1440p is not a viable resolution for this combo if smoothness is the priority.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets reach 60 FPS. The best result is Low at 42.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a shooter where reaction time matters. The Ultra preset at 4K (17.3 FPS) is effectively unplayable.

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience is 1920x1080 with the High preset, delivering 79.9 FPS. This provides a 20 FPS buffer above the 60 FPS target while maintaining reasonable visual quality. For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the Medium preset at 1080p (90.7 FPS) is the safer choice, as it offers nearly 31 FPS of headroom. The Ultra preset at 1080p (61.5 FPS) is the maximum visual quality that remains playable, but it leaves no room for fluctuation. At 1440p, only the Low preset is recommended; at 4K, the Low preset is the only option worth considering, and only for gamers willing to tolerate sub-60 FPS.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combination in this game?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with the High preset delivers 79.9 FPS, which is the highest average above the 60 FPS target while maintaining decent visual quality. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (74.7 FPS) exceeds 60 FPS, and at 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with the best being Low at 42.1 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17489, placing it in the 75th percentile. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, scores 17482 (0% delta). The Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17475 (0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i3-13100F scores 17665 (-1% delta). All four are within 1% of each other.

Q: Is the RTX 3050 4 GB the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the frame rates range from 42.1 FPS (Low) down to 17.3 FPS (Ultra). The steep drop from 1080p to 4K, combined with the CPU's 75th percentile ranking, indicates that the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints at this resolution.

Q: What is the single-thread performance of the CPU?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G scores 726 in 3DMark single-thread, 805 in Cinebench R20 single-core, and 1919 in Cinebench R23 single-core. These scores are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at 1080p, where the system reaches 121 FPS on Low settings.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a playable experience at any resolution?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 61.5, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440 Ultra, it drops to 41.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 17.3 FPS. Only the 1080p Ultra preset is acceptable for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA107 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It has 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, along with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The base clock is 1545 MHz, boosting to 1740 MHz. Memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 4 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is the most critical specification for this game's performance.

The measured results show a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity become the dominant factors. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 121 FPS, which suggests the GPU is not fully taxed. However, at 4K Low, the average drops to 42.1 FPS—a 65% reduction. This is not a linear scaling issue; it reflects the GPU's inability to handle the pixel throughput and texture data required at 4K with only 4 GB of VRAM.

The FP32 performance of 7.127 TFLOPS and texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p gaming, but the 128-bit memory bus is a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s further confirms that the card is designed for 1080p and entry-level 1440p, not for 4K. The RTX 3050's percentile ranking among all GPUs is 50, indicating it sits at the midpoint of the performance distribution, which is consistent with its measured behavior in this game.

The GPU's TDP of 90 W and suggested PSU of 250 W are modest, but the card's end-of-life production status means it is a legacy option. For this specific game, the 4 GB VRAM is the limiting factor at Ultra settings, particularly at 1440p and 4K, where the frame rates plummet to 41.2 and 17.3 FPS, respectively. The card's 1740 MHz boost clock cannot compensate for the memory bandwidth shortfall at high resolutions. In summary, the RTX 3050 4 GB is a capable 1080p card, but its role in this pairing is to be the performance ceiling—the CPU has ample headroom to spare.