Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 show a predictable downward trend as resolution climbs, but the shape of that curve reveals where the bottleneck sits. At 1080p, the combination produces 280 FPS on Low, 254.3 FPS on Medium, 238.4 FPS on High, and 199 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, those figures drop to 245.9 FPS on Low, 198.8 FPS on Medium, 168.5 FPS on High, and 132 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, the performance collapses further: 140 FPS on Low, 105.7 FPS on Medium, 92.9 FPS on High, and 70.3 FPS on Ultra.

The scaling pattern is telling. Between 1080p and 1440p, the average FPS loss across settings is roughly 15-20%, which is modest and suggests the CPU is still feeding frames comfortably at these resolutions. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K is far more punishing, with frame rates dropping by 30-45% depending on the preset. The Low setting at 4K hits 140 FPS, which is still playable, but Ultra at 4K falls to 70.3 FPS — a 50% reduction from the 132 FPS seen at 1440p Ultra.

This pattern indicates that the RTX 5090’s massive compute resources are being progressively starved as resolution increases, but not because the GPU is weak. Rather, the Ryzen 5 4600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 2 architecture, becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU could otherwise push hundreds of frames. At 4K, the GPU workload grows enough that the CPU bottleneck partially recedes, yet the 70.3 FPS floor on Ultra still shows the pairing cannot fully saturate a 4K high-refresh display.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra widens with resolution. At 1080p, the spread is 81 FPS (280 vs 199). At 1440p, it expands to 113.9 FPS (245.9 vs 132). At 4K, the spread is 69.7 FPS (140 vs 70.3). This nonlinear behavior suggests the CPU constraint caps the maximum achievable frame rate even on Low settings, while the GPU’s ability to handle Ultra settings at 4K is what drags the minimum down.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 98 out of 1,733 tested combinations in the game Minimum. That places it in the top 5.7% of all tested combos, which is impressive on the surface. However, context is critical: the rank reflects the combined performance of both components, and the CPU’s age and tier drag down what would otherwise be a near-top-tier GPU result.

The RTX 5090 alone sits in the 94th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306. Its nearest rivals in the GPU database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D (deltaPct 0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (deltaPct 0.2), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (deltaPct 1.3). The RTX 5090 outperforms all three by small margins, but the deltaPct values are tiny, indicating this is a tightly clustered group at the top of the GPU hierarchy.

The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 75th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 17,489. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (deltaPct 0), the Intel Core i5-12450H (deltaPct 0.1), the Intel Core i3-14100T (deltaPct -0.8), and the Intel Core i3-13100F (deltaPct -1). These are all mainstream or lower-tier parts, and the 4600G is essentially tied with them in raw CPU benchmarks. The deltaPct values near zero confirm that the 4600G is not a performance outlier; it is squarely in the middle of its class.

The combo rank of 98 out of 1,733 is therefore heavily influenced by the GPU’s dominance. In isolation, the CPU would not earn a top-100 placement for gaming. The benchmark results show that in Minimum, the combo delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra (70.3 FPS), which confirms the GPU’s brute force. But the CPU’s 3.70 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost clocks, along with its 8 MB shared L3 cache, limit how much of that GPU power can be utilized at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of playability. At 1080p, every preset exceeds 199 FPS, with Low hitting 280 FPS and Medium at 254.3 FPS. This means the RTX 5090 is massively overkill for 1080p in Minimum; even Ultra at 199 FPS is far beyond what most displays can show. The CPU is the limiting factor here, as evidenced by the relatively small gap between Low and Ultra (81 FPS) compared to what the GPU could theoretically deliver.

At 1440p, the situation remains comfortable. High settings produce 168.5 FPS, Medium hits 198.8 FPS, and Ultra still manages 132 FPS. For a fast-paced third-person shooter, 132 FPS on Ultra is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay, and 168.5 FPS on High offers a slight competitive edge without a noticeable visual penalty. The recommendation for 1440p is High, which balances the 168.5 FPS result with the visual fidelity of the High preset.

At 4K, the choices narrow. Ultra drops to 70.3 FPS, which is playable but may feel less responsive on high-refresh displays. High at 92.9 FPS is a solid middle ground, offering a 32% improvement over Ultra while retaining most visual quality. Medium at 105.7 FPS is the sweet spot for competitive play, sacrificing some shadows and textures for a smoother experience. Low at 140 FPS is the maximum frame rate achievable at 4K, but the visual degradation is significant.

The data suggests that for the best overall experience, 1440p High is the recommended preset for this combo. It delivers 168.5 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on gaming monitors, and it avoids the CPU bottleneck that caps 1080p performance. At 4K, High at 92.9 FPS is the recommended preset for those prioritizing visual quality, while Medium at 105.7 FPS is the choice for competitive integrity.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K Ultra smoothly?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 70.3 FPS. This is technically playable, but it falls below the 90+ FPS threshold that many players consider smooth for a third-person shooter. For a better 4K experience, High at 92.9 FPS or Medium at 105.7 FPS are recommended.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p, where frame rates cap well below what the RTX 5090 could deliver. At 4K, the GPU workload increases, but the 70.3 FPS floor on Ultra still suggests the CPU limits maximum frame rates. The GPU’s 94th percentile ranking versus the CPU’s 75th percentile ranking confirms this imbalance.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 4600G compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 4600G has an average benchmark score of 17,489, essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (deltaPct 0) and Intel Core i5-12450H (deltaPct 0.1). It is slightly behind the Intel Core i3-14100T (deltaPct -0.8) and Core i3-13100F (deltaPct -1). The differences are negligible, within 1% in all cases.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1440p High at 168.5 FPS offers the best combination of frame rate and visual quality. At 1080p, the CPU caps performance below what the GPU can achieve, while at 4K, frame rates drop below 100 FPS on most presets.

Q: Does the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of VRAM help in Minimum?

A: The measured data does not show VRAM usage or any VRAM-related performance variations. The game’s results at 4K Ultra (70.3 FPS) and 4K Low (140 FPS) are consistent with GPU compute limits rather than memory capacity issues. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory is far more than this game requires.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 98 out of 1,733 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the top 5.7%. The high rank is primarily driven by the RTX 5090’s performance, as the CPU alone ranks in the 75th percentile among all processors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the frame rates observed in Minimum. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is far beyond what Minimum requires, but it ensures that memory bandwidth never becomes a limiting factor, even at 4K with Ultra settings.

The clock speeds are substantial: a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. These clocks, combined with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operations pipelines, produce a theoretical FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS. The GPU’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate that it can process geometry and textures at rates far exceeding what the Ryzen 5 4600G can feed it.

The RTX 5090’s 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for Minimum, which is a 2014 title that does not utilize these features. However, the raw rasterization performance drives the measured results. The GPU’s 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306, places it near the top of the database. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is only 0.1% faster, while the RTX 5050 Mobile is 0.2% faster — all within statistical noise.

The GPU’s role in this combo is to provide an enormous performance ceiling that the CPU cannot fully exploit. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 280 FPS, but this is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU could theoretically push much higher. At 4K Ultra, the 70.3 FPS result shows the GPU still has headroom, but the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls becomes the constraining factor. The RTX 5090’s 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU rating indicate it is a power-hungry component, but the benchmark data does not include power consumption measurements for this game.

In summary, the RTX 5090 provides the raw compute muscle that lifts this combo to a top-100 ranking, but the Ryzen 5 4600G’s Zen 2 architecture and 8 MB L3 cache prevent the system from achieving the frame rates the GPU alone could deliver. The measured data shows a system that is GPU-rich but CPU-poor, resulting in performance that is excellent at 1440p but leaves untapped potential at 1080p.