Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a predictable scaling pattern that points to the GPU as the primary limiting component in this pairing. At 1080p with Low settings, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers 171.7 FPS, which drops to 111.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 58.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34.9% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 65.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Moving to High settings, the pattern persists but with lower absolute numbers. The 109.5 FPS at 1080p falls to 67.8 FPS at 1440p (a 38.1% drop) and then to 35.3 FPS at 4K (a 67.8% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve: 85.2 FPS at 1080p, 52.1 FPS at 1440p, and 31.6 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra is 38.8%, while the 4K figure is 62.9% lower than the 1080p result.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to keep the RX 6600 XT well-fed, as the frame rates scale almost exactly with resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a flattening of FPS at lower resolutions — that is, 1080p and 1440p would produce similar results. The fact that 1080p Low yields 171.7 FPS versus 58.8 FPS at 4K Low shows no such plateau.

At 4K, every preset drops below 60 FPS except Low, which manages 58.8 FPS. This strongly suggests that the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions with more demanding settings. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 14.1 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 3.7 FPS — a diminishing return that indicates the GPU's compute resources, rather than memory bandwidth, are the binding constraint at the top end.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT achieves a rank of 1225 out of 1733 tested combos in this game. This places it in roughly the 29th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning about 70% of combinations deliver higher average frame rates in Minimum. The percentileVsAllCpus score of 79 for the processor and 71 for the GPU suggest both components are mid-to-upper tier individually, but their combined performance in this title lags behind what those individual scores might imply.

The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores 27956 in aggregate benchmarks versus the RX 6600 XT's 27985, a margin of only 0.1%. This near parity in synthetic tests does not translate to identical in-game results, as the game's specific rendering paths favor the RDNA 2.0 architecture. The RTX 3070, which is 0.9% ahead in average score, would likely produce noticeably higher FPS in Minimum due to its superior rasterization throughput. The data shows that the combo rank of 1225 is consistent with the GPU's 71st percentile standing — not exceptional, but firmly above the median.

The CPU side is more competitive. The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score of 20875 sits within 0.2% of the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900). The EPYC 7J13 is 0.1% ahead, while the i5-12600T trails by 0.2%. These negligible deltas mean the processor is not the differentiator in the combo's ranking — the GPU's performance ceiling in this game is what determines the final position.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of presets at each resolution. At 1080p, all four settings achieve playable frame rates, with Low at 171.7 FPS and Ultra at 85.2 FPS. For competitive play, the Low preset offers the highest headroom. For visual quality without sacrificing responsiveness, Medium at 130.8 FPS is the sweet spot, as it sits 21.3 FPS above High and 45.6 FPS above Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium costs 40.9 FPS, but the visual uplift in Minimum is substantial.

At 1440p, the picture changes. Low delivers 111.7 FPS, Medium 86.9 FPS, and High 67.8 FPS. The Medium preset is the recommended baseline here, as it remains comfortably above 60 FPS while offering a meaningful improvement over Low. High is playable but begins to approach the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra at 52.1 FPS dips below that threshold, making it less suitable for fast-paced third-person shooting where frame consistency matters.

At 4K, the options narrow considerably. Only Low achieves near-60 FPS at 58.8 FPS. Medium drops to 42.9 FPS, High to 35.3 FPS, and Ultra to 31.6 FPS. For 4K owners, the Low preset is the only viable choice for smooth gameplay. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 15.9 FPS — the largest single-preset jump in the entire dataset — suggesting that Medium's additional effects tax the GPU disproportionately at 4K.

FAQ

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

A: 1080p provides the most flexibility, with all presets exceeding 85 FPS. At 1440p, only Low through High surpass 60 FPS. At 4K, only Low approaches 60 FPS at 58.8 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RX 6600 XT scores 27985 in aggregate benchmarks, which is 0.1% higher than the GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.9% lower than the RTX 3070 (28238).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data shows no evidence of CPU limiting. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint across all tested settings.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured average is 86.9 FPS, which is 20.1 FPS higher than High at the same resolution and 34.8 FPS higher than Ultra.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 58.8 FPS. All other presets fall below 43 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1225 out of 1733 combos, placing it in the lower-mid tier of tested hardware pairs for this game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip at 7 nm. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. The FP32 performance is 10.60 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s.

The benchmark data shows the GPU's synthetic strength: a Passmark G3D score of 16461 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804. In Minimum, the GPU's role is decisive. The frame rate differences between presets at each resolution demonstrate that the RX 6600 XT's compute units and memory bandwidth determine the ceiling. At 1080p Low, the 171.7 FPS indicates the GPU has ample headroom. At 4K Ultra, the 31.6 FPS shows the card is overwhelmed by the combination of pixel count and shader complexity.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor at 1080p or 1440p, but at 4K with higher presets, the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s may contribute to the sharp drop-off. The GPU's 71st percentile ranking among all GPUs aligns with its mid-range positioning, and the measured in-game results reflect this tier — capable at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p with adjusted settings, and marginal at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne) on the 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 3.

The CPU's benchmark scores are solid for its class: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 16429, single-core 2319. The 3DMark thread scaling shows 5386 for 16 threads, 4593 for 8 threads, and 836 for single-thread. The Passmark multithread score is 19330, with a single-thread score of 3058. The processor's percentileVsAllCpus of 79 indicates it outperforms most CPUs in synthetic workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is supportive rather than limiting. The resolution scaling data proves this: if the CPU were the bottleneck, 1080p and 1440p frame rates would converge, but they do not. The 171.7 FPS at 1080p Low versus 111.7 FPS at 1440p Low shows a 60 FPS gap, confirming the GPU is the constraint. The Ryzen 5 5500's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to feed the RX 6600 XT even at the highest frame rates measured.

The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.2% in aggregate score, meaning the choice between them would not materially affect Minimum's performance. The 16 MB L3 cache and Zen 3 architecture provide adequate instruction throughput for this game's engine, which is not heavily multi-threaded based on the frame rate behavior. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for the GPU's needs at the tested resolutions.