Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a performance profile in Minimum that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphics settings, with the data revealing a clear transition from a CPU-bound state at 1080p to a GPU-bound state at 4K. The measured results show that this combination is capable of extreme frame rates at lower resolutions, but the gap between settings narrows significantly as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 illustrates how the workload shifts between components. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 325 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset drops that figure to 209 FPS, a reduction of approximately 36%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 113 FPS, which is 46% lower than the 1440p result and 65% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline at lower settings indicates that the CPU is not the primary limiter at 1080p; the graphics card is being fed more data than it can process at that resolution, but the sheer pixel throughput demand at 4K begins to saturate even a high-end GPU.

The scaling behavior changes when settings are raised. At High settings, the 1080p average is 209 FPS, and the 1440p average is 135 FPS, a 35% drop. The 4K High average is 72 FPS, which is 47% lower than 1440p. Interestingly, the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is nearly identical for Low and High, but the absolute frame rate at 1080p High is far lower than at 1080p Low. This suggests that at 1080p, even with High settings, the GPU is still not fully taxed, and the CPU is providing enough throughput to maintain high frame rates.

The most telling data point comes from the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 159 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 103 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average is 55 FPS, which is 47% lower than 1440p. This consistent scaling pattern across all presets indicates that the game is well-optimized for resolution scaling, with the GPU becoming the dominant factor as resolution increases. The fact that the 4K Ultra frame rate is less than a quarter of the 1080p Low frame rate shows that the pixel fill rate and shading complexity are the primary bottlenecks at higher resolutions, not the CPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the defining component in this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the observed results. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Minimum, a game released in 2014, and it prevents any VRAM capacity or bandwidth limitations from affecting the measured frame rates. The high memory bandwidth allows the GPU to feed its 6144 shading units efficiently, even at 4K resolutions where texture and geometry data demands are highest.

The clock speeds also play a role. The GPU has a base clock of 1929 MHz and a boost clock of 2498 MHz, with a game clock of 2365 MHz. These high frequencies contribute to the GPU's raw compute throughput of 61.39 TFLOPS FP32. This compute power is what enables the 4K High average of 72 FPS and the 4K Medium average of 86 FPS. The data shows that the GPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates at 4K, but the Ultra preset pushes the rendering workload to a point where the average drops to 55 FPS, suggesting that the game's Ultra settings introduce effects that are particularly demanding on the GPU's shading units and ROPs.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 64 against all GPUs is notable, as it places it in the upper third of the database, but its average benchmark score of 19410 is close to its nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB with a delta of 0.4%. This proximity in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to real-world performance in this game, as the RX 7900 XTX clearly dominates at all resolutions and settings. The synthetic benchmarks may not capture the specific workload of Minimum, but the measured FPS data indicates that the GPU is the star of this combo.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of which settings offer the best experience for this hardware combination. At 1080p, the Low preset produces 325 FPS, which is an excessive frame rate for most displays, as it exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all monitors. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 249 FPS, with a minimum of 211 FPS, which is still far above any practical display refresh rate. The High preset at 1080p delivers 209 FPS, and Ultra drops to 159 FPS. Given that all 1080p presets deliver well over 144 FPS, the choice comes down to visual fidelity versus unnecessary frame rate headroom.

At 1440p, the Low preset produces 209 FPS, Medium produces 160 FPS, High produces 135 FPS, and Ultra produces 103 FPS. For a 144Hz display, the Medium preset is the optimal choice, as it provides a 160 FPS average with a 136 FPS minimum, ensuring smooth gameplay without dipping below the refresh rate. The High preset at 135 FPS is also viable, but it sits below the 144Hz threshold, making Medium the better balance. The Ultra preset at 103 FPS is acceptable for a 100Hz display but not ideal for higher refresh rate monitors.

At 4K, the situation is different. The Low preset produces 113 FPS, Medium produces 86 FPS, High produces 72 FPS, and Ultra produces 55 FPS. For a 60Hz display, the High preset is the best recommendation, as it provides a 72 FPS average, which is above the display's refresh rate and offers significantly better visual quality than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at 55 FPS is below 60 FPS, which may result in noticeable stuttering on a standard 60Hz panel. The Medium preset at 86 FPS is also a strong choice, but High offers a better visual experience while still maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX achieves a combo rank of 549 out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the top 15% of all combos, which is impressive given that the CPU is a mid-range part. The high ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's performance, as the CPU's benchmark scores are modest. The Ryzen 5 5500 has a percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs, which is solid, but its average benchmark score of 19593 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, with a delta of -0.1%.

The combo rank of 549 indicates that this pairing outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, but it is not at the very top. The data suggests that the CPU is holding back the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 1080p Low frame rate of 325 FPS, which is likely limited by the CPU's single-thread performance rather than the GPU's capabilities. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the combo's rank improves relative to systems with weaker GPUs. The 4K Ultra average of 55 FPS is a respectable result for a demanding preset, and the combo's ability to maintain playable frame rates at 4K confirms the GPU's strength.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 144 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves an average of 160 FPS with a minimum of 136 FPS, making it the only resolution-preset combination that consistently stays above 144 FPS. At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 144 FPS, with Low reaching 325 FPS and Ultra reaching 159 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra frame rate compare to the 1080p Low frame rate?

A: The 4K Ultra average is 55 FPS, while the 1080p Low average is 325 FPS. This represents a 83% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest settings at 1080p to the highest settings at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo produces 325 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate. The CPU's single-thread performance is the likely limiter here, as the GPU's compute power is more than sufficient to handle the workload at this resolution. The 3DMark single-thread score of 836 for the CPU supports this interpretation.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium, which shows a minimum of 211 FPS at 1920x1080, 136 FPS at 2560x1440, and 73 FPS at 3840x2160. Other presets do not have a listed minimum FPS value.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 549th out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the top 15% of all systems. This rank is driven by the GPU's strong performance, as the CPU is a mid-range part with a percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs.

Q: Does the GPU have enough memory for this game?

A: The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is far more than required for Minimum. The memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s ensures that memory capacity or bandwidth is never a bottleneck, even at 4K Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 325 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 249 FPS, with a minimum of 211 FPS and a maximum of 286 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 209 FPS, and the Ultra preset reaches an average of 159 FPS. These numbers show that the game is highly playable at any setting at this resolution, with the CPU being the primary constraint on maximum frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 209 FPS. The Medium preset averages 160 FPS, with a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 184 FPS. The High preset averages 135 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 103 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with a roughly 35% reduction in frame rate across all presets, indicating that the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 113 FPS. The Medium preset averages 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. The High preset averages 72 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 55 FPS. The 4K results show a clear GPU bottleneck, as the frame rates scale directly with the rendering complexity of each preset. The Ultra preset at 55 FPS is the only measured configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for standard refresh rate displays.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It has 16 MB of L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU's benchmark scores indicate that it is a capable mid-range part, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. Its percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs is respectable, but it is not a top-tier part.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are exceptionally high. The 1080p Low average of 325 FPS is likely near the CPU's maximum throughput for this game, as the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The CPU's single-thread performance, as indicated by the 3DMark single-thread score of 836, is sufficient to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic at these high frame rates. However, the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration is more than adequate for a game released in 2014, which likely does not utilize more than a few cores effectively.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is tight. Its average benchmark score of 19593 is within 0.7% of the Intel Core i5-11600KF and within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-12500. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 5500 is competitive with other mid-range processors from its era. The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at higher resolutions, as the frame rates at 4K are consistently GPU-limited. The combo's rank of 549 out of 3712 is a strong result, and it is clear that the GPU is the primary driver of this performance, while the CPU provides adequate support without becoming a significant liability.