Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination delivers a decidedly mixed bag in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The pairing ranks 432nd out of 1,733 tested combos, placing it in the top quarter of all configurations. That rank reflects a system capable of high refresh rates at mainstream resolutions, yet the data also reveals a stark performance ceiling when pushing maximum visual fidelity at 4K, where the GPU’s immense power is hamstrung by settings that prove too demanding for even this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The 432nd rank out of 1,733 combos places this system firmly in the upper echelon of tested configurations, roughly in the 75th percentile of all pairings. This is a strong showing, but it is not a top-tier result. The CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500, holds its own in the broader landscape, sitting at the 79th percentile among all processors. Its average benchmark score of 20,875 is nearly identical to that of the Intel Core i5-12500, which scores 20,897, a negligible difference of -0.1%. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20,900) and Intel Core i5-12600T (20,917) are effectively tied with it, while the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20,845) trails by just 0.1%. This indicates the CPU is a well-balanced mid-range part that is not the limiting factor in most gaming scenarios.

The GPU, however, is a different story. The RTX 3080 Ti sits at the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 41,224. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 41,441, a margin of -0.5%. The gap to the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41,610, -0.9%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (41,687, -1.1%) is slightly larger, but all four cards are clustered closely together. This suggests that in raw compute, the 3080 Ti is essentially on par with these contemporaries. The overall combo rank of 432, therefore, is not a reflection of any single weak component, but rather the system's total capability, which is excellent for high-refresh 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with the most demanding settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the undisputed powerhouse of this pairing. Built on the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, it packs 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines. Its memory subsystem is particularly robust, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, yielding a massive 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1365 MHz, which can boost up to 1665 MHz, driving a pixel rate of 186.5 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 532.8 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to a raw FP32 throughput of 34.10 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, this GPU horsepower is the dominant factor. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern where the GPU’s capability dictates performance at higher resolutions and settings. The 3080 Ti also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is relevant for a game from 2014 that can leverage modern rendering paths. While the CPU is certainly capable, the sheer data throughput of the 3080 Ti is what allows the system to push frame rates past 270 FPS at 1080p on Low settings. The GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is also a critical asset, ensuring that texture data for high-resolution assets does not become a bottleneck, even at 4K, where the average frame rate is more constrained by the shader and ROP throughput than by memory capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a system that transitions from being CPU-bound at 1080p to heavily GPU-bound at 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 279.6 FPS. This exceptionally high frame rate suggests the CPU is nearing its limit in feeding the GPU with draw calls, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames much faster. Moving to 2560x1440 on Low, the average drops to 178.3 FPS, a reduction of over 36% from 1080p. This substantial drop indicates the GPU is now starting to take on more work, but the frame rate is still high enough to be considered CPU-limited in many scenes.

The transition to 3840x2160 on Low shows a more dramatic scaling curve, with the average falling to 93.9 FPS. This is a 47% drop from 1440p and a 66% drop from 1080p. At this point, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting component. The pattern holds across all settings, but the effect is most pronounced at Ultra. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 135.7 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 86.9 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it plunges to 44.5 FPS. This data shows that while the RTX 3080 Ti is powerful, the demands of 4K Ultra in Minimum exceed its capabilities, resulting in a frame rate that is below the 60 FPS target most gamers consider the minimum for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 176.5 FPS, which is an excellent experience for any high-refresh-rate monitor. The Low preset at 279.6 FPS is overkill for most displays, but it shows the system's headroom. The Medium preset at 215.6 FPS is also a superb choice, offering a balanced visual uplift from Low while maintaining a frame rate well above 200 FPS. Even the Ultra preset at 135.7 FPS is highly playable and would be the recommended choice for users with a 120Hz or 144Hz 1080p display who prioritize visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 116.9 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a fluid experience on most 1440p monitors. The Medium preset at 139.3 FPS is also an excellent option for those with 144Hz panels. The Ultra preset at 86.9 FPS is still very playable and would be suitable for a 60Hz to 100Hz monitor. For 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset at 63.9 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the only viable option for a smooth 4K experience. The Medium preset at 76.9 FPS is also acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 44.5 FPS is too demanding, and the Low preset at 93.9 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for a marginal performance gain over High. For 4K, the High preset is the clear recommendation, as it provides the best balance of visual quality and playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data offers a detailed look at the system's performance envelope.

1920x1080:

• Low: 279.6 FPS average. This is the peak performance of the combo, showing the maximum frame rate the CPU/GPU pairing can produce in this game.
• Medium: 215.6 FPS average. A significant drop of 23% from Low, but still an exceptionally high frame rate.
• High: 176.5 FPS average. This remains a very strong result, suitable for high-refresh gaming.
• Ultra: 135.7 FPS average. The most demanding 1080p preset, but still comfortably above 120 FPS.

2560x1440:

• Low: 178.3 FPS average. This is a 36% reduction from the 1080p Low score, highlighting the increased GPU load.
• Medium: 139.3 FPS average. A 35% drop from the 1080p Medium result.
• High: 116.9 FPS average. A 34% reduction from 1080p High, keeping the experience smooth.
• Ultra: 86.9 FPS average. The 4K Ultra score is nearly half of this, showing how resolution scaling affects the most demanding settings.

3840x2160:

• Low: 93.9 FPS average. The only 4K preset to break the 90 FPS barrier.
• Medium: 76.9 FPS average. A solid result, but the gap between Low and Medium is 18%.
• High: 63.9 FPS average. This is the recommended 4K setting, as it barely clears the 60 FPS line.
• Ultra: 44.5 FPS average. This is the lowest measured score, a 50% drop from the 4K High preset, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The data clearly shows a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p, delivering high frame rates across all settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and only the High or Medium presets provide a playable experience, with Ultra being reserved for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate.