Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a highly capable experience in Minimum, a third-person shooter released in 2014. The measured data shows this pairing is well-balanced, with the GPU providing substantial headroom across all resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4070, with its Ada Lovelace architecture and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, is the primary driver of performance, while the Ryzen 5 5500’s six Zen 3 cores are sufficient to keep frame rates high without becoming a significant bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the growing load on the GPU as pixel count increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 278 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 179 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 97 FPS. This progression shows a 35.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45.8% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card is doing the heavy lifting.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 179 at 1080p, to 115 at 1440p, and finally to 62 at 4K. This represents a 35.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46.1% drop from 1440p to 4K. The near-identical percentage drops across Low and High settings suggest that the game’s rendering load scales predictably with resolution, and the RTX 4070 is the limiting factor in all cases.

The data indicates that at 4K, even the most demanding Ultra preset yields an average of 47 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced shooters. The 4K Medium preset provides a more comfortable 74 FPS average, with a minimum of 63 FPS and maximum of 85 FPS. This suggests that for 4K gaming, users will need to dial back settings to Medium or High to maintain smooth frame rates. The 1440p results are much stronger, with the High preset delivering 115 FPS and Medium at 137 FPS, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings grows with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (278 FPS) and Ultra (136 FPS) is 142 FPS. At 4K, the gap narrows to 50 FPS (97 FPS on Low vs. 47 FPS on Ultra). This compression at higher resolutions is typical, as the GPU becomes more saturated with pixel work, reducing the relative impact of the CPU and other system components on overall frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for this hardware combo depends heavily on the target resolution. For 4K displays, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation. It delivers an average of 74 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and its minimum of 63 FPS ensures that frame pacing remains consistent even in demanding scenes. The High preset at 4K, averaging 62 FPS, is borderline, while Ultra at 47 FPS will likely cause noticeable stutter in a fast-paced shooter.

For 1440p, the High preset is the best choice for most users. It provides an excellent average of 115 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, and leaves headroom for occasional dips. For those with 144Hz or faster displays, the Medium preset at 137 FPS is also a strong option, offering a more significant performance buffer. The Ultra preset at 88 FPS is also viable if visual fidelity is the top priority, but it sacrifices the fluidity that the lower presets provide.

At 1080p, the system is so powerful that even the Ultra preset, with an average of 136 FPS, is well above the threshold for competitive play. The Low preset at 278 FPS is only necessary for esports-level refresh rates (240Hz+). For most 1080p users, the High preset at 179 FPS offers a perfect balance of high detail and extreme smoothness. The Medium preset at 213 FPS is another excellent choice for those who want maximum frame rates without the visual compromises of the Low preset.

The data suggests that the game is not particularly demanding, allowing this mid-range CPU and high-end GPU combination to excel. The fact that the 4K Medium preset (74 FPS) outperforms the 1440p Ultra preset (88 FPS) by a smaller margin than expected indicates that the preset scaling is more impactful on visual quality than resolution alone. For the best experience, we recommend prioritizing a high refresh rate at 1440p with High settings, as this provides the most responsive gameplay without sacrificing significant graphical detail.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this CPU-GPU combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS recorded at 1080p is 278, achieved with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this system maintain 60+ FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes. The 4K Medium preset averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS. The 4K High preset also averages 62 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset falls short, averaging 47 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56's score of 37507.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset averages 179 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 88 FPS, resulting in a 91 FPS difference between the two settings.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: Based on the FPS scaling, the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system hits 278 FPS, which is exceptionally high, indicating the CPU is keeping up. The performance drop at higher resolutions is consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What is the rank of this specific hardware combination among all tested combos for this game?

A: This combo is ranked 885 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 24% of systems.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data provides a complete breakdown of the average FPS measurements for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080:

• Low: 278 FPS average
• Medium: 213 FPS average (min 181, max 245)
• High: 179 FPS average
• Ultra: 136 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 179 FPS average
• Medium: 137 FPS average (min 117, max 158)
• High: 115 FPS average
• Ultra: 88 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 97 FPS average
• Medium: 74 FPS average (min 63, max 85)
• High: 62 FPS average
• Ultra: 47 FPS average

The data shows a clear and consistent hierarchy: performance scales down as resolution and settings increase. The 1080p Low result of 278 FPS highlights the immense capability of the RTX 4070 when unconstrained by resolution. The 1440p results are the most balanced, offering high frame rates across all presets. The 4K results show that the system can handle the resolution with adjusted settings, but it is not a native 4K Ultra powerhouse for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the clear performance driver in this configuration. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Passmark G3D score of 26927 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854. It sits at the 81st percentile of all GPUs and has an average benchmark score of 37648. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is 0.1% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507), while being 1.3% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135).

The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Minimum, a game from 2014, and ensures that texture data is not a bottleneck, even at 4K resolution. The high bandwidth allows the GPU to feed its 5888 shading units efficiently, which is reflected in the high frame rates observed. The boost clock of 2475 MHz, up from a base of 1920 MHz, helps maintain consistent performance under load.

The 5 nm process node (TSMC) and Ada Lovelace architecture contribute to the card's efficiency and raw throughput. With 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, the RTX 4070 delivers a substantial amount of compute power. The FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS is a strong indicator of its rasterization capability, which is the primary workload for a shooter like Minimum. The data indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor until 4K with high settings, proving its dominance in this pairing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 plays a supporting but essential role in this system. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne codename), it provides ample processing power for game logic and physics. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. The processor is placed at the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19593.

In comparison to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5500 is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (-0.1% delta) and Intel Core i5-12500 (-0.4% delta), while being slightly faster than the Intel Core i7-10700F (+0.5% delta) and Intel Core i5-11600KF (-0.7% delta). This puts it in a strong competitive position for its class.

The CPU’s base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz are sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 fed, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p. The 16 MB of L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for gaming workloads. The processor's 65W TDP ensures it runs cool and doesn't throttle, maintaining consistent performance over long sessions. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 5500 is not a bottleneck in this configuration, as the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern, with performance dropping proportionally to the increase in pixel count.