Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a highly capable experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The measured data shows this combination ranks 558th out of 2939 tested configurations, placing it in the top 20% of all possible hardware pairings. The RTX 5070, with its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, provides substantial bandwidth that this older title can leverage effectively. At 1080p, the system produces extremely high frame rates that will outpace most display refresh rates, while 4K performance remains respectable, though it demands lower settings to maintain high FPS. The following analysis breaks down exactly how this hardware behaves across resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and reveals the expected shift from CPU-bound to GPU-bound behavior. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 191 FPS at 1920x1080 to 123 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 68 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 66 FPS. This represents a 65% decrease in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The scaling pattern clearly indicates that the RTX 5070 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demand increases dramatically.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced in absolute terms. The system delivers 297 FPS at 1080p, 192 FPS at 1440p, and 103 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 105 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 89 FPS. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU can keep up with the GPU even at 1080p, but the GPU workload still scales heavily with resolution. The fact that Low settings at 4K (103 FPS) is still faster than Ultra settings at 1080p (146 FPS) shows how much impact resolution has on this title.

Examining the Medium preset, which has complete min/max data, provides additional insight. At 1080p, the average is 228 FPS with a minimum of 193 FPS and maximum of 262 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 147 FPS with a 125 FPS minimum and 169 FPS maximum. At 4K, the average falls to 79 FPS with a 67 FPS minimum and 91 FPS maximum. The consistency of the frame pacing, as indicated by the narrow range between min and max, holds up well even at 4K, showing that the hardware maintains stable performance without major stutters.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep. At Medium settings, this represents a 46% reduction in average frame rate (from 147 to 79 FPS). This is expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario, as 4K contains 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p. The RTX 5070's 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are being pushed to their limits at 4K, especially with higher quality settings.

For users with a 144Hz monitor, the data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combination. At High settings, the system averages 123 FPS, which is close to the 144Hz target, and at Medium settings it reaches 147 FPS, exceeding it. At 1080p, the system has enough headroom to run Ultra settings at 146 FPS, though High settings at 191 FPS or Low settings at 297 FPS will benefit users with 240Hz or faster displays.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Minimum at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The measured data shows 66 FPS at High settings, 79 FPS at Medium settings, and 103 FPS at Low settings for 3840x2160. Ultra settings at 4K drop to 51 FPS, which is below the commonly accepted 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144Hz monitor?

A: 2560x1440 is the optimal choice. At Medium settings, the average is 147 FPS, and at High settings it is 123 FPS. Both are close to or above the 144Hz refresh rate, providing a smooth experience without needing to compromise on visual quality.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. Low settings produce 297 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 146 FPS. This is a 151 FPS difference, meaning Ultra settings run at roughly half the frame rate of Low settings.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 have enough VRAM for this game?

A: Yes, comfortably. The RTX 5070 has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory, which is far more than what this 2014 title requires. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the game will not come close to exhausting the available VRAM.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tests?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 67 FPS, which occurs at 4K with Medium settings. All other settings and resolutions either have no minimum recorded or show higher minimums, indicating that the system never dips below playable levels.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU plays a larger role. The Ryzen 5 5600F has a single-thread score of 2872 in PassMark, and at Low settings the system reaches 297 FPS, which requires strong per-core performance. The GPU is still important, but the CPU is more likely to be the bottleneck at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, Medium settings at 1440p provide the ideal balance. The measured average of 147 FPS with a minimum of 125 FPS ensures smooth gameplay on high refresh rate monitors, while the visual improvements over Low settings are noticeable. This preset delivers 24 FPS more than High settings at the same resolution, making it the clear choice for competitive or fast-paced play.

At 1080p, High settings are recommended for most users. The 191 FPS average is well above the 144Hz threshold and even approaches 240Hz territory. For users with 240Hz or faster displays, Low settings at 297 FPS will be the better option, as the difference between Low and High at this resolution is 106 FPS. Ultra settings at 1080p produce 146 FPS, which is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High settings.

At 4K, Medium settings are the only viable option for maintaining high frame rates. The 79 FPS average is slightly above the 60 FPS standard, and the 67 FPS minimum ensures that frame drops remain relatively rare. High settings at 66 FPS are borderline, while Low settings at 103 FPS sacrifice too much visual quality. Ultra settings at 51 FPS are not recommended for serious play, though they are usable for screenshots or slower-paced exploration.

The measured data includes min/max values only for the Medium preset across all resolutions. This is important because it provides a reliable measure of frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 193-262 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 125-169 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 67-91 FPS. These tight ranges indicate that the system delivers consistent performance without major stutters, making Medium the most predictable setting choice.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 297 FPS, which is the highest recorded value across all tests. Medium settings average 228 FPS with a minimum of 193 FPS and a maximum of 262 FPS. High settings average 191 FPS, and Ultra settings average 146 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decrease of roughly 50 FPS per step, with the exception of the Medium to High gap which is 37 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction. Low settings average 192 FPS, Medium settings average 147 FPS with a range of 125-169 FPS, High settings average 123 FPS, and Ultra settings average 94 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 98 FPS, which is smaller than the 151 FPS gap at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance drops significantly. Low settings average 103 FPS, which is still playable, while Medium settings average 79 FPS with a range of 67-91 FPS. High settings average 66 FPS, and Ultra settings average 51 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 52 FPS, showing that settings have a smaller relative impact at this resolution compared to 1080p.

Comparing the Medium preset across all resolutions provides the clearest picture of scaling. At 1080p, the average is 228 FPS. At 1440p, it is 147 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K, it is 79 FPS, a 46% reduction from 1440p and a 65% reduction from 1080p. The min FPS values follow a similar pattern: 193 at 1080p, 125 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K. These numbers show that the system maintains a consistent performance profile, with no anomalous drops at any resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for handling the texture and geometry data at 4K. The GPU has 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, giving it substantial compute power for this older title. The boost clock of 2512 MHz and base clock of 2325 MHz allow the GPU to maintain high throughput across varying workloads.

The GPU's benchmark scores are modest relative to its modern peers, with a PassMark G3D score of 29137 and a percentile ranking of 82 against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 40377 places it in close competition with older professional cards like the AMD Radeon Pro 580, which scores 40318 and is only 0.1% different in performance. This is surprising given the architectural differences, but it reflects the synthetic benchmark results rather than real-world gaming performance.

In terms of API support, the RTX 5070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This ensures full compatibility with Minimum, which was released in 2014 and likely uses DirectX 11 or earlier. The GPU's DirectX 11 PassMark score of 277 and DirectX 12 score of 108 indicate that it can handle legacy APIs without issues, though the scores are not directly comparable to the game's frame rates.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 172660 provide additional context for its raw compute capabilities. These scores, combined with the measured FPS data, show that the RTX 5070 is more than capable of handling Minimum at all but the most demanding settings. The 250 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest that the card requires adequate cooling, but this is a reasonable trade-off for the performance on offer.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F plays a critical role in achieving high frame rates at lower resolutions. With 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, this Zen 3 architecture processor provides strong single-thread performance. Its PassMark single-thread score of 2872 is competitive, and its multithread score of 19236 ensures that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios.

The CPU's cache hierarchy is well-suited for gaming. It has 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for games that rely on frequent data access. The dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is adequate for this title, though it is slower than the GPU's memory bandwidth by a factor of over 13.

The Ryzen 5 5600F has an average benchmark score of 36945 and ranks in the 85th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with an average score of 36938 (0% difference), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with a score of 37018 (-0.2% difference), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 with a score of 37093 (-0.4% difference). These close scores indicate that the 5600F is well-positioned in its performance tier.

At 1080p, the CPU's impact is most visible. The system reaches 297 FPS at Low settings, which requires the CPU to process over 297 frames per second. This is a demanding task for any processor, and the 5600F's boost clock of 4.00 GHz helps it keep up. The PassMark physics score of 1043 and integer math score of 59339 suggest that the CPU handles game logic and physics calculations efficiently. However, the data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has plenty of headroom at this resolution.