Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a playable but not dominant experience in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. The recorded data shows this combo ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become the primary constraints at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads provide ample headroom for this title’s workload. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interprets the component roles, and answers common questions based solely on the recorded figures.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 120 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset, the average falls to 78 FPS, a reduction of 42 FPS. At 3840x2160 High, the average drops further to 42 FPS, which is exactly one-third of the 1080p High result. This scaling pattern confirms that pixel throughput, governed by the GPU’s ROPs and memory bandwidth, dominates the performance curve.

The Low preset shows the same trend but with higher absolute numbers. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 187 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 121 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it reaches 65 FPS. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 122 FPS, a 65% reduction. This is a larger percentage drop than the High preset’s 65% reduction (from 120 to 42), which might seem counterintuitive. The explanation lies in the fact that Low settings reduce shading and texture work, leaving the memory bandwidth and ROP throughput as the sole bottlenecks. The RX 9060’s 288.0 GB/s bandwidth and 64 ROPs simply cannot sustain 4K pixel counts at the same efficiency as 1080p.

Medium settings provide the only rows with min and max FPS values. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 143 FPS, with a minimum of 122 and a maximum of 165. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 92 FPS, with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 106. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42 and a maximum of 57. The spread between min and max is 43 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame time variance decreases as the GPU becomes fully saturated, but the average also falls below the 60 FPS threshold at 4K.

Ultra settings produce the lowest averages across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average is 92 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra, it drops to 59 FPS. At 3840x2160 Ultra, it falls to 32 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 28 FPS (120 to 92), while the same jump at 1440p costs 19 FPS (78 to 59), and at 4K it costs 10 FPS (42 to 32). This diminishing absolute cost at higher resolutions indicates that Ultra settings add effects that are partially hidden by the lower pixel resolution, but the relative performance penalty remains significant.

The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU. The RX 9060’s 8 GB memory capacity is adequate for this game, but the 128-bit bus width and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle with the 3840x2160 pixel count. At 1080p, the CPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the 187 FPS Low result, which is well above typical monitor refresh rates. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K only viable at Medium or Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that Medium settings provide the best balance of performance and visual fidelity for this combo. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 143 FPS, which is 23 FPS higher than High (120) and 51 FPS higher than Ultra (92). The min FPS of 122 at Medium is still above 60, ensuring smooth frame delivery. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 92 FPS, with a minimum of 79. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and only 13 FPS below the High preset’s average of 78, but with better minimums (79 vs no recorded min for High). At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 50 FPS, with a minimum of 42. This is below 60 FPS, but it is the only 4K preset that records a minimum above 40 FPS.

Low settings offer the highest frame rates, but they sacrifice visual quality. At 1080p Low, the average is 187 FPS, which is 44 FPS higher than Medium. At 1440p Low, the average is 121 FPS, 29 FPS higher than Medium. At 4K Low, the average is 65 FPS, 15 FPS higher than Medium. For competitive play, Low at 1440p provides 121 FPS, which is suitable for high-refresh monitors. However, the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra frames in a third-person shooter where environmental detail matters.

High settings are a middle ground. At 1080p High, the average is 120 FPS, which is 23 FPS below Medium but still smooth. At 1440p High, the average is 78 FPS, which is 14 FPS below Medium. At 4K High, the average is 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and only 8 FPS above the Medium preset’s minimum. The data indicates that High at 1440p is acceptable for most players, but Medium provides a more consistent frame rate with a higher average.

Ultra settings are not recommended for this combo. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 92 FPS, which is still playable, but the 28 FPS penalty over High is substantial. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 59 FPS, which is just below 60. At 4K Ultra, the average is 32 FPS, which is not suitable for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K is 18 FPS below the Medium preset’s average, and the lack of recorded min/max values for Ultra suggests the frame pacing may be inconsistent.

The best experience per the measured rows is Medium at 2560x1440. The average of 92 FPS, combined with a minimum of 79 FPS, provides a smooth experience without the visual downgrade of Low. At 1080p, Medium delivers 143 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh displays. For players prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Low at 1080p (187 FPS) or 1440p (121 FPS) are the strongest choices. Ultra should be avoided at all resolutions except for screenshot purposes, as the average at 4K is 32 FPS and at 1440p it is 59 FPS, both below the ideal threshold.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 64 ROPs and 112 TMUs handle pixel and texture work, but the 128-bit bus limits how quickly data can be fed to the shading units. At 1080p, the GPU delivers 187 FPS on Low, 143 FPS on Medium, 120 FPS on High, and 92 FPS on Ultra. At 1440p, those numbers drop to 121, 92, 78, and 59 respectively. At 4K, the averages are 65, 50, 42, and 32.

The GPU’s boost clock is 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 1700 MHz. The FP32 performance is 21.43 TFLOPS, which is ample for a 2014 title. The recorded benchmarks show a PassMark G3D score of 17631 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322. The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 59, meaning it outperforms a majority of the database entries. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with an average score of 16129 (a delta of -0.7%), the AMD Radeon R9 370X with 15862 (delta of 1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 with 15852 (delta of 1%).

The VRAM usage in this game is not directly measured, but the 8 GB capacity is sufficient for the recorded settings. The fact that performance drops so precipitously from 1440p to 4K (e.g., High from 78 to 42 FPS) suggests that memory bandwidth, not capacity, is the limiting factor. A 128-bit bus at 288.0 GB/s cannot sustain the fill rate required for 3840x2160 with high-resolution textures. The GPU’s RDNA 4.0 architecture and 4 nm process node are modern, but the narrow bus is a deliberate design choice that limits high-resolution performance.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 16014, with a PassMark G3D score of 17631 and a compute score of 9919. These numbers place it in the mid-range of the database, consistent with its percentile of 59. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 88183 and Vulkan score of 39476 show strong compute capabilities, but the game’s performance is more dependent on memory throughput than raw compute. The 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 figure is high, but the game’s rasterization workload is bound by the ROP and memory system.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with Medium settings for this combo?

A: The recorded average is 92 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS.

Q: Does the RX 9060 have enough VRAM for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and the measured data shows that 4K Medium averages 50 FPS and 4K Low averages 65 FPS. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is significant, indicating that the 128-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are more limiting than the 8 GB capacity.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9060’s average benchmark score is 16014, while the RTX 3060 Ti’s average score is 16129, a delta of -0.7%. The RX 9060 is slightly slower in the database’s aggregated benchmarks.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60 FPS or higher?

A: At 1080p, all settings except Ultra (92 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. At 1440p, Low (121), Medium (92), and High (78) exceed 60 FPS, while Ultra (59) falls just short. At 4K, only Low (65) exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: What are the CPU’s core and thread counts?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its L3 cache is 32 MB.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the 41st percentile (calculated as 2179/3712).

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places the combo in the lower-middle tier of the database, just above the 40th percentile. The rank indicates that a majority of tested combinations deliver higher average FPS at the same settings and resolutions. The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 59, meaning it outperforms 59% of individual GPUs, but the combo rank is lower because the game is likely more GPU-bound, and other CPUs paired with stronger GPUs achieve higher scores.

The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 75, indicating it outperforms 75% of individual CPUs. This suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 21771, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838 and a single-core score of 1541. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (avg score 21749, delta 0.1%), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (21874, delta -0.5%), the Intel Core i7-11700 (21891, delta -0.5%), and the AMD EPYC 9554P (21899, delta -0.6%). These rivals are all within 0.6% of the 5600X’s average score, showing that the CPU is competitive with a wide range of processors.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 16014, and its nearest rivals are all within 2.1% of that figure. The RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 (-0.7%), the R9 370X scores 15862 (1%), the RX 7700 scores 15852 (1%), and the Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679 (2.1%). This clustering indicates that the RX 9060 sits in a dense performance band, where small differences in synthetic scores translate to meaningful FPS differences in games. The combo’s rank of 2179 is consistent with this mid-pack positioning.

The rank is also influenced by the fact that Minimum is from 2014, meaning many older GPUs with higher memory bandwidth or more ROPs might outperform the RX 9060 at 1080p, where the CPU’s 187 FPS Low result is high but not record-breaking. The 3712 combos include both newer and older hardware, and the RX 9060’s 128-bit bus puts it at a disadvantage in this title’s resolution scaling. The data shows that the combo is capable, but not exceptional, and users with higher expectations should consider the GPU’s memory bus limitations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X features 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, on a 7 nm process node. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 32 MB L3 cache. The CPU’s memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In this game, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a pattern typical of GPU-bound workloads.

At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 187 FPS, which is the highest recorded average across all settings and resolutions. This indicates that the CPU can drive frame rates well above 144 Hz in this title. The CPU’s single-thread performance, as measured by Geekbench single-core score of 1989 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1541, is sufficient for the game’s main thread. The 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and 2-thread score of 1793 further confirm that the CPU handles lightly threaded workloads effectively.

The CPU’s multithreaded performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838 and a PassMark multithread score of 21858. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 5582, which is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 5588, suggesting that the CPU’s 12 threads are fully utilized. However, Minimum is a 2014 title, and it likely does not use more than 4-8 threads effectively. The CPU’s 8-thread 3DMark score of 4811 is close to the 16-thread score, implying that the game’s workload saturates at around 8 threads.

The CPU’s TDP is 65 watts, with a launch MSRP of $299. Its nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.6% of its average benchmark score, including the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (a mobile chip) and the Intel Core i7-11700. This close grouping suggests that the 5600X is well-balanced for its generation but does not significantly outperform its peers. In the context of this game, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more than adequate, as evidenced by the 187 FPS Low result at 1080p.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is not a bottleneck in this game, as the GPU’s 288.0 GB/s is far higher. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 4 interface with 20 lanes allows the GPU to operate at full bandwidth, but the game is not dependent on PCIe throughput. The recorded data shows that the CPU does not limit the combo’s performance until the GPU is removed from the equation, which is not possible in this single-configuration dataset. The CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics updates, and the high FPS at 1080p Low indicates that the CPU handles this task efficiently.

In summary, the CPU is a capable partner for the RX 9060 in this game, but the GPU’s memory bus prevents the combo from achieving higher ranks. The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking versus all CPUs contrasts with the combo’s 2179th rank out of 3712, reinforcing that the GPU is the limiting factor. Players seeking higher FPS should reduce resolution or settings, as the CPU will not be the first component to reach its limit.