Minimum

Minimum, the 2014 third-person shooter, presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Intel Arc B370 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by graphics performance across all tested resolutions, with the CPU's capabilities remaining largely untapped. This analysis walks through the benchmark results to characterize the experience, focusing on how the Arc B370's integrated-class performance shapes the outcome at every setting level.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, pointing directly at the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 85 FPS at 1920x1080 to 55 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 30 FPS. Pushing further to 3840x2160 drops the average to 30 FPS, which is just 35% of the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a system where the graphics processor is saturated; as pixel count increases, the render workload outpaces what the Intel Arc B370 can deliver.

The Medium settings row reinforces this conclusion. The average FPS at 1080p is 65, which falls to 42 at 1440p and then to 23 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is a 19 FPS loss, a 45% reduction, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 23 FPS, a 35% reduction. The declining marginal returns as resolution increases suggest the GPU is hitting a performance wall, with the frame time increasing disproportionately to the pixel count.

High settings show a similar trend but with a lower starting point. The 1080p average of 55 FPS drops to 35 FPS at 1440p and bottoms out at 19 FPS at 4K. This is a 65% total loss from 1080p to 4K, and the 4K result is below playable thresholds for most users. Ultra settings are the most punishing, with the 4K average falling to just 15 FPS, while 1440p manages 27 FPS and 1080p reaches 42 FPS. The data indicates that the Arc B370, with its 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 25 W TDP, is the primary bottleneck; the Ryzen 5 5600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the constraint here.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the most balanced experience is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This configuration produces an average of 85 FPS, the highest of any tested setting, and provides the smoothness necessary for a third-person shooter. The Low preset at 1440p also warrants consideration, delivering a 55 FPS average, which is functional but with a noticeable compromise in visual fidelity.

For users prioritizing image quality over raw speed, 1080p Medium is the optimal choice. It yields an average of 65 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 75 FPS, indicating a stable frame delivery with only minor variance. This preset offers a 10 FPS improvement over High settings at the same resolution while maintaining a playable frame rate, making it the smartest trade-off between the measured options.

At 1440p, the data suggests that Medium settings are the ceiling for a playable experience. The 42 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target but remains playable in slower-paced moments. High settings at 1440p drop to 35 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS, both of which introduce noticeable stutter in a fast-paced game. At 4K, no setting achieves a playable average; the best case is Low at 30 FPS, which is borderline at best. The Ultra preset at 4K, with its 15 FPS average, should be avoided entirely. Benchmark results indicate that the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that consistently delivers a smooth experience, with Medium at 1080p as a viable alternative for those who accept a 20 FPS penalty for higher quality.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, with its Zen 3 architecture and Vermeer codename, provides substantial processing headroom that this game does not utilize. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, are more than sufficient for the workload presented by Minimum. The L3 cache of 32 MB and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s contribute to a platform that is not a limiting factor in these tests.

Synthetic benchmarks for the 5600X show its strength: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838 and a single-core score of 1541. The Geekbench scores of 9173 multicore and 1989 single-core further confirm its capability. However, the measured FPS data shows that the game's performance is dictated by the GPU, not the CPU. The average FPS scales almost linearly with resolution and settings changes, which is a GPU-bound behavior. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS at lower resolutions, where the CPU's frame generation limit is reached. No such plateau exists; the 1080p Low average of 85 FPS is the highest result, and it drops consistently as resolution increases.

The Ryzen 5 5600X’s percentile ranking of 75 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21771, places it well above the GPU's percentile of 5. This disparity in performance class is the core issue. The CPU is capable of feeding frames far faster than the Arc B370 can render them. In this specific title, the CPU's role is reduced to maintaining a stable frame pacing floor, which it does without issue, given its high single-thread performance of 917 in the 3dmark single-thread test. The data suggests that the 5600X is effectively idle in this configuration, waiting on the GPU to complete its rendering tasks.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Intel Arc B370 ranks at 2703 out of 2939 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is directly attributable to the Intel Arc B370's position in the GPU hierarchy. The GPU's average benchmark score is 1184, and its percentile versus all GPUs is 5, meaning it outperforms only a small fraction of the database.

The nearest rivals for the GPU illustrate this point. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, a delta of -0.2%, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, a delta of -0.5%. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M and AMD FirePro M2000 are similarly close, with deltas of -0.7% and 1.4%, respectively. These are all older, low-power parts, confirming that the Arc B370 is in a performance tier that is not suited for modern gaming at high resolutions.

The CPU, by contrast, sits in a much stronger position. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H with a delta of 0.1% and the Intel Core i7-11700 with a delta of -0.5%. This shows that the Ryzen 5 5600X is a mid-to-high-tier processor, fully capable of pairing with a much stronger GPU. The combo's ranking is thus a reflection of the GPU's limitations, not the CPU's. The 2703rd rank out of 2939 combos indicates that most other pairings in the database feature a more balanced or more powerful graphics solution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the average FPS exceeds 60 on any setting. At 1080p Low, the average is 85 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it is 65 FPS. Higher resolutions yield averages below 55 FPS, which is not ideal for a shooter.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184. Its closest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1186, which is a 0.2% difference. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, a 0.5% difference. These rivals are all in the same performance class.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The CPU has a high average benchmark score of 21771 and a percentile of 75. The FPS scaling with resolution indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this game, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838.

Q: What is the playable frame rate at 1440p with this combo?

A: At 1440p, the highest average FPS is 55, achieved at Low settings. Medium settings drop to 42 FPS, and High settings fall to 35 FPS. None of these reach a consistent 60 FPS, but Low settings are the most playable.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset averages 85 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 42 FPS. This is a 43 FPS difference, representing a 51% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2703 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the lower percentile of all systems, primarily due to the graphics card's performance limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all tested settings. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields an average of 15 FPS, which is the lowest result in the entire dataset. The High preset at 4K averages 19 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 23 FPS, with a minimum of 19 and a maximum of 26. The Low preset at 4K is the only 4K option to reach an average of 30 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS. High settings average 35 FPS. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS, with a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 48. The Low preset at 1440p averages 55 FPS, the best result at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 42 FPS. High settings improve to 55 FPS. The Medium preset averages 65 FPS, with a minimum of 56 and a maximum of 75, showing the most stable frame delivery among the higher presets. The Low preset at 1080p averages 85 FPS, the highest average FPS measured for this combo. The data shows a clear progression: each step down in settings or resolution yields a significant FPS increase, with the largest gains seen when dropping from High to Low at any resolution.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the defining component in this system's gaming performance. Its specifications reveal why. The GPU operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W and an IGP slot width. It features 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. The memory is system shared, with a bus width and bandwidth that are system dependent, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR4 memory, which is a significant bottleneck for graphics performance.

The GPU's architecture is Xe3-LPG, built on Intel's 3 nm process, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, its raw compute power is limited. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. In the 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 1184, which places it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This is a very low score, confirming that the Arc B370 is not designed for high-end gaming workloads.

The nearest rivals for the Arc B370 are all older, low-performance parts, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. This context is crucial for interpreting the game's FPS data. The GPU's limited ROPS (20) and TMUs (40) directly impact its ability to fill pixels at high resolutions, which explains the dramatic FPS drops seen at 1440p and 4K. The system-shared memory further reduces performance, as the GPU must contend with the CPU for memory bandwidth. Benchmark results indicate that the Arc B370 is the sole reason for the combo's low ranking, as the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic and physics. The GPU's 25 W TDP and IGP form factor reinforce that this is an integrated-class solution, not a discrete gaming card.