Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a lopsided combination in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The data shows a system where a modern 6-core Zen 4 processor is held back by an older, mid-range Turing GPU. This pairing ranks 1477th out of 1733 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. The benchmark results consistently indicate that the graphics card is the primary constraint, particularly at higher resolutions and settings, while the CPU has ample headroom to spare.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario when moving up in resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 135.2 FPS, which is a strong result. However, increasing the resolution to 1440p drops the average to 88 FPS, a significant 47.2 FPS loss. Pushing further to 4K at Low settings yields 46.5 FPS, which is roughly half of the 1440p figure and only about one-third of the 1080p performance.

This scaling pattern is the signature of a graphics card that is running out of pixel-pushing capability. The GTX 1660 Ti's 48 ROPs and 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels in 3840x2160. The CPU, with its high single-thread score of 3406 in Cinebench R23, is not the limiting factor here; the data shows that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are what govern performance at higher resolutions.

The difference between 1080p and 1440p is stark. At High settings, the drop is from 86.8 FPS to 57.4 FPS, a 29.4 FPS decline. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 62.4 FPS to 45 FPS, a 17.4 FPS decline. This consistent performance penalty across all settings confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, as a CPU-limited system would show less variation when resolution changes.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 Ti is built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip fabricated on a 12 nm process. It features 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its memory configuration consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1500 MHz, boosting to 1770 MHz, which results in a FP32 throughput of 5.437 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, the GPU's VRAM capacity is not a primary concern at 1080p, where it delivers playable frame rates. The 6 GB buffer is sufficient for the game's demands at that resolution. However, the data suggests that the card's compute and memory bandwidth limits become evident at 4K. The gap between Low (46.5 FPS) and Medium (34.7 FPS) at 4K is 11.8 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High (32.9 FPS) is only 1.8 FPS. This indicates that the card struggles to maintain even moderate settings at this resolution.

The GPU's 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13925, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 570X, scores 13871, a 0.4% difference. This shows that the GTX 1660 Ti is competitive with other cards in its class, but those cards are not designed for high-refresh 4K gaming. In this game, the GPU is clearly the component that dictates performance ceilings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 7600X and GTX 1660 Ti ranks 1477th out of 1733 tested combos. This places it in the lower 15th percentile of all configurations tested. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which has a 55th percentile score, while the CPU has an 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs.

This discrepancy highlights the imbalance of the pairing. The Ryzen 5 7600X is a high-end processor, with an average benchmark score of 26272, placing it near the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X (26214, 0.2% difference). However, the GTX 1660 Ti, with an average score of 13925, is not in the same performance class. The combo rank reflects this mismatch, showing that the system's overall gaming performance is dragged down by the GPU.

The data suggests that this combo is suited for 1080p gaming, where the CPU can push high frame rates and the GPU can keep up. For 1440p, the system is adequate for Medium settings (67.8 FPS), but struggles with Ultra (45 FPS). At 4K, it is only viable for Low settings (46.5 FPS). The rank of 1477 indicates that many other combinations will offer better performance, particularly at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system performs well across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 135.2 FPS. Medium settings drop to 101.7 FPS, a 33.5 FPS decrease. High settings produce 86.8 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 62.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 72.8 FPS difference, showing that the game is sensitive to settings at this resolution, but even the lowest result is playable.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 88 FPS. Medium settings average 67.8 FPS, a 20.2 FPS drop from Low. High settings produce 57.4 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 45 FPS. The 43 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution indicates that the GPU is starting to feel the pressure.

At 3840x2160, the system is clearly GPU-limited. Low settings average 46.5 FPS. Medium settings drop to 34.7 FPS, a 11.8 FPS decrease. High settings produce 32.9 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 23 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 23.5 FPS, which is less than half of the difference at 1080p, showing that the GPU's performance ceiling is being hit at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. The CPU has an 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a strong average benchmark score of 26272.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data. The benchmark scores show that it is more than capable of doing so. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 24128 and single-core score of 3406 indicate high computational throughput. The Passmark single-thread score of 4135 is particularly relevant for gaming, as most games rely on single-thread performance for game logic and physics.

The data does not show any CPU-related bottlenecks in this game. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 135.2 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output. The fact that the performance scales down with resolution, rather than staying flat, confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 7600X has 32 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps with game data access, but this does not appear to be a constraint in this title.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows average FPS of 62.4 at 1080p with Ultra settings, and higher averages of 86.8 at High and 101.7 at Medium settings. All tested settings at 1080p exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest rival?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 13925, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 570X's score of 13871. It also outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla K10 by 0.7%, which has an average score of 14029.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At this resolution, the system achieves a minimum average of 62.4 FPS at Ultra settings and a maximum of 135.2 FPS at Low settings. At 1440p, the average FPS drops to 45 at Ultra, which is less smooth.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU has an 83rd percentile ranking, while the GPU has a 55th percentile ranking. The FPS scales down as resolution increases, which is a sign of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the measured performance at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 34.7 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target and indicates that the GPU is struggling at this resolution.

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

A: The combo ranks 1477th out of 1733 tested combinations. This places it in the lower portion of the rankings, reflecting the GPU's mid-range performance relative to the CPU's high-end capabilities.