Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + Intel Arc B570

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The measured data shows a clear pattern: this combo scales from a fluid 1440p experience down to borderline playability at 4K, with the GPU emerging as the dominant constraint at higher resolutions. The combo ranks 2336th out of 2939 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of the database, though its performance characteristics reveal a nuanced story about where the bottleneck shifts across settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about component balance. At Low settings, average FPS falls from 145 at 1920x1080 to 50 at 3840x2160 — a 65.5% reduction. Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 111 FPS at 1080p drops to 39 FPS at 4K, a 64.9% decline. High settings are slightly less punishing in relative terms, going from 93 FPS at 1080p to 32 FPS at 4K, a 65.6% drop. Ultra settings, starting from an already modest 71 FPS at 1080p, plummet to 25 FPS at 4K — a 64.8% reduction.

These consistent ~65% drops across all four presets indicate that resolution scaling is nearly linear, which points strongly to the GPU being the limiting factor. A CPU-bound scenario would typically show a smaller FPS penalty when moving from 1440p to 4K, because the extra pixel work would hide CPU latency. Instead, the Arc B570's 10 GB GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus are being saturated as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The 1440p to 4K transition is particularly telling. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 72 FPS while 4K drops to 39 FPS — a 45.8% loss. At High settings, the same resolution jump costs 46.7% (60 to 32 FPS). This suggests that even 1440p is already taxing the GPU heavily; the bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s and the 2500 MHz boost clock are working near their limits. The data implies that for smooth 4K gameplay, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the Arc B570's raw throughput (11.52 TFLOPS FP32) cannot sustain high frame rates at that pixel density.

Interestingly, the Low preset at 4K (50 FPS) is close to the High preset at 1440p (60 FPS). This indicates that users willing to sacrifice visual fidelity can get near-60 FPS at 4K, but the experience degrades sharply once settings increase. The scaling curve suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p, with the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads providing ample headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of performance and visual quality. At 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS, this configuration stays above the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth, while still benefiting from improved textures and effects over Low. The min FPS of 61 confirms that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not dip below playable levels.

For 1080p users, Medium at 111 FPS is the standout choice. The minimum of 95 FPS ensures no stutter, and the maximum of 128 FPS provides headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings at 1080p (93 FPS) are also viable, but the 18 FPS penalty versus Medium is significant for marginal visual gains. Low at 1080p (145 FPS) is excessive unless chasing maximum frame rates for competitive play, though Minimum is not primarily a competitive title.

At 4K, the data recommends Low settings (50 FPS) as the only truly playable option. Medium at 4K (39 FPS) dips below 40 FPS, which is borderline for a third-person shooter, and the min FPS of 33 confirms occasional drops into stutter territory. High (32 FPS) and Ultra (25 FPS) at 4K are not recommended for smooth gameplay; they are better suited for screenshots or slow-paced exploration.

Ultra settings, regardless of resolution, are the least favorable. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 71 FPS — a 36% penalty compared to Medium. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 46 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 25 FPS. The visual uplift from High to Ultra is typically modest in games from this era, so the data suggests skipping Ultra unless the user prioritizes image quality over frame rate.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the decisive component in this combo's performance profile. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but strained at 4K. The 2500 MHz base and boost clocks are modest, and the 150 W TDP indicates a mid-range power envelope.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its gaming performance. Its PassMark G3D score of 14195 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% faster) and the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% slower). This tight clustering around the 20500 mark suggests the Arc B570 is a solid mid-range performer, but the data shows it cannot handle 4K Ultra in Minimum without significant frame rate sacrifices.

The 10 GB VRAM is not the limiting factor at 4K, as Minimum from 2014 likely does not exceed this capacity. Instead, the GPU's compute throughput (11.52 TFLOPS FP32) and pixel rate (200.0 GPixel/s) are the constraints. The 80 ROPs and 144 TMUs are sufficient for 1080p but become bottlenecks when fill-rate demands increase at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 is modest, and its Geekbench OpenCL (83514) and Vulkan (96844) scores indicate a capable but not exceptional compute device. The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 118 and DirectX 12 score of 72 suggest that the GPU handles legacy APIs well, which is relevant since Minimum may rely on older DirectX paths. The 72 in DirectX 12 is notably lower than the 118 in DirectX 11, implying that the Arc B570 might perform better in this game if it uses DX11 rather than DX12.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 145 FPS average, which is exceptionally smooth and leaves substantial headroom for background tasks. Medium settings yield 111 FPS with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 128, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings drop to 93 FPS, still comfortably above 60. Ultra settings produce 71 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less fluid than the lower presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but show the GPU starting to strain. Low settings deliver 94 FPS, a 35.2% drop from 1080p. Medium settings produce 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 and maximum of 82 — the minimum is exactly at the 60 FPS threshold, which could result in occasional perceived stutter in fast-paced scenes. High settings yield 60 FPS, which is exactly at the standard refresh rate but leaves no room for dips. Ultra settings drop to 46 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings produce 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium settings average 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 and maximum of 44, indicating significant frame rate variance that would be noticeable during gameplay. High settings drop to 32 FPS, and Ultra falls to 25 FPS — both below the threshold for comfortable third-person shooter gameplay.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the most complete data, including min and max FPS. At 1080p, the range is 95-128 FPS (a 33 FPS spread). At 1440p, it is 61-82 FPS (a 21 FPS spread). At 4K, it is 33-44 FPS (an 11 FPS spread). This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing frame time variance but also capping performance lower.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2336th out of 2939 tested configurations, placing it in the 20.5th percentile of all combinations. This is a low rank, indicating that most other CPU-GPU pairings in the database outperform this setup in Minimum. The rank reflects the Arc B570's mid-range GPU performance combined with the Ryzen 5 9600X's strong but not top-tier CPU performance.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 81, meaning it outperforms 81% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 29713 places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0.5% slower), AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (0.6% slower), and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (0.8% slower). This clustering around 29700-29900 indicates the 9600X is a strong performer, but the GPU's 65th percentile ranking drags the combo down.

The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 65, meaning it outperforms 65% of GPUs. However, its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% faster) and Intel Arc A750 (0.1% slower), which are both mid-range parts. The gap between the CPU's 81st percentile and the GPU's 65th percentile explains why the combo ranks so low: the GPU cannot fully utilize the CPU's capabilities in this game, particularly at higher resolutions.

The 2336th rank out of 2939 suggests that many combos with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs achieve better results in Minimum. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis showing GPU-bound behavior. Users seeking better ranks would need to pair the 9600X with a faster GPU, or accept that this combo is optimized for 1080p and 1440p gaming rather than 4K or high-refresh-rate competitive play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X provides substantial compute headroom that the Arc B570 cannot fully exploit in Minimum. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU operates at a 3.90 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock. Its 32 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core provide ample data locality for game workloads.

The CPU's benchmark scores confirm its strength. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 17528.5 and single-core score of 2183.5 are solid, while its Geekbench multicore (14438) and single-core (2923) scores indicate strong per-thread performance. The PassMark multithread score of 30027 and single-thread score of 4570 further validate its capability.

The CPU's 3DMark scores show scalability: 2456 for 2 threads, 4649 for 4 threads, 6726 for 8 threads, and 7585 for 16 threads. The jump from 8 to 16 threads is modest (12.8%), suggesting that Minimum likely does not scale well beyond 8 threads. The CPU's 12 threads provide sufficient parallelism for the game's engine, and the single-thread score of 1253 in 3DMark indicates strong per-core performance that benefits older games with less parallel workloads.

Given that the GPU is the bottleneck at all tested resolutions, the CPU's role is to ensure frame times remain consistent. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering, as the min FPS values at Medium settings (95 at 1080p, 61 at 1440p) are high relative to the averages. The CPU's 65 W TDP and efficient 4 nm process (TSMC) mean it can sustain boost clocks without thermal throttling, further supporting consistent performance.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for this game. The PCIe Gen 5 interface (24 lanes) provides ample bandwidth for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x8 connection, ensuring no interface bottleneck. The CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that it is not the limiting factor in this combo; swapping in a weaker CPU would likely produce identical FPS in Minimum at the tested settings.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 50 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS, and High/Ultra fall to 32 and 25 FPS respectively. For smooth 4K gameplay, a more powerful GPU would be required.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum and 82 FPS maximum, offering the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. 1920x1080 at Medium delivers 111 FPS for those prioritizing frame rate.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: Its average benchmark score of 20556 is 0.1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, 0.1% slower than the Intel Arc A750, 0.4% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, and 0.5% slower than the AMD Radeon R9 M390X.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 9600X bottleneck the Arc B570 in this game?

A: No. The data shows GPU-bound behavior at all resolutions, with FPS drops of approximately 65% from 1080p to 4K. The CPU's 81st percentile ranking and strong single-thread performance (2183.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core) provide ample headroom.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, the minimum is 95 FPS. At 1440p, it is 61 FPS. At 4K, it is 33 FPS. These values indicate that 1080p and 1440p Medium are consistently smooth, while 4K Medium experiences noticeable drops.

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

A: It ranks 2336th out of 2939 combos, placing it in the lower-mid tier. The CPU's 81st percentile and GPU's 65th percentile rankings indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor; pairing the 9600X with a faster GPU would improve the rank significantly.