Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a strong performance profile in Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014. Measured frame rates show this combination is capable of triple-digit averages across most settings, with the data revealing a system that scales predictably from 1080p to 4K. The combination ranks 511th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations in this game.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rates drop substantially as resolution increases, and the pattern tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 326 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 211 FPS, a 35% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 113 FPS, which is 65% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling curve indicates the GPU becomes the limiting component as pixel count rises, since the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions.

The gap between resolutions narrows at higher settings. With Ultra settings, 1080p yields 160 FPS, 1440p yields 103 FPS, and 4K yields 56 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 65%, similar to the Low setting drop. However, the absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra (56 FPS) suggest the GPU is heavily taxed, while at 1080p Low the CPU may be starting to constrain performance given the very high frame rates.

The Medium preset shows the most detailed data, with min and max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 250 FPS with a minimum of 212 and maximum of 287. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 161 FPS with a range of 137 to 185. At 4K Medium, the average is 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 100. The frame time consistency, as indicated by the min-max spread, remains relatively stable across resolutions for this preset.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and it operates with 7680 shading units. These specifications drive the measured results, particularly at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth and raw throughput become critical.

The GPU's performance percentile of 84 among all GPUs aligns with the observed frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 56 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for smooth gameplay. The 12 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for this 2014 title, as even at 4K Ultra the frame rates are limited by compute rather than memory capacity. The GDDR6X memory at 21 Gbps effective speed provides ample bandwidth for the texture and geometry workloads in this game.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the RTX 5090 Mobile (0.8% higher average score), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (1.3% higher), and the Intel Arc A730M (1.7% higher), with the RTX A6000 scoring 1.6% lower. This positioning suggests the RTX 4070 Ti sits at a competitive performance tier where minor clock and memory differences separate adjacent products.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data supports Medium as the optimal preset for most users. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 250 FPS average with a minimum of 212 FPS, providing a substantial cushion above typical display refresh rates. The jump to High at 1080p reduces the average to 210 FPS but still maintains excellent fluidity. The step from Medium to Low at 1080p increases the average to 326 FPS, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity that may not be worthwhile given the already high performance.

At 1440p, Medium offers 161 FPS average with a minimum of 137 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate common at this resolution. High at 1440p drops to 135 FPS average, still acceptable for high-refresh displays but with less margin. At 4K, Medium produces 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS, which is playable but requires a VRR display to avoid noticeable frame pacing issues. High at 4K drops to 73 FPS, while Ultra falls to 56 FPS, making Medium the sensible ceiling for 4K gaming with this combination.

For competitive play where frame rates are paramount, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 326 FPS, and at 1440p it still achieves 211 FPS. These numbers show the CPU-GPU combination is capable of feeding very high refresh rate displays when visual settings are reduced.

FAQ

Q: Does this combination maintain 60 FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 87 with a minimum of 74. At 4K High, the average is 73 FPS. Only at 4K Ultra does the average drop below 60, to 56 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At Medium settings, the average drops from 250 FPS at 1080p to 161 FPS at 1440p, a 36% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 326 FPS to 211 FPS, a 35% reduction.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144 Hz 1440p monitor?

A: Medium settings at 1440p produce a 161 FPS average with a 137 FPS minimum, which keeps the frame rate above 144 Hz in most scenes. High settings at 1440p average 135 FPS, which may dip below the refresh threshold.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 326 FPS average indicates the CPU may be approaching its limit, but at 4K the frame rates scale with GPU workload, showing the RTX 4070 Ti as the bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 511th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations for Minimum.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 160, which provides smooth gameplay on standard 60 Hz and 144 Hz displays alike.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge). It runs at a base clock of 3.90 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and features 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU scores 2183.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 17528.5 in multi-core, with an average benchmark score of 29713 across all tests.

The CPU's percentile of 81 among all processors places it slightly below its GPU counterpart. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.2% higher score), the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (0.6% lower). The 9600X's single-thread performance, evidenced by the 2923 Geekbench single-core score, is particularly relevant for Minimum, which is a 2014 title likely to favor fewer, faster cores.

The measured frame rates suggest the CPU is not the primary constraint in this game except at very high frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 326 FPS average approaches the limits of what the 6-core processor can feed, but at any resolution above that, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor. The 12 threads and 5.40 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom for the game's physics and game logic, while the 89.6 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth ensures data can flow to the GPU without starvation.

The CPU's 3DMark scores show strong scaling from 2 threads (2456) to 8 threads (6726), with the 16-thread score (7585) barely exceeding the 8-thread result. This indicates diminishing returns beyond 8 threads, which aligns with the game's likely thread utilization. The PassMark single-thread score of 4570 further confirms the processor's strength in lightly-threaded workloads typical of third-person shooters.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 326 FPS average, Medium yields 250 FPS with a minimum of 212 and maximum of 287, High yields 210 FPS, and Ultra yields 160 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 51% reduction in average FPS, from 326 to 160, reflecting the increasing GPU workload.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down from 1080p. Low settings produce 211 FPS, Medium produces 161 FPS with a range of 137 to 185, High produces 135 FPS, and Ultra produces 103 FPS. The 1440p results maintain playability even at Ultra, where the 103 FPS average exceeds the 60 FPS standard by a wide margin.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes demanding. Low settings yield 113 FPS, Medium yields 87 FPS with a range of 74 to 100, High yields 73 FPS, and Ultra yields 56 FPS. The 4K results show that only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS average, while the Medium preset maintains a playable 87 FPS with a minimum above 70 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data at all three resolutions. The frame time consistency, measured by the difference between min and max, remains tight: 75 FPS spread at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates the GPU becomes more uniformly loaded, reducing frame time variance.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 511th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 86th percentile of all configurations, meaning 86% of tested combos rank below it. The top 14% positioning reflects the strong synergy between the 6-core Zen 5 processor and the Ada Lovelace GPU.

The ranking is notable given that the RTX 4070 Ti is marked as end-of-life, with the GeForce 50 series as its successor. Despite this, the combination still outperforms the vast majority of tested systems in this 2014 title. The GPU's 84th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU's 81st percentile among all CPUs contribute to the overall strong ranking.

The measured data confirms that this combination is well-balanced for Minimum, with neither component dramatically outperforming the other. The frame rate results show the GPU becomes the primary limiter at 4K, while the CPU holds up well even at 1080p Low where 326 FPS is achieved. For a game released in 2014, this modern hardware pairing delivers exceptional performance, with the only compromise being the 4K Ultra preset that falls below 60 FPS. The 511th rank out of 3712 combos validates the pairing as a high-performance option for this title, suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and capable of smooth 4K gameplay at Medium settings.