Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a dramatic shift in performance depending on the resolution selected in Minimum. At 1080p, the system is clearly CPU-bound, with frame rates soaring to 206.6 FPS on Low settings. This suggests the processor is feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them, a common trait in a 2014 title when paired with modern silicon. The 3.60 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clocks of the Ryzen 7 3700X, combined with its 8 cores and 16 threads, are more than adequate for this game's single-threaded demands.

Moving to 1440p, the scaling is linear but with a noticeable shift in bottleneck. The average FPS at High settings drops from 128.9 at 1080p to 84.9, a 34% reduction. This is a typical pattern where the GPU begins to take on more of the workload. At 4K, the picture changes entirely; the RX 6700 XT becomes the definitive limiting factor. The frame rate at High settings plummets to 44.5 FPS, which is only 35% of the 1080p result. This steep decline highlights the GPU's raw pixel-pushing limits, as the 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated by the 3840x2160 resolution. The data shows a classic two-part story: a CPU-bound scenario at 1080p transitioning to a GPU-bound scenario at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The benchmark results show an average of 99.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is the most demanding preset at this resolution, but it remains highly playable, indicating the CPU and GPU combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming in this title.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT perform at 4K compared to 1440p?

A: The performance drop is substantial. At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average is 84.9 FPS. At 3840x2160 with the same settings, the average falls to 44.5 FPS. This 48% reduction in frame rate shows that the GPU's compute capabilities, specifically its 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, are insufficient to maintain high refresh rates at 4K.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data strongly suggests this. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 206.6 FPS. However, the GPU's theoretical peak is far higher, as evidenced by its strong 3DMark scores. The frame rate is likely capped by the CPU's single-thread performance, which is ranked at the 85th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: For a balance of visual fidelity and performance, Medium settings appear optimal. The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 on Medium is 99, which is just under 100 FPS. High settings yield 84.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 61.7 FPS. Medium offers a significant boost over High while remaining visually superior to Low.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 973rd out of 1733 tested combos in this game. This places it in the 56th percentile, meaning over 40% of tested systems perform better. This rank is moderated by the GPU's performance ceiling at higher resolutions, despite the CPU's strong synthetic benchmark scores.

Q: Does the game use more than 12 GB of VRAM at 4K?

A: There is no data in the FACT PACK to suggest VRAM capacity is a limiting factor. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is likely sufficient for this title, even at 3840x2160. The performance drop at 4K is more accurately attributed to the GPU's pixel fillrate and shading throughput, not a lack of memory resources.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the central component dictating performance at higher resolutions in Minimum. Its role is defined by its 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs, which handle the pixel work. The GPU's game clock is rated at 2424 MHz, with a boost clock of 2581 MHz. These clocks are relatively high, but they cannot overcome the sheer workload of rendering at 4K.

The 12 GB of VRAM on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For a game released in 2014, this is an enormous amount of memory bandwidth, so it is unlikely to be a constraint. The data confirms this: the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a compute-bound scenario, not a memory-bound one. The GPU's texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s are the metrics that matter here.

At 1080p and even 1440p, the GPU is mostly idle, waiting for the CPU to deliver draw calls. This is why the FPS at 1080p High (128.9) is only 29% higher than at 1440p High (84.9), despite a 44% reduction in pixel count. The GPU only becomes fully engaged at 4K, where it is pushed to its limits. The result is a 44.5 FPS average at High settings, which is on the edge of playability. The Ultra preset at 4K, which likely enables more demanding shading effects, pushes the GPU to its breaking point, resulting in a 32.6 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's capabilities across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The Low preset achieves an average of 206.6 FPS, a figure that exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The Medium preset drops to 159 FPS, while High is at 128.9 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most visually demanding, still manages a solid 99.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that the Ryzen 7 3700X is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond 100 FPS at this resolution, provided the GPU can keep up.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still high but show the GPU's growing influence. The Low preset averages 129.4 FPS, a 37% drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 99 FPS, just crossing the 100 FPS threshold. High settings yield 84.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 61.7 FPS. The scaling here is more gradual than at 4K, indicating a balanced workload between the CPU and GPU. The system remains playable at all presets, with even Ultra staying above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck. The Low preset averages 72.7 FPS, which is still smooth, but the Medium preset drops to 55.5 FPS. The High preset averages 44.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 32.6 FPS. This represents a 55% reduction in performance from Low to Ultra at 4K, compared to a 52% reduction at 1440p and a 52% reduction at 1080p. The frame rate gap between Low and Ultra widens at 4K, suggesting that the GPU's fillrate is the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT holds a rank of 973 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This placement, which is in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, is somewhat surprising given the individual strengths of the components. The CPU has an average benchmark score of 28631, placing it near the Intel Core i5-12600, which scores 28654, a delta of -0.1%. The GPU has an average score of 33721, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (33493) and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294).

Despite these strong individual scores, the in-game rank is dragged down by the GPU's performance at 4K. The rank of 973 suggests that many other combos, likely with more powerful GPUs or faster CPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this specific title. The data shows that while the CPU is ranked in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, the GPU is only in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. This imbalance means the system's overall performance is limited by the GPU, especially at higher resolutions.

The rank is also influenced by the game's age. Minimum is a 2014 title, and modern CPUs have far surpassed the requirements for this game. The Ryzen 7 3700X's 8 cores and 16 threads are overkill for this game's workload. However, the RX 6700 XT, while powerful, is not a flagship GPU. In a list of 1733 combos, many will feature higher-end GPUs like the RX 6800 or better, which is why this combo's rank is not higher. The 44.5 FPS at 4K High settings is a clear indicator of why the rank is where it is, as many competing systems can likely exceed this number.