Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a compelling, high-refresh-rate experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the dominant performance driver across most settings, though the CPU’s capabilities become a notable factor at lower resolutions. The combination ranks 273rd out of 1,733 tested configurations, placing it in the top 16% of all systems, with strong headroom for high-fidelity gaming.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data illustrates a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 285.9 FPS, which drops to 209.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 113.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 60% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The RX 7900 XTX’s 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the increased pixel throughput, but the sheer pixel count at 4K inevitably taxes the rendering pipeline.

The scaling behavior changes with the preset. At Ultra settings, the frame rate falls from 160.1 FPS at 1080p to 104.8 FPS at 1440p, and then to 55.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is a 34.5% reduction, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 46.8%. This non-linear scaling suggests that at Ultra, the GPU’s compute resources—61.39 TFLOPS FP32 and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate—are being saturated by the combination of high geometric detail and resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 55.7 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset, highlighting the extreme demands of this configuration.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more uniform: 249.7 FPS at 1080p, 160.4 FPS at 1440p (a 35.8% drop), and 85.6 FPS at 4K (a 46.6% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Medium and Ultra suggests that the limiting component remains the GPU, not the CPU. However, the Ryzen 7 3700X’s 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, still provide sufficient single-thread performance to avoid becoming the primary constraint until frame rates exceed roughly 200 FPS. At Low settings, the 4K result of 113.2 FPS versus 285.9 FPS at 1080p shows a 60.4% reduction, which is the steepest relative drop—a sign that even at Low, the GPU’s fill rate is the determining factor.

The data indicates that the system is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where it maintains over 100 FPS across all presets. At 4K, the system is firmly GPU-limited, with the RX 7900 XTX’s 192 ROPs and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate being the key performance ceiling. The CPU’s impact is minimal at 4K, but at 1080p Low, the 285.9 FPS result suggests the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU effectively, with the 3,800 million transistors on the Zen 2 architecture providing ample headroom.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: The data shows that 1440p offers the best balance of image quality and performance, with frame rates ranging from 104.8 FPS at Ultra to 209.6 FPS at Low. At 4K, the system drops below 60 FPS at Ultra (55.7 FPS), making 1440p the sweet spot for consistent high-refresh-rate play.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XTX’s memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The GPU’s 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is more than sufficient for Minimum at 4K, as evidenced by the 113.2 FPS at Low settings. The memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor; the bottleneck lies in the GPU’s compute and pixel throughput at higher presets.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XTX in this game?

A: Based on the frame rates, the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 285.9 FPS, which is near the practical limit for many displays. The CPU’s 8 cores, 16 threads, and 4.40 GHz boost clock are sufficient to keep up with the GPU’s output, even at high frame rates.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings produce 285.9 FPS, while Ultra produces 160.1 FPS. This is a 125.8 FPS difference, representing a 44% reduction in frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra. The gap narrows at 4K, where Low yields 113.2 FPS and Ultra yields 55.7 FPS.

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

A: The combination ranks 273rd out of 1,733 tested combos, placing it in the top 15.8% of all configurations. This indicates that the pairing is well above average for gaming performance in Minimum.

Q: Does the GPU’s boost clock influence the frame rates?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has a boost clock of 2498 MHz and a game clock of 2365 MHz. The high boost clock, combined with 6,144 shading units, directly contributes to the high frame rates observed. The difference between the game and boost clocks (133 MHz) allows for dynamic performance scaling under load.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on preset selection. For a 60 FPS target, the system can run at 4K Ultra with 55.7 FPS—just below the threshold—and comfortably exceed it at 4K High with 69.4 FPS. Therefore, at 4K, the High preset is the recommended choice for a locked 60 FPS experience, as it provides a 13.7 FPS margin over Ultra while still delivering substantial visual quality improvements over Medium (85.6 FPS) and Low (113.2 FPS).

For 1440p displays, the Ultra preset is the optimal choice. The system achieves 104.8 FPS at 1440p Ultra, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The step down to High (135.5 FPS) offers a 29.3% performance increase, but the visual fidelity loss may not justify it for most users. The Medium preset at 1440p (160.4 FPS) is only necessary for competitive play where maximum frame rates are prioritized over image quality.

At 1080p, the situation is reversed. The Low preset delivers 285.9 FPS, which is ideal for esports-style play, but the Ultra preset’s 160.1 FPS is still sufficiently high for most gaming scenarios. The Medium preset (249.7 FPS) represents a middle ground, but the data suggests that the High preset (205 FPS) provides a better balance of visual quality and performance. For 1080p users, the Ultra preset is recommended for single-player immersion, while the Low preset is reserved for competitive play where every frame counts.

The key insight is that the system’s performance headroom allows for flexibility. At 4K, users must choose between High (69.4 FPS) and Medium (85.6 FPS) for a stable experience, with Ultra being playable but not ideal. At 1440p and below, the Ultra preset is the default recommendation, as the system maintains over 100 FPS in all cases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 273rd out of 1,733 tested configurations places it in the 84.2nd percentile of all systems tested for Minimum. This is a strong result, indicating that the pairing of the Ryzen 7 3700X and RX 7900 XTX outperforms the vast majority of systems in this game. The rank is particularly impressive given that the CPU is from 2019, while the GPU is from 2022, showing that the CPU’s age does not significantly hinder gaming performance in this title.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The Intel Core i5-12600 has an average benchmark score of 28,654, which is 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 7 3700X’s 28,631. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT scores 28,591, which is 0.1% lower. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 3700X is essentially on par with modern mid-range CPUs, with a percentile rank of 85% against all CPUs. The GPU’s nearest rivals show a similar pattern: the AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 44,195 (0.4% higher), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti scores 44,900 (2% higher). The RX 7900 XTX’s percentile rank of 85% against all GPUs confirms its high-end positioning.

The combination’s rank suggests that the two components are well-matched. The GPU’s performance is not being wasted by a weak CPU, and the CPU is not holding back the GPU. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration of the Ryzen 7 3700X, with its 32 MB L3 cache, provides adequate feeding for the RX 7900 XTX’s 61.39 TFLOPS of compute power. The combo’s rank of 273 out of 1,733 indicates that it sits in the upper echelon of gaming systems, with only 272 combinations performing better.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary driver of the frame rates observed in this dataset. With 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, the GPU delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than enough for Minimum’s textures and geometry. The memory clock is rated at 2500 MHz, with an effective data rate of 20 Gbps, and the GPU’s 192 ROPs, 384 TMUs, and 6,144 shading units provide a substantial rendering pipeline.

The GPU’s clock speeds are critical to its performance. The base clock of 1929 MHz, game clock of 2365 MHz, and boost clock of 2498 MHz allow for dynamic frequency scaling. In Minimum, the boost clock enables the GPU to reach higher frame rates under load, as evidenced by the 285.9 FPS at 1080p Low. The difference between the game clock and boost clock (133 MHz) represents the headroom the GPU can utilize when thermal and power limits allow.

The 24 GB VRAM capacity is a significant advantage. While Minimum may not require this much memory, the headroom ensures that the GPU is never memory-constrained, even at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is also substantial, allowing for fast texture streaming and reducing the risk of stuttering. The GPU’s pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s directly correlate with the frame rates seen at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, measured at 61.39 TFLOPS FP32, are the main factor in the 4K Ultra result of 55.7 FPS. This is a demanding workload that requires significant shading unit throughput. The 96 ray tracing cores are present but not directly exercised in this game’s standard rendering path, so their impact is minimal. The GPU’s 355 W TDP and suggested 750 W PSU indicate that it is a power-hungry component, but the benchmark results justify this power draw with consistently high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.