Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Minimum, with the data showing a clear transition from a GPU-limited state at 4K to a more balanced configuration at 1080p. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the four settings presets reveal that this pairing is best suited for 1440p or 1080p gaming, where it can maintain high refresh rates, while 4K demands significant settings reductions to remain fluid.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, indicating that the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 170 at 1920x1080 to 110 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 60 FPS, and then further down to 59 at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% decrease in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, a substantial hit that points directly to the rendering load overwhelming the GPU's capabilities as pixel count quadruples.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced at higher quality settings. With High settings, the average FPS drops from 109 at 1080p to 71 at 1440p, and then plummets to 38 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the same trend, moving from 83 at 1080p down to 54 at 1440p and finally to 29 at 4K. This consistent ~50% performance loss when moving from 1440p to 4K across all settings suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER's memory bandwidth and shading throughput are maxed out, with the data implying that the 8 GB frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the pixel workload at 2160p.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (170 FPS) and Ultra (83 FPS) is 87 FPS, a 51% drop. At 4K, that same comparison shows Low at 59 FPS and Ultra at 29 FPS, a 30 FPS difference that represents a 51% reduction. This proportional scaling suggests that the game's settings have a consistent multiplicative effect on the GPU load, regardless of resolution, reinforcing the notion that the graphics card is the limiting factor at every resolution tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, featuring 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. Its boost clock of 1650 MHz and base clock of 1470 MHz work with the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus to deliver 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The benchmark data shows that this configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Minimum, but the 4K results suggest the GPU's raw compute power—measured at 7.181 TFLOPS FP32—is stretched thin.

The measured FPS at 4K Medium (45 FPS average) and 4K High (38 FPS average) indicate that the GPU is the dominant constraint at this resolution. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 and PassMark G3D score of 16462 place this GPU in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with its mid-range positioning. The nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile with a delta of -0.4% and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at -0.5%, show that the RTX 2060 SUPER sits in a tightly contested performance band, yet the 4K results in Minimum suggest it lacks the headroom for high-fidelity gaming at that resolution.

The GPU's memory configuration plays a critical role in the observed scaling. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, the card likely hits capacity limits at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 29. The fact that the 4K Medium preset (45 FPS) is only 16 FPS higher than 4K High (38 FPS), while the jump from 4K Low (59 FPS) to 4K Medium is 14 FPS, implies that texture and shader complexity at higher settings exacerbate the memory bandwidth bottleneck. The 256-bit bus and 1750 MHz memory clock (14 Gbps effective) provide 448.0 GB/s, but the data suggests this is just enough for 1440p and insufficient for consistent 4K performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, provides ample processing power that does not appear to bottleneck the GPU in Minimum. The CPU's base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with 32 MB of L3 cache, deliver strong multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 2092 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8899. The PassMark multi-thread score of 22458 places this CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.1% delta) and Intel Core i5-13450HX (-0.2% delta) confirming its competitive standing.

The data from Minimum shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 170, which is well above typical refresh rates and indicates that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them. Even at 1080p Ultra, the 83 FPS average suggests the CPU has plenty of headroom, as the frame rate scales almost linearly with GPU load rather than hitting a CPU-imposed ceiling. The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 204 in Cinebench R15 single-core and 1593 in Geekbench single-core, is sufficient for the game's logic and draw call processing.

The 16 threads and 8 physical cores are particularly relevant for a third-person shooter like Minimum, which often benefits from multiple threads for physics, AI, and rendering tasks. The PassMark physics score of 1181 and floating point math score of 39005 indicate robust computational capability, but the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU stalls. At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly overwhelmed at 29 FPS, the CPU utilization likely drops significantly, confirming that the Ryzen 7 3700X is never the bottleneck in this configuration.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates that 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 71, while 1440p Medium delivers 84 FPS, both well within smooth gameplay territory. 1080p is also excellent, with 109 FPS at High, but 4K requires Low settings (59 FPS) for acceptable performance, making it less ideal.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 18093 places it just below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, which scores 18159 with a delta of -0.4%. It also trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, -0.5%) and the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, -1.5%), but leads the Intel Arc A770M (18383, -1.6%). These small deltas suggest near-identical performance among these GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X holding back the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: No, the benchmark results show the CPU is not the limiting component. The 170 FPS average at 1080p Low and 130 FPS at 1080p Medium demonstrate that the CPU can deliver frames well beyond what the GPU can render. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and 16 threads provide more than enough headroom for this game.

Q: What settings preset should be avoided at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K produces an average FPS of 29, which is below playable thresholds for a fast-paced shooter. High settings at 4K (38 FPS) are also marginal. Users should stick to 4K Low (59 FPS) or Medium (45 FPS) if they must play at that resolution.

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

A: Across all settings, the average FPS drops by roughly 35-40%. For example, High settings go from 109 FPS at 1080p to 71 FPS at 1440p, a 38 FPS reduction. Low settings see a 60 FPS drop from 170 to 110, which is a 35% decrease.

Q: Does the game prefer more CPU cores or higher clock speeds?

A: The data suggests that the 8-core, 16-thread configuration of the Ryzen 7 3700X is more than adequate, with no evidence of core starvation. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and single-thread score of 204 in Cinebench R15 indicate strong per-core performance, but the frame rates are ultimately dictated by GPU load rather than CPU capability.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (130 FPS average) offers an excellent balance, providing a 21 FPS improvement over High (109 FPS) while maintaining visual fidelity. For users with high refresh rate monitors, the Low preset at 170 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, though it sacrifices graphical detail. The Ultra preset at 1080p (83 FPS) is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High.

At 2560x1440, the Medium settings (84 FPS average) are the recommended choice, as they deliver smooth gameplay while preserving most visual features. The High preset (71 FPS) is also viable for those prioritizing image quality, but the 13 FPS difference between Medium and High suggests that Medium hits the sweet spot for frame time consistency. The Low preset at 1440p (110 FPS) is ideal for esports-style play, while Ultra (54 FPS) should be avoided unless the user is willing to accept occasional frame drops.

For 3840x2160, the data strongly recommends the Low preset (59 FPS average) as the only truly playable option. The Medium preset (45 FPS) is borderline, and the min FPS of 38 at Medium settings indicates potential stuttering during intense scenes. High (38 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) are not recommended for a third-person shooter, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold that ensures responsive gameplay. Users with 4K displays should either drop to 1440p or accept the visual compromises of Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data reveals a clear performance hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 170 FPS, followed by Medium at 130 FPS (with a range of 111 to 150 FPS), High at 109 FPS, and Ultra at 83 FPS. This shows a 51% performance difference between the highest and lowest settings at 1080p, with the frame rate decreasing by 40 FPS from Low to Medium and by another 21 FPS from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with Low at 110 FPS, Medium at 84 FPS (ranging from 71 to 97 FPS), High at 71 FPS, and Ultra at 54 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 35-40% reduction in average FPS across all settings, which is consistent with the increase in pixel count. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum FPS of 71, matching the average of the High preset, indicating that the extra headroom from Medium settings helps maintain frame stability.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops dramatically: Low averages 59 FPS, Medium 45 FPS (with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS), High 38 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The 4K results show the GPU struggling, with even the Low preset barely maintaining 60 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 30 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 87 FPS gap at 1080p, but the absolute values are much lower, making the lower settings essential for playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 2602 out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 30th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a mid-tier system that can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with high frame rates but struggles at 4K. The combo's ranking is influenced by the GPU's 62nd percentile standing and the CPU's 84th percentile standing, indicating that the graphics card is the weaker link in this pairing.

The data shows that this combo outperforms many older or lower-end configurations, but it falls behind systems with more powerful GPUs. The nearest GPU rivals, such as the RTX 3060 Mobile and Radeon Pro 5700, would likely produce similar or slightly better FPS in Minimum, given their near-identical average benchmark scores. However, the combo's ranking of 2602 out of 3712 suggests that there are over 1100 configurations that deliver better performance, likely featuring higher-tier GPUs like the RTX 2070 or above.

The CPU's strong performance does not compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. While the Ryzen 7 3700X provides excellent multi-threaded capabilities, the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are the determining factors for the combo's ranking. The percentile data indicates that this is a solid mid-range setup, but for users seeking top-tier performance in Minimum at 4K, the data suggests that a more powerful GPU would be necessary to improve the combo's overall ranking.