Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The RTX 4090 paired with the Ryzen 7 3700X shows a clear trend: frame rates scale almost linearly with pixel count, but the GPU remains the dominant bottleneck at every resolution tested. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers 240 FPS, which drops to 163.5 FPS at 1440p (−32%) and further to 87.6 FPS at 4K (−63.5% from 1080p). This steep decline indicates the game's rendering load is heavily GPU-bound, as the 4090's raw compute advantage becomes less relevant as resolution increases.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the spread from Low (280.8 FPS) to Ultra (191 FPS) is 89.8 FPS, or a 32% performance penalty for maxing out settings. At 4K, the same comparison shows 133.5 FPS on Low versus 68.5 FPS on Ultra — a 65 FPS gap, or 48.7% fewer frames. This suggests that Ultra settings impose a disproportionately heavy shader and texture load that scales with pixel count, making the 4090's 24 GB GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth the key enablers for playable 4K performance.

Notably, the 1440p results sit in a sweet spot. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings (240 to 163.5 FPS) is a 31.9% reduction, while the drop from 1440p to 4K (163.5 to 87.6 FPS) is 46.4%. This non-linear scaling points to the 4090's 16384 shading units and 512 TMUs handling the intermediate resolution efficiently, but the 4K pixel throughput (3840×2160 vs 2560×1440) overwhelms the memory subsystem despite its 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

For competitive play, the 1080p Low setting at 280.8 FPS leaves headroom for display refresh rates beyond 240 Hz. The 4K Ultra figure of 68.5 FPS, while playable, falls below the 90 FPS threshold many third-person shooter enthusiasts prefer. The data shows that 1440p Medium (196.3 FPS) offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate, with 4K High (87.6 FPS) being the only 4K preset that stays above 85 FPS.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 3700X brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, clocked at 3.60 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost. In this game, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 280.8 FPS, which is close to the 4090's practical ceiling for this title.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087 and single-core score of 2694 place it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600 (average score 28654, only 0.1% higher) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (average score 28591, 0.1% lower). These margins are negligible, meaning the 3700X is not leaving performance on the table in this title.

The PassMark multithread score of 22458 and physics score of 1181 indicate strong thread utilization for game logic and physics calculations. Third-person shooters typically rely on a handful of threads for character movement, AI, and collision detection, and the 3700X's 8-core/16-thread configuration provides ample headroom. The 32 MB L3 cache helps with frequent memory accesses during gameplay, though the game's release in 2014 predates the CPU by five years, so the codebase was never optimized for Zen 2's architecture.

At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 68.5 FPS, which is a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; the 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is being taxed by the resolution and settings. However, at 1080p Low, the 280.8 FPS result suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output, as a weaker processor would bottleneck at these frame rates. The data indicates the 3700X is sufficient for this game's CPU demands, even at high refresh rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy of playable experiences. For maximum frame rate, 1080p Low delivers 280.8 FPS, which is ideal for competitive scenarios where response time trumps visuals. However, the jump to 1080p Medium (256.4 FPS) costs only 8.7% performance while likely improving texture detail and shadow quality — the data shows this is the best performance-per-visual tradeoff at 1080p.

At 1440p, Medium (196.3 FPS) vs High (163.5 FPS) represents a 16.7% performance drop for potentially marginal visual gains. The Ultra preset at 1440p (122.6 FPS) is still above 120 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh monitors, but the 52.7% penalty from Medium to Ultra is steep. For 4K, High (87.6 FPS) is the recommended preset, as it stays above 85 FPS while Ultra (68.5 FPS) drops below 70 FPS, which introduces noticeable pacing issues in fast-paced third-person action.

The Low preset at 4K (133.5 FPS) is surprisingly playable, suggesting that the 4090's 24 GB VRAM and 512 TMUs can handle 4K rasterization when effects are toned down. The data shows no preset at any resolution produces an unplayable result — even 4K Ultra at 68.5 FPS is above the 60 FPS minimum for most displays. The recommendation is to match the preset to your display's refresh rate: 1080p Medium for 240 Hz panels, 1440p High for 165 Hz panels, and 4K High for 90 Hz or 120 Hz displays.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 100th out of 1733 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top, indicating that the CPU-GPU pairing is well-balanced for this title. The ranking reflects the 4090's massive GPU advantage (91st percentile among all GPUs) combined with the 3700X's solid mid-tier CPU performance (85th percentile among all CPUs).

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked systems likely stems from the CPU not being the absolute fastest available. The 3700X's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i5-12600, i5-12600H, AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, and AMD EPYC 7203P — all have average benchmark scores within 0.2% of the 3700X, so the CPU is not a significant differentiator. The 4090's nearest rivals (Tesla T4, Tesla P40, Radeon Pro Vega 56, Quadro P6000) all score within 1.3% in general benchmarks, but in gaming, the 4090's 24 GB GDDR6X and 16384 shading units provide a distinct advantage over those workstation cards.

The 100th rank out of 1733 means the combo outperforms 94.2% of tested configurations. This is impressive given the 3700X's 2019 release date and the game's 2014 launch. The data confirms that the GPU is the primary driver of this ranking, as the 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are among the highest recorded in the database.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark data confirms its outsized influence on frame rates. The GPU's 24 GB GDDR6X memory, 384-bit bus, and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide the memory headroom needed for 4K textures. Its 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs handle the pixel and texture throughput required at high resolutions.

The 4090's clock speeds of 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost, combined with 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance, explain why the combo achieves 280.8 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this non-ray-traced game, but the raw rasterization power is what drives the results. The PassMark G3D score of 38194 (91st percentile among all GPUs) and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 place it among the fastest consumer GPUs ever tested.

The 4090's nearest rivals in the database — Tesla T4, Tesla P40, Radeon Pro Vega 56, and Quadro P6000 — are all workstation or data-center cards with average scores within 1.3% of the 4090. However, those cards lack the gaming-specific optimizations and driver support that the GeForce 40-series enjoys. The 4090's 5 nm process node (TSMC) and 76,300 million transistors enable the high clock speeds and efficiency that translate to the measured frame rates.

The GPU's 450 W TDP and suggested 850 W PSU indicate the power draw required to sustain these performance levels. The triple-slot cooler and 304 mm length make it a physically demanding card, but the benchmark results justify the hardware investment for this title. The 4090's 91st percentile GPU ranking, combined with the measured FPS data, shows that the GPU is the single most important factor in this combo's 100th place ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo?

A: High settings at 3840×2160 delivers 87.6 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above 85 FPS. Ultra drops to 68.5 FPS, while Medium (106.8 FPS) and Low (133.5 FPS) are playable but sacrifice visual quality.

Q: Can this combo hit 240 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 240 FPS exactly. Low settings push it to 280.8 FPS, while Medium (256.4 FPS) also exceeds the 240 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 3700X compare to its closest rivals?

A: The 3700X has an average benchmark score of 28631, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-12600 (28654) and 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (28591). These differences are within measurement noise.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low (280.8 FPS), the CPU appears to be keeping pace, but the GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is likely the ceiling. The 4090's 91st percentile ranking suggests it can sustain these frame rates without CPU limitation.

Q: What rank does this combo achieve in the database?

A: The combo ranks 100th out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the 1440p sweet spot for this pairing?

A: 1440p Medium (196.3 FPS) offers the best balance, with High (163.5 FPS) still above 160 FPS. Ultra (122.6 FPS) remains playable on 120 Hz displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920×1080:

• Low: 280.8 FPS
• Medium: 256.4 FPS
• High: 240 FPS
• Ultra: 191 FPS

2560×1440:

• Low: 244 FPS
• Medium: 196.3 FPS
• High: 163.5 FPS
• Ultra: 122.6 FPS

3840×2160:

• Low: 133.5 FPS
• Medium: 106.8 FPS
• High: 87.6 FPS
• Ultra: 68.5 FPS

The complete dataset shows a monotonic decrease in frame rates as resolution and settings increase. The 1080p Low result (280.8 FPS) is 4.1× higher than the 4K Ultra result (68.5 FPS), highlighting the extreme performance range of this hardware combination. The 1440p Low result (244 FPS) is the only other preset above 240 FPS, while 4K Low (133.5 FPS) remains the fastest 4K option. The data confirms that this combo is capable of competitive frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K reserved for high-end displays that accept the tradeoff between visual fidelity and frame rate.