Minimum

Minimum, the 2014 third-person shooter, presents an interesting case study for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is clearly capable of delivering high refresh rates at standard resolutions, but which begins to show its limits when pushed towards 4K. The data suggests a pairing where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance ensures that it rarely holds the system back, even at lower settings where frame rates climb significantly. The following analysis breaks down the measured data to understand the performance characteristics of this specific hardware pairing in this particular title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The scaling of performance from 1080p to 4K is a classic indicator of where the bottleneck lies in a system. For this combo, the data shows a significant drop in average frame rates as resolution increases, which points directly to the GPU as the primary limiting factor. At the "High" preset, the average frame rate falls from 135 FPS at 1920x1080 to 87 FPS at 2560x1440, a substantial reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160, the average drops to 47 FPS. This pattern—a roughly 65% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K—is characteristic of a scenario where the graphics card is working at its maximum capacity, and the additional pixel count at higher resolutions directly translates into longer render times.

The trend is consistent across all settings presets. With "Low" settings, the average frame rate plummets from 210 FPS at 1080p to 135 FPS at 1440p, and then to 73 FPS at 4K. While the absolute numbers are higher, the relative percentage drop is similar, reinforcing that the GPU's raw shading and rasterization throughput is the ceiling. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a much smaller difference between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU's workload (draw calls, physics, game logic) remains largely unchanged regardless of resolution. The fact that performance scales so dramatically with resolution indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is being fully utilized.

This behavior implies that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to push well beyond 100 FPS on most presets, making it an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate monitors. However, at 4K, the system struggles to maintain a smooth 60 FPS experience, even on "Medium" settings where it averages 56 FPS. The data suggests that players targeting 4K would need to make significant compromises to visual quality or accept sub-60 FPS performance, as the 47 FPS average on "High" and 36 FPS on "Ultra" fall short of the smoothness most would desire. The 1440p resolution emerges as the sweet spot for this combo, offering a good balance between visual fidelity and performance, with the "High" preset delivering an average of 87 FPS.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the workhorse in this pairing, and its specifications provide context for the measured results. The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. For a game from 2014, this memory configuration is more than adequate in terms of capacity and speed; it is unlikely that texture data or geometry would exceed the 8 GB frame buffer at any of the tested settings, meaning the card is not being hampered by memory swapping or paging. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth also ensures that the GPU's processing units are fed with data quickly enough to sustain high fill rates, which is crucial for maintaining the frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed as a base of 1410 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz. These clocks, combined with the 4864 shading units, give the RTX 3060 Ti its raw compute power. The benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 20349, which places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-to-high-range performance tier, which aligns with the observed frame rates. The card's nearest rivals, according to the data, are the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (0.7% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (1.4% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (1.4% slower), indicating that the 3060 Ti sits in a very competitive performance bracket.

The fact that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K is also reflected in its architecture. With a TDP of 200 W and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, it is a substantial component designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming. In "Minimum," the card's performance scales predictably with the workload. When moving from "Low" to "Ultra" settings at 1080p, the average frame rate drops from 210 to 103 FPS, showing that the increased graphical effects directly tax the GPU. The data indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti provides a solid foundation for this game, but its 8 GB memory and mid-range compute power define the upper limits of what is achievable, particularly at 4K where its performance degrades significantly.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured average FPS, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and desired refresh rate. For players with a 1080p 144Hz monitor, the "High" preset, with an average of 135 FPS, provides an excellent experience that is very close to maximizing the display's potential. While "Low" at 210 FPS and "Medium" at 160 FPS are faster, the visual fidelity trade-off for "Low" is likely too steep for most, and "Medium" offers only a marginal average FPS increase over "High" (160 vs. 135) while likely reducing visual quality more noticeably. The "Ultra" preset at 103 FPS is also viable, but it may not be worth the potential drop in visual stability if the goal is to maintain a rock-solid frame rate.

At 1440p, the "High" preset, yielding an average of 87 FPS, is the standout choice. It offers a smooth, high-fidelity experience that is well-suited for 60Hz or even 144Hz displays (though it won't max out the latter). "Medium" at 103 FPS is also an option for those who prefer higher frame rates, but the data shows that "High" provides a more balanced experience without a severe performance penalty. The "Ultra" preset at 66 FPS is on the borderline for smooth gameplay on a 60Hz display, but it would be playable for those who prioritize maximum image quality over frame rate consistency. "Low" at 135 FPS is unnecessarily fast and would result in a significant downgrade in visual quality.

For 4K gaming, the choices are more constrained. The "Low" preset at 73 FPS is the only setting that consistently breaks the 60 FPS barrier, but it comes with a substantial visual compromise. The "Medium" preset at 56 FPS is a more acceptable compromise, offering a better balance between visual quality and playability, though it will not be perfectly smooth on a 60Hz display. The "High" and "Ultra" presets, at 47 FPS and 36 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a good experience, as they fall into a range where frame pacing issues can become apparent. The data suggests that for 4K, the best experience is achieved with the "Medium" preset, as it provides the highest visual quality that still maintains a playable frame rate.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p with "Ultra" settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 103 at 1920x1080 with the "Ultra" settings preset.

Q: How does the performance at 1440p "High" compare to 4K "High"?

A: At 2560x1440 with "High" settings, the average FPS is 87, which drops to 47 at 3840x2160 with "High" settings, a difference of 40 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM limitations. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for the tested resolutions and settings, as the performance scaling is consistent with a GPU compute bottleneck rather than a memory one.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average FPS is 210, which was measured at 1920x1080 with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Which resolution and settings preset provides an average FPS closest to 60 for a 4K display?

A: The 3840x2160 resolution with "Medium" settings has an average FPS of 56, which is the closest to 60 FPS among the 4K results.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark percentile compare to its in-game performance?

A: The GPU is in the 59th percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score. In-game, it provides a strong 1080p and 1440p experience but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K, which is consistent with its mid-to-high-range positioning.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination holds a rank of 1838 out of 3712 tested combos in "Minimum." This places it in the 50.5th percentile (calculated from the rank and total combos), meaning it performs better than about half of all tested systems and worse than the other half. This ranking is a holistic measure of performance across all tested resolutions and settings, and it reflects the fact that while this combo is strong at 1080p, its 4K performance drags its overall standing down.

To contextualize this rank, we can look at the individual components. The CPU, AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, is in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, which is a high score. The GPU, RTX 3060 Ti, is in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. The fact that the combo ranks lower than both individual component percentiles suggests that the pairing is not perfectly balanced for this game. The CPU is relatively more powerful than the GPU, and as we have seen, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. This means the system's overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU's inability to fully leverage the CPU's potential in more demanding scenarios.

The combo's rank of 1838 suggests that there are many other systems that can achieve higher frame rates in this game, likely those with more powerful GPUs. The data implies that a user with this combo is getting a system that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, but it is not a top-tier performer in the grand scheme of all tested configurations. The ranking is a useful summary, but the detailed FPS breakdown is more informative, showing that the system's performance is highly variable depending on the resolution and settings chosen, moving from a top-tier performer at 1080p "Low" to a below-average performer at 4K "Ultra."

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is a powerful 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. In this game, the CPU's role appears to be one of providing a stable and high-performance foundation, but it is not the primary performance limiter. The evidence for this is clear in the resolution scaling data: if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see similar frame rates across different resolutions. Instead, the frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU is saturated.

The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12830.5 and a Passmark multithread score of 24419, ensures that it can easily handle the game's logic, AI, and physics calculations without becoming a constraint. This is particularly important at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU load is lower, and the CPU has to feed frames at a very high rate. For instance, at 1080p "Low," the system achieves 210 FPS, which requires the CPU to process and submit a massive number of draw calls per second. The 5700G handles this without issue, proving that its single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1494) is also sufficient for the game's primary thread.

The CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for the GPU to receive data. The processor is ranked in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rival is the Intel Core i9-9900K, which is just 0.2% faster in average benchmark scores. This indicates that the 5700G offers top-tier CPU performance that is more than capable for a game like "Minimum." The data suggests that the CPU is not a weak link in this system; instead, it provides a robust platform that allows the RTX 3060 Ti to perform to its full potential, and it is only at the highest resolutions where the GPU's limitations become the defining factor in the overall experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average FPS of 210.
• Medium: Average FPS of 160, with a minimum of 136 and a maximum of 185.
• High: Average FPS of 135.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 103.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average FPS of 135.
• Medium: Average FPS of 103, with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 119.
• High: Average FPS of 87.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 66.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average FPS of 73.
• Medium: Average FPS of 56, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 64.
• High: Average FPS of 47.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 36.

This data illustrates a clear performance hierarchy. At 1080p, the system is exceptionally fast, with all presets except "Ultra" delivering over 100 FPS. The "Ultra" preset also remains smooth at 103 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the system still performs admirably, with "High" and "Medium" presets providing 87 and 103 FPS respectively, which are excellent for most gaming scenarios. The "Ultra" preset at 66 FPS is still playable but begins to show the strain on the GPU.

At 4K, the performance takes a significant hit. Only the "Low" preset manages to stay above 60 FPS, with an average of 73. The "Medium" preset, while playable at 56 FPS, will exhibit occasional dips, as indicated by the 47 FPS minimum. The "High" and "Ultra" presets, with averages of 47 and 36 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a smooth experience. The data conclusively shows that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates with high visual fidelity, while 4K gaming requires substantial compromises in settings to achieve acceptable performance.