Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers playable performance in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The measured data shows a clear performance hierarchy across settings and resolutions, with the system landing in the 1542nd position out of 1733 tested combinations for this game. This places the pairing in the lower half of the overall performance distribution, though the 1080p results indicate the hardware remains capable for the game’s core experience.

Settings Recommendations

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 64.2 FPS, which is fluid for a shooter. However, the High preset at the same resolution produces an average of 84.2 FPS, a 20.0 FPS improvement over Ultra. The Medium preset yields 101.3 FPS, and Low reaches 132.6 FPS. For players prioritizing a smooth competitive experience, Medium offers the best balance, as it remains above the 100 FPS threshold while retaining more visual fidelity than Low.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 55.0 FPS, while Medium drops to 65.2 FPS and Low reaches 82.8 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 38.6 FPS, which is marginal for a third-person shooter. Given that the 1440p High result is below 60 FPS, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for this resolution, providing a 10.2 FPS advantage over High while staying above the playable line.

At 3840x2160, all presets struggle to maintain smooth frame rates. The High preset averages 27.9 FPS, Medium 34.8 FPS, and Low 44.2 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 23.2 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable option for this hardware combination, as even the Low preset fails to reach 45 FPS. The best experience at this resolution is still sub-optimal, so players should consider lowering the resolution or accepting reduced visual quality.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The GPU’s 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 5.027 TFLOPS.

In Minimum, the GPU’s memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s demands at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the performance scaling. The data shows that moving from Low to Ultra at 1080p reduces average FPS from 132.6 to 64.2, a drop of 68.4 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck when settings are increased, as the CPU has ample headroom. The GPU’s 55th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286, places it near rivals like the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314, -0.2%) and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315, -0.2%), confirming its mid-range position.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep. At the High preset, the average FPS falls from 84.2 at 1920x1080 to 55.0 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 29.2 FPS. From 1440p to 2160p, the High preset drops further to 27.9 FPS, a 27.1 FPS decrease. This scaling pattern is consistent across all presets. For Low settings, the averages are 132.6 FPS at 1080p, 82.8 FPS at 1440p, and 44.2 FPS at 4K. The resolution scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the pixel throughput requirements at 4K overwhelm the card’s capabilities.

The delta between 1080p and 1440p is less severe than the delta between 1440p and 4K for most settings. For instance, at Medium, the difference from 1080p to 1440p is 36.1 FPS, while from 1440p to 4K it is 30.4 FPS. However, at Ultra, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25.6 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 15.4 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth, at 336.0 GB/s, becomes increasingly strained as resolution rises, making 4K impractical for this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 132.6 FPS, which is the highest result in the dataset. The Medium preset follows at 101.3 FPS, then High at 84.2 FPS, and Ultra at 64.2 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 68.4 FPS, demonstrating a significant impact from settings adjustments.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 82.8 FPS, Medium 65.2 FPS, High 55.0 FPS, and Ultra 38.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 44.2 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU’s fill rate is becoming a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 44.2 FPS, Medium 34.8 FPS, High 27.9 FPS, and Ultra 23.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 21.0 FPS, the smallest of the three resolutions. This compressed scaling at 4K confirms that the GPU is saturated, and further settings changes yield diminishing returns.

The data shows no min or max FPS values, so the analysis relies solely on averages. The 1080p Medium result of 101.3 FPS is notable because it exceeds the 1440p Low result of 82.8 FPS, highlighting the resolution penalty.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this hardware?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 101.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset reaches 132.6 FPS, but Medium offers a better visual balance with a 19.3 FPS advantage over High.

Q: Is 4K playable with the GTX 1660 SUPER and Ryzen 7 5700X?

A: No. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset averages only 44.2 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 27.9 FPS and 23.2 FPS respectively. These results are below the smoothness required for a third-person shooter.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314) and 0.2% lower than the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (14315). It sits 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14389).

Q: Does the CPU limit performance in this game?

A: The data shows that FPS scales significantly with resolution and settings, indicating GPU limitation. The Ryzen 7 5700X’s multi-threaded score of 22620 in Cinebench R23 suggests it is not the bottleneck, as the GPU’s performance drops are consistent with pixel workload increases.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 55.0 FPS, while Ultra averages 38.6 FPS. This is a 16.4 FPS difference, making Ultra less desirable for maintaining a playable frame rate.

Q: Is the GTX 1660 SUPER sufficient for a 144Hz monitor at 1080p?

A: Only at the Low preset, which averages 132.6 FPS, does the hardware approach 144Hz. The Medium preset at 101.3 FPS falls short, so a 144Hz display would not be fully utilized with higher settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR4 memory. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 4,150 million transistors on a 7 nm process contribute to its performance. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 22620 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3193 in single-core, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 26612.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that at 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 132.6, which is high enough to suggest the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26214, places it near the Intel Core i9-11900KF (26196, 0.1% higher) and AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (26272, -0.2% lower). This indicates the processor is not a weak link.

The single-thread performance, reflected in the 3dmark single-thread score of 921 and Cinebench R15 single-core score of 321, is sufficient for the game’s engine. The data shows that the frame rate drops are primarily tied to resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound tasks. The CPU’s 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks, but the game does not appear to leverage the full multi-threading capability, as the performance scaling is consistent with GPU limitations. Therefore, the Ryzen 7 5700X serves as a stable platform, ensuring that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the determining factor in Minimum’s performance.