Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Minimum shows a predictable but steep drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 102 FPS at 1080p to 66.8 FPS at 1440p, then to 36.5 FPS at 4K. That represents a 34.5% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 45.4% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern is consistent across all four settings presets, indicating that the rendering workload scales heavily with pixel count.

At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 152.9 FPS at 1080p to 98.3 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 55.7 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial: at 1080p, the difference between Low (152.9 FPS) and Ultra (75.4 FPS) is 77.5 FPS, while at 4K the same comparison yields only a 31.4 FPS difference (55.7 vs 24.3). This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The data indicates a component bottleneck shift. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU's role becomes more influential, especially at Low settings where 152.9 FPS is achieved. At 4K, even the lowest settings preset cannot reach 60 FPS, with 55.7 FPS being the ceiling. This pattern is typical for a system where the GPU's rendering throughput is constrained by memory bandwidth and shading capacity rather than by the CPU's ability to feed it draw calls.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer, built on a 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The processor has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, 512 KB per core L2 cache, and 64 KB per core L1 cache. These specifications place it in the upper mid-range of desktop CPUs, with a percentile rank of 83 against all CPUs in the database.

Multi-threaded performance is strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 22620, while the single-core score is 3193. The 3DMark 16-thread test yields 6858, and the max-thread test scores 6850, nearly identical. This indicates that the CPU scales well across all available threads, which is relevant for Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014 that may not fully utilize 16 threads. The single-thread score of 921 in 3DMark and 3385 in PassMark suggests that per-core performance is adequate for older game engines that rely heavily on single-threaded logic.

In the context of Minimum's measured results, the CPU appears to be sufficient to avoid becoming a hard bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 152.9 FPS average is a strong indicator that the CPU can maintain high frame rates when GPU load is minimal. However, at 1080p Ultra (75.4 FPS) and beyond, the GPU's limitations become more apparent. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-11900KF with an average score of 26196 (0.1% higher delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X at 26272 (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U at 26262 (-0.2% delta). These very small deltas indicate that the 5700X performs essentially at parity with its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks, which suggests that any performance differences in game are more likely attributable to the GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is based on the TU106 chip, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The GPU has 30 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, which are not heavily utilized in a 2014 title but indicate architectural maturity. The base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. Memory is 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 201.6 GTexel/s. These figures position the RTX 2060 at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S with an average score of 15996 (0.5% higher delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 16351 (-1.7% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 15786 (1.8% delta). These rival deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 2060 sits in a tightly contested performance tier.

In Minimum, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but at 4K Ultra the 24.3 FPS result suggests that both raw shading power and memory bandwidth are strained. The memory clock is 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective data rate, which is adequate for the era but not exceptional by modern standards. The GPU's dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector and 160 W TDP indicates a moderate power footprint, but the measured FPS data shows that this does not translate into high frame rates at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers playable frame rates across all settings. Low settings average 152.9 FPS, Medium averages 118.8 FPS, High averages 102 FPS, and Ultra averages 75.4 FPS. These numbers show a clear stepwise decline as graphical fidelity increases, with the largest relative drop occurring from High to Ultra (a 26.1% reduction). The 1080p results are all above 60 FPS, making this resolution the sweet spot for smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 98.3 FPS at Low, 78.8 FPS at Medium, 66.8 FPS at High, and 51.7 FPS at Ultra. The Ultra setting falls below 60 FPS, which may be noticeable for players sensitive to frame rate consistency. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 46.6 FPS, slightly smaller in absolute terms than at 1080p (77.5 FPS) but proportionally similar in percentage decline.

At 3840x2160, the results are significantly lower. Low settings average 55.7 FPS, Medium averages 41.3 FPS, High averages 36.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 24.3 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach 60 FPS, and only Low is above 30 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K produces a frame rate that is below the threshold for comfortable play in a shooter. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combination requires either significant settings reductions or acceptance of sub-60 FPS performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1383 out of 1733 tested combinations in Minimum. This places the combo in the bottom 20.2% of all tested systems for this game. The rank reflects that while the CPU is capable (83rd percentile), the GPU's 58th percentile positioning limits overall gaming performance, particularly at higher resolutions.

The combination's ranking is more indicative of the GPU's limitations than any CPU deficiency. The CPU's nearest rivals all have average benchmark scores within 0.2% of the 5700X, meaning that swapping the processor for a comparable Intel or AMD part would yield negligible differences in game performance. The GPU's rivals, similarly, are within a narrow band of 1.8% to -1.7% in average score, suggesting that the RTX 2060's performance class is tightly packed with similar GPUs.

Given the measured FPS data, this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it exceeds 100 FPS at High settings and approaches 153 FPS at Low. It can handle 1440p at Medium to High settings with playable frame rates, but 4K requires Low settings to stay above 50 FPS. The rank of 1383 out of 1733 indicates that most other tested combos outperform this pairing, but the specific strengths of this setup are its CPU headroom and the GPU's ability to deliver high frame rates at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Minimum with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets exceed 60 FPS. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 75.4 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra it drops to 51.7 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X scores 26214 on average, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core i9-11900KF (26196) and 0.2% below the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (26272). These differences are negligible for gaming.

Q: Why does the GPU bottleneck appear at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the frame rates range from 55.7 FPS at Low to 24.3 FPS at Ultra. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at this resolution, even with reduced settings.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Yes, but only at Low (98.3 FPS), Medium (78.8 FPS), and High (66.8 FPS) settings. The Ultra preset averages 51.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1383 out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the lower quintile of all tested systems for Minimum.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance ceiling?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread and multi-thread scores are strong, but the GPU's 58th percentile ranking and the sharp FPS drops at higher resolutions indicate that rendering throughput is the primary constraint.