Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a wide performance envelope in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter from 2014. The measured data reveals a system that can push very high frame rates at lower resolutions but begins to show its limits as pixel count and graphical fidelity increase. This analysis examines the FPS measurements across three resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting what the numbers say about the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 provides a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies in this system for Minimum. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 269 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that figure to 173.8 FPS, a substantial reduction of roughly 35%. The jump to 4K further reduces performance to 94.8 FPS, which is a 45% drop from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern shows that even at Low settings, the rendering workload at higher resolutions starts to dominate.

The data implies that at 1080p and Low settings, the system is likely CPU-bound or hitting an engine-level frame cap, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames very quickly. The performance cliff between 1080p and 1440p suggests the GPU is beginning to take on a more significant role. However, the scaling is not linear, indicating that the CPU is still contributing to the frame time budget.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more dramatic. The system produces 131 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 83.9 FPS at 1440p, and then to 43.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is a 67% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure. This steep decline points directly at the GPU as the primary limiting component when all visual features are enabled. The RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth are being heavily taxed at 4K Ultra, and the data suggests that the GPU's compute throughput, not the CPU, is the deciding factor at this extreme setting.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows offer a clear hierarchy of performance versus visual quality. For players targeting the smoothest possible experience at high refresh rates, the Low preset at 1080p yields 269 FPS, which is exceptionally high. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p still delivers a very playable 205.6 FPS, offering a better balance of visual quality and speed.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 133 FPS, which is an excellent result for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1440p also holds up well at 108.7 FPS, making it a strong candidate for a high-quality experience without sacrificing smoothness. The Ultra preset at 1440p dips to 83.9 FPS, which is still playable but begins to compromise the frame time consistency expected in a fast-paced shooter.

For 4K gaming, the data shows that the High preset is the most demanding viable option, producing 58.1 FPS. This is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the average suggests there will be dips. The Low preset at 4K achieves 94.8 FPS, which is a far more comfortable margin for competitive play, though it significantly reduces the visual detail that 4K resolution is meant to showcase. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended for smooth gameplay, as it averages only 43.5 FPS. The data suggests that the most balanced experience across all resolutions is the Medium preset, which scales from 205.6 FPS at 1080p down to 71.6 FPS at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the workhorse in this configuration, and its role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. The GPU's specifications include 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, which are the core components responsible for pixel and texture processing. The boost clock of 1710 MHz and the 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power are the raw resources that the game draws upon.

The memory subsystem is also critical. The 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Minimum, the difference between the Low and Ultra presets is a clear indicator of the GPU's workload. At 4K, the Ultra preset averages 43.5 FPS, while the Low preset averages 94.8 FPS. This 51.3 FPS difference is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's ability to process the increased geometry, textures, and post-processing effects demanded by the higher preset.

The benchmark results for this GPU show it ranks in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile in average benchmark scores. However, these are synthetic benchmarks; the gaming data shows that the RTX 3080 is a very capable card for Minimum at 1080p and 1440p, but its 10 GB VRAM and compute limits become apparent at the 4K Ultra setting.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured data provides a detailed view of performance. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 269 FPS for Low, 205.6 FPS for Medium, 169.4 FPS for High, and 131 FPS for Ultra. The progression shows that each step up in settings costs roughly 40-60 FPS at this resolution, indicating that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 173.8 FPS for Low, 133 FPS for Medium, 108.7 FPS for High, and 83.9 FPS for Ultra. The relative gaps between settings are similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower, confirming that the GPU is now the primary constraint. The 1440p Ultra result of 83.9 FPS is a significant drop from the 1080p Ultra result of 131 FPS, a 36% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 94.8 FPS for Low, 71.6 FPS for Medium, 58.1 FPS for High, and 43.5 FPS for Ultra. The 4K results show the steepest scaling curve. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 51.3 FPS, which is larger than the 40.6 FPS difference at 1440p and the 39 FPS difference at 1080p. This data suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and fill rate are being saturated at 4K, making the Ultra preset impractical for a smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database for Minimum, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 527th out of 1733 tested combos. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a system with components from 2020. The rank of 527 out of 1733 indicates that while this is a high-performance pairing, there are many other systems that achieve higher frame rates in this game.

The CPU's percentile ranking is 84th out of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score is 27606. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, has a nearly identical average score of 27535, a delta of just 0.3%. This suggests that the CPU is performing as expected for its class. The GPU's percentile is 80th, with an average benchmark score of 35787. The proximity of its rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (delta of -0.9%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (delta of 1%), shows that the RTX 3080 is still competitive in synthetic benchmarks, but the game-specific rank of 527 suggests that other factors, such as driver optimization or specific game engine quirks, are at play.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is a Zen 3 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz and it boosts up to 4.70 GHz. The 32 MB of L3 cache is a key feature that helps with gaming performance. In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The data at 1080p Low shows 269 FPS, which is the highest measured result. This high frame rate confirms the CPU's ability to process game logic, draw calls, and physics quickly. The 3dmark single-thread score of 943 and the passmark single-thread score of 3445 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a few primary threads.

However, the CPU's influence wanes as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 43.5 FPS, which is far below the 1080p Low result. The CPU is likely not the primary bottleneck at 4K; the GPU is. The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, shown by its cinebench_r23_multicore score of 23571, are more than sufficient for this game. The data suggests that the Ryzen 7 5800X provides a solid foundation, but the ultimate performance ceiling in Minimum at high resolutions is dictated by the RTX 3080.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 269 FPS, measured at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K High settings, the average is 58.1 FPS, while at 4K Low it is 94.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset is not recommended for smooth play, as it averages only 43.5 FPS.

Q: How does the 1440p Medium preset compare to the 1080p Ultra preset?

A: The 1440p Medium preset averages 133 FPS, while the 1080p Ultra preset averages 131 FPS. The two are nearly identical in frame rate, but the 1440p Medium likely offers better image clarity due to the higher resolution.

Q: What is the most demanding setting tested for this system?

A: The most demanding setting is 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra preset, which results in the lowest measured average of 43.5 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: The data shows 269 FPS at this setting, which is extremely high. This suggests the CPU or an engine frame cap is the limiting factor, as the GPU has significant headroom to render frames at such a high rate.

Q: What is the system's rank among all tested combos?

A: This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 527th out of 1733 tested combos in the database for Minimum.