Minimum

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Minimum across the three tested resolutions reveals a clear stratification between the four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 187 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium at the same resolution produces 143 FPS, High drops to 120 FPS, and Ultra settles at 92 FPS. The stepwise reduction from Low to Medium to High to Ultra is consistent: each tier costs roughly 20-30% of the previous frame rate, which is typical for a game with this age and rendering complexity.

The most balanced experience, however, is not the fastest one. At 1080p, the Medium preset with its measured minimum of 122 FPS and maximum of 165 FPS provides a frame time consistency that the Low preset cannot guarantee—the Low preset has no recorded minimum or maximum values, suggesting it was not the focus of stability testing. For competitive play on high-refresh displays, Medium at 1080p offers a substantial safety margin above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity that Low lacks.

At 2560x1440, the story shifts. High produces 78 FPS average, which is already below the 100 FPS mark that many fast-paced third-person shooters benefit from. Medium at 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS is the only 1440p preset that stays comfortably above 75 FPS throughout the measured frame window. Ultra at 59 FPS is playable but sits right at the edge of what most players would consider smooth. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset—it preserves the highest average FPS above 90 while the recorded minimum of 79 FPS indicates no severe frame drops.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve a fully fluid experience by modern standards. Medium averages 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 and maximum of 57, which is the only 4K preset with complete min/max data. High at 42 FPS and Low at 65 FPS both lack min/max values, but the averages suggest that Low is the only 4K setting above 60 FPS. The recommendation for 4K is Low, as it is the only preset with an average that clears the 60 FPS line, though the visual compromise is significant. For the best overall experience across the entire resolution range, Medium at 1080p or 1440p offers the strongest combination of frame rate and stability based on the measured data.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, is the primary rendering engine for this combo. Its memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The clock behavior shows a base of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost of 2990 MHz—the gap between base and boost is substantial, indicating that sustained gaming loads will push the silicon toward its upper clock range. Memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective transfer rate.

The GPU's compute resources include 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 28 RT cores. The pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s, with FP32 throughput rated at 21.43 TFLOPS. These specifications place the RX 9060 in the 59th percentile against all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 16014. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129 with a delta of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 trails by less than one percent. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700 are within 1% in either direction, making this a tightly contested performance tier.

In Minimum, the GPU's influence is most visible at higher resolutions. The drop from 1080p High (120 FPS) to 1440p High (78 FPS) is a 35% reduction, and further to 4K High (42 FPS) is another 46% reduction. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario—the RX 9060's rendering pipeline is being saturated as pixel count increases. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for this 2014 title, as even the Ultra preset at 4K runs without reported memory-related stutter, though the 32 FPS average indicates compute limits rather than bandwidth constraints.

The boost clock of 2990 MHz is particularly relevant: the measured FPS at 1080p Low (187 FPS) suggests the GPU is operating near its maximum clock under light load, while 4K Ultra (32 FPS) likely forces the silicon into lower power states due to thermal or power limits inherent to the 132 W TDP. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface prevents any bus bottleneck, and the 1x 8-pin power connector is sufficient for the card's power draw. Overall, the RX 9060 performs as expected for its percentile ranking—solidly mid-pack, with enough headroom for 1080p and 1440p gaming but limited at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals how the balance between CPU and GPU shifts as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 187 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p to 65 at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear in pixel count—1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p—but the FPS drops are less severe, indicating that the RX 9060 is not purely pixel-bound at lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the averages are 143 FPS at 1080p, 92 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46%. The High preset shows 120 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, with drops of 35% and 46% respectively. Ultra presents the steepest absolute decline: 92 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K, representing 36% and 46% drops.

The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 46% from 1440p to 4K across all four presets—is revealing. It indicates that the limiting component is the GPU across the entire resolution range. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU work per frame remains constant while GPU work increases. Instead, the uniform scaling suggests the RX 9060's pixel throughput is the binding constraint.

However, the fact that 1080p Low achieves 187 FPS while 1080p Ultra drops to 92 FPS shows that the CPU can feed the GPU at high frame rates. The Ryzen 7 7700's 16 threads and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide ample single-thread performance to keep up with the GPU's demands. The limiting component at 1080p is the GPU's shading and rasterization work under higher settings, not the CPU's frame generation capability. At 4K, the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck, as even Low settings only reach 65 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full measured FPS table for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 with AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Minimum is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 187 FPS. Medium averages 143 FPS with a minimum of 122 and a maximum of 165. High averages 120 FPS with no recorded min/max. Ultra averages 92 FPS with no recorded min/max. The spread from Low to Ultra is 95 FPS, which is the largest absolute gap across all resolutions.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 121 FPS. Medium averages 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 106. High averages 78 FPS. Ultra averages 59 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 62 FPS. Notably, the Medium preset's minimum of 79 FPS is higher than the Ultra preset's average of 59 FPS, indicating that even the worst-case Medium frame times are smoother than the average Ultra experience.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 65 FPS. Medium averages 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 and a maximum of 57. High averages 42 FPS. Ultra averages 32 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 33 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has the only complete min/max dataset, and its 42 FPS minimum is exactly equal to the High preset's average, showing that the Medium preset's worst frames are equivalent to High's typical performance.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 122-165 FPS range represents a 35% variance from minimum to maximum. At 1440p, the 79-106 FPS range shows a 34% variance. At 4K, the 42-57 FPS range shows a 36% variance. This consistency suggests the game engine's frame pacing is stable regardless of resolution when using Medium settings.

Comparing the presets at each resolution: at 1080p, High is 16% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 23% slower than High. At 1440p, High is 15% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 24% slower than High. At 4K, High is 16% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 24% slower than High. The relative cost of each settings tier remains nearly constant across resolutions, reinforcing that the GPU handles the incremental quality settings uniformly.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 at Medium settings provides 143 FPS average with a minimum of 122 FPS, making it the most balanced option. At 2560x1440, Medium still achieves 92 FPS average with a 79 FPS minimum, which is acceptable for most displays.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, placing it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) by 0.7%, leads the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) by 1%, leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852) by 1%, and leads the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) by 2.1%.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Minimum at 4K?

A: Yes, the measured data shows playable frame rates at 4K with the Low preset averaging 65 FPS and Medium averaging 50 FPS. No memory-related stutter or crashes were indicated in the measurements, suggesting 8 GB GDDR6 is adequate for this title even at maximum resolution.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combo ranks 1677 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the middle of the distribution, consistent with the GPU's 59th percentile and the CPU's 87th percentile.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 has a measured minimum of 79 FPS, which is higher than the High preset's average of 78 FPS. The Low preset averages 121 FPS but has no recorded minimum, so Medium offers the best guaranteed frame rate.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40081, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. It leads the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048) by 0.1%, trails the Intel Core 5 221E (40144) by 0.2%, trails the AMD Ryzen 9 270 (40246) by 0.4%, and trails the Intel Core i9-13905H (40313) by 0.6%.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Raphael codename. It runs on a 5 nm TSMC process with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, with ECC support enabled. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes and includes integrated Radeon Graphics.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 7700 scores 8484 in 3DMark's 16-thread test and 8479 in the max-thread test, showing excellent scaling from 8 to 16 threads. The single-thread score of 1049 and 2-thread score of 2043 indicate strong per-core performance. Cinebench R23 results show 18760 multi-core and 1930 single-core, while Geekbench shows 15371 multi-core and 2525 single-core. PassMark multi-thread score is 34470 with single-thread at 4063. The average benchmark score is 40081, placing it in the 87th percentile against all CPUs.

The CPU's role in Minimum is evident from the frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 187 FPS, which requires the CPU to process draw calls and game logic at a rate exceeding 180 frames per second. The 5.30 GHz boost clock and Zen 4's high IPC allow the Ryzen 7 7700 to handle this workload without becoming the limiting factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and Geekbench single-core score of 2525 confirm that the processor's per-thread performance is sufficient for the game's single-threaded aspects.

The 16 threads come into play during scene complexity spikes. PassMark's floating-point math score of 66246 and integer math score of 110295 suggest the CPU can handle physics and game simulation tasks in parallel. The L3 cache of 32 MB shared across 8 cores is well-suited for keeping game assets and frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency on the DDR5 bus.

However, the CPU is not the bottleneck in Minimum at higher resolutions. The measured FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows consistent percentage drops across all settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting component as pixel count increases. The CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates at 1080p and ensure that the GPU never starves for data. The benchmark data supports this: the combo's 1080p Low average of 187 FPS is likely near the game's engine limit, and the CPU has enough headroom to push even higher if the GPU allowed it.

The Ryzen 7 7700's nearest rivals are all within 0.6% in average benchmark score, making the CPU's performance tier highly competitive. Its 87th percentile ranking means it outperforms most CPUs in the database, ensuring that the combo's mid-pack ranking in Minimum is attributable to the GPU rather than the processor.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 1677 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. This places the combo in the 43rd percentile of tested configurations, meaning roughly 57% of all tested combos perform better in this specific game. Given that the GPU alone sits in the 59th percentile and the CPU in the 87th percentile, the combo's ranking is dragged down by the GPU's relative position.

The discrepancy between the GPU's 59th percentile and the combo's 43rd percentile in Minimum suggests that Minimum is not particularly favorable to the RX 9060's architecture. The game's 2014 release date predates many modern rendering techniques, and the RDNA 4.0 architecture may not be optimally utilized by the game's older DirectX pipeline. The GPU's PassMark DirectX 9 score of 280 and DirectX 11 score of 182 are relatively low compared to its DirectX 12 score of 44 (which is a normalized figure), indicating that the card's strengths are in newer APIs.

The combo's ranking of 1677 out of 2939 means it sits in the upper-middle range of tested configurations. This is consistent with the GPU's nearest rival comparisons: the RX 9060 trades blows with the RTX 3060 Ti (within 0.7%) and the RX 7700 (within 1%). These are all mid-range to upper-mid-range GPUs that would typically produce playable frame rates in a 2014 title but lack the raw throughput of high-end cards.

The CPU's high percentile (87th) does not compensate for the GPU's mid-pack positioning in this game. At 1080p, where CPU influence is highest, the combo achieves 187 FPS on Low and 120 FPS on High—figures that are respectable but not top-tier. At 4K, the GPU's limitations become pronounced, with even Low settings only reaching 65 FPS. The combo's ranking reflects this overall pattern: capable at lower resolutions, adequate at 1440p, and struggling at 4K.

Compared to other combos in the database, this configuration is well-matched in the sense that neither component dramatically bottlenecks the other. The Ryzen 7 7700 has enough headroom to support a stronger GPU, and the RX 9060 is not so weak that it wastes the CPU's potential. The 1677 rank out of 2939 suggests that for Minimum specifically, a user could achieve better results by pairing the same CPU with a higher-tier GPU, or by pairing the same GPU with a lower-tier CPU without losing much performance at higher resolutions.