Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers a stark illustration of how resolution dictates performance in Minimum. Across the four settings tiers, the transition from 1080p to 4K produces a consistent and significant frame rate penalty, but the shape of that penalty reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 355.7 FPS, while the 4K Low preset drops to 120.8 FPS — a 65.9% reduction. That massive drop, even at a relatively light graphical setting, points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases, since the CPU has ample headroom at 1080p to feed the frame rate. The data confirms that this is a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, with the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering throughput being the primary constraint.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS values show a predictable yet steep scaling curve. At 1080p Low, the system produces 355.7 FPS, which is a figure that approaches the practical limits of many displays and indicates the CPU and GPU are working in efficient concert, with the GPU still not fully saturated. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 227.9 FPS, a 35.9% decrease. The step to 4K Low yields 120.8 FPS, which is a further 47.0% reduction from the 1440p figure. This non-linear decline is characteristic of a GPU that is increasingly overwhelmed by the pixel fill rate demands at 4K.

For the High preset, the scaling is similar but with a lower starting point. The 228.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 146.8 FPS at 1440p (a 35.7% drop) and then to 79.4 FPS at 4K (a 45.9% drop from 1440p). The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 173.5 FPS at 1080p, 111.7 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K Ultra is 64.8%, confirming that the most demanding settings amplify the resolution penalty. The data indicates that at 4K Ultra, the system is squarely GPU-limited, as the average frame rate of 61 FPS sits just above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that any further increase in graphical load would push it below playable levels.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER's specifications directly explain its performance ceiling in Minimum. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. For a 2014 title like Minimum, the memory capacity is more than sufficient, but the bandwidth is crucial for feeding the shading units at higher resolutions. The benchmark results show the GPU's compute potential: a PassMark G3D score of 34245 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 place it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (avgScore 53489, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (avgScore 53414, deltaPct 0.4), are within a 0.4% margin in average benchmark score, indicating a tight performance cluster at this tier.

However, the measured FPS in Minimum does not fully utilize this GPU's capabilities at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 355.7 FPS result suggests the game's engine is limited by the CPU's single-thread performance or draw call processing, not the GPU's raw fill rate. The Ryzen 7 7700's PassMark single-thread score of 4063 and 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 are strong, but the 1080p Low frame rate is not scaling linearly with GPU clock speed. Instead, the GPU's role becomes dominant at 4K, where the 120.8 FPS Low result shows the RTX 4080 SUPER is still capable of high refresh rates, but the 61 FPS Ultra result highlights a practical ceiling for max settings at that resolution. The 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor here, as the game's texture requirements at 4K Ultra are well within that capacity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS for the 2560x1440 High preset is 146.8 FPS. This is a 35.7% reduction compared to the 228.2 FPS at 1080p High, showing a substantial performance cost for the resolution increase.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low preset delivers 355.7 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The fact that the 4K Low preset only drops to 120.8 FPS (a 65.9% reduction) while the CPU remains constant suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is more of a limiting factor, and the GPU is not fully saturated.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 61 FPS, while the High preset averages 79.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is 23.2% slower than High at 4K, indicating that the extra graphical effects in the Ultra tier have a significant impact on the GPU's rendering load.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144Hz monitor?

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with High settings (146.8 FPS) or 1920x1080 with Ultra settings (173.5 FPS) both exceed a 144Hz refresh rate. At 4K, only the Low preset (120.8 FPS) comes close to 144Hz, but it does not reach it.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40468, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, has an average score of 40431 (deltaPct 0.1), which is statistically tied. The Intel Core i9-13905H is 0.6% faster, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T is 1.2% slower.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB VRAM help at 4K Ultra?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is not a limiting factor in Minimum. The 61 FPS average at 4K Ultra is due to the GPU's compute and fill rate limits, not memory capacity. The memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s is the relevant specification for this title's resolution scaling.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience measured in the data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced performance. It delivers 146.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playability threshold and close to 144Hz. This is a 30.7% improvement over the Ultra preset at 1440p (111.7 FPS) while maintaining a higher visual fidelity than the Medium preset (173 FPS). At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 173.5 FPS is the best choice for users prioritizing visual quality, as it still comfortably exceeds 144Hz. The Low preset at 4K (120.8 FPS) is the only 4K option that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. For 4K, the High preset at 79.4 FPS is more reasonable for a visually rich experience, though it drops below 100 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K (95.1 FPS) is a viable compromise for those seeking a higher frame rate without fully dropping to Low. The Ultra preset at 4K (61 FPS) is only suitable for users who demand maximum settings and accept a 60 FPS cap. The data shows that the High preset at 1440p is the optimal intersection of frame rate and visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rate hierarchy is clear: Low leads with 355.7 FPS, followed by Medium at 272.2 FPS, High at 228.2 FPS, and Ultra at 173.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 182.2 FPS, showing that the graphics settings have a substantial impact on CPU-bound scenarios. The 1080p results are all well above 144Hz, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the order remains the same, but the margins shrink. Low produces 227.9 FPS, Medium 173 FPS, High 146.8 FPS, and Ultra 111.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is now 116.2 FPS. The High preset here is 35.7% slower than its 1080p counterpart, while the Ultra preset is 35.6% slower, indicating a consistent resolution scaling penalty across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are the most pronounced. Low averages 120.8 FPS, Medium 95.1 FPS, High 79.4 FPS, and Ultra 61 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one to fall below 70 FPS, solidifying it as the most demanding configuration. The High preset at 4K is 45.9% slower than at 1440p, and the Ultra preset is 45.4% slower, showing that the GPU's fill rate limits are the primary constraint at this resolution. The combo's overall rank in-game is 118 out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.8% of all configurations for Minimum, which aligns with its strong but not top-tier performance in the measured rows.