Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this Minimum configuration shows a predictable but steep drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 156 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 100 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 54 FPS, which is roughly one-third of the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern is typical for a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

The gap between resolutions narrows when settings are raised. At Ultra settings, 1080p delivers 76 FPS, 1440p delivers 49 FPS, and 4K delivers 26 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is about 36%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is about 47%. This indicates that as both resolution and settings increase, the graphics card is working progressively harder, and the frame rate penalty per pixel count grows.

Looking at Medium settings, the only tier with complete min/max data, the pattern is clear. At 1080p Medium, the average is 119 FPS with a minimum of 101 and maximum of 137. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 77 FPS with a minimum of 65 and maximum of 88. At 4K Medium, the average is 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 48. The spread between minimum and maximum FPS is consistent across resolutions, suggesting the frame pacing remains stable even when the overall performance level changes.

The data strongly suggests that the limiting component at 1080p is the CPU, while the GPU takes over as the bottleneck at 1440p and especially at 4K. At 1080p Low, the 156 FPS average is high enough that the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F's single-thread performance becomes relevant. At 4K Ultra, the 26 FPS average is clearly constrained by the AMD Radeon RX 6600's rendering capabilities. The fact that 1080p Low and 1440p Low differ by 56 FPS, while 1440p Low and 4K Low differ by 46 FPS, shows a relatively linear scaling curve that points to the GPU being the dominant factor across most of the resolution range.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is based on the Navi 23 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. Its boost clock is rated at 2491 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz and a base clock of 1626 MHz.

For a 2014 third-person shooter like Minimum, the RX 6600's specifications are more than adequate on paper. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's textures and geometry at 1080p and 1440p, and even at 4K the memory footprint does not appear to be a limiting factor based on the measured results. The 128-bit memory bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, but Minimum's visual complexity does not demand excessive memory throughput.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 with a score of 19030 (0% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at 19049 (-0.1% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla K20m at 19089 (-0.3% delta). This clustering indicates the RX 6600 sits in a well-populated performance tier where small differences separate products.

In practical gaming terms, the RX 6600 delivers playable frame rates at 1080p across all settings in Minimum, with the Low preset hitting 156 FPS and Ultra still managing 76 FPS. At 1440p, the card remains viable, with Low at 100 FPS and Ultra at 49 FPS. At 4K, the GPU struggles with Ultra at 26 FPS, but Low at 54 FPS is still usable. The card's 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate provide enough raw throughput for this game's age and scope.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2267 out of 2939 tested combos for Minimum. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, at roughly the 23rd percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings tested in this game. This ranking reflects the fact that while the CPU is strong, the GPU is the limiting factor, and many other combos pair the RX 6600 with faster or equal CPUs, or pair slower CPUs with much faster GPUs.

The combo's rank is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strength. The Ryzen 7 9700F sits in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, but the RX 6600's 63rd percentile GPU standing drags the overall combo down. In a game like Minimum, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the GPU becomes the deciding factor at higher resolutions, and the RX 6600 simply cannot keep pace with higher-tier graphics cards.

Relative to other combos in the database, this pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming where the CPU can stretch its legs and the GPU can maintain high frame rates. At 1440p, the combo drops to mid-range performance, and at 4K it falls into the lower tier. The rank of 2267 out of 2939 suggests that users who prioritize high refresh rate 1080p gaming will find this combo adequate, but those targeting 1440p or 4K would need to look at different GPU options.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers strong results across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 156 FPS. Medium settings average 119 FPS, with a minimum of 101 and maximum of 137. High settings average 100 FPS. Ultra settings average 76 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 51% reduction in frame rate, which is a moderate penalty for the visual quality increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low settings average 100 FPS. Medium settings average 77 FPS, with a minimum of 65 and maximum of 88. High settings average 65 FPS. Ultra settings average 49 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is also 51%, matching the 1080p scaling, but the absolute numbers are lower across the board.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 54 FPS. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 48. High settings average 35 FPS. Ultra settings average 26 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 52%, nearly identical to the other resolutions, indicating that the GPU's performance scaling with settings is consistent regardless of resolution.

The Medium settings tier provides the only complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the frame time consistency is good, with a 36 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 23 FPS, and at 4K it narrows further to 13 FPS. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is more consistently saturated, leading to less variation in frame delivery.

High settings show a clear pattern: 100 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. Each resolution step roughly halves the frame rate relative to the previous step, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. Low settings follow a similar but less steep curve: 156 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform and is built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. The CPU has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. It supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth.

In terms of cache, the Ryzen 7 9700F has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache hierarchy is well-suited for gaming workloads, where repeated data access patterns benefit from larger caches. The CPU also supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes, though the RX 6600 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, which is sufficient for this GPU's bandwidth requirements.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multithreaded and single-threaded performance. In PassMark tests, it scores 36470 in multithread, 4691 in single-thread, 120788 in integer math, 77955 in floating point math, and 421988 in data compression. Its percentile rank among all CPUs is 94, placing it in the top 6% of processors tested.

Looking at its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX's 69875, 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF's 70163, 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X's 69515, and 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700K's 69355. These small deltas indicate that the 9700F is competitive with top-tier CPUs from both AMD and Intel, though the differences are within a single percentage point.

In Minimum specifically, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the 156 FPS average suggests the GPU is not fully maxed out and the CPU's single-thread performance helps drive higher frame rates. At higher resolutions and settings, the CPU's advantage becomes less relevant as the GPU takes over as the bottleneck. The 8 cores and 16 threads are more than enough for a 2014 game, which was designed for much older hardware.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 76 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is playable for most users, though not high-refresh-rate territory.

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: The data shows 1080p is the sweet spot. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 156 FPS, and even at Ultra it maintains 76 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 49 FPS, which is less ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.2% lower than the Core i7-14700KF, 0.7% higher than the Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% higher than the Core i7-14700K.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 sits in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its closest rival, the Quadro K6000, scores 19030 with a 0% delta.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: At 4K with Low settings, the average is 54 FPS, which is playable. At Medium, it drops to 41 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 26 FPS. For 4K, Low or Medium settings are the practical options.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 6600 have, and does it matter for this game?

A: The RX 6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. For Minimum, this is sufficient at all tested resolutions and settings, as the game does not appear to exceed the memory capacity based on the measured frame rates.