Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + AMD Radeon RX 9060

This analysis covers the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The dataset provides measured average FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets, plus synthetic benchmark data for both components. The combination ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The following sections break down how the CPU and GPU interact across resolution and settings, what the ranking implies, and where the bottleneck shifts.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 187 FPS at 1080p to 121 FPS at 1440p, then further to 65 FPS at 4K — a total reduction of 122 FPS, or roughly 65% from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that at lower resolutions, the system is largely CPU-limited, as the Ryzen 7 9700F's strong single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4691) can push very high frame rates, but the RX 9060's rendering capacity becomes the limiting factor as pixel count grows.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar but slightly less severe: 143 FPS at 1080p, 92 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 51 FPS (36%), while from 1440p to 4K is 42 FPS (46%). The steeper percentage decline at higher resolutions reinforces that the GPU is progressively more constrained. The 4K Medium row also includes min/max values of 42 and 57 FPS, showing a 15 FPS spread — indicating some frame-time variance but not severe stuttering.

High settings produce 120 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at High is exactly 42 FPS, identical to the 4K Medium min FPS, suggesting that at 4K the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of minor settings changes. Ultra settings yield the lowest numbers: 92 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 32 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold for playability, making that preset unviable at that resolution.

The limiting component shifts clearly with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's headroom (evidenced by 187 FPS at Low) means the GPU is the primary bottleneck even at Low settings, but the gap between Low and Ultra (95 FPS) shows the GPU's workload scaling with settings. At 4K, the GPU is unambiguously the limiting factor — even at Low, the RX 9060 only manages 65 FPS, and the CPU's potential is far from exhausted. The data suggests that for 1080p gaming, the Ryzen 7 9700F has ample headroom, while the RX 9060 becomes the decisive component as resolution climbs.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 41st percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 59% of tested combos perform better in this specific game. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning more than the CPU's strength — the RX 9060 sits at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 9700F is at the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 9700F's average benchmark score of 69996 is remarkably close to the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, delta 0.2%), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, delta 0.7%), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355, delta 0.9%). These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the 9700F's processing power is essentially interchangeable with those high-end parts in synthetic tests. However, in Minimum, the overall combo rank is dragged down by the GPU.

For the GPU, the RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 places it just 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% above the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852). The delta to the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) is 2.1%. These tight margins mean the RX 9060 is competing with last-generation mid-range cards, which explains why the combo rank in Minimum is not higher despite the CPU's top-tier standing.

The rank of 2179 out of 3712 suggests that in Minimum, the pair performs at a level where the GPU's 59th percentile positioning dominates the outcome. If the same CPU were paired with a higher-tier GPU, the rank would likely improve substantially, as the CPU's 94th percentile score indicates it is not the constraining factor in most scenarios. The data implies that this combo is balanced for 1080p gaming but falls behind at higher resolutions where the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become limiting.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It contains 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die, with a transistor density of 149.2 million per mm². The GPU operates at a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. Memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed across an 8 GB GDDR6 interface with a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Minimum, the RX 9060's memory configuration appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but potentially marginal at 4K. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not explicitly tested in the FPS data, but the steep drop from 65 FPS at 4K Low to 32 FPS at 4K Ultra (a 33 FPS decline) suggests that higher settings increase memory pressure and texture bandwidth demands. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, and the 128-bit bus width limits how much data can be moved per clock cycle.

The GPU's compute capabilities are defined by 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. It achieves a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS (and FP16 at the same 21.43 TFLOPS, indicating a 1:1 ratio). These specifications place it in the mid-range tier, consistent with its PassMark G3D score of 17631 and 59th percentile ranking. In DirectX benchmarks, the GPU scores 104 in DirectX 10, 182 in DirectX 11, and 44 in DirectX 12 — the low DirectX 12 score suggests that Minimum, released in 2014, likely relies on older API paths where the card performs relatively better.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 and Geekbench scores of 88183 (OpenCL) and 39476 (Vulkan) provide additional context. The GPU's TDP is 132 W with a suggested 300 W PSU, and it uses a single 8-pin power connector. The boost clock of 2990 MHz is notably high, but the FPS data shows that clock speed alone does not overcome the memory bandwidth limitations at 4K. The 59th percentile ranking versus all GPUs confirms this is a mid-pack performer, and the measured results in Minimum align with that positioning.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets remain playable. At 1080p, even Ultra averages 92 FPS, while at 1440p Ultra drops to 59 FPS and at 4K Ultra falls to 32 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 is 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% above both the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852). It is 2.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU's 94th percentile ranking and PassMark single-thread score of 4691 suggest it can handle high frame rates, but the GPU limits results — the 187 FPS at 1080p Low is likely near the GPU's cap. At 4K, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck, as FPS drops are driven by GPU workload.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 4K Medium?

A: The 4K Medium preset has a min FPS of 42 and max FPS of 57, with an average of 50. The 15 FPS spread indicates moderate variance, but the min FPS staying above 40 means it remains playable.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2179th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the lower-middle range, consistent with the GPU's 59th percentile but below what the CPU's 94th percentile might suggest.

Q: Does the RX 9060 support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 44 is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 182, which may affect newer titles.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the data shows that even Ultra settings are playable, with an average of 92 FPS. High settings at 120 FPS offer a balance of visual quality and headroom, while Medium at 143 FPS provides smoother motion for competitive play. Low at 187 FPS is the maximum performance option, but the visual compromise is significant. Given that Ultra maintains above 90 FPS, there is no need to drop below High for most users at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, High settings at 78 FPS are the optimal choice, as they stay above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Medium at 92 FPS provides additional margin, while Ultra at 59 FPS dips just below 60 — technically playable but with occasional frame drops. Low at 121 FPS is viable for high-refresh-rate monitors but sacrifices visual fidelity. The recommendation is High for balance or Medium for smoother performance.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 65 FPS is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium at 50 FPS is playable but with noticeable compromise. High at 42 FPS and Ultra at 32 FPS are below the ideal threshold for fast-paced third-person shooters. For 4K, Low is the recommended preset, with Medium as a fallback for those prioritizing visuals over frame rate.

Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p High or Ultra, as both exceed 90 FPS and provide the full visual feature set. For 1440p, High at 78 FPS offers the best balance. At 4K, only Low delivers acceptable performance, and users seeking higher settings should consider lowering resolution to 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm TSMC process. It runs at a base clock of 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and its 65 W TDP indicates efficient power delivery. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, along with PCIe Gen 5 across 24 lanes. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 9700F scores 4691 in PassMark single-thread (matching the singlethread test), 36470 in multithread, and 2122 in physics. Its average benchmark score of 69996 places it at the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, 0.2% ahead), Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163, 0.2% behind), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, 0.7% ahead), and Intel Core i7-14700K (69355, 0.9% ahead). These deltas are negligible, showing the 9700F performs on par with those top-tier parts.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the 187 FPS at Low settings indicates the processor can feed the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is particularly relevant for a 2014 title, which likely relies on single-threaded performance; the 4691 single-thread score is strong. However, the game's age means it may not fully utilize 16 threads, so the multithread score of 36470 is less decisive than the single-thread figure.

The 65 W TDP and 4 nm process suggest the CPU runs cool and efficiently, but the FPS data does not show thermal throttling effects — the 1080p results remain consistently high across settings. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 59th percentile creates an imbalance: in Minimum, the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p, and even at 1080p, the GPU's performance ceiling is reached before the CPU's potential is exhausted. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield significant FPS gains, particularly at 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 187 FPS, Medium at 143 FPS (min 122, max 165), High at 120 FPS, and Ultra at 92 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 95 FPS drop, representing a 51% reduction in performance from the lowest to highest settings. The Medium preset's 43 FPS spread between min and max indicates some variance, but all presets remain above 90 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 121 FPS, Medium at 92 FPS (min 79, max 106), High at 78 FPS, and Ultra at 59 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings ranges from 27 FPS (Low, from 187 to 121) to 33 FPS (Ultra, from 92 to 59). The Medium preset shows a 27 FPS min-max spread, similar to 1080p. Ultra at 59 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold, making it borderline for smooth play.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 65 FPS, Medium at 50 FPS (min 42, max 57), High at 42 FPS, and Ultra at 32 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: Low drops 56 FPS, Medium drops 42 FPS, High drops 36 FPS, and Ultra drops 27 FPS. The percentage declines are 46%, 46%, 46%, and 46% respectively — a remarkably consistent pattern, indicating the GPU's performance scales linearly with pixel count at this resolution range. The 4K Medium min of 42 FPS matches the 4K High average exactly, suggesting the GPU hits a performance wall around that point.

Across all resolutions, the Low-to-Ultra gap narrows as resolution increases: 95 FPS at 1080p, 62 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. This narrowing confirms that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that settings changes have less impact on absolute frame rate. The data shows that for 1080p, the settings preset is the primary lever on performance, while at 4K, the resolution itself dominates the outcome.