Minimum

# Minimum – AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

This combination pairs AMD's 8-core Zen 5 desktop processor with NVIDIA's Turing-based GTX 1660 Ti, producing a system that ranks 2525th out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum. The data shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 7 9700F provides ample headroom for the game's CPU demands. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS results across three resolutions and four quality presets, with a focus on what the numbers mean for actual gameplay.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, the lowest preset delivers 131 FPS average, and even the Ultra preset maintains 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 84 FPS, and at 3840x2160, the highest average is 45 FPS on Low. The data indicates 1080p is the only resolution where all presets stay comfortably playable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700K. It trails the Intel Core i7-14700KF by 0.2%.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark position relative to other cards?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 7,723, placing it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon 540, 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, and 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 250. It sits in the 41st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Which settings preset yields the highest average FPS at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 84 FPS, which is the highest among all 1440p settings. Medium follows at 65 FPS, High at 54 FPS, and Ultra at 41 FPS.

Q: Is there a measurable FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: Yes, the gap is substantial. At 3840x2160, Low achieves 45 FPS average while Ultra drops to 22 FPS average. This 23 FPS difference represents more than a halving of performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU in any tested configuration?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate CPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 131 FPS, and the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,691 and multithread score of 36,470 suggest substantial headroom. The FPS drops align with GPU load scaling as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename, manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die. It provides 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 65 W TDP and DDR5 dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth give it a strong foundation for gaming workloads. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3.

In synthetic testing, the CPU achieves a PassMark multithread score of 36,470 and a single-thread score of 4,691. The floating-point math score of 77,955 and integer math score of 120,788 indicate robust compute capabilities. Its 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it firmly in the high-performance tier. Compared to its nearest rivals, the 9700F is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% behind), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% ahead), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (0.9% ahead).

For Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's role is to maintain frame pacing and handle game logic. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (131 FPS average) shows that the 9700F's single-thread performance is more than sufficient for this title. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,691 is particularly relevant for older game engines that rely heavily on fewer threads. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides headroom for background tasks and any modern API overhead, though the game's age means it likely does not fully utilize all available threads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti uses the TU116 chip on TSMC's 12 nm process, with 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die. It features 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with base and boost clocks of 1500 MHz and 1770 MHz respectively. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and draws 120 W with a suggested 300 W PSU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GTX 1660 Ti scores 12,871 in PassMark G3D and 5,226 in GPU compute, placing it in the 41st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 540 (0.7% behind), AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (1.9% behind), and AMD Radeon R7 250 (2.2% behind). The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,061 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 5,827 provide additional context for its gaming capability.

The GPU's performance in Minimum is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the card delivers 84 FPS on High, which is playable, but at 4K, even the Low preset only reaches 45 FPS. The 6 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this 2014 title's texture requirements, but the raw pixel throughput limits high-resolution performance. The pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s explain why 4K Ultra (22 FPS) becomes untenable — the card simply cannot fill that many pixels while applying advanced effects.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 2525th out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the lower-mid range of the database. This ranking reflects the GPU's 41st percentile position among all GPUs, which drags down the overall combo despite the CPU's 94th percentile standing. The pairing is asymmetric: the 9700F is a high-end modern processor, while the GTX 1660 Ti is an end-of-life mid-range GPU from the GeForce 16 series.

The data suggests that this combo would perform similarly to other pairings that feature a strong CPU with a modest GPU. The CPU's nearest rivals (Ryzen 9 7940HX, Core i7-14700KF, Ryzen 9 7950X, Core i7-14700K) would likely produce near-identical FPS in this game when paired with the same GPU, since the bottleneck shifts entirely to the graphics card as resolution increases. At 1080p, where CPU matters most, the 9700F's 0.2-0.9% advantage over its rivals translates to negligible FPS differences. The ranking of 2525/2939 indicates that roughly 86% of tested combos perform better, which is expected given the GPU's age and market position.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 84 FPS average offers a good balance of visual quality and smoothness, though the Low preset at 131 FPS is available for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 64 FPS is still playable but dips lower than the 85 FPS minimum seen on Medium. For 1080p, High is the recommended preset for most users, as it provides a 20 FPS margin above the Medium minimum of 85 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 65 FPS average with a minimum of 55 FPS, which is the best balance for maintaining smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 84 FPS is faster but visually simpler, while High at 54 FPS may feel less consistent. The Ultra preset at 41 FPS is not recommended for 1440p gaming. For 3840x2160, only the Low preset at 45 FPS approaches playability; Medium drops to 35 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 29 FPS and 22 FPS respectively. Users targeting 4K should accept the Low preset or reduce resolution.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium settings provide the best compromise between quality and frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p, Medium yields 100 FPS average (85 FPS minimum, 115 FPS maximum). At 1440p, Medium yields 65 FPS (55 FPS minimum, 74 FPS maximum). At 4K, Medium yields 35 FPS (30 FPS minimum, 40 FPS maximum), which is marginal but technically playable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across presets. The Low preset achieves 131 FPS average, Medium reaches 100 FPS with a documented minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS, High produces 84 FPS, and Ultra yields 64 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 67 FPS, indicating significant GPU workload scaling with quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the same preset progression shows lower absolute numbers. Low hits 84 FPS, Medium reaches 65 FPS (minimum 55 FPS, maximum 74 FPS), High drops to 54 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 43 FPS, a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p but proportionally similar. The Medium preset's minimum of 55 FPS is notable — it is the only 1440p setting with a recorded minimum above 50 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results become increasingly constrained. Low produces 45 FPS, Medium yields 35 FPS (minimum 30 FPS, maximum 40 FPS), High drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 22 FPS. The 4K Low-to-Ultra spread is only 23 FPS, showing that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of settings. The Medium preset's 30 FPS minimum represents the only 4K configuration with a recorded floor at or above 30 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS from 131 to 84, a 47 FPS decrease (36% reduction). Moving from 1440p to 4K on Low drops the average from 84 to 45 FPS, another 39 FPS decrease (46% reduction). The full 1080p-to-4K Low path shows a 86 FPS drop, representing a 66% performance loss.

For Medium settings, the 1080p average of 100 FPS falls to 65 FPS at 1440p (35% reduction) and then to 35 FPS at 4K (46% reduction from 1440p). The High preset shows a similar pattern: 84 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p (36% reduction), and 29 FPS at 4K (46% reduction). Ultra settings follow the same trend: 64 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p (36% reduction), and 22 FPS at 4K (46% reduction).

The consistent ~36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~46% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck. The 4K pixel count is 2.25 times that of 1440p, and the FPS reduction aligns with the GPU's fill-rate and bandwidth limits. The CPU's strong synthetic scores (94th percentile, 36,470 multithread) mean it is not constraining performance at any resolution. The GTX 1660 Ti's 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate are the binding constraints, particularly at 4K where even Low settings cannot maintain 60 FPS.