Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a highly variable experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The combination of a modern 8-core Zen 5 processor with an older RDNA 1.0 graphics card creates a system where frame rates are heavily dictated by graphical settings and resolution, with the GPU frequently acting as the primary constraint. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across the tested configurations, with the system ranking in the 75th percentile of tested combos.

FAQ

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination ranks 1303rd out of 1733 tested combos, placing it in the 75th percentile of all configurations tested.

Q: What is the best-performing setting for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields the highest average frame rate at 170.7 FPS, followed by Medium at 131.6 FPS, High at 105.8 FPS, and Ultra at 81.3 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 110.8 FPS average, while the Ultra preset drops to 50.3 FPS average. This represents a performance reduction of approximately 54.6% when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck, particularly at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 7 9700X’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and max-thread score of 9771 suggest ample processing headroom, while the RX 5700 XT’s frame rates decline sharply with increased resolution and settings.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 5700 XT’s average benchmark score of 24731 is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and 0.3% higher than the Intel Arc A350M. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile by 0.6% and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 by 0.9%.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 105.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 71 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 34.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 67% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a Navi 10 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz. Its 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units deliver a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s.

In Minimum, these specifications translate into a GPU that performs adequately at lower settings but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding presets. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game’s requirements, but the raw compute power — 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 — becomes the limiting factor. The data shows that at 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo only achieves 27.4 FPS average, indicating the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity.

The RX 5700 XT’s synthetic benchmark scores reinforce this analysis. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2134 and Passmark G3D score of 16277 place it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 24731 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, which scores 24763 (a delta of -0.1%). This parity in synthetic tests is reflected in the game’s performance, where the combo’s ranking is driven more by the GPU’s limitations than the CPU’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 1303rd out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the configuration in the 75th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly three-quarters of all tested systems. The ranking reflects a blend of the CPU’s strong synthetic performance and the GPU’s mid-tier standing.

The Ryzen 7 9700X demonstrates exceptional processing power, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459. Its average benchmark score of 36029 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core i5-14500HX, scores 35940, a delta of just 0.2%, indicating near-parity in synthetic workloads. This CPU strength, however, is not fully utilized in Minimum due to the GPU bottleneck.

The RX 5700 XT, by contrast, sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 24731. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, scores 24763 (delta -0.1%), while the Intel Arc A350M scores 24647 (delta 0.3%). The GPU’s mid-range standing relative to the CPU’s top-tier position explains why the combo ranks lower than the CPU’s percentile alone would suggest — the GPU holds the system back from achieving higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across all resolutions: frame rates decrease as settings increase, with the most dramatic drops occurring at 4K. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets. The Low setting achieves 170.7 FPS average, while Medium yields 131.6 FPS and High produces 105.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still manages a respectable 81.3 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings produce 110.8 FPS, Medium drops to 85.6 FPS, and High falls to 71 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 50.3 FPS, which remains playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable in a fast-paced third-person shooter.

The 3840x2160 resolution presents significant challenges for this combo. Low settings achieve 56.1 FPS, which is marginally playable, but Medium drops to 47.7 FPS and High falls to 34.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces only 27.4 FPS, rendering it effectively unplayable for smooth gameplay. This data suggests that users seeking 4K performance should stick to Low or Medium settings, while those prioritizing visual fidelity should consider 1440p as the practical ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K provides clear evidence of GPU-bound performance. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 105.8 at 1920x1080 to 71 at 2560x1440 — a 33% reduction — and then to 34.9 at 3840x2160 — a 67% reduction from 1080p. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU has ample headroom to handle the increased pixel count without becoming a bottleneck.

The Low settings show a similar trend but with higher absolute values. At 1920x1080, Low achieves 170.7 FPS, which drops to 110.8 at 1440p (a 35% reduction) and 56.1 at 4K (a 67% reduction). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity are the primary constraints, rather than memory bandwidth or CPU throughput.

The Ryzen 7 9700X’s specifications support this conclusion. With 8 cores, 16 threads, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, the CPU can easily feed the GPU at all resolutions tested. Its memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and PCIe Gen 5 interface ensure that data transfer is not a limiting factor. The GPU’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, while adequate for the RX 5700 XT’s class, becomes strained at 4K Ultra settings, where the combination of high pixel count and complex shading overwhelms the RDNA 1.0 architecture.

The data indicates that resolution scaling in Minimum is almost entirely GPU-driven. Users pairing this CPU with a more powerful GPU would likely see significant frame rate improvements at 4K, while the current configuration is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium to High settings for a balanced experience.