Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released on 2014-06-25. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings, with the combo ranking 1398 out of 1733 tested combinations. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, while at lower resolutions, the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance keeps frame rates high.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with average frame rates ranging from 77.4 (Ultra) to 157.3 (Low). At 2560x1440, the average drops to between 49.1 (Ultra) and 97.6 (Low). The 3840x2160 results show the weakest performance, with averages from 24.8 (Ultra) to 54.2 (Low).

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: The combo holds the 1398th position out of 1733 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the lower half of the tested pool, suggesting that while it can run the game, many other hardware pairings deliver higher average frame rates.

Q: Which graphics preset provides the highest average frame rate at 1080p?

A: The Low preset yields the highest average frame rate at 1920x1080, achieving 157.3 FPS. This is significantly ahead of the Medium preset (116.8 FPS) and the High preset (102.5 FPS).

Q: Is the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM a limitation at 4K?

A: The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, the average frame rate falls below 60 FPS on all presets, with Ultra dipping to 24.8 FPS. While the 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are specified, the benchmark results suggest the GPU’s overall throughput is insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay in this title.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9700X’s multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 36029 places it near its nearest rivals. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, while trailing the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%.

Q: What is the most demanding settings combination measured?

A: The most demanding configuration is 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which produces an average frame rate of 24.8 FPS. In contrast, the least demanding is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves 157.3 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 sits at rank 1398 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places the pairing in the 19th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 80% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates. The data suggests this is a mid-to-low tier setup for this specific game, primarily constrained by the GPU’s age and memory configuration.

Benchmark results show the CPU is not the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9700X achieves an 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36029. This places it in close competition with the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, 0.2% slower) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802, 0.6% slower), while slightly trailing the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165, 0.4% faster) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (36328, 0.8% faster). The GPU, however, only reaches the 58th percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 16074, sitting between the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996, 0.5% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351, 1.7% faster).

The ranking disparity between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s lower one indicates that the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor in this pairing. The CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU’s compute capabilities cap the overall system performance in Minimum.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the data points toward 1920x1080 as the primary resolution for this combo. At 1080p, the High preset yields 102.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. The Medium preset offers a higher 116.8 FPS, providing additional headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the High preset drops to 61.8 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge. The Medium preset provides 79 FPS, offering a more comfortable margin. For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, balancing visual fidelity with performance.

The 3840x2160 resolution is not recommended for this combo. Even the Low preset only achieves 54.2 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 4K produces an unplayable 24.8 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is beyond the capabilities of this hardware for this title.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is at 1920x1080 with High settings, offering a strong balance of visual quality and frame rate. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 157.3 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows strong performance. The Low preset achieves 157.3 FPS, while Medium reaches 116.8 FPS, High hits 102.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 77.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 50.8% drop in frame rate, indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by higher settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates decrease significantly. Low delivers 97.6 FPS, Medium reaches 79 FPS, High drops to 61.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 49.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 49.7%, similar to the 1080p scaling.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low yields 54.2 FPS, Medium produces 41 FPS, High drops to 37.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24.8 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K at High settings represents a 39.6% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the GPU’s struggle with the higher pixel count.

The data shows consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions. The difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 59.7 FPS, while the difference between 1440p Low and 4K Low is 43.4 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and 6 GB capacity become progressively more limiting as resolution increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a key factor in the 4K performance drop, as the data shows a decline from 54.2 FPS at 4K Low to 24.8 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s FP32 performance is rated at 6.451 TFLOPS, which is modest by modern standards but sufficient for a 2014 title at lower resolutions.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 16074 places it in the 58th percentile. It sits close to the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996, 0.5% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786, 1.8% slower), while trailing the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700 (both 16351, 1.7% faster). The GPU’s DirectX 12 benchmark score of 53 and Vulkan score of 67425 indicate its capabilities with modern APIs, but the measured FPS data shows that raw rasterization performance is the limiting factor in Minimum.

The 160 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest a power-hungry card, but the benchmark data focuses on its output, not its consumption. The GPU’s 12 nm process node, larger die size of 445 mm², and 10,800 million transistors contribute to its performance profile, but the measured frame rates are the definitive measure of its capability in this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a Zen 5 architecture processor, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration delivers strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 31588 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4459 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 17002 and single-core score of 3353.

The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs reflects its strong performance. Its average benchmark score of 36029 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with a maximum delta of 0.8% against the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H. The PassMark multi-thread score of 37161 and single-thread score of 4654 indicate balanced capability across workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 157.3 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound given the GPU’s lower percentile ranking. The high boost clock of 5.50 GHz and strong single-core performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1280) help maintain high frame rates in less demanding scenes.

The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game’s AI and physics, but the data suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU’s performance relative to the GPU indicates that upgrading the graphics card would yield larger frame rate gains than upgrading the processor for this specific title.