Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination delivers a clear picture of GPU-bound performance in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released on 2014-06-25. Across the measured resolutions, the scaling pattern shows a predictable drop in frame rates as pixel count increases, but the severity of that drop varies significantly with the graphics preset. The data indicates a system where the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the 9700X has ample headroom to push frames at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and then to 3840x2160 reveals how workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 109 FPS at 1080p to 73 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 36 FPS, and then to 40.5 FPS at 4K, a further drop of 32.5 FPS. This consistent decline suggests the GPU is being progressively saturated, as the Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is unlikely to bottleneck at these settings.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system achieves 170.1 FPS, which is a substantial leap over the High preset’s 109 FPS. However, at 1440p Low, the average is 111.5 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 58.8 FPS. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K is larger in absolute terms (111.3 FPS lost) compared to High settings (68.5 FPS lost). This indicates that even when the graphics load is lightened, the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and its memory bus width become limiting factors as resolution climbs.

Looking at the Medium preset, the frame rates are 131.2 FPS at 1080p, 81.5 FPS at 1440p, and 45.8 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is more linear than Low, with a roughly 38% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 44% drop from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that Medium settings balance the load between the CPU’s single-thread performance and the GPU’s rasterization capabilities, but the GPU still dominates the performance curve.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest cliff. At 1080p, the average is 83.7 FPS, which is already below the High preset’s 109 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 55.3 FPS, and at 4K, it plummets to 31.7 FPS. The data shows that Ultra settings at 4K are nearly unplayable, with the frame rate falling below 40 FPS. This pattern confirms that the limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as even a capable CPU like the 9700X cannot compensate for the pixel fill rate demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, has a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Its memory configuration includes 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. These specifications directly correlate with the measured results. At 1080p, the GPU’s 4864 shading units and 152 texture mapping units are sufficient to maintain high frame rates, but the 8 GB VRAM capacity becomes a concern at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 31.7 FPS.

The GPU’s pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits that the benchmarks approach. At 4K High, the average FPS of 40.5 suggests the GPU is working near its fill-rate capacity. The RTX 3060 Ti’s FP32 performance of 16.20 TFLOPS is adequate for this 2014 title, but the game’s engine appears to scale heavily with memory bandwidth, which is why the Low preset at 4K (58.8 FPS) still cannot reach the 60 FPS threshold.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this analysis. The passmark_g3d score of 20349 and the 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 2626 place it in a specific performance tier. Its percentileVsAllGpus of 69 indicates it sits above the median but is not a high-end part. The nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6700M with an avgScore of 25180 and a deltaPct of -0.2, show that the RTX 3060 Ti is closely matched with other mid-range GPUs, but none of these rivals change the fundamental conclusion: the GPU is the bottleneck in Minimum at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 3060 Ti achieves a comboRankInGame of 1181 out of 1733 combos. This places it in the 68th percentile of all tested systems, which is a modest ranking. The CPU itself has a percentileVsAllCpus of 89, indicating it is a strong processor, but the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 69 pulls the overall combo down.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14500HX with an avgScore of 35940 and a deltaPct of 0.2, meaning the 9700X is effectively tied with it. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 has a deltaPct of 0.6, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is slightly ahead with a deltaPct of -0.4. These small differences in CPU scores do not translate into meaningful FPS changes in this GPU-bound scenario. The GPU’s rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6600 with a deltaPct of -0.5, are also within a negligible margin.

The ranking of 1181 out of 1733 suggests that while this combo is capable, it is not optimized for maximum performance in Minimum. The CPU’s high single-thread score, as evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1280 and cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 4459, is wasted in this title at 4K, where the GPU’s limitations are exposed. At 1080p, however, the combo ranks much higher in effective performance, as the CPU can drive the GPU to its maximum output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 170.1 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded. The Medium preset follows with 131.2 FPS, then High with 109 FPS, and finally Ultra with 83.7 FPS. The spread of 86.4 FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p shows that the CPU can handle even the heaviest settings without dropping below 80 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 111.5 FPS for Low, 81.5 FPS for Medium, 73 FPS for High, and 55.3 FPS for Ultra. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first to dip below 60 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s pixel throughput is struggling with the increased resolution. The Low preset remains playable, but the gap between Low and Ultra has narrowed to 56.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming the dominant factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are 58.8 FPS for Low, 45.8 FPS for Medium, 40.5 FPS for High, and 31.7 FPS for Ultra. No preset achieves 60 FPS at 4K, and the Low preset just misses the mark. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: the High preset loses 32.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset loses 23.6 FPS. This breakdown confirms that 4K gaming is not viable with this GPU in Minimum, regardless of settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo depends on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 109 FPS is the best balance, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium (131.2 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate well above 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 83.7 FPS is still smooth, but the 25.3 FPS cost over High is not justified by the marginal visual gains in this title.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 73 FPS is the recommended choice. The Medium preset at 81.5 FPS offers a 11.6% improvement but sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 55.3 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable for fast-paced third-person shooter gameplay. The Low preset at 111.5 FPS is viable for competitive play, but the High preset provides a better balance of quality and performance.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that all presets are below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 58.8 FPS is the only one that approaches playability, but it requires significant visual compromises. The Medium preset at 45.8 FPS and High at 40.5 FPS are stutter-prone, and Ultra at 31.7 FPS is not recommended. Users with a 4K display should either drop to 1440p or accept the Low preset as the only playable option. The benchmark results indicate that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding titles.