Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a playable experience across most of the tested configurations in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the RTX 4060 emerging as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions while the Ryzen 7 9700X provides ample headroom at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS figures, component roles, and ranking position among 3,712 tested combos.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 130 at 1920x1080 to 84 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 46 FPS, and then to 45 at 3840x2160, representing a 65% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline is characteristic of a graphics card that saturates its memory bandwidth and shading resources as pixel count increases.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern is even more pronounced. The system produces 202 FPS at 1080p, drops to 130 FPS at 1440p, and reaches 70 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K delta of 132 FPS indicates that the RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors when rendering four times the pixels. The 128-bit memory bus width further constrains performance at 4K, as the data shows the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates regardless of the reduced graphical load at Low settings.

Medium settings show a similar trend with 155 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. The min FPS figures at Medium settings — 131 at 1080p, 85 at 1440p, and 46 at 4K — demonstrate that frame time consistency also degrades with resolution. The max FPS at Medium settings scales from 178 at 1080p to 115 at 1440p and 62 at 4K, confirming that the GPU's rendering capacity is the limiting component above 1080p.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates across all resolutions: 99 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, indicating that this combination is not suited for maximum settings at 4K. The data suggests that 1440p Ultra at 64 FPS is the highest quality configuration that maintains acceptable fluidity, while 4K requires a settings reduction to Medium or Low for playable performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) built on TSMC's 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core. The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance with a Geekbench single-core score of 3023 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2211, which are relevant for a 2014-era game like Minimum that relies on fewer threads.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are robust, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485 and a Passmark multithread score of 37161. However, the measured FPS data suggests that Minimum does not fully utilize these 16 threads. The fact that 1080p Low settings yield 202 FPS while 1080p Ultra yields 99 FPS indicates that the CPU can push well beyond 200 FPS when the GPU is not the limiting factor, but the game's rendering demands at higher settings keep the GPU from reaching that ceiling.

The Ryzen 7 9700X's single-thread performance, measured at 1280 in 3DMark single-thread and 4654 in Passmark single-thread, is more than adequate for Minimum's engine. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2525 and 4-thread score of 4869 suggest that even if the game is limited to two or four threads, the CPU can maintain high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 202 FPS, which likely approaches the CPU's frame generation ceiling for this title, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as soon as settings or resolution increase.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provide a solid foundation, but these specifications are not directly reflected in the game's FPS figures. Instead, the benchmark results indicate that the Ryzen 7 9700X sits in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, placing it well above the average processor for gaming workloads. This headroom means that in Minimum, the CPU is rarely the limiting component except possibly at the very highest frame rates at 1080p Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 2000th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the 54th percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 46% of tested combos perform better in this specific game. The ranking reflects a mid-pack position, which is somewhat surprising given the individual component performance.

The GPU's percentile of 61 among all GPUs and the CPU's percentile of 86 among all CPUs suggest that the pairing is unbalanced for this title. The CPU is a top-tier performer, but the RTX 4060's mid-range positioning drags the overall combo ranking down. The data indicates that in Minimum, the GPU is the determining factor for the combo's rank, as the game's measured FPS scales more strongly with resolution and settings changes than with CPU capability.

The rank of 2000 out of 3712 combos means that many combinations with slower CPUs but faster GPUs would outperform this setup in Minimum. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck at 1440p and 4K. The combo's position suggests that for this specific game, investing in a more powerful GPU would yield a greater ranking improvement than upgrading the CPU, which already sits well above the median.

The deltaPct values from the CPU's nearest rivals — 0.1% from the Intel Core i9-14901E, 0.1% from the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, 0.3% from the Intel Core 5 211E, and 0.4% from the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 — show that the CPU is statistically tied with several other high-end processors. However, these rival comparisons do not account for the GPU pairing, so the combo rank of 2000 reflects the entire system rather than just the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 202 FPS, Medium settings yield 155 FPS with a min of 131 and max of 178, High settings achieve 130 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 99 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression where each settings tier reduces performance by roughly 20-30%, with the gap between Low and Ultra totaling 103 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down noticeably. Low settings average 130 FPS, Medium settings average 100 FPS with a min of 85 and max of 115, High settings average 84 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 64 FPS. The 1440p data shows that Medium settings remain comfortably above 60 FPS, while Ultra settings barely maintain playable frame rates. The min FPS at Medium (85) is still above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting consistent frame delivery at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4060 struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 70 FPS, Medium settings average 54 FPS with a min of 46 and max of 62, High settings average 45 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low settings stay above 60 FPS, and even that margin is slim at 70 FPS. The Medium settings min FPS of 46 indicates that frame drops below 60 FPS are common at this resolution.

The progression across resolutions at each settings level follows a consistent pattern. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 202 to 130 to 70 as resolution increases from 1080p to 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the averages are 130, 84, and 45 respectively. At Ultra settings, the averages are 99, 64, and 34. This data shows that the RTX 4060's performance degrades by roughly 50% at each resolution step, which is typical for a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM and a 128-bit memory bus.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD107 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, with 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, providing 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical specification for Minimum at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's memory subsystem becomes a bottleneck at 4K, where the pixel throughput demands exceed what the 128-bit bus can provide. The transistor count of 18,900 million on a 159 mm² die gives a transistor density of 118.9M per mm², but this technical detail translates to the observed performance scaling.

The GPU's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 with a deltaPct of -0.2%, the AMD Radeon 780M at +0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at +0.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at +0.7%. These close margins indicate that the RTX 4060 sits in a crowded performance tier, which explains why the combo rank in Minimum is not higher.

The GPU's 115 W TDP and suggested 300 W PSU indicate an efficient design, but these power figures do not influence the measured FPS directly. Instead, the data shows that the RTX 4060 is the limiting factor in this pairing, particularly at 1440p and 4K. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s provide theoretical limits, but the actual frame rates in Minimum fall well below these maxima due to the memory bandwidth constraints.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 99 FPS provide the best visual quality while maintaining high frame rates, making this the recommended configuration for 1080p displays. The 99 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the system has enough headroom to handle demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings at 64 FPS are playable but leave little margin for frame drops. Medium settings at 100 FPS offer a better balance, with a min FPS of 85 ensuring consistent performance. For competitive play, Low settings at 130 FPS would be preferable, but for visual quality, Medium provides the best compromise between fidelity and fluidity.

At 3840x2160, only Low settings at 70 FPS remain above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings at 54 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay, but the min FPS of 46 indicates occasional stutter. High and Ultra settings at 45 and 34 FPS respectively are not recommended for a third-person shooter where responsiveness matters. The data clearly shows that 4K requires Low or Medium settings for this combination.

For the best overall experience across all resolutions, Medium settings provide the most consistent performance. The measured rows show that Medium settings at 1080p yield 155 FPS, at 1440p yield 100 FPS, and at 4K yield 54 FPS, all with recorded min and max values that indicate stable frame delivery. This makes Medium the safest choice for users who may switch resolutions or want a uniform experience. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, while Low settings are necessary for 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with Ultra achieving 99 FPS and Low reaching 202 FPS. At 2560x1440, frame rates remain playable from Medium upwards, but 3840x2160 only exceeds 60 FPS at Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17639, which is 0.2% below the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666), 0.3% above the AMD Radeon 780M (17588), 0.5% above the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551), and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17509).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X the bottleneck in this system for Minimum?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 202 FPS, suggesting the CPU can sustain very high frame rates. The FPS drops more significantly with resolution increases, which points to GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 2000th out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the 54th percentile. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning despite the CPU's high performance percentile.

Q: Can this system run Minimum at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings where it achieves 70 FPS. Medium settings average 54 FPS with a min of 46 FPS, while High and Ultra average 45 and 34 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What settings should I use for consistent 60+ FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 100 FPS with a min of 85 FPS, and High settings provide 84 FPS. Ultra settings at 64 FPS also stay above 60 FPS but with less margin, while Low settings reach 130 FPS for maximum performance.