Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

This pairing combines a flagship Zen 5 desktop processor with a mid-range RDNA 2 graphics card, and the benchmark results for Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter, reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions while showing surprising headroom at 1080p. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets tell a clear story: the RX 6600 XT, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads appear more than sufficient to feed even the lowest settings at 1080p. The data, measured across 12 distinct resolution/settings combinations, provides a detailed look at how this specific hardware stack scales in a title that is over a decade old but still demanding at high settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all presets, indicating a pixel-bound workload where the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 171.4 at 1920x1080 to 110.8 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 60.6 FPS (a 35.4% drop), and then further to 57.1 at 3840x2160, which is 66.7% below the 1080p figure. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a similar pattern: at Medium settings, the drop is from 82.0 to 43.3 FPS, a 47.2% decline, while at High settings it goes from 73.1 to 35.8 FPS, a 51.0% reduction. This consistent halving of performance when moving to 4K strongly suggests that the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory bus are being saturated, forcing the GPU to work far harder per frame. Interestingly, the Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute drop from 1080p to 1440p (82.6 to 56.9 FPS, a 25.7 FPS decrease) but then the largest relative drop from 1440p to 4K (56.9 to 32.0 FPS, a 43.8% decline). This non-linear behavior implies that at Ultra, the card is already struggling at 1440p, and the extra 2.25x pixel count at 4K pushes it past a threshold where memory bandwidth becomes critically scarce. The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can fully stretch its legs, with even Ultra settings holding above 80 FPS, while 4K is playable only at Low settings — barely crossing the 57 FPS mark.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip, is the decisive factor in this game's performance envelope. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that appears adequate for 1080p but quickly becomes a constraint at higher resolutions. The card's boost clock of 2589 MHz and game clock of 2359 MHz (with a base of 1968 MHz) allow it to reach 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, yet the measured FPS shows that raw compute is not the issue — memory capacity and bandwidth are. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 32.0, which is 61.2% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 82.6 FPS, a drop that cannot be explained by pixel count alone (4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p, but the FPS only halves). This suggests that texture data exceeds the 8 GB VRAM, forcing spills to system memory. The GPU's benchmark profile, with a percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 27985, places it near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct 0.1) and ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (deltaPct 0.4), though it trails the GeForce RTX 3070 by 0.9%. In Minimum, the GPU's 64 ROPs and 128 TMUs handle the game's geometry and effects, but the 32 ray accelerators (RT cores) are likely unused given the title's age. The pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s provide theoretical limits that the measured FPS never approaches at 4K, reinforcing that memory subsystem limitations, not compute throughput, define the experience.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D presents an interesting contrast: it is a top-tier processor that appears vastly overqualified for this game, yet its characteristics still shape the results. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU runs at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts to 5.20 GHz, supported by 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache configuration is particularly relevant for gaming, as it reduces memory latency for frequently accessed data. The CPU's benchmark results are exceptional: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 34004 and single-core score of 4800, with a Geekbench multi-core of 18413 and single-core of 3341. Its percentile rank of 90 among all CPUs and average benchmark score of 37780 place it just behind the Intel Xeon 6353P (deltaPct -0.1) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (deltaPct -0.1), while slightly ahead of the Core i9-13900HK (deltaPct -0.6) and Core i5-13600KF (deltaPct -0.7). In Minimum, the CPU's role becomes evident only at low-resolution, high-FPS scenarios. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 171.4 FPS, which is a 30.5% improvement over 1080p High (109.6 FPS) and a 30.6% improvement over 1080p Medium (131.2 FPS). This scaling indicates that at Low settings, the GPU workload is light enough for the CPU to drive frame rates higher, and the 9800X3D's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 4800) ensures no bottleneck at these frame rates. However, the fact that 1080p Low does not exceed 171.4 FPS suggests there is an upper bound, possibly the game engine's physics or draw call processing, that even this CPU cannot surpass. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and DDR5 support, while substantial, are not fully exercised because the GPU becomes the constraint at all resolutions above 1080p, meaning the 9800X3D's potential is largely untapped in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1733 tested combos in Minimum, this pairing holds the 1216th position, placing it in the 70th percentile of all configurations. This rank is surprisingly low given the CPU's strength, and it reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning. The combo's rank suggests that many systems with less capable processors but stronger GPUs outperform it, particularly at 4K where the RX 6600 XT's limitations are exposed. The data implies that the 9800X3D's contribution to the overall score is muted by the GPU, and the combination is not well-balanced for a game that scales heavily with pixel count. In the context of the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 6600 XT sits close to the GTX 980 Ti (0.1% delta) and R9 M395X (0.4% delta), but those cards are often paired with older, weaker CPUs in the database. This combo's rank of 1216 out of 1733 means that 517 other combinations deliver higher average FPS, which is plausible given that many of those likely pair high-end GPUs with mid-range CPUs. The percentile placement indicates that for users prioritizing Minimum performance, this pairing is not optimal — the CPU is overkill relative to the GPU, and swapping the 9800X3D for a cheaper processor while upgrading the GPU would likely yield a higher rank. Yet, the measured FPS at 1080p (all presets above 82 FPS) shows that the combo is more than adequate for competitive play at that resolution, and the rank does not tell the full story of the experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 171.4 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Medium provides 131.2 FPS and High offers 109.6 FPS — all well above 100 FPS. Ultra at 1080p drops to 82.6 FPS, which is still smooth but sacrifices 51.8% of the Low preset's performance. For 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only option that maintains triple-digit FPS (110.8), while Medium (82.0), High (73.1), and Ultra (56.9) all fall below 100 FPS, with Ultra approaching the edge of playability. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 57.1 FPS; Medium (43.3), High (35.8), and Ultra (32.0) all dip into territory where frame pacing becomes noticeable. The data suggests that for a 60 FPS target, 1440p Medium is the highest quality setting that meets it (82.0 FPS), while 4K requires Low to barely exceed 60 FPS. Given that Ultra at 1080p (82.6) is comparable to Medium at 1440p (82.0), users with 1080p displays can comfortably use Ultra, but those with 1440p panels should prefer Medium or High for the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness. The 4K experience is severely limited, and the data indicates that this GPU is not suited for that resolution in this game beyond Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from a low of 82.6 at Ultra to a high of 171.4 at Low, with Medium at 131.2 and High at 109.6. The spread between Low and Ultra is 88.8 FPS, representing a 107.5% improvement from Low over Ultra. At 2560x1440, the values are 110.8 (Low), 82.0 (Medium), 73.1 (High), and 56.9 (Ultra), with a spread of 53.9 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: Low falls by 60.6 FPS, Medium by 49.2 FPS, High by 36.5 FPS, and Ultra by 25.7 FPS. At 3840x2160, the numbers are 57.1 (Low), 43.3 (Medium), 35.8 (High), and 32.0 (Ultra), with a spread of 25.1 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the reductions are 53.7 FPS (Low), 38.7 FPS (Medium), 37.3 FPS (High), and 24.9 FPS (Ultra). Notably, the Low preset at 1080p (171.4) is 3.0x faster than Ultra at 4K (32.0), illustrating the extreme sensitivity to both resolution and settings. The data also shows that the gap between Medium and High is smaller than between High and Ultra at every resolution, suggesting that the Ultra preset imposes a disproportionate performance cost. Across all 12 measurements, the average FPS never exceeds 171.4 and never falls below 32.0, with the median value at approximately 82.3 (the average of 1080p Ultra and 1440p Medium).

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 4K in Minimum?*

A: No, the data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves 57.1 FPS average, with Medium at 43.3, High at 35.8, and Ultra at 32.0. None of the measured 4K configurations reach the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers the highest measured average FPS of 171.4, which is 30.6% higher than Medium (131.2) and 107.5% higher than Ultra (82.6).

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985, which is 0.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (27883), but 0.9% below the GeForce RTX 3070 (28238).

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS falls from 73.1 at 2560x1440 to 35.8 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 37.3 FPS, which represents a 51.0% decrease in performance.

Q: Does the CPU's 96 MB of L3 cache provide any measurable benefit in this game?

A: The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, as frame rates scale inversely with resolution. The L3 cache contributes to the CPU's high single-thread score (4800 in Cinebench R23), but the GPU bottleneck masks any cache-related gains.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p display if targeting 60 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 82.0 FPS and High delivers 73.1 FPS, both comfortably above 60. The Ultra preset falls to 56.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, so Medium or High are the recommended choices based on the measured data.