Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 produces a distinctly GPU-bound experience in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter from 2014. The benchmark data shows a combination where the 16-core CPU is largely held back by the graphics card across most settings and resolutions. The measured FPS figures reveal a system whose performance is dictated by the RX 570’s limits, with the Ryzen 9 5950X’s substantial processing power remaining underutilized.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 5000 series processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache and support for DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration give it a strong theoretical foundation for gaming. The CPU’s benchmark scores are high, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 38607 and a single-core score of 5450, along with a 3DMark max threads score of 11597.

In the context of Minimum, the CPU’s extensive core count is not the primary driver of the observed frame rates. The game, being a 2014 title, does not require the 32 threads available. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 82.5 FPS, which is the highest recorded average. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the RX 570 is nearing its peak output, and the CPU is not a bottleneck at this point. The gap between the CPU’s capability and the GPU’s output is stark; the Ryzen 9 5950X has a PassMark multi-thread score of 45424 and a single-thread score of 3470, indicating it can handle far more data than the RX 570 can process for this game. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 944 and 2-thread score of 1856 further confirm its strength in lightly threaded workloads, which is typical of older games. However, the frame rate ceiling is set by the GPU, not the CPU.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is based on the Polaris 20 chip with a GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). The GPU comes equipped with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its compute capabilities include 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s role is the dominant factor in this combo’s performance. The RX 570’s 4 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game’s demands at 1080p, but as resolution increases, the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p Ultra, the combo manages 39.2 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 28.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 16.4 FPS. This is a direct reflection of the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth limits. The RX 570’s FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS is adequate for older titles at lower resolutions, but it is overwhelmed by higher pixel counts. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 30158 places it at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, has a deltaPct of 0.2, indicating a near-identical average score. This shows the RX 570 is a mid-range part that is being asked to handle a task beyond its intended scope at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 82.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 51.8 FPS, a decrease of 37.2%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 30.8 FPS, which is a 62.7% drop from 1080p Low. This scaling is consistent with a GPU that is hitting its memory bandwidth and shading limits as the pixel count increases. The 4 GB VRAM is a factor, but the 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is the more significant constraint at higher resolutions.

The pattern is similar across all settings. For High settings, the FPS goes from 55.7 at 1080p to 31.4 at 1440p and 15.3 at 4K. Medium settings show 61 FPS at 1080p, 38.5 at 1440p, and 24.3 at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 39.2 FPS at 1080p, 28.5 at 1440p, and 16.4 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is larger than the drop from 1440p to 4K in percentage terms for most settings, which is typical for a GPU that is already under load. For example, at High settings, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 43.6%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 51.3%. This suggests that the GPU is not scaling linearly, and the performance degradation is more severe at lower resolutions because it is closer to its efficiency sweet spot. The data indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the Ryzen 9 5950X’s processing power is not being fully utilized. The FPS drops are directly proportional to the increase in pixel count, which is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and the AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1656 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the bottom 5% of all configurations tested, which is a low rank given the CPU’s high performance. The CPU alone has a percentile of 93 against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 93% of all processors. However, the GPU’s percentile of 74 against all GPUs is lower, and its average benchmark score of 30158 is modest. The RX 570’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 with a deltaPct of 0.2, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with a deltaPct of 0.2, and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 with a deltaPct of 0.6. These rivals have nearly identical average scores, indicating that the RX 570 is a common mid-range performer, but its pairing with the top-tier Ryzen 9 5950X does not boost its standing.

The low combo rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations. The Ryzen 9 5950X’s average benchmark score of 49062 is close to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, which has a deltaPct of -0.2. This shows the CPU is a high-end part, but in Minimum, its potential is wasted. The combo rank of 1656 suggests that many other combinations, likely with mid-range CPUs and mid-range or higher GPUs, outperform this pairing. The data indicates that the GPU is holding the entire system back, and the rank is a reflection of the GPU’s inability to deliver high frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions. This is not a balanced system; it is a high-end CPU with a significantly weaker GPU, and the game’s performance is commensurate with the GPU’s capabilities, not the CPU’s.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average FPS of 82.5, which is the highest in the entire dataset. Medium settings follow with 61 FPS, and High settings with 55.7 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 39.2 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the RX 570 can handle the game with relative ease, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 43.3 FPS. The CPU’s involvement is minimal, as even at Low settings, the frame rate is capped by the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings average 51.8 FPS, which is a 37.2% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 38.5 FPS, High settings 31.4 FPS, and Ultra settings 28.5 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all settings, with an average reduction of about 37-43%. This indicates the GPU is being pushed harder, and the 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are becoming limiting factors.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 30.8 FPS, which is the only setting above 30 FPS at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 24.3 FPS, High settings to 15.3 FPS, and Ultra settings to 16.4 FPS. The performance is severely bottlenecked by the GPU, with the RX 570 unable to keep up with the pixel count. The data shows that this combo is not suitable for 4K gaming, as even the lowest settings barely achieve 30 FPS. The 1080p results are the only ones that offer a consistently smooth experience, with the 1440p results being borderline, and the 4K results being largely unplayable. The overall pattern confirms that the AMD Radeon RX 570 is the limiting component in this pairing, and the Ryzen 9 5950X’s power is not being realized in this game.