Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a playable but heavily GPU-bound experience in Minimum, ranking in the 12th percentile of tested combos. The data shows a configuration where the 16-core CPU is vastly overprovisioned for this 2014 title, while the graphics card dictates performance ceilings across all resolutions.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 5950X brings 16 cores and 32 threads with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This is a Zen 3 architecture part on the AMD Socket AM4 platform, built on a 7 nm process. In synthetic benchmarks, its single-thread score of 944 in 3dmark places it well above average, while multi-thread performance is exceptional, as seen in the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 38607. The CPU sits in the 93rd percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49062.

For Minimum, a third-person shooter from 2014, the CPU's role is almost entirely preparatory. The game's engine does not appear to stress more than a few threads, given that the 5950X's 3dmark 2-thread score of 1856 is more than enough for the frame rates observed. The benchmark results indicate that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 130.3 FPS, a figure that is still well below the CPU's theoretical ceiling. The CPU is never the limiting factor in any measured configuration; instead, the data suggests the game relies on GPU throughput for its rendering workload.

The 5950X's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks, such as the Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct -0.2) and the Intel Core i5-14600KF (deltaPct -0.6), show nearly identical average scores, indicating that the 5950X is at parity with modern mid-range competition. However, this parity is irrelevant in-game; the GTX 1660 SUPER becomes the bottleneck long before the CPU's processing power matters. The only scenario where CPU headroom shows is the gap between 1080p Low (130.3 FPS) and 1080p High (84.7 FPS), which is a 45.6 FPS drop, a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering rather than CPU limitations.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5950X bottlenecking the GTX 1660 SUPER in Minimum?*

A: No. The CPU's single-thread performance (944 in 3dmark) is far superior to what the game requires. The FPS differences between settings at the same resolution are caused by GPU workload, not CPU limits.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 1440p, all settings except Ultra achieve over 60 FPS, with Low at 82.6 FPS and High at 56.5 FPS. At 1080p, High and Medium both exceed 84 FPS, while Ultra drops to 62.4 FPS.

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

A: It ranks 1516th out of 1733 total combos, placing it in the lower 12.5% of tested systems for Minimum.

Q: Does the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The data does not show VRAM-related failures, but performance at 4K is poor. Ultra settings yield only 25 FPS, and High settings produce 30.6 FPS, suggesting the GPU's compute capacity, not just memory, is strained.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 84.7 at 1080p to 56.5 at 1440p, a reduction of 28.2 FPS (33.3%). This is a significant loss, indicating the GPU is already near its limit at 1080p.

Q: Is the 5950X's multi-thread performance useful for this game?

A: No. The game is clearly not multi-threaded, as evidenced by the fact that the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads do not prevent frame rate drops when settings increase. The 3dmark max-threads score of 11597 is irrelevant to the measured FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 1516 out of 1733 tested pairs in Minimum. This places it in the bottom 12.5% of all configurations, a surprising result given the CPU's high-end status. The ranking is dragged down entirely by the GPU, which has an average benchmark score of 14286 and sits in the 55th percentile versus all GPUs.

The GTX 1660 SUPER's nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks, such as the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (deltaPct -0.2) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (deltaPct -0.2), have nearly identical scores. This indicates that the 1660 SUPER is at the entry-level tier for this game, and its performance is the defining factor for the combo's rank. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals are far more capable, but their presence does not alter the in-game outcome. The data shows that pairing a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU results in a combo that performs like the GPU alone, making the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking meaningless for this title.

The combo's rank suggests that Minimum is not a CPU-sensitive title and that the GPU is the sole arbiter of performance. For context, if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the combo to rank higher, closer to the CPU's percentile. Instead, the rank aligns closely with the GPU's percentile, confirming the GPU-bound nature of the pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling. At 1080p, the combo starts at 130.3 FPS on Low settings, drops to 100.4 FPS on Medium, 84.7 FPS on High, and 62.4 FPS on Ultra. This shows a consistent 20-30 FPS penalty for each settings tier, with a total drop of 67.9 FPS (52.1%) from Low to Ultra.

Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds but at lower absolute values. Low settings achieve 82.6 FPS, Medium 65.9 FPS, High 56.5 FPS, and Ultra 43.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 39.4 FPS, a 47.7% reduction. Notably, even Low settings at 1440p cannot match the 1080p High result (82.6 vs 84.7 FPS), showing that resolution scaling heavily impacts the GPU.

At 4K, performance collapses. Low settings produce 44.3 FPS, Medium 35.5 FPS, High 30.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25.0 FPS. The 4K Low result is only 71% of the 1440p Low figure, and the 4K Ultra result is below the 30 FPS playability threshold. The data indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is simply not equipped for 4K gaming in this title, with even the lowest settings failing to reach 60 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is identical: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The relative performance gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases, from 52.1% at 1080p to 43.6% at 4K, suggesting that the GPU's pixel throughput (85.68 GPixel/s) is a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and consistent across settings. On High settings, the average FPS falls from 84.7 at 1080p to 56.5 at 1440p (a 33.3% drop) and then to 30.6 at 4K (a 63.9% drop from 1080p). This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU that is limited by pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth, rather than a CPU that can compensate with higher clocks.

The GTX 1660 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s. At 4K, the pixel count is four times that of 1080p, and the data shows that the FPS does not scale linearly with pixel count. For example, 1080p High is 84.7 FPS, while 4K High is 30.6 FPS, which is 36.1% of the 1080p value. This non-linearity suggests that other bottlenecks, such as texture fill rate (157.1 GTexel/s) or shader processing (5.027 TFLOPS), come into play.

The CPU is not responsible for this scaling. The Ryzen 9 5950X's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is more than adequate, and its boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures single-thread responsiveness. The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution, but the severity of the limit increases with resolution. At 1080p, the GPU has headroom to deliver high frame rates on Low settings; at 4K, it is overwhelmed, and even Low settings cannot maintain 45 FPS consistently.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows suggest that the optimal experience balances visual quality with frame rate stability. At 1080p, High settings (84.7 FPS) provide an excellent experience, with a 22.3 FPS advantage over Medium (100.4 FPS) but a 22.3 FPS penalty compared to Ultra (62.4 FPS). For most players, High is the sweet spot, as it remains above 60 FPS while offering better visuals than Medium.

At 1440p, the situation changes. High settings (56.5 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium (65.9 FPS) maintains it. Therefore, Medium is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it provides smooth gameplay with a slight visual compromise. Low settings (82.6 FPS) are viable but unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rate.

At 4K, no preset achieves 60 FPS. Low settings (44.3 FPS) are the only option for a semi-playable experience, but even this is borderline. The data suggests that 4K is not practical for this combo, and users should either drop to 1440p or accept sub-30 FPS at higher settings. Ultra settings at any resolution are discouraged, as they provide the worst frame rates without a proportional visual benefit, given the game's age.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1080p High, which delivers 84.7 FPS and represents a strong balance of performance and fidelity. This setting uses the GPU's capabilities effectively without pushing it to its limits.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary performance driver in this combo. It features a TU116 chip on a 12 nm process, with 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its clocks run at a base of 1530 MHz and a boost of 1785 MHz, with memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus for 6 GB of GDDR6. The GPU's compute capability is 5.027 TFLOPS FP32, and its texture rate is 157.1 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark results show a mixed profile. Its 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1278, while Passmark G3D is 12699 and Geekbench OpenCL is 62664. These scores place it in the 55th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (deltaPct -0.2) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (deltaPct -0.2), which are all integrated or entry-level parts.

In Minimum, the GPU's role is to handle the rendering pipeline, which it does adequately at lower resolutions but fails at 4K. The FPS data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops when increasing quality. The GPU's 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game, but its raw compute power is not. The 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS highlights the GPU's limitations, as it cannot maintain playable frame rates despite having enough memory.

The GPU's 12 nm process and 125 W TDP indicate it is a mid-range part from 2019, and its performance in this 2014 title is expected to be moderate. The data confirms that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting factor, and any upgrade to this combo should focus on the GPU rather than the CPU to improve Minimum performance.