Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a benchmark profile that spans from high-refresh 1080p gaming to playable 4K in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. Measured results show the combo achieving an average of 325 FPS at 1920x1080 on Low settings, scaling down to 55 FPS at 3840x2160 on Ultra. This combination of a 12-core Zen 4 processor and a 24 GB RDNA 3 GPU produces a performance curve that is heavily resolution-dependent, with the CPU proving sufficient to feed the GPU even at the lowest tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound progression at higher resolutions, while the 1080p results hint at potential CPU limitations at the very lowest settings. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 209 FPS at 1920x1080 to 135 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 35.4% reduction — and then to 72 FPS at 3840x2160, another 46.7% drop from 1440p. This steep decline across the resolution ladder indicates that the RX 7900 XTX's rendering load is the primary constraint once pixel count increases, with the GPU's compute throughput becoming the bottleneck.

The Low settings row demonstrates an even more dramatic scaling curve. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 325 FPS, which drops to 209 FPS at 1440p (a 35.7% decrease) and then to 113 FPS at 4K (a 45.9% decrease from 1440p). The fact that 1080p Low yields 325 FPS — nearly 1.6x the 209 FPS seen at 1080p High — suggests that at the lowest preset, the CPU's single-thread performance may be approaching its ceiling, as the GPU has far less work to do. The Ryzen 9 7900X's 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2016.5 indicate strong per-core capability, but the 325 FPS figure likely represents a practical upper bound for this game engine at 1080p with this CPU.

Medium settings show a similar proportional pattern: 249 FPS at 1080p, 160 FPS at 1440p (a 35.7% drop), and 86 FPS at 4K (a 46.3% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops — roughly 35% from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% from 1440p to 4K — across the High, Medium, and Low presets strongly indicates that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth being the limiting components. The RX 7900 XTX's 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are the specifications that govern this behavior.

Ultra settings produce the lowest frame rates at every resolution: 159 FPS at 1080p, 103 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS represents a 65.4% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure, which is the largest relative drop across all presets. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces additional effects that disproportionately tax the GPU at higher resolutions, likely involving the 192 ROPS and 6144 shading units operating at their limits. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced frame pacing issues, as the min FPS values recorded for Medium settings (211 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p, 73 FPS at 4K) remain proportionate to their averages.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, delivering 160 FPS average with a minimum of 136 FPS and a maximum of 184 FPS. This combination provides a smooth, high-refresh experience well above the 144 Hz threshold commonly targeted in competitive shooters, while the min FPS of 136 ensures minimal frame dips during intense action sequences. The 1440p Medium setting also leaves substantial headroom over the 4K Medium result of 86 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not overtaxed and frame times should remain consistent.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity at 4K, the High preset at 72 FPS is the recommended choice over Ultra's 55 FPS. The 17 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K — a 23.6% improvement by selecting High — comes at a visual cost that is unlikely to be perceptible in a fast-paced third-person shooter, given that the game's 2014 release date means its Ultra preset likely includes legacy effects with diminishing returns. The 4K High result of 72 FPS is also comfortably above the 60 FPS baseline, whereas Ultra dips below it, making High the sensible ceiling for 4K play.

At 1920x1080, the High preset's 209 FPS average is the recommended choice over Ultra's 159 FPS, as the 50 FPS difference represents a 31.4% increase in frame rate with only a single preset step down. The 1080p Low result of 325 FPS is available for competitive play, but the jump from Low to High (from 325 to 209 FPS) shows that users can retain substantial visual quality while still exceeding 200 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p, with its 249 FPS average and 211 FPS minimum, serves as a strong middle ground for those who want the highest possible frame rates without sacrificing all graphical effects. For 1440p users, the Medium preset's 160 FPS average is preferred over High's 135 FPS, as both remain well above the 100 FPS threshold, and Medium's min FPS of 136 is only 1 FPS below High's average.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX serves as the primary performance driver in this configuration, with its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is critical for 4K performance, as the data shows the GPU maintaining 72 FPS at 4K High while the same preset at 1440p yields 135 FPS. The 24 GB capacity ensures that even the most memory-hungry settings in Minimum — a game from 2014 that would have been designed for far smaller frame buffers — never approach capacity limits, allowing the GPU to operate without texture swapping or memory thrashing.

The GPU's clock behavior, with a base of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost of 2498 MHz, contributes to its performance scaling across resolutions. The 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate enable the card to handle the pixel fill requirements at 4K, where the measured 55 FPS at Ultra represents the card's limit under maximum load. The RX 7900 XTX's 192 ROPS and 96 ray accelerators are specifications that, while not directly measured in this game's benchmarks, influence the frame rate at higher presets where additional rendering passes occur.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context for its relative standing. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841 and PassMark G3D score of 31238 position it as a high-end part, though its percentileVsAllGpus of 64 indicates that it sits in the upper-middle range of all tested GPUs. Interestingly, the nearest rivals listed — the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% higher average score), NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (1% lower), AMD FirePro D300 (1.2% lower), and NVIDIA TITAN Xp (1.2% higher) — show that the average benchmark score of 19410 places it in a cluster of very different cards, none of which have the same memory capacity or modern architecture. This suggests that the RX 7900 XTX's gaming performance, as measured in Minimum, is not fully captured by synthetic benchmarks that may not stress its specific strengths.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 325, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration that exceeds 300 FPS, with the next highest being 249 FPS at 1080p Medium.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at 4K High settings the average FPS is 72, and at 4K Medium it is 86. However, at 4K Ultra the average drops to 55 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance affect 1080p results?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X's single-thread score of 1093 in 3DMark and 2016.5 in Cinebench R23 allows it to drive frame rates up to 325 FPS at 1080p Low. The fact that 1080p Low (325 FPS) is substantially higher than 1080p High (209 FPS) suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at High settings, but the 325 FPS figure may approach its practical engine limit.

Q: What is the most consistent performance profile?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows the most consistent results, with a minimum FPS of 136, an average of 160, and a maximum of 184. The narrow range between min and max indicates stable frame times.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 549th out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the top 14.8% of all tested systems.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, the difference is 32 FPS on average — 135 FPS for High versus 103 FPS for Ultra. This represents a 31.1% improvement by selecting High over Ultra at 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provides the computational foundation for this gaming configuration, with 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture built on a 5 nm process. The CPU's base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are the key specifications that determine its ability to feed the GPU, particularly at lower resolutions where frame rates are highest. The measured FPS data demonstrates that at 1080p, the CPU's per-core performance becomes increasingly relevant, as the GPU's workload diminishes and the engine's draw call processing and game logic take a larger share of frame time.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate strong multi-threaded capabilities that, while not directly exercised by a 2014 shooter, ensure the system can handle background tasks without impacting game performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29300 and Geekbench multicore score of 19267 reflect the 12-core design's throughput, while the PassMark multithread score of 51406 and 3DMark max threads score of 12536 show consistent scaling across thread counts. The 64 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core provide the memory hierarchy needed to keep game data close to the execution units, reducing latency in scenarios where the engine must iterate over large object lists.

In terms of relative CPU performance, the Ryzen 9 7900X's percentileVsAllCpus of 91 places it in the top 9% of all processors. Its average benchmark score of 53288 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the AMD EPYC 7313P (0.2% higher), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% lower), Intel Xeon 634 (0.6% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700F (0.6% lower). This tight clustering indicates that, at this performance tier, the CPU is not the differentiator in gaming workloads; the GPU dominates frame rate outcomes. The 1080p Low result of 325 FPS is the only data point where the CPU's 5.60 GHz boost clock may be the limiting factor, as the GPU's 24 GB memory and high bandwidth are underutilized at such low graphical loads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 325 FPS, Medium produces 249 FPS with a minimum of 211 and maximum of 286, High produces 209 FPS, and Ultra produces 159 FPS. The 76 FPS gap between Low and Medium is the largest single-step difference at this resolution, while the 50 FPS drop from Medium to High and the 50 FPS drop from High to Ultra show a consistent cost per preset level. The min FPS of 211 at Medium settings indicates that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate never drops below the 200 FPS threshold, making 1080p an excellent choice for high-refresh displays.

At 2560x1440, the results are 209 FPS for Low, 160 FPS for Medium (with min 136 and max 184), 135 FPS for High, and 103 FPS for Ultra. The 49 FPS drop from Low to Medium is proportionally similar to the 1080p results, but the 25 FPS drop from Medium to High and the 32 FPS drop from High to Ultra show a slightly different scaling pattern. The min FPS of 136 at Medium settings means the system can maintain frame rates above 136 FPS even in the worst-case scenes, which is sufficient for 144 Hz displays. The 1440p results represent a sweet spot where both CPU and GPU are adequately utilized, with the CPU's 12 cores providing enough headroom and the GPU's 24 GB memory ensuring no bandwidth bottlenecks.

At 3840x2160, the results are 113 FPS for Low, 86 FPS for Medium (with min 73 and max 99), 72 FPS for High, and 55 FPS for Ultra. The 4K resolution places significant demands on the GPU's pixel throughput, and the results show a gradual decline from Low to Ultra. The 27 FPS drop from Low to Medium is the largest at 4K, followed by 14 FPS from Medium to High and 17 FPS from High to Ultra. The min FPS of 73 at Medium settings is still above 60 FPS, but the Ultra preset's 55 FPS average falls below the standard 60 FPS target. The 4K results demonstrate that the RX 7900 XTX is capable of 4K gaming in this title, but users must select Medium or High settings to maintain smooth frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 549th out of 3712 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the top 14.8% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the GPU's strong performance in synthetic benchmarks — its PassMark G3D score of 31238 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6841 are high — but the percentileVsAllGpus of 64 suggests that many other GPUs achieve similar or better average scores. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 91 is notably higher, indicating that the processor is a top-tier part, but in this game, the GPU's mid-tier percentile ranking relative to all GPUs tempers the overall combo position.

The ranking context shows that while this combo delivers excellent frame rates in Minimum — particularly the 325 FPS at 1080p Low and 135 FPS at 1440p High — there are 548 other tested combinations that achieve higher overall scores in this specific game. These higher-ranked combos likely feature GPUs with better raw compute performance or more optimized driver support for this title, despite the RX 7900 XTX's impressive 24 GB memory capacity and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% higher average score) and NVIDIA TITAN Xp (1.2% higher) — are not necessarily direct competitors in gaming performance, as their average scores are within 1.2% of the RX 7900 XTX's 19410, but the rankings in Minimum may diverge significantly from these synthetic results due to driver optimizations and game-specific rendering paths.

The combo's rank of 549 out of 3712 — meaning it outperforms 85.2% of all tested configurations — is a strong result for a system built around a 12-core CPU and a 24 GB GPU. The data indicates that users seeking to improve upon this rank would need to look at GPUs with significantly higher benchmark scores, as the CPU is already in the top 9% of all processors. The measured FPS results at 4K Ultra (55 FPS) and 4K High (72 FPS) show that this combo is at the edge of 4K capability in this title, with only the most powerful GPUs likely to achieve substantially higher frame rates at maximum settings.