Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Minimum?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1677 out of 2939 tested combos in this game, placing it in the 57th percentile of all configurations tested.

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

A: The Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129), 1% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862), and 1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852).

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors tested?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53288. Its closest rival, the AMD EPYC 7313P, scores 53206, a 0.2% difference.

Q: Does the measured data include minimum and maximum frame rates for all settings?

A: No. Minimum and maximum FPS values are only provided for Medium settings at each resolution. For example, at 1080p Medium, the range is 122 to 165 FPS, while at 4K Medium it is 42 to 57 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The Radeon RX 9060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock is 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 2016.5 in single-core and 29300 in multi-core, representing a roughly 14.5x scaling from single to multi-threaded workloads. Geekbench shows 2617 single-core and 19267 multi-core.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It contains 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, with 28 ray tracing cores. The GPU's base clock is 1700 MHz, boosting up to 2990 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2400 MHz. This configuration delivers 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s.

Memory bandwidth is a critical factor for this title. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory pool runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit interface, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Minimum, the measured frame rates demonstrate that this bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 32, while at 4K Low it reaches 65 — a pattern that reflects the GPU's memory subsystem being stressed at higher resolutions.

The GPU's general benchmark scores indicate it sits at the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 16014. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129 (0.7% higher), while the R9 370X and RX 7700 score 15862 and 15852 respectively (both 1% lower). The Radeon R9 370X is a much older architecture, making the RX 9060's performance parity with it notable in compute tasks, though real-world gaming results differ substantially.

The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, ensuring broad API compatibility for Minimum's engine. With a TDP of 132 W and a suggested 300 W PSU, power delivery is modest. The dual-slot design with a single 8-pin connector keeps installation straightforward.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 7900X and Radeon RX 9060 achieves a rank of 1677 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. This places the combo in the 57th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 43% of configurations perform better. The ranking reflects a pairing where the CPU is significantly stronger than the GPU in synthetic tests — the CPU sits at the 91st percentile while the GPU is at the 59th.

Given this disparity, the combo's rank is primarily dictated by GPU performance. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the system produces 187 FPS, which drops to 92 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The CPU has ample headroom (12 cores, 24 threads, boost clock of 5.60 GHz) to feed the GPU in most scenarios.

The GPU's nearest rivals in average score — the RTX 3060 Ti and RX 7700 — would likely produce similar in-game results, though the exact frame rates for those cards are not provided in the measured data. The combo rank of 1677 suggests that while the CPU is a top-tier part, the GPU holds the system back from higher overall positions in Minimum's performance hierarchy.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160). Medium settings include minimum and maximum FPS values; other settings only have averages.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 187 FPS average
• Medium: 143 FPS average (range 122–165)
• High: 120 FPS average
• Ultra: 92 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 121 FPS average
• Medium: 92 FPS average (range 79–106)
• High: 78 FPS average
• Ultra: 59 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 65 FPS average
• Medium: 50 FPS average (range 42–57)
• High: 42 FPS average
• Ultra: 32 FPS average

At 1080p, the system is clearly GPU-limited at every setting, as even the lowest preset produces 187 FPS — likely near the CPU's frame delivery ceiling but still leaving the GPU as the bottleneck. The Ultra preset at 1080p (92 FPS) shows a 50.8% drop from Low, indicating the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are stretched by higher quality settings.

The 1440p results show a linear progression: 121 FPS at Low, 92 at Medium, 78 at High, and 59 at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 51.2%, closely matching the 1080p scaling. This consistency suggests the GPU's compute and memory resources scale predictably with quality settings.

At 4K, the pattern changes. Low produces 65 FPS, which drops to 50 at Medium, 42 at High, and 32 at Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra drop of 50.8% mirrors the lower resolutions, but the absolute values are much lower, reflecting the 8 GB memory capacity and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth being insufficient for 4K Ultra's demands.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component changes across resolutions. At Low settings, the system produces 187 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. This represents a 35.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 65.2% drop from 1080p to 4K.

At Ultra settings, the pattern is similar: 92 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p (35.9% drop), and 32 FPS at 4K (65.2% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings indicates that resolution scaling is primarily GPU-bound, with the CPU not becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p Low.

The pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K is 4x, but the FPS drop is only about 2.9x (from 187 to 65 at Low). This sub-linear scaling suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and 8 GB capacity partially offset the pixel throughput demands. However, at 4K Ultra, the 32 FPS average indicates the GPU is fully saturated, with the 8 GB frame buffer likely causing texture spills or reduced LOD.

Comparing the Medium settings, which have min/max data: at 1080p the range is 122–165 FPS (a 35% spread), at 1440p it is 79–106 (34% spread), and at 4K it is 42–57 (36% spread). The consistent frame time variance across resolutions suggests the game's engine maintains stable performance without stuttering, even when the GPU is heavily loaded.

The limiting component at all tested configurations is the GPU. The Ryzen 9 7900X's 12 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, provide more than enough processing headroom. The CPU's 3DMark scores (1093 single-thread, 12536 max-threads) and Cinebench R23 results (2016.5 single, 29300 multi) indicate it can deliver frames far faster than the RX 9060 can render them, especially at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Raphael codename), manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 170 W. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of shared L3 cache, totaling a substantial cache hierarchy for game workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The game released in 2014, and its engine was designed for the CPUs of that era. The 7900X's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2016.5, 3DMark single-thread of 1093) is more than sufficient to handle Minimum's main thread. The multi-thread capabilities (Cinebench R23 multi-core of 29300, 3DMark max-threads of 12536) ensure that any auxiliary threads for AI, audio, or streaming are handled without bottlenecks.

The CPU sits at the 91st percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 53288. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206, 0.2% higher) and Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469, 0.3% lower), as well as the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620, 0.6% lower). These scores are all within 1% of each other, indicating the 7900X is at the top tier of processor performance.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 187 FPS. This is likely near the CPU's practical frame delivery limit for Minimum's engine, but the GPU is still the bottleneck — a stronger GPU would push FPS higher. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and DDR5 support (dual-channel) provide ample data throughput for the GPU to access system memory when needed.

The 7900X's PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes ensures the RX 9060's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface operates at full bandwidth, though Minimum's 2014 engine is unlikely to leverage PCIe 5.0's increased throughput over PCIe 3.0. The CPU's integrated Radeon Graphics are present but unused in this discrete GPU configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

1080p: The High preset (120 FPS) offers a balanced experience, providing a 30.4% improvement over Ultra (92 FPS) while maintaining a 20% drop from Medium (143 FPS). For competitive play, the Low preset (187 FPS) maximizes frame rate, but High delivers a better visual experience without sacrificing smoothness. Ultra (92 FPS) is playable but offers diminishing visual returns for the 23.3% performance cost versus High.

1440p: The Medium preset (92 FPS) is the best choice for most users, offering a 17.9% improvement over High (78 FPS) and a 35.9% improvement over Ultra (59 FPS). The Low preset (121 FPS) is available for those prioritizing frame rate, but Medium's visual uplift is significant. Ultra (59 FPS) approaches the edge of playability; while it is technically above 30 FPS, the 59 FPS average will produce noticeable frame pacing issues on 60 Hz displays.

4K: The Low preset (65 FPS) is the only truly smooth option, providing 30% more performance than Medium (50 FPS) and 52% more than High (42 FPS). Ultra (32 FPS) is not recommended for 4K gaming, as the average falls below 60 FPS by a wide margin. Medium (50 FPS) is a compromise for users with adaptive sync displays, but the Low preset is the only one that consistently stays above 60 FPS.

Overall, the data suggests that the RX 9060 is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays for Minimum. At 1080p, High provides the best experience per the measured rows, balancing visual quality and performance. At 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot. At 4K, users should accept Low settings or consider lowering resolution, as the 8 GB memory capacity and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for higher quality presets at this resolution.