Minimum

# Minimum with AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter that remains demanding at higher presets. Benchmark results show the combo ranking 1562nd out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of all systems, though the data reveals clear performance ceilings at 4K Ultra. The 16-core Zen 4 processor with a 5.40 GHz boost clock provides ample headroom, while the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and Ada Lovelace architecture drive frame rates that range from playable to exceptionally smooth depending on resolution and quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 99 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays, but the Medium preset jumps to 154 FPS — a 55% improvement over Ultra. The High preset sits at 130 FPS, offering a middle ground that balances quality and speed. For competitive play or high-refresh monitors, the Low preset's 202 FPS average is the standout choice, providing nearly double the frame rate of Ultra while sacrificing visual effects.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. High produces 84 FPS average, which remains fluid for most gaming scenarios, while Medium reaches 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS — the only 1440p settings row with full min/max data. Ultra drops to 64 FPS, which is still playable but begins to show the GPU's limits. Low at 1440p delivers 130 FPS, a strong option for players prioritizing response time over detail.

The 4K results are more constrained. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 62, making it the highest preset that maintains a consistent playable frame rate. High sits at 45 FPS, while Ultra falls to 34 FPS — a figure that will feel stuttery in a fast-paced third-person shooter. Low at 4K produces 70 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably.

The best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 1440p: it delivers 100 FPS average with a 85 FPS minimum, ensuring no major frame dips while retaining moderate visual quality. Alternatively, High at 1080p offers 130 FPS and represents the highest quality preset that maintains triple-digit frame rates. For 4K users, Medium is the recommended ceiling, as anything above it risks dropping below playable thresholds during intense scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves a combo rank of 1562 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the 47th percentile of all tested systems — meaning roughly 53% of configurations perform better, while 47% perform worse. The ranking reflects a mid-to-upper-tier position that is consistent with the measured FPS data: strong at 1080p, capable at 1440p, but not elite at 4K.

The CPU itself sits in the 95th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 76,212. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX at 76,155 (0.1% ahead), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D at 75,779 (0.6% behind), and the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P at 76,492 (0.4% ahead). This tight clustering shows the 8945HX is competitive with top-tier desktop and mobile chips, though it does not lead its segment — the 0.6% gap to the 9950X3D is negligible in real-world gaming.

The GPU ranks in the 81st percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37,628 (0.1% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37,507 (0.4% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38,135 (1.3% ahead). The RTX 4070's position here is notable: it trails the RTX 4080 Mobile by only 1.3% in average benchmark score, yet the measured FPS in Minimum shows the desktop 4070 holding its own across most settings.

The combo rank of 1562 suggests that the CPU-GPU pairing is well balanced for this title, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 95th-percentile CPU provides ample compute headroom, while the 81st-percentile GPU constrains 4K Ultra performance to 34 FPS. This aligns with the data: at 1080p, where CPU load is relatively higher, the combo delivers strong results; at 4K, where GPU load dominates, the frame rates drop significantly.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Minimum?*

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with all presets exceeding 99 FPS average. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 154 FPS with a minimum of 131 FPS, while even Ultra maintains 99 FPS. At 1440p, High delivers 84 FPS and Medium reaches 100 FPS, which are both playable but less forgiving of frame drops.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset averages 54 FPS with a 46 FPS minimum, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The High preset drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The Low preset achieves 70 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76,212, which is 0.1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76,155), 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76,492), and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75,779). These differences are within 0.6% of each other, indicating near-identical CPU-level performance for this game.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data suggests yes at higher resolutions. The GPU ranks in the 81st percentile, while the CPU ranks in the 95th percentile. The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe — from 202 FPS at Low 1080p to 70 FPS at Low 4K — indicating the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases.

Q: What is the difference between High and Ultra presets across resolutions?

A: At 1080p, High averages 130 FPS while Ultra averages 99 FPS — a 31 FPS difference. At 1440p, High reaches 84 FPS while Ultra drops to 64 FPS — a 20 FPS difference. At 4K, High manages 45 FPS while Ultra falls to 34 FPS — an 11 FPS difference. The gap narrows at higher resolutions, suggesting Ultra's added effects become less impactful when the GPU is already saturated.

Q: Does the combo's rank improve at lower resolutions?

A: The combo rank of 1562 out of 2939 is a single overall figure, not resolution-specific. However, the measured FPS data shows the system performs relatively better at 1080p (where all presets exceed 99 FPS) compared to 4K (where only Low exceeds 60 FPS), implying the rank would be higher if weighted toward lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a wide spread across settings. Low delivers 202 FPS average, the highest of any configuration tested. Medium averages 154 FPS with a minimum of 131 FPS and maximum of 178 FPS, providing a stable experience with headroom for monitor refresh rates up to 144 Hz. High reaches 130 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 99 FPS — still smooth but noticeably lower than the other presets. The 1080p results demonstrate the RTX 4070's strength at this resolution, with even Ultra maintaining near-triple-digit frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance tiering becomes more pronounced. Low averages 130 FPS, which is a 36% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium delivers 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS — the tightest min/max range in the dataset, indicating consistent frame pacing. High averages 84 FPS, dipping below the 90 FPS threshold that many players consider optimal for fast-paced shooters. Ultra falls to 64 FPS, which is playable but shows the GPU struggling with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the results are constrained by the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. Low averages 70 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that clears 60 FPS. Medium averages 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS — the minimum is concerning for competitive play but acceptable for single-player. High drops to 45 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34 FPS, which will exhibit noticeable stutter in action-heavy scenes.

The full dataset reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution costs roughly 35-40% of the frame rate at the same settings. For example, Low goes from 202 FPS at 1080p to 130 FPS at 1440p to 70 FPS at 4K. This linear scaling confirms the GPU is the primary driver of performance, as the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample processing power across all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings. At Low, the average frame rate falls from 202 FPS at 1080p to 130 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 70 FPS at 4K (a further 46% reduction from 1440p). At Medium, the decline is from 154 FPS to 100 FPS to 54 FPS — a 35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. High follows the same pattern: 130 FPS to 84 FPS to 45 FPS. Ultra drops from 99 FPS to 64 FPS to 34 FPS.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component. The RTX 4070 has 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output pipelines, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. As resolution increases, the pixel fill rate and texture throughput become the bottlenecks. The GPU's 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra, where the 34 FPS result reflects the hardware's ceiling.

The CPU's role in resolution scaling is minimal. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, with its 16 cores and 32 threads based on Zen 4 architecture, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and a single-core score of 6,030. These figures indicate the CPU can feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic well beyond what Minimum requires, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the primary constraint. The 2.50 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock provide sufficient single-thread performance for the game's engine, which is reflected in the consistent scaling pattern.

The memory subsystem also plays a role. The CPU supports dual-channel DDR5 with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, while the GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a factor — the 70 FPS Low result at 4K versus 202 FPS at 1080p Low shows a 65% reduction, which is larger than the pure pixel-count increase of 4x, indicating memory bandwidth constraints contribute to the scaling penalty.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 13,140 million transistors across a 2x 71 mm² die size. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 64 MB L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth, and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 28 lanes.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with game logic, physics, and draw calls. The benchmark data shows the 8945HX performing in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76,212. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and single-core score of 6,030 indicate strong both-threaded and single-threaded performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 3,907 and multi-thread score of 51,405 further confirm the CPU's capability.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, which scores 76,155 (0.1% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which scores 75,779 (0.6% lower). These differences are within noise margins, meaning the 8945HX is effectively on par with the best CPUs in this benchmark database. The 0.4% delta to the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (76,492) and the 0.4% delta to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (76,513) show the 8945HX sits in a tightly packed cluster of high-end processors.

Given the game's 2014 release date, the CPU has more than enough raw compute for Minimum's engine. The 16 cores and 32 threads are likely underutilized — most games from that era are optimized for 4-8 threads — but the high single-core boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures the game's main thread runs efficiently. The PassMark physics score of 2,168 and data encryption score of 40,836 suggest the CPU can handle any physics calculations or background tasks without impacting frame rates.

The CPU's 64 MB L3 cache may provide a slight advantage in Minimum by keeping frequently accessed game data closer to the cores, reducing memory latency. The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth is ample for a game with modest memory requirements. However, the data shows the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at higher resolutions — the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, and the CPU's performance percentile (95th) far exceeds the GPU's (81st), indicating the processor is not holding back the system in this title.