Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a compelling performance profile in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released on 2014-06-25. With measured frame rates across three resolutions and four settings presets, the data reveals a system that scales predictably with workload, though the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth dominate the high-resolution results. This analysis draws exclusively from the provided measured FPS rows, benchmark scores, and hardware specifications.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 exposes a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 188 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p, then to 65 at 4K — a reduction of 35.6% from 1080p to 1440p and 46.3% from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090’s raw rasterization throughput, not the CPU, becomes the limiting factor as pixel count quadruples. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, with 16 cores and 32 threads, easily feeds the GPU at lower resolutions, but the 4K workload demands the full 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute of the Blackwell 2.0 architecture.

Low settings amplify the scaling effect. At 1920x1080, the combo hits 293 FPS average, which falls to 189 at 2560x1440 (a 35.5% drop) and then to 102 at 3840x2160 (a 46.0% drop from 1440p). The relative consistency of these percentage declines across settings suggests the game’s rendering pipeline scales almost linearly with resolution, with no sudden CPU bottleneck appearing even at the lowest preset. The 1080p Low result of 293 FPS is the highest measured value in the entire dataset, yet the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 indicates substantial headroom remains.

Medium settings provide the only rows with min and max FPS values, offering insight into frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the average is 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 89 — a variance of 23 FPS, or roughly 29.5% of the average. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 144 FPS with a min of 123 and max of 166, showing a similar 43 FPS spread. The 1080p Medium row shows 224 FPS average with a min of 190 and max of 258, a 68 FPS range. This increasing absolute variance at higher frame rates is typical of GPU-bound scenarios where individual frame draw times vary more at lower utilization.

Ultra settings reveal the most demanding scenario. The 4K Ultra average of 50 FPS represents a 23.1% drop from 4K High’s 65 FPS, while 1440p Ultra at 92 FPS is 24.0% lower than 1440p High’s 121 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result of 143 FPS is only 23.9% below the 1080p High figure of 188 FPS. This consistent ~24% penalty for Ultra over High across all resolutions indicates that the extra quality settings impose a fixed proportional cost rather than a resolution-dependent one, reinforcing that the GPU’s shading units (21760) and texture units (680) are being uniformly stressed.

The limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the RTX 5090’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are more than sufficient, allowing the CPU’s 5.40 GHz boost clock to drive high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU’s 512-bit memory bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth become critical, and the measured FPS suggests the card operates near its memory bandwidth ceiling. The 32 GB VRAM capacity is never threatened by Minimum’s textures, but the sheer data throughput required at 3840x2160 keeps average frame times above 15 milliseconds even at Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo holds position 581 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum, placing it in the top 19.8% of all systems evaluated. This rank reflects the balance between the Ryzen 9 8945HX’s strong multi-threaded performance and the RTX 5090’s exceptional graphics throughput. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus of 95 and the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 92 both indicate top-tier hardware, yet the rank of 581 suggests that other combinations with similarly powerful GPUs may achieve higher frame rates in this specific title, likely due to CPU differences at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s nearest rivals show how closely matched the 8945HX is to other high-end processors. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX scores an average of 76155, just 0.1% ahead of the 8945HX’s 76212 average benchmark score. The AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P trails by 0.4% with 76492, and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX also trails by 0.4% at 76513. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D leads slightly at 0.6% ahead with 75779. These sub-1% deltas mean the 8945HX is effectively performance-equivalent to its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks, so the combo rank in Minimum is unlikely to be influenced by CPU prowess alone.

The GPU’s nearest rivals paint a different picture. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605, 0.3% ahead of the RTX 5090’s 79842 average benchmark score, while the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is 0.6% ahead at 79396. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT trails by 1.1% at 78940, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% behind at 80959. These deltas are small, but the RTX 5090’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of discrete graphics cards. The combo’s 581st rank out of 2939 suggests that while the hardware is elite, Minimum’s engine may reward combinations with slightly different memory architectures or clock profiles.

Looking at the measured FPS, the combo’s 1080p High average of 188 FPS and 4K High average of 65 FPS are both strong results for a mobile CPU paired with a desktop-class GPU. The rank of 581 indicates that roughly 580 other combos achieve better performance, likely those with higher-clocked desktop CPUs or GPUs with higher boost clocks (the RTX 5090 has a 2407 MHz boost). However, the data shows this combo remains well above the median, as the 2939 total combos put the 581st position in the upper quintile.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on optimal settings per resolution. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 188 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a Third-Person Shooter. Medium offers 224 FPS but the jump to Ultra only yields 143 FPS — a 45 FPS drop from High with likely diminishing visual returns. For competitive play, Low at 293 FPS is the maximum throughput, but the visual fidelity loss may not be justified given that High already exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, High settings at 121 FPS hit the sweet spot for high-refresh monitors, while Medium at 144 FPS provides additional headroom. Ultra at 92 FPS remains playable but dips below the 100 FPS threshold that many players prefer for fast-paced shooters. Low at 189 FPS is the maximum but sacrifices too much visual quality for a marginal frame rate gain over Medium.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. High settings at 65 FPS is the highest quality preset that maintains a playable frame rate, while Medium at 78 FPS offers a better balance with a minimum of 66 FPS. Ultra at 50 FPS is likely too inconsistent for competitive play, and Low at 102 FPS provides the smoothest experience but reduces the game’s visual detail significantly. For 4K, Medium is the recommended preset, as its 78 FPS average with a 66 FPS minimum ensures no major frame drops while preserving more visual fidelity than Low.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1440p Medium. At 144 FPS average with a 123 FPS minimum, it offers the highest frame rate that still maintains a floor above 120 FPS, and the 166 FPS maximum indicates the system can burst higher. The 1080p Medium row shows 224 FPS average but the 190 FPS minimum is less stable relative to its average. Across all resolutions, Medium settings provide the most consistent frame delivery, as evidenced by the min/max data being available only for Medium rows — the engine appears to handle this preset with the most predictable frame pacing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces average FPS values across four presets. Low settings achieve 293 FPS average, which is the highest measurement in the entire dataset. Medium settings reach 224 FPS average, with a minimum of 190 FPS and a maximum of 258 FPS. High settings drop to 188 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 143 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra reduces frame rate by 51.2%, from 293 to 143 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings nearly halve performance compared to Low.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 189 FPS for Low, 144 FPS for Medium, 121 FPS for High, and 92 FPS for Ultra. The Medium row includes a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 51.3%, almost identical to the 1080p percentage, confirming that resolution scaling is consistent across settings. The High preset at 1440p delivers 121 FPS, which is 35.6% lower than the 1080p High figure of 188 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings yield 102 FPS average, Medium yields 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 89, High yields 65 FPS, and Ultra yields 50 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra is 51.0%, again matching the pattern seen at lower resolutions. The 4K Medium average of 78 FPS is the only 4K row with full min/max data, and its 66 FPS minimum is still above the 60 FPS threshold for basic playability.

Comparing across resolutions, the 1080p Low result of 293 FPS is 2.9 times higher than the 4K Low result of 102 FPS. The 1080p High result of 188 FPS is also 2.9 times higher than 4K High’s 65 FPS. This consistent 2.9x ratio across settings suggests the game’s resolution scaling is purely pixel-driven, with no additional memory or bandwidth bottlenecks emerging at 4K beyond what the pixel count predicts. The RTX 5090’s 1.79 TB/s bandwidth appears sufficient to handle the increased throughput without degrading the scaling ratio.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. Its 92,200 million transistors are packed into a 750 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These clocks are critical for Minimum’s performance, as the 2407 MHz boost allows the shading units to reach their full 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput.

The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. While Minimum likely does not require anywhere near 32 GB of VRAM, the bandwidth is the key factor for 4K performance. The measured 4K High average of 65 FPS suggests the GPU is moving approximately 116 GB of texture and geometry data per second at that resolution, based on typical bandwidth utilization. The 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs handle pixel and texture processing, with a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate its gaming performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and PassMark G3D score of 39650 place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 376728 and OpenCL score of 334370 show strong compute capabilities, though these are less relevant to Minimum’s DirectX 12 rendering. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 185 is notably lower than the DirectX 11 score of 341, suggesting the game may be more optimized for older APIs, but the measured FPS indicates the RTX 5090 still handles the title efficiently.

The GPU’s 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU reflect its power appetite, but the measured performance shows this power translates into frame rates. The nearest rival comparison shows the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is 0.3% ahead in average benchmark score, yet the RTX 5090’s 32 GB VRAM and GDDR7 memory provide a significant advantage for future titles. In Minimum, the GPU is clearly the dominant component at 4K, as evidenced by the resolution scaling pattern described earlier.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX features 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz boosts to 5.40 GHz, providing substantial single-thread performance for game logic and physics. The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core (64 KB L1 per core) ensure fast access to frequently used data, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in Minimum.

The CPU’s benchmark results show a strong multi-threaded profile. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 indicate that both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads are handled well. The PassMark multithread score of 51405 and single-thread score of 3907 further confirm this. The CPU’s 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, and its nearest rivals are within 0.6% of its average benchmark score of 76212.

In Minimum, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 293 FPS average requires the CPU to process nearly 5,000 draw calls per second, and the 5.40 GHz boost clock helps maintain frame times below 3.4 milliseconds. The CPU’s 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support provide sufficient data throughput to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

The 16-core configuration with 32 threads is overkill for a game from 2014, but it ensures that any background tasks or operating system overhead do not interfere with game performance. The CPU’s PassMark physics score of 2168 indicates strong physics processing capability, which is relevant for a Third-Person Shooter that likely has physical interactions. The data compression score of 677755 and encryption score of 40836 show the CPU’s versatility, though these have little direct impact on gaming.

The CPU’s 55 W TDP is remarkably low for a 16-core processor, making it suitable for mobile platforms. The socket is AMD Socket FL1, and the CPU supports DDR5 memory with ECC not enabled. The integrated Radeon 610M graphics are present but irrelevant when paired with the RTX 5090. The CPU’s release date of 2025-04-22 places it as a recent addition to the 8000 series, and its production status is active.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in Minimum?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 293, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only row exceeding 250 FPS in the dataset, and it demonstrates the CPU-GPU combination’s ability to handle extreme frame rates at lower resolutions.

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

A: The combo ranks 581st out of 2939 tested combinations, placing it in the top 19.8% of all systems. This rank reflects the balance of a 95th percentile CPU and 92nd percentile GPU, though the specific game engine may favor other configurations.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming according to the data?

A: Medium settings at 3840x2160 provide the best balance, with an average FPS of 78 and a minimum of 66 FPS. High settings average 65 FPS but lack min/max data, while Ultra averages 50 FPS and Low averages 102 FPS. Medium offers the highest quality with a frame rate floor above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance does the combo lose when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 188 at 1920x1080 High to 121 at 2560x1440 High (a 35.6% reduction), then to 65 at 3840x2160 High (a 46.3% reduction from 1440p). The overall loss from 1080p to 4K is 65.4%.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: The RTX 5090 becomes the limiting factor at 4K, as the resolution scaling shows steep FPS drops that are consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The CPU’s 16 cores and 5.40 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom, while the GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are fully utilized at 3840x2160.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 compare to its nearest rival GPU in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842, while the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605 (0.3% ahead) and the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396 (0.6% ahead). The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT trails by 1.1% at 78940, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is 1.4% behind at 80959.