Minimum

FAQ

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X has a launch MSRP of $499. It is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, which places it 0.1% behind the AMD EPYC 9015 (score 57555) and 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313 (score 57399). It trails the Intel Core i9-14900 (score 58115) by 1.1%.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth of the RTX 4080, and how does it relate to its performance class?

A: The RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Its average benchmark score of 54247 places it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (score 54209) and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828).

Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 356, achieved with Low settings. Medium settings yield 273 FPS average, High settings yield 229 FPS, and Ultra settings yield 174 FPS.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The lowest average FPS is 61, recorded at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that drops below 80 FPS average.

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

A: The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 246th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 7% of all configurations tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The GPU operates with a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, while the memory runs at 1400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective speed.

The memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of VRAM for a third-person shooter from 2014, and the data indicates the RTX 4080 has no difficulty feeding frames even at 4K resolution. The GPU's 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, along with 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, contribute to its compute capabilities. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s describe a GPU that can handle high-resolution rasterization workloads with ease.

In the context of Minimum, the GPU's influence becomes most apparent at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160 Ultra settings, the combo produces 61 FPS average, while dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 124 FPS — a clear demonstration of the GPU's scaling with render load. The RTX 4080's percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 54247, positions it as a high-end part. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores nearly identically at 54209 (0.1% delta), confirming that this GPU sits at the top of the performance tier for this game.

The data shows that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in Minimum, even at 4K Ultra settings where the game's demands are highest. The 16 GB pool is more than sufficient, and the bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and memory-intensive operations do not bottleneck the rendering pipeline. The GPU's FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 48.74 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), provides ample compute headroom for the game's effects and post-processing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC with 16,630 million transistors across a dual-chiplet design of 2x 70.6 mm². The base clock is 4.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and the TDP is rated at 120 W.

The cache hierarchy consists of 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a substantial 64 MB of L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The processor supports ECC memory and features PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes from the CPU. It integrates Radeon Graphics, though the discrete RTX 4080 handles all rendering duties in this configuration.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9900X demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253. The Geekbench results show 22174 multicore and 3010 single-core. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1286 single-thread to 13929 max-threads, with intermediate scores of 2519 for 2 threads, 4886 for 4 threads, 9114 for 8 threads, and 12552 for 16 threads. This scaling pattern indicates that the processor maintains efficiency across thread counts, which matters for games that use multiple cores but not all 24 threads.

The CPU's percentile rank of 92 against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 57498, places it in the top tier of desktop CPUs. Its nearest rivals include server-class parts like the AMD EPYC 9015 (57555, -0.1% delta) and EPYC 7313 (57399, +0.2% delta), as well as the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, -1.1% delta). The 9900X's 12 cores with 24 threads provide ample parallelism for Minimum's engine, which was released in 2014 and does not present a heavy multi-threaded workload by modern standards.

At lower resolutions, the CPU's role becomes more significant relative to the GPU. The data shows that at 1920x1080 Low settings, the combo reaches 356 FPS average — a frame rate that demands strong single-thread performance (the 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and PassMark single-thread score of 4672 support this). The boost clock of 5.60 GHz helps ensure that the CPU does not become a bottleneck even at these high frame rates, where per-frame CPU overhead can dominate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on optimal settings for this combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 356 FPS average, while Medium yields 273 FPS, High yields 229 FPS, and Ultra yields 174 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 83 FPS (23% reduction), while the jump from Medium to High costs 44 FPS (16% reduction), and High to Ultra costs 55 FPS (24% reduction). For competitive play where maximum frame rates matter, Low provides the highest headroom, but High at 229 FPS still exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts slightly. Low produces 230 FPS, Medium 176 FPS, High 148 FPS, and Ultra 112 FPS. The proportional cost of each settings tier is smaller than at 1080p because the GPU becomes more load-bound. Medium at 176 FPS offers a good balance for high-refresh 1440p displays, while High at 148 FPS remains playable for most users. Ultra at 112 FPS still provides a smooth experience on 120 Hz displays but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable.

At 3840x2160, the settings tiers compress further. Low produces 124 FPS, Medium 95 FPS, High 79 FPS, and Ultra 61 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K with a minimum FPS of 80 and maximum of 109 provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate stability for this resolution. The Ultra preset at 61 FPS is playable but does not maintain a consistent 60 FPS minimum, making it less ideal for demanding scenes.

The best overall experience across all resolutions appears to be the High preset at 2560x1440, where the combo averages 148 FPS. This settings tier delivers substantial visual improvements over Low and Medium while maintaining frame rates well above the 144 Hz threshold. For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, Medium at 1440p (176 FPS) or Low at 1080p (356 FPS) offer more headroom, but the High preset at 1440p represents the sweet spot where image quality and performance converge.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 246th out of 3712 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 6.6% of all configurations. This rank reflects the combined capabilities of the 12-core Zen 5 processor and the Ada Lovelace GPU, both of which are high-end parts in their respective categories.

The CPU's rank of 92nd percentile among all processors, combined with the GPU's 86th percentile among all GPUs, suggests a well-matched pairing. The Ryzen 9 9900X's average benchmark score of 57498 is within 1.1% of the Intel Core i9-14900, and its single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1286, Cinebench R23 single-core of 2253) ensures it can drive high frame rates without bottlenecking the RTX 4080.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 54247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209, +0.1% delta), meaning this combo performs essentially the same as a 4080 SUPER-equipped system in synthetic tests. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores higher in average benchmarks (55698, -2.6% delta from the RTX 4080), but that difference does not translate into meaningful FPS advantages in Minimum based on the measured data.

The ranking of 246th out of 3712 combos indicates that this system outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations in this game. The top 246 combos likely include systems with newer GPUs from the GeForce 50 series or higher-end 40-series parts, but the RTX 4080's performance in Minimum is clearly sufficient for high-refresh gaming at all resolutions tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average frame rates across settings tiers: Low produces 356 FPS, Medium produces 273 FPS (with a minimum of 232 FPS and maximum of 313 FPS), High produces 229 FPS, and Ultra produces 174 FPS. The Medium preset's measured range of 232-313 FPS demonstrates consistent frame delivery without major dips.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 230 FPS, Medium at 176 FPS (minimum 149 FPS, maximum 202 FPS), High at 148 FPS, and Ultra at 112 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a tighter range than at 1080p, with the minimum FPS of 149 still above the 144 Hz refresh threshold that many gaming monitors use.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 124 FPS, Medium at 95 FPS (minimum 80 FPS, maximum 109 FPS), High at 79 FPS, and Ultra at 61 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K maintains a minimum of 80 FPS, which is notable for a 2014 game running on modern hardware at 4K resolution with medium-quality settings.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each settings tier costs roughly 20-30% of average FPS, regardless of resolution. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is 182 FPS (51% reduction). At 1440p, the drop from Low to Ultra is 118 FPS (51% reduction). At 4K, the drop from Low to Ultra is 63 FPS (51% reduction). This proportional consistency indicates that the game's settings scaling is uniform across resolutions, with no single tier providing disproportionately better or worse performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the limiting component in this system. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 356 at 1920x1080 to 230 at 2560x1440 (a 35% reduction) and then to 124 at 3840x2160 (a 46% reduction from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 65%.

At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 273 at 1080p to 176 at 1440p (36% reduction) and then to 95 at 4K (46% reduction from 1440p). The total drop is 65%, matching the Low settings pattern. At High settings, the drop is from 229 to 148 (35% reduction) to 79 (47% reduction), totaling a 66% drop. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 174 to 112 (36% reduction) to 61 (46% reduction), totaling a 65% drop.

The consistency of these scaling ratios — approximately 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K — indicates that the system is GPU-limited at all tested configurations. The pixel count increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p and by 125% from 1440p to 4K, but the FPS reduction is less than proportional to the pixel increase. This suggests that the RTX 4080 has sufficient memory bandwidth and compute resources to handle the resolution scaling without severe penalties.

The lack of a CPU bottleneck is evident from the fact that the FPS scaling remains consistent even at low settings where CPU overhead would be more likely to limit performance. At 1080p Low, the 356 FPS average is high enough that a weaker CPU would likely bottleneck, but the Ryzen 9 9900X's strong single-thread performance (boost clock of 5.60 GHz, 3DMark single-thread score of 1286) keeps the system GPU-bound throughout.

The data indicates that users who want to maintain high frame rates at 4K should use Medium settings, which provide 95 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS. At 1440p, High settings at 148 FPS offer a good balance, while at 1080p, even Ultra settings at 174 FPS exceed most display refresh rates. The system's performance ceiling appears to be primarily determined by the GPU's rendering capabilities, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the limiting factor in any tested configuration.