Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing in Minimum presents a fascinating study in how a modern flagship processor interacts with an older, mid-range graphics card. The data reveals a system where the GPU is consistently the primary bottleneck, with the CPU's immense headroom visible in the scaling patterns. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, component roles, and what the numbers imply for a 2014 third-person shooter running on 2025 hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable trend: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop significantly, confirming that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves a robust 188 FPS average. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, the average drops to 121 FPS, a 35.6% reduction. Pushing further to 4K at Low settings yields 65 FPS, which is a 46.3% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern is steep, indicating that the GPU's pixel-pushing capabilities are being saturated by the increasing resolution demands.

The trend holds across all settings presets. For High settings, the average FPS falls from 121 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p (a 35.5% decrease), and then to 42 at 4K (a 46.2% decrease from 1440p). The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory: 144 FPS at 1080p, 93 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops between 1080p and 1440p are remarkably consistent, hovering around 35-36% for Low, High, and Medium. The drop from 1440p to 4K is also consistent, at roughly 46-47% for these same presets. This uniformity suggests a purely GPU-bound scenario where the workload scales linearly with pixel count.

The Ultra preset tells a slightly different story. At 1080p, it hits 92 FPS, which is a significant 36.1% drop from the Medium preset at the same resolution. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 59 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 32 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p for Ultra is 35.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 45.8%. While the percentage scaling is similar to other presets, the absolute numbers are much lower, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces additional GPU load that the RTX 2070 SUPER struggles to handle at higher resolutions. The data strongly implies that the 9900X3D is never the limiting factor; the CPU's potential is masked by the GPU's rendering limits at every resolution tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This is a critical factor in Minimum, as the game's texture-heavy environments can consume significant video memory. The benchmark results show that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 32, which is barely playable. This suggests that the combination of high resolution and the Ultra preset may be exceeding the comfortable operating range of the 8 GB VRAM buffer, leading to performance degradation. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 50, with a recorded minimum of 42 FPS. The spread between average and minimum at this setting indicates potential frame-time spikes, possibly due to memory swapping or texture streaming demands.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed with a base of 1605 MHz and a boost of 1770 MHz. These clocks are relatively modest compared to modern GPUs, but the Turing architecture's efficiency is still evident in the 1080p results. The card's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20282. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A750, which is 1.5% slower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which is 1.2% slower. This positioning confirms that the RTX 2070 SUPER is a mid-range performer, and in Minimum, its age shows at 4K resolutions.

The data shows that the GPU's role is definitively the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 188 FPS average is likely close to the game's engine limit or the point where the CPU could start to matter. However, the dramatic FPS drops when increasing resolution to 1440p and 4K are classic signs of a GPU struggling with pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, while sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, appears to be a limiting factor at 4K, especially when combined with the Ultra preset. The GPU's 65th percentile standing relative to all GPUs further supports the idea that this is a mid-tier part being pushed to its limits by a demanding resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand database of tested combinations for Minimum, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks at 1659 out of 2939 total combos. This places it in the 56th percentile (calculated as 1 - (1659/2939)), meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other tested systems. This ranking is surprisingly high, given the GPU's age, and it speaks to the overall system balance. The high-performing CPU likely compensates for the GPU's weaknesses in specific scenarios, ensuring that frame times remain consistent.

The ranking suggests that while the GPU is the bottleneck, it is not so severe that the combo falls to the bottom of the list. The 9900X3D's powerful multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737, ensures that any CPU-related tasks, such as physics calculations or AI pathfinding, are handled with immense headroom. This prevents CPU-induced stutters that could lower the average FPS further. The combo's rank of 1659 implies that many other tested systems likely feature weaker CPUs or more balanced but overall slower components.

It is important to note that the combo's ranking is game-specific. The data for Minimum is measured, not estimated, which adds credibility to the ranking. The fact that this specific combination lands in the upper-middle of the pack indicates that a modern high-end CPU can breathe new life into an older GPU for this title. The ranking suggests that the system is not a top-tier performer but is far from inadequate. The data implies that for a 2014 game, this modern CPU and older GPU pairing provides a playable and often smooth experience, with the primary limitation being the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS for this combination at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component. This is evident from the significant FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p and then to 4K, while the CPU's high benchmark scores (e.g., 47737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1659 out of 2939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 188 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves an average of 92 FPS. This represents a 51.1% decrease in performance when switching to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this setup?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 42 for High and 32 for Ultra. While playable, these frame rates are below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for a smooth experience, indicating 4K is not a strong suit for this GPU.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus width, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table and analysis detail the exact measured FPS values for each resolution and settings preset.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: The average FPS is 188. This is the highest performance point measured, suggesting the game is well-optimized for lower-end hardware at this resolution.
• Medium: The average FPS is 144, with a minimum of 122 FPS and a maximum of 165 FPS. This represents a 23.4% drop from the Low preset.
• High: The average FPS is 121. This is a 15.9% drop from the Medium preset.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 92. This is a 23.9% drop from the High preset, and a 51.1% drop from the Low preset. The scaling here is steep, indicating that the Ultra preset includes demanding graphical features.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: The average FPS is 121. This is a 35.6% drop from the 1080p Low result, highlighting the GPU's resolution scaling cost.
• Medium: The average FPS is 93, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is a 23.1% drop from the Low preset at the same resolution.
• High: The average FPS is 78. This is a 16.1% drop from the Medium preset.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 59. This is a 24.4% drop from the High preset. The 1440p Ultra result is still above 60 FPS, making it a viable option.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: The average FPS is 65. This is a 46.3% drop from the 1440p Low result.
• Medium: The average FPS is 50, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS. This is a 23.1% drop from the Low preset at the same resolution.
• High: The average FPS is 42. This is a 16.0% drop from the Medium preset.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 32. This is a 23.8% drop from the High preset. This is the lowest average FPS recorded, and it is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

The data shows consistent scaling between settings presets across all resolutions. The relative performance hit from Low to Ultra is roughly 50% at 1080p, 51% at 1440p, and 50% at 4K. This indicates that the graphical features toggled by the Ultra preset have a uniform impact on the GPU regardless of resolution. The min and max FPS data for the Medium preset shows that the variance is tighter at 1080p (a 43 FPS spread) compared to 1440p (a 27 FPS spread) and 4K (a 15 FPS spread), suggesting that at lower resolutions, the game is more likely to hit engine-level frame caps or face transient CPU bottlenecks that cause larger spikes.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. While the GPU clearly limits the average FPS in Minimum, the CPU's role cannot be discounted for ensuring frame pacing stability. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739, the 9900X3D provides a massive amount of computational headroom. The game, released in 2014, is unlikely to utilize all 24 threads effectively, but the high single-thread performance is crucial for the main game logic loop.

The processor's 128 MB of L3 cache is a defining feature, and while its impact on Minimum is not directly measurable from the FPS data, it likely helps maintain high minimum frame rates by reducing memory latency. The benchmark results show the CPU's percentile vs. all CPUs is 91, indicating it is in the top 9% of all processors. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, has an average score that is 0.6% lower, while the Intel Core i7-14700F is 2.1% lower. This positions the 9900X3D as a top-tier CPU.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this scenario. The FPS scaling with resolution is a textbook sign of GPU limitation. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across all resolutions, which is not the case. The 1080p Low result of 188 FPS is the only point where the CPU might start to become relevant, but the 9900X3D's robust single-thread performance should prevent it from being a limiting factor. The CPU's role here is to provide a stable foundation, ensuring that the GPU is fed with enough data to maintain its maximum potential at each resolution. The high core count and clock speeds ensure that any background tasks or game engine threads are handled without interfering with the main rendering pipeline.

Settings Recommendations

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

For 1080p, the data suggests that the High preset is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The average FPS of 121 is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the jump from High to Ultra yields a significant 23.9% performance penalty (from 121 to 92 FPS). While 92 FPS is still playable, the visual difference between High and Ultra may not justify the frame rate drop. The Medium preset offers 144 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual quality reduction from High to Medium might be noticeable. Low is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rates are paramount, as the 188 FPS average is far beyond the refresh rate of most standard displays.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice. With an average of 93 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS, it provides a smooth and responsive experience. The High preset drops to 78 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 59 FPS hovers right at the edge of the 60 FPS target, and frame drops could make it feel inconsistent. The Low preset at 121 FPS is the best choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, but it sacrifices significant visual fidelity. The data implies that Medium is the sweet spot for this resolution, offering a 50% performance uplift over High while still looking substantially better than Low.

For 4K, the data clearly shows that this GPU is not suited for high-quality settings. The High preset averages only 42 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. The Ultra preset is even worse, at 32 FPS. The Medium preset, at 50 FPS, is the only viable option for 4K, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. The Low preset, at 65 FPS, provides a playable experience but requires significant visual compromises. The data suggests that for a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Low preset is the only reliable option. The minimum FPS of 42 recorded at 4K Medium indicates that even this preset can experience stutters, making 4K gaming a challenging proposition for this hardware combination. The data recommends that users targeting 4K should prioritize the Low or Medium presets and accept the frame rate limitations.