Minimum

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for this AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination in Minimum show a clear pattern of scaling as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 267 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 172 FPS, a reduction of approximately 35%. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 93 FPS, which is roughly 46% lower than the 1440p result and about 65% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep decline suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel count increases significantly while the CPU workload per frame remains relatively constant.

For the High preset, the scaling follows a similar trajectory. At 1080p the average is 171 FPS, at 1440p it drops to 110 FPS (a 36% reduction), and at 4K it reaches 60 FPS (a 45% reduction from 1440p and 65% from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings indicates that resolution scaling behaves predictably regardless of the quality preset chosen.

The Medium preset shows a slightly different pattern with measured minimum and maximum values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 204 FPS with a minimum of 174 and maximum of 235. At 1440p Medium, the average is 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 and maximum of 151. At 4K Medium, the average is 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 82. The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, which is typical behavior when the GPU becomes more saturated.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p, the average is 131 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 84 FPS (a 36% reduction). At 4K, it falls to 45 FPS (a 46% reduction from 1440p and 66% from 1080p). These percentages closely mirror the Low and High presets, reinforcing that resolution scaling in this game is resolution-dominated rather than settings-dominated.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the CPU has more headroom to feed the GPU, resulting in very high frame rates. At 4K, the GPU's rendering workload dominates, and the CPU's role diminishes. The fact that the percentage drops from 1440p to 4K are larger than from 1080p to 1440p across all settings suggests a nonlinear increase in GPU load at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The processor features 128 MB of L3 cache, which is substantial for a desktop part and can benefit games that rely on large working sets. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. It scores 47,737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,739 in single-core. The Geekbench multi-core score is 22,884 with a single-core score of 3,041. In 3DMark tests, it achieves 13,795 with max threads, 9,002 with 8 threads, 4,885 with 4 threads, and 2,512 with 2 threads. The single-thread 3DMark score is 1,269. The PassMark multi-thread score is 56,154, with a single-thread score of 4,646.

The CPU's percentile ranking versus all CPUs is 91, indicating it performs better than 91% of tested processors. Its average benchmark score is 54,762. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF has an average score of 55,093, which is 0.6% lower than the Ryzen 9 9900X3D. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 54,053 (1.3% higher deltaPct for the AMD part), the Intel Xeon 6505P scores 53,701 (2% higher), and the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53,620 (2.1% higher). These small deltas indicate that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D sits in a tightly contested performance band.

For Minimum, a third-person shooter originally released in 2014, the CPU demands are likely modest compared to modern titles. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (267 FPS) suggest the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. The high single-thread performance (6,739 in Cinebench R23 single-core) and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1,269 indicate strong per-core capability, which matters for games that have limited thread utilization.

The large L3 cache of 128 MB could help maintain consistent frame pacing in scenarios where the game repeatedly accesses the same data. However, the benchmark data does not isolate cache effects, so this remains a qualitative observation based on the CPU's specifications. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration provides ample headroom for background tasks while gaming, though Minimum appears to be a title that does not stress the full multi-threading capabilities of this processor, as evidenced by the 1080p frame rates exceeding 200 FPS on Medium settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is based on the Ampere architecture with the GA102 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It has 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. The GPU features 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. Its base clock is 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz, and the memory clock operates at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed.

The memory subsystem consists of 10 GB of GDDR6X on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. This bandwidth is substantial and can support high-resolution textures without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios. The GPU's pixel rate is 164.2 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 465.1 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 29.77 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 29.77 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

In GPU benchmarks, the RTX 3080 scores 15,2423 in Geekbench OpenCL and 33,620 in Geekbench Vulkan. The PassMark G3D score is 25,086, with a GPU compute score of 14,397. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4,407. The GPU's percentile ranking versus all GPUs is 68, meaning it outperforms 68% of tested graphics cards. Its average benchmark score is 23,172.

Compared to nearest rivals, the NVIDIA P106-100 has an average score of 23,249 (0.3% lower deltaPct for the RTX 3080), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23,250 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23,273 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23,276 (0.4% lower). These deltas are minimal, placing the RTX 3080 in a narrow performance band near its peers in aggregate benchmarks.

In Minimum, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered smooth for action games. At 4K High, the average is 60 FPS, exactly at that threshold. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for this game, given its 2014 release date and the resolution tested, though the data does not include VRAM usage metrics.

The boost clock of 1710 MHz and the memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s work together to maintain frame rates across settings. The FP32 throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS is adequate for the DirectX 12 rendering path, and the GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features that Minimum may or may not utilize given its age.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 776 out of 2,939 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the top 26.4% of all combinations. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components in this specific game, and the measured data confirms that this pairing delivers strong performance, particularly at lower resolutions.

Out of 2,939 combos, a rank of 776 means there are 2,163 combos that perform worse and 775 that perform better. The percentile position suggests that this is a well-balanced pairing for this title, though not at the very top tier. The CPU's high percentile ranking (91) versus the GPU's lower percentile (68) indicates that the processor is relatively stronger compared to its peers than the graphics card, which may explain why the combo's overall rank is driven more by GPU performance in this game.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 2.1% of the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's average score, meaning the CPU choice has minimal impact on the combo's rank when paired with the same GPU. The GPU's nearest rivals have deltaPct values within 0.4%, confirming that the RTX 3080's aggregate performance is closely matched to several other cards, though the in-game results for Minimum specifically favor this combination given the measured frame rates.

The combo rank of 776 with 2,939 total combos means this pairing outperforms approximately 73.6% of all tested combinations. This is a solid result for a GPU that was released in 2020 and a CPU released in 2025, showing that the modern processor can extract good performance from an older graphics card in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates across settings are as follows. Low: 267 FPS average. Medium: 204 FPS average, with a minimum of 174 and maximum of 235. High: 171 FPS average. Ultra: 131 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline: Medium is 24% lower than Low, High is 36% lower than Low, and Ultra is 51% lower than Low. The minimum and maximum values for Medium indicate a range of 61 FPS, suggesting some frame-time variability at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low: 172 FPS average. Medium: 132 FPS average, with a minimum of 112 and maximum of 151. High: 110 FPS average. Ultra: 84 FPS average. Compared to 1080p, the Low preset drops by 36%, Medium by 35%, High by 36%, and Ultra by 36%. The consistency of this drop across settings reinforces that resolution is the primary factor, not the graphical preset.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low: 93 FPS average. Medium: 71 FPS average, with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 82. High: 60 FPS average. Ultra: 45 FPS average. Compared to 1440p, Low drops by 46%, Medium by 46%, High by 45%, and Ultra by 46%. Again, the percentage drop is uniform across settings, confirming that the GPU load scales with pixel count rather than with the specific quality preset.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the spread is 61 FPS (174 to 235). At 1440p, the spread narrows to 39 FPS (112 to 151). At 4K, the spread is 22 FPS (60 to 82). This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing the variance in frame times.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver frame rates well above 120 FPS, with Low at 267 FPS and Ultra at 131 FPS. For high-refresh-rate displays (144Hz or higher), the Low or Medium presets provide the best experience, with Medium offering an average of 204 FPS and a minimum of 174 FPS, ensuring the frame rate rarely dips below 170 FPS. The Ultra preset at 131 FPS is still smooth for most displays, but the extra visual fidelity may not justify the 36% performance loss compared to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS, making it suitable for 120Hz displays. The High preset at 110 FPS is also viable for 100Hz displays, while Ultra at 84 FPS is acceptable for 60-75Hz monitors. The Low preset at 172 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors, so it may be unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates for esports-style play.

At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers exactly 60 FPS on average, which is the minimum threshold for smooth gameplay on a 60Hz display. The Medium preset at 71 FPS provides a small buffer above 60 FPS, with a minimum of 60 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays at or above the refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is below 60 FPS and would result in noticeable stuttering on a 60Hz display; it is not recommended unless the user prioritizes visual quality over smoothness. The Low preset at 93 FPS is the best option for 4K if the display supports higher refresh rates.

For the best overall experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p offers a strong balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 132 FPS and a minimum of 112 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it provides 71 FPS average with a 60 FPS minimum, which is the only preset besides High that maintains a minimum at or above 60 FPS. The High preset at 4K is also acceptable, but the Medium preset provides a 18% higher average frame rate with only a modest reduction in visual fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 131 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested combinations in this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 776 out of 2,939 tested combos, placing it in the top 26.4% of all combinations.

Q: Which preset at 4K maintains a minimum frame rate of 60 FPS?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 has a minimum of 60 FPS and an average of 71 FPS. The High preset has an average of 60 FPS but no recorded minimum value.

Q: What is the CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 47,737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,739 in single-core.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 has a memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s, with 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low preset compared to the 4K Low preset?

A: The 1080p Low preset averages 267 FPS, while the 4K Low preset averages 93 FPS. The 1080p result is approximately 187% higher than the 4K result.