Minimum

# Minimum — AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

The benchmark data for Minimum (a Third-Person Shooter released on 2014-06-25) shows a pairing that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but surprisingly CPU-capable at 1080p, where the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D's 12 cores and 24 threads push frame rates past 300 FPS on Low settings. This combination ranks 439th out of 2,939 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper tier of systems, and the measured FPS curve across four resolutions and four quality presets reveals a component relationship worth dissecting — particularly how a CPU with a 91st-percentile standing among all processors interacts with a GPU that sits at the 83rd percentile.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which strongly indicates the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting factor as pixel count rises. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 199 FPS at 1920x1080 to 128 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 36% reduction — then further to 69 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a 46% drop from 1440p and a 65% drop from 1080p. The scaling pattern suggests the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus are being taxed heavily at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions.

Low settings reveal the most extreme scaling: 310 FPS at 1080p, 200 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. That 4K figure is still playable, but the 65% reduction from 1080p shows how dramatically pixel throughput demands outpace the GPU's capabilities when the CPU is not the bottleneck. Medium settings follow a similar trajectory — 237 FPS at 1080p, 153 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K — with the 4K result being roughly one-third of the 1080p number. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 152 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K.

What is notable is that the resolution scaling factor is nearly identical across presets — approximately 65-70% FPS loss from 1080p to 4K regardless of quality level. This uniformity implies that the GPU's rendering pipeline, not the CPU or memory subsystem, is the constraining component at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 128 MB of L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth, appears to be delivering frames faster than the RTX 4070 SUPER can process them once the resolution climbs past 1440p.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9900X3D's specifications — 12 cores, 24 threads, base clock of 4.40 GHz, and boost clock of 5.50 GHz — are more than sufficient for a 2014-released title like Minimum. The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce this: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47,737 and a single-core score of 6,739, alongside a Geekbench multicore score of 22,884 and a single-core score of 3,041. These numbers place the CPU in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (average score 55,093, just 0.6% higher) and the Intel Core i7-14700F (average score 53,620, 2.1% lower).

In Minimum, the CPU's role becomes evident at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 310 FPS. That frame rate is far beyond what most displays can show, but it demonstrates that the CPU is not throttling performance even at extreme frame rates. The 3DMark scores — 12,490 for 16 threads, 9,002 for 8 threads, and 4,885 for 4 threads — show strong scaling across thread counts, which matters for a game that may not utilize all 24 threads but benefits from high single-thread performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,646 and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1,269 indicate that even a single core can handle the game's logic without becoming a bottleneck.

The L3 cache of 128 MB is a massive resource for gaming, potentially keeping frequently accessed game data on-die and reducing memory latency. The DDR5 dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth further ensures the CPU isn't starved for data. However, since the data shows FPS dropping sharply at 4K regardless of settings, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor in this combo — it is delivering frames well above what the GPU can render at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 439th out of 2,939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 15% of all systems tested. That ranking reflects a balance of CPU and GPU power, though the GPU's percentile standing (83rd among all GPUs) is lower than the CPU's (91st among all CPUs), which explains why higher resolutions expose the GPU as the weaker link.

The GPU's nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores are telling: the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (average score 43,262, just 0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, 0.1% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43,301, 0.2% higher). These are all within 1% of the RTX 4070 SUPER's average score of 43,223, meaning the GPU is positioned in a tight performance cluster. The CPU's rivals, by contrast, show a slightly wider spread, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF being 0.6% faster and the Intel Core i7-14700F being 2.1% slower.

The combo rank of 439 suggests that while each component is strong individually, the pairing is not optimal for Minimum specifically — likely because the GPU cannot fully leverage the CPU's capabilities at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 310 FPS, which is excellent, but at 4K Ultra, the 53 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold many players prefer. The rank reflects a system that excels at lower resolutions but loses its edge as pixel counts increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 310 FPS, Medium yields 237 FPS (with a minimum of 202 and maximum of 273), High reaches 199 FPS, and Ultra drops to 152 FPS. All of these are well above 144 Hz, making the combo ideal for high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors. The spread from Low to Ultra is 158 FPS, indicating that quality settings have a significant impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers remain strong but show the GPU starting to strain. Low settings average 200 FPS, Medium averages 153 FPS (minimum 130, maximum 176), High averages 128 FPS, and Ultra averages 98 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 35-36% across all settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count. Even at Ultra, 98 FPS is playable on high-refresh displays, though not at the level of the 1080p results.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 108 FPS, Medium averages 82 FPS (minimum 70, maximum 95), High averages 69 FPS, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, but the High preset at 69 FPS and Medium at 82 FPS are marginal. The 4K Low result of 108 FPS shows that even with reduced quality, the GPU can still deliver a smooth experience, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (55 FPS) is the largest of any resolution, further confirming GPU-bound behavior.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, 192-bit bus, and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is the component that determines performance at higher resolutions in Minimum. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1980 MHz, combined with 7,168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, provide substantial raw compute power — 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. However, the 4K results indicate that this power is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at maximum quality settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores show its positioning: a PassMark G3D score of 29,995, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 172,795, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 205,624. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,627 is a modern test, but Minimum is a 2014 title that may not leverage all of the GPU's features, such as the 56 RT cores or 224 Tensor cores, which are more relevant for newer games with ray tracing and DLSS. The GPU's API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so compatibility is not an issue.

The 12 GB VRAM is a key consideration at 4K. While the data doesn't show VRAM usage, the fact that 4K High and Ultra presets drop to 69 and 53 FPS respectively, while 4K Low achieves 108 FPS, suggests that memory bandwidth and capacity are being taxed. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is substantial, but 4K textures can consume large amounts of memory, and the 192-bit bus may limit effective throughput compared to wider-bus GPUs. The GPU's TDP of 220 W and suggested PSU of 550 W indicate a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS data doesn't reveal thermal throttling.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, all presets are viable — even Ultra averages 152 FPS, which exceeds most 144 Hz monitors' capabilities. For maximum visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, Ultra at 1080p is the best choice, as the 152 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold and only 47 FPS lower than the High preset's 199 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 128 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it maintains a frame rate above 120 FPS. The Ultra preset at 98 FPS is also playable, but the 30 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual gains. Low settings at 200 FPS and Medium at 153 FPS are options for competitive play, but they sacrifice visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 82 FPS (minimum 70, maximum 95) is the recommended choice, as it provides a smooth experience above 60 FPS while maintaining reasonable quality. The Low preset at 108 FPS is the only 4K option that comfortably exceeds 100 FPS, but it significantly reduces visual fidelity. The High preset at 69 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 53 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for most players. For 4K gaming, Medium is the sweet spot, with Low as a fallback for higher frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the strongest resolution, with all presets averaging above 150 FPS — Ultra at 152 FPS, High at 199 FPS, Medium at 237 FPS, and Low at 310 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 98 FPS, and at 3840x2160, Ultra falls to 53 FPS.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54,762, placing it 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093), 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), 2% above the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701), and 2.1% above the Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620).

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes, the data indicates GPU-bound behavior at 3840x2160. The average FPS drops to 108 on Low, 82 on Medium, 69 on High, and 53 on Ultra, while the CPU's high benchmark scores suggest it has headroom. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth appear insufficient for maximum quality at 4K.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 128, with no minimum or maximum recorded. This is roughly 36% lower than the 199 FPS at 1080p High, reflecting the increased pixel count.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 439th out of 2,939 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the top 15% of systems. The CPU is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Which settings preset provides the smoothest 4K experience?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 offers the best balance, averaging 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 95. The Low preset achieves 108 FPS, but Medium provides better visual quality while staying above 60 FPS.