Minimum

Minimum, a third-person shooter released on 2014-06-25, exhibits a clear performance hierarchy when paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial headroom becomes apparent only at 1080p. This analysis walks through the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interprets the scaling patterns, and contextualizes the hardware's role within this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 provides a textbook demonstration of how GPU load scales with pixel count, and where the bottleneck shifts in this configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 211 FPS at 1080p to 136 FPS at 1440p, a 35.5% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) further reduces the average to 73 FPS, another 46.3% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the limiting component as resolution increases; the GPU simply cannot maintain the same throughput when rendering over four times the pixels of 1080p.

The scaling pattern at Low settings reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 329 FPS, which drops to 212 FPS at 1440p (a 35.6% decrease) and then to 114 FPS at 4K (a 46.2% decrease from 1440p). The nearly identical percentage drops between High and Low settings across resolution steps suggest that the CPU is not a significant constraint even at lower graphical loads. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect the frame rate at 1080p Low to plateau or show a much smaller drop when moving to 1440p, as the GPU would still have headroom to spare.

The data indicates that this game, despite its 2014 release, scales aggressively with resolution. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings is particularly revealing: 252 FPS versus 87 FPS, a 65.5% reduction in average performance. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU that becomes progressively more saturated with each incremental resolution increase. The CPU, with its high single-thread performance (evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1269 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3041), is never the primary limiter in this title, even at the lowest resolution tested.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 136 FPS. This places the experience well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating a highly playable configuration at this resolution.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 56 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target commonly desired for fast-paced shooters, suggesting that Ultra settings at 4K may require a compromise for competitive play.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Low and High settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows a difference of 118 FPS on average. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 329 FPS, while at 1080p High, it drops to 211 FPS. This indicates that while the GPU is still the primary driver of performance, graphical fidelity settings have a substantial impact even at lower resolutions.

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

A: The lowest average FPS in the dataset is 56 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS mark, highlighting the extreme demand of 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which places it 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (score 55093) and 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (score 54053). It also leads the Intel Xeon 6505P by 2% and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 2.1%.

Q: Does the GPU's performance fall within a specific percentile of all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER holds a percentile rank of 76 when compared to all GPUs in the database. This indicates that it outperforms 76% of all tested graphics cards, though it trails the highest-performing options.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant factor in Minimum's performance scaling. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s, which is sufficient to feed the GPU's 8448 shading units at all tested resolutions without causing a memory capacity bottleneck. The card's boost clock of 2610 MHz, up from a base of 2340 MHz, allows it to sustain high throughput under sustained gaming loads, though the measured FPS drops suggest that raw compute power, not memory bandwidth, is the limiting factor at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its in-game performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 31811 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 place it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (avg score 31206, 0.4% lower) and the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q (avg score 31220, 0.4% lower), though these are professional/workstation cards not directly comparable for gaming. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's performance in Minimum is consistent with its positional ranking: it delivers high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but begins to struggle at 4K Ultra, where the 56 FPS average indicates the GPU is nearing its computational limits for this title.

The pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s are key indicators of how the card handles the fill-rate demands of a third-person shooter. At 4K, the need to process over 8.3 million pixels per frame (3840x2160) taxes these units heavily, which explains the sharp FPS decline from 1440p to 4K. The FP32 performance of 44.10 TFLOPS provides ample compute for the game's shader work, but the resolution scaling data suggests that pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 329 FPS, Medium yields 252 FPS (with a minimum of 214 and maximum of 290), High produces 211 FPS, and Ultra drops to 161 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 168 FPS, demonstrating that while the GPU is capable of extreme frame rates at this resolution, the settings preset has a profound effect on the final output. Even at Ultra, the 161 FPS average far exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, making 1080p an optimal resolution for high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the first signs of GPU saturation. Low settings average 212 FPS, Medium averages 162 FPS (with a minimum of 138 and maximum of 187), High averages 136 FPS, and Ultra averages 104 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 108 FPS, a smaller absolute difference than at 1080p but a similar relative scaling. Notably, the 1440p Medium minimum of 138 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this resolution is fully playable with all settings tested.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low settings average 114 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS (with a minimum of 74 and maximum of 101), High averages 73 FPS, and Ultra averages 56 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58 FPS drop, and the Ultra preset is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 74 FPS suggests that even mid-range settings at 4K can cause noticeable frame dips, though the average remains playable. The High preset at 73 FPS is borderline for competitive play, while Low at 114 FPS offers a smoother experience for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 161 FPS provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 211 FPS High preset offers a marginal 50 FPS improvement but at a noticeable reduction in graphical detail, which may not be worth the trade-off for most users on standard 60Hz or 144Hz displays. However, for competitive players with 240Hz or higher refresh monitors, the Low preset's 329 FPS could be advantageous, though the visual compromise is significant.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 136 FPS is the recommended starting point. It delivers smooth gameplay with good visual fidelity, and the 104 FPS Ultra preset is also viable if the user prioritizes graphics over frame rate. The Medium preset at 162 FPS is an excellent alternative for those who want a higher safety margin above 144 FPS, as its minimum of 138 FPS ensures consistent performance. The Low preset at 212 FPS is excessive for most displays but could benefit users with very high refresh rates.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 87 FPS is the most balanced option, as its minimum of 74 FPS keeps the experience above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining decent visual quality. The High preset at 73 FPS is risky for competitive play, as its average is close to the 60 FPS line, and the Ultra preset at 56 FPS is not recommended for any scenario requiring smooth motion. The Low preset at 114 FPS is the best choice for 4K players who prioritize performance, though it sacrifices significant visual detail. Given the data, 1440p High appears to be the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering 136 FPS with a strong balance of quality and speed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides a robust foundation for this configuration, though its influence on Minimum's frame rates is largely secondary to the GPU. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and Passmark multithread score of 56154. However, Minimum, being a 2014 title, likely does not utilize all 12 cores efficiently, making single-thread performance more relevant for gaming.

The CPU's single-thread capabilities are strong: a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1269, Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739, and Geekbench single-core score of 3041. These scores place it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, scores 55093 (0.6% higher), while the Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620 (2.1% lower). This level of single-thread performance ensures that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU even at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 329 FPS.

The CPU's high boost clock of 5.50 GHz, up from a base of 4.40 GHz, provides the responsiveness needed for a third-person shooter, where input latency and frame pacing are critical. The 128 MB of L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming, as it reduces memory latency for frequently accessed data. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU's role is to enable the GPU to reach its full potential rather than to directly drive frame rates. At 1080p Low, the 329 FPS result suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU more frames than the GPU can render, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU's limitations are the sole constraint, with the CPU's performance becoming irrelevant to the final frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER holds a combo rank of 300 out of 2939 tested combinations in Minimum. This places it in the top 10.2% of all configurations, indicating that it is a high-performing pairing for this game. The rank reflects the system's ability to deliver strong frame rates across most resolutions and settings, with the 4K Ultra configuration being the only notable weakness.

This ranking is consistent with the individual components' positions in their respective benchmarks. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking and the GPU's 76th percentile ranking combine to produce a system that excels in CPU-bound scenarios (1080p) and remains competitive in GPU-bound scenarios (1440p), while falling short at the most demanding 4K Ultra settings. The combo's rank of 300 suggests that while it is not the absolute top-tier configuration, it outranks the vast majority of systems tested, including those with more powerful GPUs but weaker CPUs, or vice versa.

The data indicates that this combination is particularly well-suited for 1440p gaming, where it achieves 136 FPS on High settings and 104 FPS on Ultra, both of which are excellent for smooth gameplay. At 1080p, the system is overkill for most displays, with even Ultra settings producing 161 FPS. The 4K experience is playable but requires settings adjustments, with Medium offering 87 FPS and Low offering 114 FPS. Overall, the rank of 300 out of 2939 confirms that this is a well-balanced, high-performance pairing for Minimum, with the CPU's strength ensuring that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance across all tested configurations.