Minimum

# Minimum with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers exceptional frame rates across all tested settings in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter that remains demanding at modern resolutions. This pairing ranks 72nd out of 2,939 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.5% of all configurations. The data shows a system capable of 4K gaming at high refresh rates, with 1080p performance reaching beyond 400 FPS at low settings. The following analysis breaks down exactly what this hardware pairing delivers, where its strengths lie, and which settings provide the optimal balance of visual quality and performance.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 at High settings delivering 167 FPS average, which balances visual fidelity with a frame rate well above 144 Hz. For maximum smoothness, 1920x1080 at Low settings hits 403 FPS average, while 3840x2160 at Medium provides 107 FPS average with a 91 FPS minimum.

*Q: How does the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM affect gameplay in Minimum?*

A: The 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth ensures that VRAM capacity is never a limiting factor at any resolution or setting. The GPU's 2017 MHz base clock and 2407 MHz boost clock provide substantial compute throughput, with the 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance easily handling this game's rendering demands.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate no significant bottleneck. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads, combined with a 5.50 GHz boost clock, deliver a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 and single-core score of 6,739. The 128 MB L3 cache helps maintain high minimum frame rates, as seen in the 4K Medium result of 91 FPS minimum versus 107 FPS average.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 69 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra settings. While playable, this is the only tested configuration that dips below 90 FPS average, suggesting that High or Medium settings at 4K are better choices for maintaining consistently high refresh rates.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations in the database?

A: This pairing ranks 72nd out of 2,939 combos, placing it in the 97.5th percentile of all tested systems. The CPU performs 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF in average benchmark score but 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, showing competitive mid-range processor performance.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's performance consistent with its synthetic benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 39,650 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18,355 align with its 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs. In Minimum, the measured frame rates confirm this synthetic performance translates to real-world results, with 1080p High achieving 259 FPS average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the frame rates observed. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory across a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This massive memory subsystem ensures that texture streaming and high-resolution rendering never encounter bandwidth limitations. The base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz drive 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units.

The Blackwell 2.0 architecture's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is evident in the frame rates achieved. At 1920x1080 Low settings, the GPU produces 403 FPS average, indicating that even at lower resolutions where CPU overhead typically becomes a factor, the RTX 5090 remains the primary performance driver. The transition from Low to Medium at 1080p drops performance from 403 FPS to 309 FPS average, a 23% reduction, while High settings yield 259 FPS average. These scaling patterns suggest the GPU's rendering pipeline is efficiently utilized across all settings.

The RTX 5090's 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores are present but play a limited role in Minimum, as this 2014 title does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS technologies. The GPU's raw rasterization performance drives the results, with the 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate providing the foundational throughput. The pixel rate is particularly relevant at 4K, where the GPU must fill 8.3 million pixels per frame; the measured 90 FPS average at 4K High demonstrates sufficient pixel throughput for smooth gameplay.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 39,650 places it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% higher average score) and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% lower). These comparisons show that while the RTX 5090 is a top-tier consumer GPU, its benchmark scores are closely matched by professional and mobile workstation parts, though in Minimum the measured FPS data shows no practical competition at these performance levels.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 72 out of 2,939 tested configurations in Minimum. This places the system in the top 2.5% of all tested combos, a position consistent with the individual component rankings: the CPU sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU sits in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs.

The rank of 72 indicates that 71 other combos outperform this pairing in Minimum specifically. Given that the RTX 5090 is one of the fastest consumer GPUs available, the systems ranked above this combo likely utilize even more extreme configurations, possibly including multi-GPU setups or specialized overclocking. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is not the limiting factor, as its average benchmark score of 54,762 is within 2.1% of the nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700F.

The data's measured nature confirms these results come from actual testing rather than estimation. The gap between this combo's rank and the top positions is relatively small in terms of real-world impact; at 1080p Low settings, the 403 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of virtually all gaming monitors. Even at 4K Ultra, the 69 FPS average remains playable, though it represents the only setting where the system falls below 90 FPS.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance contribution. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF scores 0.6% higher on average, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 1.3% lower. These differences are within measurement noise for gaming workloads, indicating that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's performance is well-matched with the RTX 5090. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads ensure that any CPU-bound scenarios in Minimum are handled without bottlenecking the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings selection. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 69 FPS average, which is below the 90 FPS threshold many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. Dropping to High increases performance to 90 FPS average, a 30% improvement, while Medium delivers 107 FPS average with a 91 FPS minimum. The Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice for players prioritizing smooth frame delivery, as it maintains a minimum FPS above 90.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 167 FPS average, which exceeds the refresh rate of most high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset provides 199 FPS average with a 169 FPS minimum, while Ultra drops to 127 FPS average. For 1440p gaming, High settings offer the best balance, as the 167 FPS average supports 144 Hz displays without the visual quality reduction of Medium. Players with 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitors may prefer Medium for the higher frame rate headroom.

At 1920x1080, all settings produce frame rates above 197 FPS average, with Low reaching 403 FPS and Medium hitting 309 FPS. The High preset's 259 FPS average is more than sufficient for any 1080p display, making it the recommended choice for visual quality. Ultra at 197 FPS average remains playable but offers diminishing visual returns over High for a 24% performance cost.

The overall recommendation is to use High settings at any resolution for the best experience. At 4K, High delivers 90 FPS average, which is playable but requires a G-Sync or FreeSync display to avoid tearing. For the smoothest experience, 1440p High with 167 FPS average is the sweet spot, providing excellent visual fidelity and frame rates that exceed most display refresh rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured results show a clear performance hierarchy across settings. Low settings deliver 140 FPS average, Medium provides 107 FPS average with a 91 FPS minimum and 123 FPS maximum, High achieves 90 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 69 FPS average. The scaling from Ultra to Low represents a 103% performance increase, indicating that the GPU is heavily utilized at 4K and settings have a substantial impact.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale more steeply. Low settings produce 260 FPS average, Medium delivers 199 FPS average with a 169 FPS minimum and 229 FPS maximum, High reaches 167 FPS average, and Ultra achieves 127 FPS average. The 133 FPS difference between Low and Ultra shows that even at 1440p, the RTX 5090's performance is significantly affected by quality settings. The Medium preset's 169 FPS minimum is particularly noteworthy, as it ensures consistent frame delivery above the 144 Hz threshold.

At 1920x1080, the performance reaches exceptional levels. Low settings deliver 403 FPS average, Medium provides 309 FPS average with a 262 FPS minimum and 355 FPS maximum, High achieves 259 FPS average, and Ultra produces 197 FPS average. The 403 FPS result at Low settings demonstrates that the RTX 5090 is capable of driving frame rates far beyond what most displays can show. The transition between Medium and High at 1080p shows a 16% performance reduction, while High to Ultra shows a 24% reduction.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings across all resolutions, showing 91 FPS at 4K, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 262 FPS at 1080p. These minimum values indicate strong frame pacing, as they are within 15% of the average FPS at each resolution. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings are 123 FPS at 4K, 229 FPS at 1440p, and 355 FPS at 1080p, with the spread between minimum and maximum increasing at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D plays a critical supporting role in this combination. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, the CPU provides substantial multi-threaded performance. The base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz ensure high single-thread performance, which is particularly important for Minimum's game logic and physics calculations. The 128 MB L3 cache is a standout feature, helping to reduce memory latency in CPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its capabilities. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 and single-core score of 6,739 indicate strong performance across both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The Geekbench multi-core score of 22,884 and single-core score of 3,041 provide additional confirmation. The PassMark multi-thread score of 56,154 and single-thread score of 4,646 show consistent performance across different benchmarking methodologies.

In Minimum, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the 403 FPS average suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough draw calls to sustain extremely high frame rates. The 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom for background processes and streaming workloads while gaming. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all processors places it in the upper tier, though its nearest rivals show close competition.

The Ryzen 9 9900X3D's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration provides 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the CPU's cache hierarchy, which includes 80 KB L1 cache per core and 1 MB L2 cache per core. The 4 nm process node from TSMC, with 16,630 million transistors across a 2x 70.6 mm² die size, contributes to the CPU's efficiency and clock speed capabilities.

The CPU's launch MSRP is $599, and it supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. The integrated Radeon Graphics provide basic display output capabilities, though the RTX 5090 handles all rendering in Minimum. The CPU's multiplier unlocked status allows for overclocking, though the data shows no indication that overclocking is necessary to achieve the measured results. The combination of 12 cores, high boost clocks, and large cache makes this CPU well-suited for gaming workloads that benefit from both high single-thread performance and substantial multi-thread capacity.