Minimum

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1399 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the lower third of the database. This is a substantial mismatch in component tiers. The CPU sits at the 96th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 71660, while the GPU ranks at the 58th percentile with an average score of 16074. The 9950X3D leads its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270, by 0.9% in average score, and it is 1.8% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. The RTX 2060, by contrast, trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 by 1.7% and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M by the same margin, while sitting just 0.5% above the AMD Radeon RX 7600S. The combination's poor ranking reflects a GPU that is far below the CPU's performance class, and the measured frame rates confirm that the graphics card is the binding constraint in nearly every scenario.

The 9950X3D's 16 cores and 32 threads, with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, provide immense headroom for any workload this 2014 third-person shooter can generate. Its 128 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth are far beyond what a title of this era requires. Meanwhile, the RTX 2060's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, represents a mid-range graphics solution from the GeForce 20-series. The benchmark data indicates that the CPU is never the limiting factor; instead, the GPU's compute resources — 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs — determine the outcome. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 152.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 27.2 FPS, a gap of over 5.6x that cannot be attributed to the processor.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060's role in this pairing is defined by its Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process with 10,800 million transistors. Its base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz, combined with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), dictate the graphics throughput. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces only 27.2 FPS, which suggests the frame buffer is being taxed heavily, and the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth may be insufficient for the data demands of 3840x2160 with maximum detail. The GPU's 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 201.6 GTexel/s texture rate are modest figures by modern standards, and the data reflects this in the measured results.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a passmark G3D score of 14111, with DirectX 12 performance at 53 and DirectX 11 at 110. These scores indicate that the card handles legacy APIs like DirectX 11 more comfortably than DirectX 12, which is relevant for a 2014 title. The RTX 2060's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but offer no practical benefit in Minimum, as the game predates ray tracing and DLSS adoption. The 48 ROPs limit pixel fill rate to 80.64 GPixel/s, which becomes a bottleneck at 4K resolution where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p. The GPU's end-of-life production status and its 160 W TDP, requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, frame it as a legacy component that is now outclassed by the CPU it is paired with.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of which settings deliver the best experience across resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 152.4 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. This is followed by Medium at 116.7 FPS, High at 98.9 FPS, and Ultra at 77 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, the Low preset at 1080p is the only option that approaches the 144 Hz mark, though it falls short of it. The Medium preset at 116.7 FPS is a strong middle ground, offering 76.6% of the Low preset's frame rate while likely providing noticeably better visual quality. High at 98.9 FPS remains playable for most users, but Ultra at 77 FPS begins to sacrifice responsiveness.

At 1440p, the situation shifts. Low produces 101.8 FPS, which is still above the 100 FPS threshold that many consider smooth. Medium drops to 78.6 FPS, High to 63.7 FPS, and Ultra to 50.2 FPS. For a third-person shooter, 63.7 FPS at High is acceptable, but the data suggests that Medium at 78.6 FPS provides a better balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 4K, the measured results are more constrained: Low yields 54.8 FPS, Medium 43.2 FPS, High 34.1 FPS, and Ultra 27.2 FPS. None of these are ideal for a fast-paced shooter, but Low at 54.8 FPS is the only preset that stays above the 30 FPS playability floor, making it the recommended choice for 4K if the user insists on that resolution. For the best overall experience, the data indicates that 1080p Medium or 1440p Low are the optimal presets, depending on whether the user prioritizes visual quality or frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets each, providing a comprehensive view of this combo's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 152.4 FPS, Medium 116.7 FPS, High 98.9 FPS, and Ultra 77 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 75.4 FPS, representing a 49.5% drop from the lowest to the highest settings. This indicates that the GPU is sensitive to settings changes at 1080p, but the overall performance remains solid even at Ultra, which clears the 60 FPS bar by a significant margin. The 1080p results are the only resolution where every preset exceeds 60 FPS, making this the most viable resolution for the combo.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 101.8 FPS, Medium 78.6 FPS, High 63.7 FPS, and Ultra 50.2 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 51.6 FPS, a 50.7% reduction. The High preset at 63.7 FPS barely clears 60 FPS, while Ultra falls below it. This resolution begins to expose the GPU's limitations, as the pixel count is 1.78x that of 1080p, and the frame rates reflect that scaling. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 54.8 FPS, Medium 43.2 FPS, High 34.1 FPS, and Ultra 27.2 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 27.6 FPS, a 50.4% reduction. None of the 4K presets achieve 60 FPS, and only Low manages to stay above 50 FPS. The 4K data shows that this combo is not suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution, with even the lowest settings struggling to maintain a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a performance drop that is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 152.4 FPS at 1080p to 101.8 FPS at 1440p, a 33.2% reduction, and then to 54.8 FPS at 4K, a 64.0% reduction from the 1080p baseline. The pixel count increases by 2.25x from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate drops by approximately 2.78x, indicating that the GPU is not scaling linearly with resolution. This suggests that other factors, such as memory bandwidth and fill rate, are becoming limiting factors at higher resolutions. The RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth and 80.64 GPixel/s pixel rate are likely the constraints at 4K.

At Medium settings, the frame rates are 116.7 FPS at 1080p, 78.6 FPS at 1440p, and 43.2 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32.6%, and from 1080p to 4K is 63.0%. At High settings, the results are 98.9 FPS, 63.7 FPS, and 34.1 FPS, representing drops of 35.6% and 65.5%, respectively. At Ultra, the frame rates are 77 FPS, 50.2 FPS, and 27.2 FPS, with drops of 34.8% and 64.7%. Across all settings, the 1080p to 4K drop averages around 64-65%, which is consistent with a GPU that has a fixed memory bandwidth ceiling. The CPU's role in this scaling is negligible; the 9950X3D's 16 cores and 32 threads, with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, can easily feed the GPU at any resolution. The data clearly shows that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component, and users seeking higher frame rates at 1440p or 4K would need a more powerful graphics card to realize the full potential of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.