Minimum

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a benchmark profile that is heavily dictated by the graphics card's capabilities in the 2014 third-person shooter Minimum. The measured data reveals a system where the CPU's substantial processing power is largely held in reserve, with frame rates scaling directly with resolution and settings in a manner typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The combination ranks in the 30th percentile of all tested combos, a position that reflects the RTX 2060 SUPER's mid-range standing rather than the flagship-tier CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which strongly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary limiting component in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 170 FPS, but this drops to 110 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 59 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 65% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset, a scaling pattern that points directly at pixel throughput as the bottleneck.

The scaling behavior becomes even more pronounced when examining the High settings preset. The system produces 109 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 71 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 35% drop) and then to 38 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 65% drop from 1080p). The consistent pattern across all settings levels, where the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, confirms that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being saturated as the pixel count increases.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a constraining factor at any resolution. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, provides ample headroom even at 1080p where CPU overhead is typically highest. The fact that the frame rate continues to scale downward smoothly with resolution rather than plateauing indicates that the GPU is the sole performance ceiling. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RTX 2060 SUPER is sufficient for this game's demands, as the 4K Ultra preset still manages to run, albeit at only 29 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position in the benchmark database is underwhelming relative to its CPU component. With a combo rank of 2602 out of 3712 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the 70th percentile from the bottom, meaning most other tested configurations deliver higher frame rates in this game. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance class rather than any deficiency in the processor.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's standalone benchmark score of 18093 places it at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, which is a solidly mid-range position. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark rankings include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (scoring 18159, a 0.4% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, 0.5% difference), and the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, 1.5% difference). This clustering indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is performing exactly as expected for its hardware class, with no significant anomalies in its raw compute capabilities.

The CPU, by contrast, is a top-tier performer. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D ranks at the 95th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 75779. Its nearest rivals are all very close in aggregate performance: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 (75738, 0.1% difference), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D (75716, 0.1% difference), and the AMD EPYC 8224P (75582, 0.3% difference). The massive disparity between the CPU's elite ranking and the combo's mid-pack position underscores that the GPU is the binding constraint, and upgrading the graphics card would yield disproportionately large gains in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with the TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. The card operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place it as a capable 1080p and entry-level 1440p card, which aligns with the measured frame rates in Minimum.

The GPU's benchmark results reinforce its mid-range positioning. Its PassMark G3D score is 16462, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2011. Performance in synthetic tests shows a mixed profile: DirectX 11 yields a score of 130, DirectX 12 drops to 61, and DirectX 9 produces 218. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 76957, and the Vulkan score is 77402. These numbers indicate that the card has sufficient compute power for older titles like Minimum, but its 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are modest by modern standards.

The memory configuration plays a critical role in the 4K results. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the system produces an average of 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 52. The 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is sufficient for this game's textures, but the card's 64 ROPs become a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the Ultra preset dropping to just 29 FPS at 4K. The GPU's 175 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with its performance class, and its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface does not appear to create a measurable bottleneck in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive picture of the system's capabilities across twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the performance ranges from 170 FPS at Low settings to 83 FPS at Ultra, with Medium producing 130 FPS (minimum 111, maximum 150) and High achieving 109 FPS. This resolution offers the most playable experience, with even the Ultra preset maintaining a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop substantially. Low settings produce 110 FPS, which remains highly playable, while High yields 71 FPS. Medium settings deliver 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 and a maximum of 97, which is a solid experience for competitive play. Ultra settings fall to 54 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay but may be acceptable for less demanding scenarios. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows an average reduction of approximately 35-38% across all settings, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 59 FPS, which is just at the edge of acceptable performance. Medium settings drop to 45 FPS (minimum 38, maximum 52), High settings fall to 38 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 29 FPS. The 4K results clearly indicate that this resolution is not viable for a smooth experience, regardless of settings, and the data suggests that the GPU's 8 GB of memory and 64 ROPs are insufficient for this game at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is an exceptionally powerful processor that is vastly underutilized in this configuration. It features 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename), with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz. The CPU has a substantial 128 MB of L3 cache, along with 80 KB of L1 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth and operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its dominance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 42018 points in multicore and 2259 points in singlecore. Geekbench results show 26736 in multicore and 3064 in singlecore. The 3DMark tests reveal strong scaling: 16-thread performance is 16374, while 2-thread performance is 2549, indicating excellent multi-threading efficiency. PassMark tests show a multithread score of 70255 and a single-thread score of 4737, with particularly strong results in integer math (243209) and floating-point math (159724).

In Minimum, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The game, released in 2014, does not demand the full capability of this processor. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (170 FPS) suggest that the CPU can handle the game's engine overhead without breaking a sweat, and the smooth scaling across resolutions confirms that the processor is not introducing any frame pacing issues or bottlenecks. The 170 W TDP and 4 nm process node (TSMC) indicate that thermal management is not a concern for this workload.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 109 FPS offers an excellent balance between visual fidelity and performance, while the Medium preset at 130 FPS provides additional headroom for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 83 FPS is viable for those prioritizing image quality, but the performance difference between High and Ultra may not justify the 24% frame rate reduction.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset at 110 FPS is the only configuration that consistently exceeds the 100 FPS mark, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset at 84 FPS (minimum 71) is a strong recommendation for most players, as it maintains smooth gameplay while offering improved visuals over Low. The High preset at 71 FPS is acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 54 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced action.

For 3840x2160, the data clearly indicates that this resolution is not recommended for this GPU. The Low preset at 59 FPS is technically playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 45 FPS and High at 38 FPS are borderline unplayable, while Ultra at 29 FPS is not a viable option. Players with 4K displays should either reduce resolution to 2560x1440 or accept significant compromises in visual quality and frame rate.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 offers the best frame rates, with the Low preset achieving 170 FPS and the High preset delivering 109 FPS. At 2560x1440, performance ranges from 110 FPS at Low to 54 FPS at Ultra, while 3840x2160 drops to between 29 and 59 FPS depending on settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159), 0.5% lower than the Radeon Pro 5700 (18189), and 1.5% lower than the Radeon RX 460 (18373). This places it at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D bottlenecking the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU ranks at the 95th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 75779, while the GPU is the limiting factor. The frame rate scaling across resolutions indicates that the GPU is fully saturated before the CPU becomes a constraint.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 71 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 54 FPS. This represents a 24% reduction in frame rate when moving from High to Ultra, which may not justify the modest visual improvements.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Minimum?*

A: The data shows that 4K performance is limited. Even at Low settings, the system only achieves 59 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, a more powerful GPU would be required.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2602 out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 30% of all configurations. This ranking is primarily due to the GPU's mid-range position, as the CPU is a top-tier performer.