Minimum

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip features a 9 MB shared L3 cache, along with 64 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 cache per core. Memory support is DDR4 over a dual-channel bus, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic CPU benchmarks, this processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125. Its average benchmark score across tests is 2305, placing it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals in the database are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2300 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i3-1125G4 scores 2299 (0.2% ahead), the Intel Xeon E-2134 scores 2295 (0.4% ahead), and the Intel Core i7-8809G scores 2319 (0.6% behind). This indicates that the i5-9400 sits in a very competitive mid-range segment where performance differences are marginal.

For a third-person shooter like Minimum, the CPU's 6 physical cores without hyper-threading are sufficient for handling game logic, physics, and AI tasks. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides responsive single-thread performance, which is often critical in game engines that rely on a primary render thread. The measured FPS data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 83.5 FPS average, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower graphical loads. The 50th percentile ranking reinforces that this is a middling processor by modern standards, but for a game released in 2014, its capabilities are more than adequate.

# GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective). It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s, texture rate is 159.2 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance reaches 5.095 TFLOPS. The card has a 150 W TDP and requires a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested 450 W power supply. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 570 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 880, a Geekbench Metal score of 44915, OpenCL score of 32084, and Vulkan score of 42752. Its average benchmark score is 30158, placing it at the 74th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals show surprising proximity: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 scores 30109 (0.2% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097 (0.2% ahead), NVIDIA Tesla M60 scores 29969 (0.6% ahead), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile scores 29928 (0.8% ahead). This clustering suggests the RX 570's average score is representative of a broad mid-range performance tier.

For Minimum, the 4 GB VRAM capacity is a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a dramatic drop at 3840x2160 Ultra (11.6 FPS) compared to 1920x1080 Ultra (40.2 FPS), indicating that memory bandwidth and capacity constraints become severe at 4K. The 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for 1080p but struggles as pixel count increases.

# Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 83.5 FPS average, which is well above smooth gameplay thresholds. The Medium preset yields 60.3 FPS, still playable but with a noticeable 28% reduction from Low. High settings produce 50.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40.2 FPS. For competitive third-person shooting, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest headroom, while Medium provides a balanced experience if visual fidelity is preferred.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. Low settings achieve 54.2 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Medium drops to 38.7 FPS, High to 33.9 FPS, and Ultra to 26.1 FPS. The data indicates that 1440p is only viable with Low settings for consistent frame rates; any higher preset risks dipping below 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, all presets fall below playable thresholds. Low settings reach 26.1 FPS, Medium 21.5 FPS, High 20.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 11.6 FPS. The 4K resolution is clearly beyond this hardware's capabilities for Minimum, regardless of settings adjustments.

The optimal recommendation is 1920x1080 with Low settings for maximum frame rates, or Medium if the user accepts a 60 FPS cap. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 43.3 FPS, which represents a 108% improvement when choosing Low. This suggests that the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are better utilized at lower settings where memory pressure is reduced.

# How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1686 out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum. This places it in the bottom 3% of all configurations in the database, which is a surprisingly low position given the individual component rankings. The CPU sits at the 50th percentile and the GPU at the 74th percentile, yet their combined performance in this game is far below what those individual scores might suggest.

The discrepancy likely stems from the game's age and optimization patterns. Minimum was released in 2014, and its engine may not scale efficiently with newer hardware architectures. The RX 570's GCN 4.0 design, while capable in synthetic tests, may not translate its raw compute power into actual frame rates in this specific title. The 4 GB VRAM limitation becomes more pronounced in a game that may have been designed with different memory assumptions.

Compared to the 47 other combos that rank below this pair, the i5-9400 + RX 570 still outperforms them, but the margin is thin. The nearest CPU rivals (i3-10305, i3-1125G4, Xeon E-2134) all have average scores within 0.4% of the i5-9400, suggesting that swapping the processor would yield negligible changes in game performance. The GPU's nearest rivals (RTX 5060, RX 7700 XT) also sit within 0.8% in average benchmark score, yet the real-world gaming results show this combo languishing near the bottom.

This ranking indicates that for Minimum, the bottleneck is not raw compute power but rather the specific interaction between this hardware combination and the game's rendering pipeline. Users seeking better performance in this title would need to consider fundamentally different hardware rather than incremental upgrades.

# FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where playable frame rates are achieved. At 1080p, all presets range from 40.2 FPS (Ultra) to 83.5 FPS (Low), while 1440p only reaches 54.2 FPS on Low and 4K falls below 27 FPS across all settings.

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

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, with rivals ranging from 2295 to 2319. The Intel Core i7-8809G is 0.6% faster, while the Intel Core i3-10305, i3-1125G4, and Xeon E-2134 are 0.2-0.4% slower. These differences are negligible for gaming.

Q: Is the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured FPS data indicates that 4 GB VRAM is adequate at 1080p (max 83.5 FPS) but becomes a constraint at higher resolutions. At 1440p Ultra, performance drops to 26.1 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 11.6 FPS, suggesting memory capacity limits are hit.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 570 is at the 74th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 30158. Its closest rival in the database is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, which scores 30109 (0.2% ahead).

Q: Does the combo rank well in this specific game?

A: No. The combo ranks 1686 out of 1733 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 3% of all configurations for Minimum.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Low settings achieve 83.5 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 40.2 FPS. This represents a 43.3 FPS difference, with Low being 108% faster than Ultra at this resolution.

# Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 83.5 FPS, Medium yields 60.3 FPS, High reaches 50.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.2 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High (9.9 FPS). The smallest drop is between High and Ultra (10.2 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a moderate performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 54.2 FPS, Medium at 38.7 FPS, High at 33.9 FPS, and Ultra at 26.1 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium represents a 15.5 FPS loss, which is the steepest decline at this resolution. From Medium to High, the drop is 4.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra, it is 7.8 FPS. Interestingly, the Ultra preset at 1440p (26.1 FPS) matches the Low preset at 4K (26.1 FPS), showing a direct equivalence in performance cost.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 26.1 FPS, Medium at 21.5 FPS, High at 20.1 FPS, and Ultra at 11.6 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is minimal (1.4 FPS), but the fall from High to Ultra is severe (8.5 FPS). The Ultra preset at 4K represents the worst performance across all measured configurations, with an average below 12 FPS making the game effectively unplayable.

Comparing across resolutions, the scaling is non-linear. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by 29.3 (from 83.5 to 54.2), and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by 28.1 (from 54.2 to 26.1). At Ultra settings, the corresponding drops are 14.1 FPS (1080p to 1440p) and 14.5 FPS (1440p to 4K). This suggests that higher settings mitigate the resolution penalty proportionally, but the absolute frame rates remain too low for practical use beyond 1080p.