Minimum

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 combination delivers a highly playable experience in Minimum, a 2014 third-person shooter. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings, with the combo ranking in the 1411th position out of 1733 tested configurations. This places the pairing in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet the measured frame rates reveal that this position belies its practical capability for this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor built on the Coffee Lake architecture using a 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.10 GHz, which is critical for maintaining frame pacing in a fast-paced third-person shooter. The CPU’s 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s of dual-channel memory bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game’s engine, which was released in 2014 and is unlikely to stress modern multi-threaded workloads.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 7969 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 points in single-core. These figures place the processor at the 50th percentile among all CPUs in the database, indicating a squarely mid-range standing. Its average benchmark score of 2305 is nearly identical to that of its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, deltaPct 0.2), the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, deltaPct 0.2), and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, deltaPct 0.4). The only competitor ahead of it is the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319, deltaPct -0.6), which is only 0.6% faster on average.

For Minimum, the 6-thread configuration is more than adequate. The game’s release date and genre suggest that it relies heavily on single-core performance for game logic and physics, where the 4.10 GHz boost clock excels. The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions; at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 155.6 FPS, a figure that would require strong per-core throughput. The lack of hyper-threading means the processor has exactly six threads to distribute, but this is unlikely to hinder a title from 2014.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1411 out of 1733 (81.4% percentile) places this pairing in the lower 19% of all tested combinations in the database. This ranking might seem low, but it is skewed by the inclusion of far more powerful modern systems. The ranking reflects the aggregate performance across all tested games, not just Minimum. When isolating the measured FPS in this title, the picture changes significantly.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 99.8 FPS on High settings and 76.3 FPS on Ultra. These are playable numbers that suggest the system is well-suited for 60 Hz displays. The gap between the combo’s overall rank and its in-game performance indicates that Minimum is not particularly demanding on the CPU, allowing the RX 6600 to flex its muscles. The nearest GPU rivals for the RX 6600 include the AMD Radeon 890M (deltaPct 0), the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (deltaPct 0.2), all of which are within 0.5% of its average benchmark score of 25235. This suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates in this title, as the CPU has ample headroom.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Minimum at 4K resolution smoothly?*

A: At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 37.8 FPS on High settings and 53.9 FPS on Low. These figures are below the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K playable only at Low settings with reduced visual fidelity.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 155.6 FPS, which exceeds a 144 Hz refresh rate. For Medium settings, it drops to 120.3 FPS, still above 120 Hz. High settings yield 99.8 FPS, which is suitable for a 100 Hz monitor.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 6600’s average benchmark score is 25235. The AMD Radeon 890M (25246) is statistically identical with a deltaPct of 0. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287) is 0.2% faster, while the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) is 0.2% slower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120) is 0.5% slower.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 2560x1440?

A: The data shows a large performance spread between settings at 1440p: 98.2 FPS on Low versus 50.6 FPS on Ultra. This 47.6 FPS differential indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU is capable of delivering higher frame rates when the GPU workload is reduced.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU in this combo?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 had a launch MSRP of 329 USD.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at Ultra settings in Full HD?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 76.3 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable scaling pattern. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 155.6 FPS on Low, 120.3 FPS on Medium, 99.8 FPS on High, and 76.3 FPS on Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium incurs a 35.3 FPS drop, while moving from High to Ultra costs 23.5 FPS. This suggests that the game’s Ultra preset introduces heavy post-processing or shadow effects that disproportionately impact the RX 6600.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are still strong for competitive play. Low settings produce 98.2 FPS, Medium yields 79.3 FPS, High delivers 63.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 50.6 FPS. The 1440p results show a 47.6 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for High settings but struggle with Ultra’s texture demands.

The 3840x2160 resolution paints a less optimistic picture. High settings yield 37.8 FPS, Medium 38.3 FPS, and Ultra 23.4 FPS. Interestingly, Low settings achieve 53.9 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability. The minimal difference between High (37.8) and Medium (38.3) suggests that the render resolution is the dominant factor, not the settings themselves. The GPU’s 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs are likely saturated at this pixel count.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, featuring the Navi 23 chip with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1626 MHz and boosts to 2491 MHz, with a game clock of 2044 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for the texture sizes in Minimum. The GPU’s 64 ROPs and 112 TMUs deliver a pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 279.0 GTexel/s, respectively.

The RX 6600’s average benchmark score of 25235 places it at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, which is notably higher than the CPU’s 50th percentile. This difference explains why the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings and resolutions. The card’s 8.928 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than enough for a 2014 title, but the 4K results show that memory bandwidth (224.0 GB/s) is the bottleneck when pushing 8.3 million pixels per frame.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.5% of its average score, indicating a tightly contested performance tier. The AMD Radeon 890M (25246) matches the RX 6600 exactly, while the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) is 0.2% slower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120) trails by 0.5%, yet in Minimum, the RX 6600’s architecture handles the game’s DirectX 12 Ultimate features efficiently, as evidenced by the 155.6 FPS peak at 1080p Low. The GPU’s 132 W TDP and 1x 8-pin power connector suggest it operates within a modest power envelope, but the data does not include temperature or power throttling metrics.