Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter that scales unusually well with modern hardware, and the Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination demonstrates exactly where the limits lie. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly CPU-tolerant even at 1080p, where frame rates remain exceptionally high. This pairing ranks in the 70th percentile of all tested combos for this game, and the measured FPS reveals a clear hierarchy of settings and resolutions that favors high refresh-rate 1440p play over 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating a classic GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 180.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 63 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 37.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 44.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is identical across all settings, with the largest absolute deltas at Low settings, where 257.5 FPS at 1080p becomes 180.4 FPS at 1440p and 95.6 FPS at 4K.

This scaling behavior points squarely at the RX 9070 XT as the limiting component. The GPU’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for even the most demanding texture loads, but the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the shading units. The 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs deliver 380.2 GPixel/s, yet the Ultra preset at 4K still drops to 44.4 FPS. The CPU’s 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.10 GHz boost clock are never the bottleneck; even at 1080p Low, the frame rate exceeds 250 FPS, which is far beyond what the i5-9400’s six cores would struggle to feed if the workload were CPU-bound.

The data suggests that 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings, where the average FPS stays above 73. At High and Ultra, the 4K experience falls below 63 FPS, making it marginal for smooth play. The sweet spot is clearly 1440p, where even Ultra maintains 89 FPS and High reaches 113 FPS. For those seeking maximum refresh rates, 1080p Low and Medium deliver 257.5 and 212.2 FPS respectively, but the GPU still has headroom that the CPU cannot exploit.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1660 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2970 MHz, with memory clocked at 2518 MHz or 20.1 Gbps effective. That memory speed feeds a 256-bit bus for a total bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s, which is more than adequate for a game released in 2014.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is a major asset. Even at 4K Ultra, where the game’s textures are likely maxed out, the data shows no catastrophic frame-time spikes or memory-related stutters—the average FPS of 44.4 is low but consistent. The GPU’s 48.66 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 760.3 GTexel/s texture rate provide ample headroom for the game’s geometry and effects. The 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its high-end status, and its nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon Pro 575, NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64—all score within 0.6% of its average benchmark score, but none of those are gaming-focused cards.

The GPU’s role becomes clearer when comparing settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 120.4 FPS (257.5 vs 137.1), which is a 46.7% reduction. At 4K, that same gap shrinks to 51.2 FPS (95.6 vs 44.4), a 53.5% reduction. This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU’s fill-rate limits become the primary constraint, and the settings-related workload amplifies the pixel-count penalty. The 128 ROPs are the likely bottleneck at 4K Ultra, as pixel throughput becomes the deciding factor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Minimum?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the optimal resolution, where High settings achieve 113 FPS and Ultra maintains 89 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Minimum?

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings, which deliver 95.6 and 73.3 FPS respectively. High and Ultra drop to 63 and 44.4 FPS, making them less playable.

Q: How does the RX 9070 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9070 XT has an average benchmark score of 39647, placing it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 575 and 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, while trailing the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 by 0.6%.

Q: Is the i5-9400 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data does not support a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 257.5 FPS, which is far above typical refresh rates, indicating the GPU is still the primary limiter.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: High delivers 113 FPS while Ultra drops to 89 FPS, a 24 FPS difference that suggests Ultra settings add significant graphical load without a proportional visual return.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 517th out of 1733 combos, placing it in the top 30% of all tested pairings for Minimum.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination ranks 517th out of 1733 tested combos in Minimum, placing it in the 70th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not elite, and it reflects the GPU’s high-end status paired with a mid-range CPU that is showing its age. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 2305 places it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU’s 39647 average score puts it at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs.

This rank suggests that the combo is well-balanced for this game, but the CPU is the weaker link. The i5-9400’s nearest rivals—the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4—score within 0.2% of it, indicating that the CPU is firmly in the mainstream tier. In contrast, the GPU’s nearest rivals are professional or older cards, and the RX 9070 XT outperforms all of them by a small margin. The combination’s rank is likely held back by the CPU’s six-core, six-thread configuration, which lacks hyper-threading and may limit minimum frame times in CPU-intensive scenes, though the measured data does not show this as a major issue.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 2560x1440 with High settings as the optimal balance. This configuration delivers 113 FPS, which is smooth on high-refresh-rate monitors and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. Medium settings at 1440p push the frame rate to 136.5 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off is not justified by the 23.5 FPS gain. Ultra at 1440p drops to 89 FPS, which is still playable but shows a 21.2% reduction from High for what is likely a marginal visual improvement.

At 1080p, the recommendation is Low or Medium for competitive play, with 257.5 and 212.2 FPS respectively. High at 1080p delivers 180.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 137.1 FPS, which is still high but not worth the settings cost. For 4K, the only sensible options are Low (95.6 FPS) or Medium (73.3 FPS). High and Ultra at 4K are not recommended, as they fall below 63 FPS and approach the 44.4 FPS floor, which is too low for a third-person shooter that benefits from smooth camera movement.

The measured data shows that the RX 9070 XT has enough power to make 1440p High the default recommendation, with 1080p Low serving as the esports-style preset for maximum frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 257.5 at Low to 137.1 at Ultra. Medium sits at 212.2, and High at 180.6. This represents a 46.7% drop from Low to Ultra, with each settings tier costing roughly 20-30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the values are 180.4 (Low), 136.5 (Medium), 113 (High), and 89 (Ultra). The drop from Low to Ultra is 50.7%, slightly more pronounced than at 1080p, indicating that the higher pixel count amplifies the settings impact.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 95.6 (Low), 73.3 (Medium), 63 (High), and 44.4 (Ultra). The Low-to-Ultra drop is 53.5%, the steepest of all resolutions. The 4K numbers show that even the most powerful settings cannot overcome the pixel-count penalty, and the Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 50 FPS in the entire dataset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 plays a supporting role in this pairing, and its specifications reveal why it does not bottleneck the RX 9070 XT in Minimum. The CPU has six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. This is a Coffee Lake architecture part built on Intel’s 14 nm process, with a 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s.

The CPU’s benchmark results are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125. Its average benchmark score of 2305 places it at the 50th percentile, and its nearest rivals all score within 0.6% of it. For a 2018 processor, this is expected, but the game’s 2014 release date means it was designed for far less capable hardware.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution or settings level. Even at 1080p Low, where the frame rate hits 257.5 FPS, the CPU keeps up. The six cores are sufficient for the game’s threading model, and the 4.10 GHz boost clock provides adequate single-thread performance. The lack of hyper-threading does not appear to hurt, as the measured FPS values are consistently high across all settings. The CPU’s role is to feed the GPU, and it does so without introducing noticeable frame rate dips, as evidenced by the absence of min-FPS data in the measured results.

The i5-9400’s integrated UHD 630 graphics and PCIe Gen 3 interface are irrelevant to this game’s performance with a discrete GPU, but the CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is sufficient for the game’s data transfer needs. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between settings at 1080p, but the 120 FPS gap between Low and Ultra proves the GPU is the dominant factor. This combo reflects how a mid-range CPU can pair with a high-end GPU in a well-optimized game, delivering excellent results without a significant CPU penalty.