The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a highly variable experience in The Medium, with playability hinging almost entirely on resolution and settings. Measured data shows the combo achieving a rank of 1569 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of systems. The system comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold at 1080p and 1440p with Medium settings, but struggles at 4K unless settings are dropped to Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this PC to play The Medium?

A: The most balanced experience is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, where the system produces an average of 78.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium settings still clear the 60 FPS threshold with an average of 66.9 FPS, making both resolutions viable for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the only playable setting is Low, which yields an average of 79.3 FPS. Higher settings at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold: Medium averages 52.6 FPS, High averages 36.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 31.1 FPS.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26324, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900KF, and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U, while being 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS.

Q: How does the GPU stack up against similarly performing alternatives?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, while trailing the NVIDIA Tesla K40c by 1.5%.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 122.1 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 42.8 FPS. This represents a substantial 79.3 FPS gap, indicating that Ultra settings are not viable for maintaining a smooth frame rate on this hardware.

Q: Does raising the resolution from 1080p to 1440p have a significant impact on Medium settings?

A: Yes, the impact is noticeable but manageable. At 1920x1080 Medium averages 78.5 FPS, which drops by 11.6 FPS to 66.9 FPS at 2560x1440. The system remains above the 60 FPS threshold at both resolutions, but the margin narrows considerably.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU's influence remains relatively consistent. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Medium settings is 43.6 FPS (122.1 vs 78.5), while the jump from Medium to High costs 24.4 FPS (78.5 to 54.1). This steep drop-off indicates that the RTX 3070's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint rather than the Ryzen 5 7600's processing power.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scaling becomes more aggressive. Low settings average 101.4 FPS, but Medium drops to 66.9 FPS, a reduction of 34.5 FPS. The High preset further declines to 45.5 FPS, showing that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units are being saturated as pixel count increases. The CPU's 12 threads and 32 MB of L3 cache are sufficient to feed the GPU at this resolution, as evidenced by the relatively smooth progression from Low to Medium.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become starkly apparent. Low settings still achieve 79.3 FPS, but Medium collapses to 52.6 FPS, a 26.7 FPS drop. High settings manage only 36.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.1 FPS. The RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are clearly insufficient for the higher texture and shading demands at 4K, whereas the CPU's performance remains adequate throughout. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 7600 is never the limiting factor in this game; all performance scaling tracks directly with GPU load.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600's average benchmark score of 26324 places it in close proximity to several alternatives. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX scores 26274, a delta of just 0.2%, meaning users coming from that mobile flagship would see virtually identical frame rates in The Medium. Similarly, the Intel Core i9-11900KF at 26212 (0.4% slower) and the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U at 26187 (0.5% slower) would all produce nearly indistinguishable results. The AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS edges ahead with a score of 26402, a 0.3% advantage that would not translate into any measurable gameplay difference.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070's average score of 17208 positions it alongside the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which scores 17083 (0.7% slower). This means a system with the RX 7600 XT would deliver almost identical performance in The Medium, with perhaps a frame or two difference at most. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17037 (1% slower) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M at 17019 (1.1% slower) are also within striking distance, though their older architectures may exhibit different driver-level behavior. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores 17468 (1.5% faster), but its compute-oriented design makes it an unlikely gaming alternative. For practical purposes, any of these GPUs paired with the Ryzen 5 7600 would produce similar FPS figures in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1569 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 58th percentile of all systems evaluated. This positioning reflects a balanced mid-range configuration that outperforms the majority of setups but does not approach the top tier. The rank is consistent with the measured performance data: the system handles 1080p and 1440p Medium settings comfortably, but falls short of the demanding Ultra preset and struggles with 4K High and Ultra.

Given that the CPU sits in the 78th percentile while the GPU is in the 61st percentile, the overall combo rank is dragged down by the graphics card. This suggests that the Ryzen 5 7600 has headroom to support a more powerful GPU in this game, and that users seeking higher frame rates at 4K or with Ultra settings would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU swap. The 1569th rank out of 3724 combos indicates that this system is a solid mid-pack performer, capable of running The Medium at playable settings for the majority of resolutions, but it will not deliver the maximum visual fidelity available in the game.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run The Medium, but with important caveats depending on resolution. At 1920x1080, the system achieves playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) with both Low and Medium settings, with Medium providing the best visual quality at an average of 78.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low and Medium settings also clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Medium averaging 66.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low settings are playable, averaging 79.3 FPS. High and Ultra presets at all resolutions fail to reach 60 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p users can enjoy the game with Medium settings, while 4K users must settle for Low. The RTX 3070's 8 GB memory capacity is the primary limiting factor, as the game's high-resolution textures appear to exceed this allocation at higher presets. The Ryzen 5 7600, with its strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1852), is more than capable of handling the game's CPU demands.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Low, which delivers an average of 79.3 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the threshold, but the visual quality is minimal.

At 2560x1440, Medium is the best playable preset, averaging 66.9 FPS. This offers a reasonable balance between visual fidelity and performance, with 6.9 FPS of headroom above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, Medium remains the best playable preset, but with a much healthier margin: 78.5 FPS average, providing 18.5 FPS of headroom. This is the recommended resolution for this combination if users want the best visual quality while maintaining smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160:

• Low: 79.3 average FPS
• Medium: 52.6 average FPS
• High: 36.1 average FPS
• Ultra: 31.1 average FPS

The 4K data shows a steep performance cliff between Low and Medium, with a 26.7 FPS drop. The gap from Medium to High is 16.5 FPS, and from High to Ultra is another 5.0 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU's memory subsystem is overwhelmed once settings exceed Low, making 4K playable only at the minimum preset.

2560x1440:

• Low: 101.4 average FPS
• Medium: 66.9 average FPS
• High: 45.5 average FPS
• Ultra: 38.3 average FPS

At 1440p, the drop from Low to Medium is 34.5 FPS, which is the largest single-settings gap across all resolutions. High and Ultra both fall below 60 FPS, with Ultra being 28.6 FPS slower than Medium. This resolution offers the tightest playable margin, with Medium barely clearing the threshold.

1920x1080:

• Low: 122.1 average FPS
• Medium: 78.5 average FPS
• High: 54.1 average FPS
• Ultra: 42.8 average FPS

The 1080p results show the widest range of performance, from 122.1 FPS at Low to 42.8 FPS at Ultra. The transition from Medium to High costs 24.4 FPS, pushing the system below the 60 FPS threshold. The difference between High and Ultra is 11.3 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the highest preset. The system's best playable configuration at 1080p is Medium, which provides a smooth experience with room to spare.