The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT provides a clear view of how CPU and GPU load shifts across settings and resolutions. The measured data shows that this combo is heavily GPU-bound, with the RX 7700 XT's performance scaling predictably with resolution, while the older Ryzen 5 2600 holds up well enough to avoid becoming the primary limiter in most cases. This review breaks down the measured FPS, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and which settings offer the best experience per the data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern: performance drops to the degree that you raise the resolution, and the magnitude of that drop reveals where the bottleneck sits. At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 78 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Medium drops the average to 66 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Medium, it falls to 52 FPS. That's a drop of 12 FPS from 1080p to 1440p and another 14 FPS from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, and it points to a system that is GPU-limited at higher resolutions, as is typical for this kind of title.

The same pattern holds across all presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 56 at 1080p to 47 at 1440p to 37 at 4K. At Ultra, the numbers are 45, 38, and 30 respectively. The most dramatic scaling occurs at Low settings, but with a twist: 94 FPS at 1080p drops to 88 at 1440p, then to 82 at 4K. The differences between 1080p and 1440p are moderate, but the 1440p to 4K jump is consistently steeper, especially at High and Ultra settings. For instance, at High, the 1440p to 4K drop is 9 FPS, while the 1080p to 1440p drop is also 9 FPS, showing a fairly even decline per step.

The data suggests that the GPU's capacity is the main factor limiting performance at higher resolutions. The 1440p results are still very playable, but 4K pushes the card hard, especially on Ultra where the average is exactly 30 FPS. The fact that Low settings at 4K still manage 82 FPS indicates that the CPU is not the primary limiter at any resolution, even the highest. The bottleneck is the GPU's shading and memory resources, not the processor's ability to feed it frames.

FAQ

Q: Can the CPU run this game at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 82, and even at Medium it's 52. The CPU does not prevent 4K play, though the GPU will be the limiting factor at that resolution.

Q: What is the measured FPS at 1440p Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings is 38. This is low, but the data shows the GPU is handling the load, not the CPU.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the CPU can push 94 FPS, and at 4K Low it's 82 FPS. The CPU is not the limiting component; the GPU's workload is the deciding factor across all tested settings.

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

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 has an average score of 21484. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, which scores 21440, and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900H, which scores 21367. It trails the Intel Xeon D-1746TER by 0.7% (21635 score) and the AMD EPYC 9454 by 1.2% (21223 score).

Q: What is the GPU's benchmark position relative to its rivals?

A: The RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 22549. It is 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (22435) and 1.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (22170). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile by 0.8% (22729) and the RTX 2080 by 1.5% (22895).

Q: What's the CPU's single-thread performance?

A: The passmark single-thread score is 2239, and the Geekbench single-core is 1154. These are modest numbers, but the game's performance data shows that's not a limiting factor for the frame rates measured here.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the defining piece of this combo. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for the high-resolution textures and seamless streaming that a game like The Medium demands. The card's boost clock of 2544 MHz (with a game clock of 2171 MHz) is what allows it to maintain reasonable performance at 4K. The GPU's raw metrics are consistent: 3456 shading units, 216 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and a pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s. These figures directly translate into the measured FPS.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 22549 places it at the 67th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (0.5% faster), the RTX 4060 Mobile (0.8% faster), the RTX 2080 (1.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (1.7% slower). This puts the RX 7700 XT in a solid midrange-to-upper-midrange position, and the measured FPS data confirms that it is capable of driving 1440p at high settings without breaking a sweat.

The GPU's VRAM and bandwidth are not limiting factors in this test. The 12 GB buffer is more than enough for the game's assets, and the bandwidth supports the texture streaming at all resolutions. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra is smooth, with no sudden collapse that would indicate a memory or cache bottleneck. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the only time the GPU is truly overwhelmed, which is expected for a card in this class.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data table is clear, so here are the exact numbers for every combination:

• 1920x1080 Low: 94 FPS
• 1920x1080 Medium: 78 FPS (min 66, max 90)
• 1920x1080 High: 56 FPS
• 1920x1080 Ultra: 45 FPS
• 2560x1440 Low: 88 FPS
• 2560x1440 Medium: 66 FPS (min 56, max 76)
• 2560x1440 High: 47 FPS
• 2560x1440 Ultra: 38 FPS
• 3840x2160 Low: 82 FPS
• 3840x2160 Medium: 52 FPS (min 44, max 60)
• 3840x2160 High: 37 FPS
• 3840x2160 Ultra: 30 FPS

The only settings rows that provide min/max values are Medium at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 66 to 90, which indicates a steadier frame time than the averages suggest. At 1440p Medium, it's 56 to 76, and at 4K Medium, it's 44 to 60. The consistency of the Medium preset is good; the framerate variance is tighter relative to the average compared to what you might expect from other presets.

The 1080p results show a big jump from Low (94) to Medium (78), and then a further drop to High (56) and Ultra (45). The 1440p results are proportionally lower, but the same pattern holds. At 4K, Low still scores 82, but Medium drops to 52, High to 37, and Ultra to 30. The scaling from Low to Medium is the biggest single-step drop at 4K, which suggests the Medium preset adds a significant amount of GPU workload that the card can't fully compensate for.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience that respects the CPU and GPU's limits, the Medium preset is the clear winner. At 1080p Medium, you get 78 FPS with a tight 66-90 range. That's smooth, responsive gameplay with visual quality that's not far off from High. The Medium preset also has the only min/max data points provided, and those ranges are stable, which is more valuable than a higher average with stutter.

At 1440p, Medium is still very playable at 66 FPS (min 56, max 76). That's a great experience for a horror title where you want consistent frame pacing. The High preset at 1440p, at 47 FPS, is acceptable but not ideal. At 4K, Medium dips to 52 FPS (min 44, max 60), which is borderline for a game that benefits from fluid motion. If you have a VRR display, 4K Medium is a legitimate choice, but 1440p Medium is the sweet spot.

The Low settings are a fallback for maximum frame rate (94 FPS at 1080p, 82 at 4K), but they sacrifice the visual fidelity that The Medium's fixed-camera angles and atmospheric lighting rely on. The High and Ultra presets are for slower-paced moments, but the data shows that Ultra at 4K (30 FPS) is not a good trade-off for the visual gains. The High preset at 4K (37 FPS) is also marginal. The best experience per the measured rows is Medium at either 1080p or 1440p, depending on your display.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. It's built on the 12 nm Zen architecture, with 16 MB of L3 cache. Its benchmark profile shows a single-thread Geekbench score of 1154 and a multi-core of 5648, while Passmark's single-thread sits at 2239. In Cinebench R15, it scores 157.3 in single-core and 1248 in multi-core. These are not class-leading numbers, but the game's measured FPS tells a different story.

The CPU's role in this game appears to be secondary to the GPU. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is entirely GPU-driven. At 1080p Low, the CPU pushes 94 FPS; at 4K Low, it still pushes 82 FPS. The 12 FPS difference between those two resolutions is due to the GPU's workload, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, you'd see a much smaller gap between resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows the frame rate scales with resolution, which is a GPU-limited signature.

The CPU has more than enough cores and threads for the game, and its boost clock of 3.90 GHz is sufficient for the game's logic. The CPU's percentile rank is 75, and its average benchmark score is 21484, which is slightly better than the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21440, +0.2%) and the Intel Core i9-11900H (21367, +0.5%). It's also 0.7% faster than the Intel Xeon D-1746TER and 1.2% faster than the AMD EPYC 9454. In this game, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor at any resolution.

The memory bandwidth of the CPU (46.9 GB/s) is not a constraint, as the GPU has its own 432.0 GB/s pool. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, and the frame times indicate it handles that task with headroom to spare. In games where the CPU matters more, the Ryzen 5 2600 might struggle, but in The Medium, the data shows it's a capable partner for the RX 7700 XT.