The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both CPU and GPU, but the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination reveals a system that is primarily bound by graphics processing at higher resolutions. This pairing produces playable results at 1080p with adjusted settings, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a clear hierarchy where resolution scaling has a profound impact on performance, and the CPU's capabilities become less relevant as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and instructive. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 75 FPS, but at 4K with the same Low settings, the average falls to 50 FPS, a reduction of 33%. This trend becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. Moving from 1080p Medium (47 FPS average) to 4K Medium (31 FPS average) represents a 34% decrease, while the High preset shows a 35% drop (34 FPS to 22 FPS). The Ultra preset is the most punishing, with performance falling from 27 FPS at 1080p to 18 FPS at 4K, a 33% decline.

These consistent percentage drops across all settings indicate that the scaling is primarily a function of GPU load rather than CPU limitations. The GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus must push significantly more pixels at 4K, and the 256.3 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. The data shows that while the Ryzen 5 2600 can feed frames adequately at 1080p, the GPU's rendering throughput is the limiting component as resolution rises. At 1440p, the pattern continues: Low settings yield 63 FPS, Medium 40 FPS, High 28 FPS, and Ultra 22 FPS, each representing a step down from the corresponding 1080p result.

The implication is clear: this combination is not suitable for 4K gaming in The Medium, as even the lowest settings only produce 50 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays. The 1440p results are more viable, but the Ultra preset at 22 FPS is barely interactive, and High at 28 FPS is marginal. The sweet spot for resolution scaling appears to be 1080p, where the GPU can still maintain respectable frame rates across most presets, though the Ultra preset at 27 FPS remains a challenge.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the most consistent performance, with an average of 75 FPS at Low settings and 47 FPS at Medium. At 2560x1440, the best result is 63 FPS at Low, while 3840x2160 only reaches 50 FPS at Low, making 1080p the most practical choice.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 27 FPS. This is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playable frame rates, suggesting that the Ultra preset is too demanding for this hardware.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck at 4K?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the opposite. At 4K, the frame rate differences between settings (50 FPS Low, 31 FPS Medium, 22 FPS High, 18 FPS Ultra) are driven by GPU load. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, which is sufficient to avoid becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at Medium settings?

A: The measured FPS with min and max values for Medium settings show a spread of 14 FPS at 1080p (40 min, 54 max), 11 FPS at 1440p (34 min, 45 max), and 10 FPS at 4K (26 min, 36 max). This indicates relatively stable frame pacing for a horror game.

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

A: The combo ranks 3082 out of 3724 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the lower percentile of systems. This is consistent with the GPU's 47th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 75th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Can this system handle 1440p gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 63 FPS and Medium produces 40 FPS, both playable. High settings at 28 FPS and Ultra at 22 FPS are less viable, so users should stick to Medium or Low at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 achieves a rank of 3082 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the bottom 17% of all configurations tested, which is a notable finding given the individual component rankings. The CPU alone sits in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 47th percentile of all GPUs. The disparity between these percentile rankings and the low combo rank suggests that the game's engine is particularly sensitive to GPU performance, and the GTX 1070's age limits the overall system potential.

The nearest rival GPUs to the GTX 1070 include the AMD FirePro W5000 (0.2% slower), NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (0.5% slower), NVIDIA Tesla M10 (0.6% faster), and NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (0.7% faster). These comparisons highlight that the GTX 1070 is positioned at a mid-range performance level, and none of these rivals offer features that would dramatically change The Medium's performance profile. For the CPU, the nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-11900H (0.5% faster), Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.7% faster), and AMD EPYC 9454 (1.2% slower), indicating that the Ryzen 5 2600's processing power is competitive with much newer and more expensive parts.

The rank of 3082 indicates that the majority of tested systems outperform this combo, but the data also shows that with appropriate settings adjustments, the system can still deliver a playable experience. The combination's rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's 47th percentile standing, which drags down the overall performance despite the CPU's above-average showing. This suggests that users upgrading from this system would benefit most from a GPU upgrade rather than a CPU swap.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 75 at Low, 47 at Medium, 34 at High, and 27 at Ultra. The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. This 14 FPS range indicates moderate frame time variance, which is acceptable for a game that relies on atmospheric tension rather than fast-paced action. The Low preset's 75 FPS average is the only result that approaches high-refresh-rate territory, while the Ultra preset's 27 FPS average falls below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 63 FPS at Low, 40 FPS at Medium, 28 FPS at High, and 22 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS, representing an 11 FPS spread. The step from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by roughly 15-20% across all settings, which is a smaller penalty than the jump from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that 1440p is a more reasonable target for this hardware than 4K, though the High and Ultra presets remain challenging.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 50 FPS at Low, 31 FPS at Medium, 22 FPS at High, and 18 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum is 26 FPS and maximum is 36 FPS, a 10 FPS spread that shows the GPU is heavily loaded. The Low preset at 50 FPS is the only 4K result that approaches playability, but even this falls short of the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 18 FPS is essentially unplayable, and the High preset at 22 FPS is only marginally better. The data reveals that the GTX 1070's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear recommendation: use the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p for the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 47 FPS average with a minimum of 40 FPS, which provides a stable experience for a slow-paced horror game. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 40 FPS average with a minimum of 34 FPS, which is still acceptable for this genre, though users with 60 Hz displays may notice the lower frame rate.

The Low preset offers higher frame rates—75 FPS at 1080p and 63 FPS at 1440p—but the visual compromise may be significant for a game that relies on atmosphere and lighting. The data shows that the High preset at 1080p (34 FPS) and 1440p (28 FPS) is not worth the performance hit over Medium, as the gain in visual fidelity is likely minimal while the frame rate drops by 25-30%. The Ultra preset is uniformly poor across all resolutions, with the best result being 27 FPS at 1080p, which is below the standard playability threshold.

For users with 4K displays, the Low preset at 50 FPS is the only viable option, but this comes with substantial visual compromises. A better approach would be to run the game at 1440p with Medium settings and rely on display scaling if necessary. The Medium preset's min/max data (40-54 FPS at 1080p, 34-45 FPS at 1440p) shows consistent frame pacing, which is preferable for maintaining immersion in a horror game. The High preset at 1080p produces 34 FPS, which is borderline, but the Medium preset's 47 FPS provides more headroom for demanding scenes.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. This 2000-series processor, built on the Zen architecture, provides 16 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration. The CPU's benchmark scores show a single-thread performance of 2239 in Passmark and 157.3 in Cinebench R15, while multi-thread scores reach 13160 in Passmark and 1248 in Cinebench R15. These numbers indicate a processor that is capable for gaming, but not exceptional.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 75 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's frame delivery limit for this game. However, as resolution increases, the frame rate drops in proportion to GPU load, not CPU load. This suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600 is not a bottleneck at 1080p, but rather at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that it is a competent processor for this game.

The nearest CPU rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (0.2% faster) and Intel Core i9-11900H (0.5% faster), show that the Ryzen 5 2600 is competitive with much newer processors in average benchmark scores. The CPU's 12 threads help with the game's background tasks and any streaming or recording software a user might run. The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 2600 provides adequate processing power for The Medium, and users should not expect a CPU upgrade to yield significant frame rate improvements at 1080p or higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU with 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate are key specifications that directly impact The Medium's rendering load. The GPU sits in the 47th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9780.

The GTX 1070 is the primary determinant of performance in The Medium, as shown by the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU can deliver 75 FPS at Low settings, but this drops to 27 FPS at Ultra, showing that the game's higher-quality presets are extremely demanding. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the 256-bit memory bus may struggle with the increased data throughput. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W5000 (0.2% slower) and NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (0.5% slower), which are all professional-grade cards, indicating that the GTX 1070's gaming performance is unique among its peers.

The GPU's 47th percentile ranking is notably lower than the CPU's 75th percentile, which explains the combo's low overall rank in this game. The data shows that the GTX 1070 is the weak link in this system for The Medium, and users seeking better performance should prioritize a GPU upgrade. The GPU's 16 nm process node and 7,200 million transistors give it a 314 mm² die size, and its 150 W TDP makes it a reasonably efficient card, but its age is showing in this demanding title. The measured FPS at 4K (18-50 FPS depending on settings) confirms that the GPU is overwhelmed at that resolution, and even at 1440p, the High and Ultra presets push it beyond its comfort zone.