The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a solid but tiered performance profile in The Medium, placing this combination at rank 1623 out of 3724 tested combos. That rank lands it in the 43rd percentile of all tested system configurations, meaning roughly 57% of tested combos achieve higher frame rates in this horror title. The data indicates a system capable of smooth 1080p and 1440p play at moderate settings, but one that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher quality presets. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, examines the role of each component, and provides practical guidance based solely on the benchmark data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1623 out of 3724 places this Ryzen 5 3600 + RX 7700 XT configuration in the lower-middle tier of all tested combos for The Medium. With 43.6% of tested configurations performing worse, this is not a top-tier setup for this game, but it is far from the bottom. The rank reflects a balance where the GPU provides substantial rasterization power, but the CPU's older Zen 2 architecture and the game's demands at higher resolutions create a ceiling.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU holds a percentile rank of 71 against all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 17035 sits nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17007 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i5-11400 scores 17067 (0.2% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7742 scores 16998 (0.2% lower). This clustering shows the Ryzen 5 3600 is very much a mid-pack processor in synthetic tests, with performance essentially indistinguishable from those three rivals. The GPU, meanwhile, holds a 67th percentile rank against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22549. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, scores 22435 (0.5% lower), while the RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 (0.8% higher). The RTX 2080 is 1.5% ahead at 22895, and the RX 5700 trails by 1.7% at 22170.

In The Medium specifically, the combo's rank suggests the GPU is the dominant factor at higher settings, but the CPU becomes more relevant at lower settings and resolutions where frame rates climb. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 107 FPS average, which is a strong result. However, the jump from 1080p Low to 1080p Ultra drops the average to 45 FPS, a 58% reduction that points to the GPU being heavily taxed by the game's visual effects. The rank position of 1623 out of 3724 indicates that while this combo handles the game competently at lower presets, it falls behind many configurations when pushing for maximum quality.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the strongest resolution. At Medium settings, the combo achieves 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 66 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Medium, it falls to 52 FPS. For consistent 60+ FPS gameplay, 1080p is the most reliable choice.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 30, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 4K yields 37 FPS average, while Medium produces 52 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves a playable 83 FPS average.

Q: Which setting preset provides the highest frame rate?

A: The Low preset consistently delivers the highest average FPS across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 107 FPS; at 2560x1440 Low, it is 101 FPS; and at 3840x2160 Low, it is 83 FPS. These are the only preset rows that exceed 100 FPS in the measured data.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for performance in this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests the GPU dominates performance scaling. Moving from 1080p Low (107 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (45 FPS) represents a 62 FPS drop, while the CPU's synthetic scores show no similar magnitude of variation. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.20 GHz provide adequate processing, but the RX 7700 XT's 12 GB of VRAM and 2544 MHz boost clock are the primary drivers of frame rate changes across settings.

Q: How does this combo compare to its nearest GPU rival in The Medium?

A: The RX 7700 XT's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, has an average benchmark score 0.5% lower. In The Medium, the combo's rank of 1623 out of 3724 reflects performance that is competitive with systems using that mobile GPU, though the desktop RX 7700 XT benefits from a 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 35.17 TFLOPS FP32 compute.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 56, with a maximum of 76 and an average of 66. This indicates that while the average is above 60 FPS, there are dips below that threshold during demanding scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, with the magnitude of the drop varying significantly by settings preset. At Low settings, the combo delivers 107 FPS at 1920x1080, 101 FPS at 2560x1440, and 83 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 6% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 22% drop from 1440p to 4K. The relatively modest scaling at Low settings indicates that the GPU has headroom to spare when visual effects are minimized.

At Medium settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The average FPS moves from 79 at 1080p to 66 at 1440p (a 16% drop) and then to 52 at 4K (a 21% drop from 1440p). The minimum FPS at Medium settings also scales predictably: 67 at 1080p, 56 at 1440p, and 44 at 4K. This suggests that the GPU is handling the additional pixel workload, but the frame rate reduction is steady and linear.

High settings show a different profile. The average FPS is 56 at 1080p, 47 at 1440p, and 37 at 4K. The percentage drops are 16% from 1080p to 1440p and 21% from 1440p to 4K, mirroring the Medium preset's scaling. However, the absolute numbers are lower, indicating that the High preset's additional effects (likely shadows, reflections, and post-processing) place a consistent load on the GPU across all resolutions.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest absolute declines. At 1080p, the average is 45 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 38 FPS (a 16% reduction); and at 4K, it falls to 30 FPS (a 21% reduction from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly half the 1080p Low result of 107 FPS, showcasing the combined impact of resolution and settings on the GPU.

The limiting component in this scaling is clearly the GPU. The RX 7700 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial but not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding presets. The CPU's role is secondary, as evidenced by the consistent percentage-based scaling across resolutions—if the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would plateau or show irregular patterns as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. The Low preset produces an average of 107 FPS, the highest measured in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91, providing a smooth experience for most gameplay. High settings drop the average to 56 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less fluid. Ultra settings reduce the average to 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for competitive or fast-paced play but acceptable for a horror game.

The 2560x1440 resolution shows a step down in performance. Low settings achieve 101 FPS average, nearly matching the 1080p result. Medium settings produce 66 FPS average with a minimum of 56 and maximum of 76—the minimum dipping below 60 FPS suggests occasional stutter in intense scenes. High settings average 47 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 38 FPS. None of the 1440p presets above Medium reach the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that 1440p High and Ultra are not ideal for this combo.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 83 FPS, which is respectable for 4K. Medium settings average 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 60, showing that the frame rate can spike to 60 FPS but also dip to the mid-40s. High settings average 37 FPS, and Ultra settings average 30 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is right at the edge of playability, and the 4K High result is below it.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings at each resolution: 67 at 1080p, 56 at 1440p, and 44 at 4K. These numbers show a consistent 11-12 FPS drop per resolution step, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the workload. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings are 91 at 1080p, 76 at 1440p, and 60 at 4K, showing that the GPU can occasionally hit higher frame rates but cannot sustain them.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and frame rate priorities. For a 60 FPS target at 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the clear choice. It delivers 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67, ensuring that the frame rate rarely drops below the target. The High preset at 56 FPS average is close but falls short of 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is too far below.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is again the best option for those seeking 60 FPS. The 66 FPS average is slightly above the target, but the 56 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips. Users who can tolerate frame rates in the 50s might consider High settings at 47 FPS average, but the data suggests Medium is the safer choice for consistent performance. Low settings at 101 FPS average are overkill for most users, leaving headroom that could be better spent on visual quality.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset at 83 FPS average is the only way to achieve a comfortable frame rate above 60 FPS. Medium settings at 52 FPS average are playable but not ideal, with a minimum of 44 FPS that could cause noticeable stutter. High and Ultra settings at 37 and 30 FPS respectively are below the playability threshold for most users.

The best overall experience, balancing visual quality and frame rate, appears to be 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The 79 FPS average and 67 FPS minimum provide a smooth experience, and the settings are high enough to render the game's horror atmosphere effectively. At 1440p, Medium settings are acceptable for users who prioritize resolution over maximum frame rate, but the 56 FPS minimum is a caveat. For 4K users, Low settings are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, as Medium's 52 FPS average and 44 FPS minimum are borderline.

The data does not support using Ultra settings at any resolution. Even at 1080p, Ultra yields 45 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target and not a significant visual improvement over Medium for most users. The gap between Medium and Ultra is 34 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The 3DMark benchmarks show a clear scaling pattern: single-thread score of 696, 2-thread score of 1361, 4-thread score of 2579, 8-thread score of 3844, and max-thread score of 4603. This indicates that the CPU scales well up to 8 threads but gains little beyond that, which is typical for a 6-core part.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, based on the frame rate patterns. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 107 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach high frame rates. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15045 and single-core score of 2124 indicate a capable processor for gaming, but the game's demands at higher settings shift the bottleneck to the GPU. The PassMark multithread score of 17700 places the CPU in the 71st percentile, meaning it outperforms 71% of all CPUs in the database.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i7-1260P (0.2% higher average score), Intel Core i5-11400 (0.2% lower), and AMD EPYC 7573X (0.2% lower). These tiny deltas show that the Ryzen 5 3600 is firmly in a performance tier where small differences do not translate to meaningful FPS changes in The Medium. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 3,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die are indicative of an efficient design, but efficiency does not directly impact game performance in the measured data.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's impact diminishes further. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent across all settings presets, suggesting that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would not scale as cleanly with resolution changes. The CPU's 12 threads are sufficient to handle The Medium's workloads, as evidenced by the fact that the max-thread 3DMark score of 4603 is nearly identical to the 16-thread score of 4605, indicating the CPU is not struggling with thread scheduling.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the primary driver of performance in The Medium, based on the measured FPS data. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, includes 3,456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. The GPU has a base clock of 1435 MHz, a game clock of 2171 MHz, and a boost clock of 2544 MHz, with 54 ray tracing cores.

The GPU's benchmark scores show it holds a 67th percentile rank against all GPUs. Its PassMark G3D score of 22547 and average benchmark score of 22549 are closely matched, with the nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile at 22435 (0.5% lower). The RTX 4060 Mobile is 0.8% higher at 22729, the RTX 2080 is 1.5% higher at 22895, and the RX 5700 is 1.7% lower at 22170. This placement puts the RX 7700 XT in a competitive middle tier, but not at the top.

In The Medium, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are critical. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for 4K textures, as evidenced by the game running at 4K Medium with 52 FPS average. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth allows the GPU to handle the pixel workload at higher resolutions, but the frame rate drops indicate that the GPU's compute power (35.17 TFLOPS FP32) is the limiting factor at Ultra settings. The pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s provide theoretical limits that align with the observed performance: at 4K Ultra, the 30 FPS average translates to 7.3 GPixel/s actual pixel throughput, which is well below the theoretical maximum but reflects real-world game engine inefficiencies.

The GPU's ray tracing cores (54) are present, but the measured FPS data does not isolate ray tracing performance. The game's horror genre likely uses some ray-traced effects at higher presets, which would explain the significant FPS drops from Medium to High to Ultra. The GPU's 245 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-hungry part, but the frame rate results show it is best paired with a CPU that can feed it at lower settings. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3316 is a strong indicator of DirectX 12 performance, which The Medium likely uses, and the Vulkan score of 46443 shows the GPU handles modern APIs well. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 138383 demonstrates solid compute performance for any physics or simulation workloads in the game.

The GPU's role is clearly dominant: the frame rate differences between presets at the same resolution are larger than the differences between resolutions at the same preset. For example, at 1080p, the spread from Low (107 FPS) to Ultra (45 FPS) is 62 FPS, while at Low settings, the spread from 1080p to 4K is only 24 FPS. This indicates that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are the primary determinants of performance, with the CPU providing sufficient support.