The Medium

The Medium presents a significant challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing, with benchmark results showing a system that is consistently GPU-limited across all tested resolutions. The measured frames per second reveal a configuration that can handle the game’s horror atmosphere at lower presets, but struggles to maintain playable fluidity when aiming for higher visual fidelity. The data indicates a clear performance hierarchy driven primarily by the graphics card, while the processor maintains sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the primary bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic and consistent drop in frame rates across all settings, confirming that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component in this combo. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 93.5 FPS at 1080p to 75.5 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 18.0 FPS, and then further to 58.8 FPS at 4K, representing a total decline of 34.7 FPS from the baseline. This scaling pattern shows that even at the least demanding preset, the GPU’s rendering throughput is being taxed heavily by the increase in pixel count.

Moving to Medium settings, the same resolution scaling trend is visible but with steeper absolute drops. The average FPS goes from 56.6 at 1080p to 47.8 at 1440p, a loss of 8.8 FPS, and then plummets to 39.4 at 4K. The percentage reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium is approximately 30%, which is slightly smaller than the Low setting drop of 37%, suggesting that the game’s shading complexity begins to interact with the memory bandwidth limits of the 8 GB GDDR6 buffer at higher resolutions.

The High and Ultra presets reveal the most severe scaling penalties. High settings yield 39.9 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 37.1 at 1440p and then to 27.1 at 4K, with the 4K result being 32% lower than the 1080p figure. Ultra settings start at 33.9 FPS at 1080p, fall to 25.3 at 1440p, and reach a nearly unplayable 22.7 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are insufficient for The Medium’s higher presets beyond 1080p, with the 4K Ultra result being only 67% of the 1080p Ultra performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX 2060 SUPER ranks at position 1196 out of 1689 total combos for The Medium. This places the system in the lower third of all tested configurations, indicating that while it is not among the weakest performers, it also does not provide a high-end experience for this particular title. The ranking reflects the game’s demanding nature, as the combo’s relative position is worse than what the individual component benchmark percentiles might suggest.

The CPU holds a percentile rank of 76 against all processors, meaning it outperforms approximately three-quarters of tested CPUs in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU, however, sits at a percentile rank of 63 against all graphics cards, showing it is a more mid-range part. The discrepancy between these two percentiles and the low combo rank of 1196/1689 implies that The Medium is heavily optimized for higher-tier GPUs, and the RTX 2060 SUPER’s mid-pack standing becomes more pronounced in this game’s specific workload. The nearest rivals for the GPU include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 0.5% higher in synthetic benchmarks, yet the real-world frame rate gap in The Medium is likely larger due to the 2070’s additional compute resources.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using the TU106 chip, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC with 10,800 million transistors. Its memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 across a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective. These specifications place it firmly in the upper-mid-range of the GeForce 20-series lineup.

For The Medium, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for the tested settings, as the frame rate drops are more consistent with compute and bandwidth limitations rather than memory capacity exhaustion. The card’s 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs must process the game’s fixed-camera angles and layered scene rendering, which likely explains why the Ultra preset at 4K collapses to 22.7 FPS. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this title, as the benchmark results do not show a distinct ray tracing performance penalty that would indicate those features being active.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on the preset. Low settings achieve an average of 93.5 FPS, which is smooth and responsive for the horror genre. Medium settings produce 56.6 FPS, still playable but with noticeable dips during intense scenes. High settings yield 39.9 FPS, which is marginal for a game that benefits from consistent frame pacing. Ultra settings drop to 33.9 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold that most players target, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary constraint at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance envelope tightens considerably. Low settings average 75.5 FPS, still above the 60 FPS target, but the margin is thinner. Medium settings fall to 47.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror game where smooth motion enhances immersion. High settings produce 37.1 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 25.3 FPS, both of which are below the playable threshold for most users. The 1440p results show a clear pattern: only Low settings approach a comfortable frame rate, while all other presets require compromises.

At 3840x2160, the picture is grim for high-fidelity gaming. Low settings average 58.8 FPS, barely maintaining a playable level. Medium settings drop to 39.4 FPS, High settings to 27.1 FPS, and Ultra settings to 22.7 FPS. None of these results, except Low, provide an acceptable experience for a game that relies on atmosphere and tension. The 4K data suggests that this combo is only suitable for the lowest preset at this resolution, and even then, the 58.8 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal preset for this combo depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium settings at 56.6 FPS offer the best balance between visual quality and frame rate, as the jump to High only yields a marginal improvement in visuals while costing 16.7 FPS. Low settings at 93.5 FPS are preferable for players who prioritize smoothness above all, but Medium provides a significantly better visual experience without dropping below the 50 FPS mark.

For 2560x1440, Low settings at 75.5 FPS are the only viable option for maintaining a high frame rate. Medium settings at 47.8 FPS are borderline, and the drop to High at 37.1 FPS is too steep to justify the added detail. Users with 1440p monitors should stick to Low to ensure consistent performance, as the game’s horror elements rely on stable frame delivery to maintain tension.

At 3840x2160, the data strongly suggests that this combo is not appropriate for the game at any preset above Low. The 58.8 FPS average at Low is playable but fragile, and the 39.4 FPS at Medium is too low for a smooth experience. For 4K users, the recommendation is to either lower the resolution to 1440p or accept Low settings with the understanding that frame drops are likely. The Ultra preset is effectively unusable at all resolutions, with the best case being 33.9 FPS at 1080p, which is below the minimum for comfortable play. The combo’s rank of 1196 out of 1689 reinforces that this is a middle-tier configuration, best suited for 1080p Medium or 1440p Low in The Medium.