The Medium

# The Medium: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The data for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 shows a system that is heavily GPU-limited at higher settings, while the CPU's six Zen 2 cores and 12 threads provide a stable foundation. Across all tested resolutions, the measured average frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy: Low settings deliver the highest FPS, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra, with the gap between presets widening as resolution increases. This combination ranks 792nd out of 1689 tested combos in the game, placing it in the middle of the pack for this title. The following sections break down the measured data to help determine optimal settings and understand the performance characteristics of this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the best experience depends on the target display resolution and the user's preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate smoothness. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest measured average of 104.4 FPS, which is the peak for any resolution in the dataset. Medium at 1080p still produces a strong 77.3 FPS, making it a viable choice for users who want a balance between responsiveness and visual quality. High at 1080p drops to 53.6 FPS, which remains playable but introduces a noticeable frame time increase compared to Medium. Ultra at 1080p is the weakest option at 46.3 FPS, suggesting that the visual gains from Ultra do not justify the performance cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low settings yield 100.6 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium at 1440p produces 62.9 FPS, a respectable figure that maintains smoothness for most gameplay. High at 1440p falls to 45.3 FPS, which approaches the threshold where stutter becomes noticeable in a horror title that relies on atmosphere and pacing. Ultra at 1440p is nearly unplayable at 35.9 FPS, as the frame rate dips below the 40 FPS mark that many consider the minimum for comfortable play. For 1440p users, the data strongly suggests Medium as the best compromise, as it retains 62.9 FPS while providing a significant visual upgrade over Low.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3070 begins to struggle. Low settings still manage 82.6 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates that the GPU has headroom when shader complexity is reduced. Medium at 4K drops to 48.9 FPS, which is borderline for a cinematic experience but may feel choppy during camera panning. High at 4K yields 37.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.8 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the data recommends Low settings as the only option that consistently maintains a playable frame rate, though Medium could be considered for users who prioritize visual detail over fluidity. Overall, the best experience for most users is Medium at 1080p or 1440p, as it offers a solid frame rate without sacrificing too much visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 achieves a combo rank of 792 out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the system in the 47th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 47% of tested configurations perform worse and 53% perform better. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the RTX 3070's individual performance percentile of 72 among all GPUs, but it reflects the demanding nature of The Medium at higher settings. The CPU's percentile of 76 among all CPUs is slightly higher than the GPU's, suggesting that the processor is not the primary bottleneck in this pairing.

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for its role. The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150, deltaPct -0.1), the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101, deltaPct 0.2), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158, deltaPct -0.2). These deltas are all within 0.3%, indicating that the Ryzen 5 3600 performs equivalently to its direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern, with the RTX 3070's average score of 28238 sitting close to the AMD FirePro S7150 (28409, deltaPct -0.6) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, deltaPct 0.9). The deltaPct values here are all under 1.1%, meaning the RTX 3070 is statistically tied with these cards in aggregate performance.

The combo rank of 792 suggests that The Medium is particularly sensitive to settings and resolution scaling, as the same hardware can produce wildly different results depending on configuration. The measured FPS data shows that at Low settings, the system can achieve over 100 FPS at 1080p and 4K, which would rank much higher than the mid-pack position. At Ultra settings, the same system drops below 50 FPS at all resolutions, which would drag the rank down. The mid-pack ranking likely reflects an average across all settings, but users can push the system to the top quartile by selecting appropriate presets for their display.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combination?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 104.4, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core i5-11400?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129, while the Intel Core i5-11400 scores 18150, a deltaPct of -0.1%. This means the two CPUs are essentially identical in synthetic performance, with the Ryzen trailing by a negligible margin.

Q: Is the RTX 3070's performance closer to the RX 6600 XT or the GTX 980 Ti?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score is 28238. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT scores 27985 (deltaPct 0.9) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti scores 27956 (deltaPct 1). The RTX 3070 is slightly faster than both, but the margin is under 1% in each case.

Q: At 4K resolution, which settings preset is the only one that maintains a playable frame rate?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only setting that delivers a consistently playable experience, with an average FPS of 82.6. Medium drops to 48.9 FPS, High to 37.8 FPS, and Ultra to 31.8 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in The Medium compared to all tested combinations?

A: The combination ranks 792nd out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution for this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU have a higher percentile ranking among all components?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has a percentile of 76 among all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 has a percentile of 72 among all GPUs. The CPU ranks slightly higher relative to its peers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160), providing a full matrix of 12 data points. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 104.4 on Low to 46.3 on Ultra. The progression shows a steep drop from Low to Medium (104.4 to 77.3, a 27.1 FPS difference), followed by a moderate drop from Medium to High (77.3 to 53.6, a 23.7 FPS difference), and a smaller drop from High to Ultra (53.6 to 46.3, a 7.3 FPS difference). This suggests that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns in performance cost compared to High at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 100.6 on Low to 35.9 on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 37.7 FPS (100.6 to 62.9), which is more severe than the equivalent drop at 1080p. The drop from Medium to High is 17.6 FPS (62.9 to 45.3), and from High to Ultra is 9.4 FPS (45.3 to 35.9). The 1440p data shows that the RTX 3070 loses roughly 20-25% of its performance compared to 1080p for each setting, with Low being the least affected and Ultra the most affected.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 82.6 on Low to 31.8 on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 33.7 FPS (82.6 to 48.9), which is the largest single-settings drop in the entire dataset. The drop from Medium to High is 11.1 FPS (48.9 to 37.8), and from High to Ultra is 6.0 FPS (37.8 to 31.8). At 4K, the Low preset is the only one that maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS, while all other settings fall below 50 FPS. The data clearly shows that the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus are insufficient for high-fidelity 4K gaming in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 104.4 at 1080p to 100.6 at 1440p, a drop of only 3.8 FPS (3.6%), and then to 82.6 at 4K, a further drop of 18.0 FPS (17.9%). This indicates that at Low settings, the system is not heavily GPU-limited at 1080p or 1440p, but the 4K resolution begins to tax the RTX 3070 more substantially. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the CPU or other system components are still contributing to the frame rate at these lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 77.3 at 1080p to 62.9 at 1440p, a drop of 14.4 FPS (18.6%), and then to 48.9 at 4K, a further drop of 14.0 FPS (22.3%). The scaling here is more consistent, with each resolution step costing roughly 18-22% of performance. This pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as settings increase, with the pixel count driving the frame rate down in a predictable manner.

At High settings, the average FPS goes from 53.6 at 1080p to 45.3 at 1440p, a drop of 8.3 FPS (15.5%), and then to 37.8 at 4K, a further drop of 7.5 FPS (16.6%). The scaling is slightly less steep than Medium, suggesting that at High settings, the GPU is already saturated at 1080p and the additional pixels at 1440p and 4K have a diminishing impact. At Ultra settings, the average FPS goes from 46.3 at 1080p to 35.9 at 1440p, a drop of 10.4 FPS (22.5%), and then to 31.8 at 4K, a further drop of 4.1 FPS (11.4%). The Ultra preset shows the least proportional scaling from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is so heavily loaded that even doubling the pixel count does not halve the frame rate.

The resolution scaling data indicates that the RTX 3070 is the limiting component in this system. At Low settings, the CPU's six cores and 12 threads can keep up with the GPU's output at 1080p and 1440p, but the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K. At Medium and above, the GPU is the clear bottleneck at all resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops when resolution increases. The Ryzen 5 3600's 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock provide sufficient single-thread performance to avoid becoming a limiting factor in this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124, along with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 4605 and a single-thread score of 696. These numbers place the Ryzen 5 3600 in the 76th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at Low settings, the system achieves over 100 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, which suggests that the CPU is capable of driving frame rates well above 100 FPS in this title. The PassMark multi-thread score of 17700 and the 3DMark max-thread score of 4603 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which is relevant for a game that may utilize multiple cores for rendering and physics. The CPU's 12 threads are likely sufficient to handle the game's workload without becoming a bottleneck, even at 4K resolution where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400 (avgScore 18150, deltaPct -0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (avgScore 18101, deltaPct 0.2), both of which are within 0.2% of the Ryzen 5 3600's average score. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is competitive with more modern processors in synthetic benchmarks, despite being released in 2019. The Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 6318 and single-core score of 892 further reinforce that the CPU has balanced performance across both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. In The Medium, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are adequate to maintain frame rates that are only limited by the GPU at higher settings and resolutions. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering or frame rate caps, as the FPS scales smoothly with settings changes, indicating that the processor is not the bottleneck in this combination.