The Medium

The Medium presents a unique challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti pairing, with measured frame rates that swing dramatically based on resolution and quality settings. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p but one that becomes increasingly constrained as pixel count rises, ultimately struggling to maintain fluid motion at 4K with maximum visual fidelity. This combination of a 6-core Zen 2 processor and a high-end Ampere graphics card produces a performance profile that is heavily dependent on the workload's nature, with the game's fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments creating distinct bottlenecks. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to understand where the responsibility lies for the frame delivery across the tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of The Medium on this hardware is the defining characteristic of its performance. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings results in a frame rate drop from 70.2 FPS to 53.4 FPS, a reduction of approximately 24%. The subsequent jump to 3840x2160 at High settings is more severe, falling to 44.6 FPS, which represents a further 16% decline from the 1440p result. The data indicates that the scaling is not linear, with the transition to 4K imposing a heavier penalty on the GPU, suggesting that the RTX 3080 Ti's resources are being saturated by the pixel fill rate demands at that resolution.

The scaling pattern across the settings presets reinforces this interpretation. At Low settings, the system delivers 109.7 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 92 FPS at 4K. The relatively small gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings (just 8%) suggests that the CPU is becoming a more significant factor at lower graphical loads, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the resolution increase but the processor cannot feed it frames quickly enough. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the frame rates are 52 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 33.6 FPS at 4K. The massive drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra (a 27% reduction) points to the GPU being the primary limiter, as the increased shading, texture, and post-processing demands overwhelm the graphics card.

The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant bottleneck at 4K, particularly at Medium, High, and Ultra settings. The game's visual features, which are likely heavily reliant on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth, cause the frame rate to plummet as resolution scales. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is particularly telling: 92 FPS versus 33.6 FPS, a difference of 58.4 FPS. This demonstrates that the GPU's workload is highly sensitive to the quality preset, and the card's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory becomes a limiting factor when high-resolution textures and effects are enabled.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides the processing foundation for this system. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz are moderate by modern standards, but the data shows that the CPU is not the primary constraint in most scenarios. The processor's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124, place it in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid but not exceptional performance. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400, has an average score of 18150, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the Ryzen 5 3600 is essentially neck-and-neck with it in general compute tasks.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be more critical at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 109.7 FPS, which is likely near the ceiling of what the Ryzen 5 3600 can sustain in this game. When the resolution increases to 4K at Low settings, the frame rate drops to 92 FPS, a decline that is smaller than what would be expected if the GPU were fully responsible. This suggests that the processor is keeping pace with the GPU's output even at 4K when the graphical load is light. The 12-thread count is sufficient for the game's logic and streaming, as the fixed camera angles likely limit the number of active objects and AI routines.

However, the CPU's limits become apparent when considering the absolute frame rates. The system never exceeds 109.7 FPS at any resolution or setting, which indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is capping performance. Even at 1080p Low, the frame rate does not reach the 144 Hz or 165 Hz territory that would be expected from a high-end GPU like the RTX 3080 Ti. The multi-threaded performance, as measured by the Passmark multi-thread score of 17700, is adequate for the game's demands, but the single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 2562) may be the limiting factor for the game's main thread, which often handles scene management and scripted events in horror titles. The data strongly implies that upgrading the CPU would yield higher frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU would still be the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its performance in The Medium is directly tied to the resolution and quality settings. The card's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, with a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s, is substantial, but the data shows that it is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings. The GPU's 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores are heavily utilized by the game's rendering pipeline, which likely includes advanced lighting and shadow effects that stress the Ampere architecture. The card's average benchmark score of 41224 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, a hair behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which has an average score of 41441 (a delta of -0.5%).

The measured FPS data reveals the GPU's strengths and weaknesses. At 1440p High, the card delivers 53.4 FPS, which is playable but not smooth by modern standards. The 4K Ultra result of 33.6 FPS is below the threshold for a consistent 30 FPS experience, and the 4K High result of 44.6 FPS is only marginally better. These numbers suggest that The Medium is a demanding title that pushes the RTX 3080 Ti to its limits. The memory allocation is likely a key factor; the 12 GB frame buffer may be insufficient for the game's high-resolution textures and the dual-world rendering mechanic, which requires loading two distinct environments simultaneously. This could lead to texture swapping or reduced detail, although the frame rate data alone cannot confirm this.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1365 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, are standard for the 30-series, but the card's 350 W TDP indicates it is running at the edge of its power envelope. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate changes. At 1080p, the difference between Low (109.7 FPS) and Ultra (52 FPS) is 57.7 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is 58.4 FPS. This consistent gap suggests that the GPU's compute and memory resources are the bottleneck, not the CPU. The RTX 3080 Ti is a powerful card, but The Medium's requirements are steep, and the benchmark results show that it cannot deliver high refresh rates at 4K without significant compromises to the visual settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this system in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 109.7, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system delivers an average of 33.6 FPS, which is below the standard for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p High settings?

A: The data shows a 53.4 FPS result at 2560x1440 High, which is a significant drop from the 1080p High result of 70.2 FPS, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest rival in general benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-11400's score of 18150, placing them at near parity.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 109.7 FPS while the Ultra preset achieves 52 FPS, a difference of 57.7 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain a stable frame rate at 4K Medium settings?

A: The 4K Medium result is 62.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, but it is a significant drop from the 4K Low result of 92 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average frame rates measured for each resolution and settings preset combination. The data shows a clear hierarchy: higher resolutions and higher settings consistently reduce performance.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: 52.0 FPS
• High: 70.2 FPS
• Medium: 87.6 FPS
• Low: 109.7 FPS

At 1080p, the system is capable of high frame rates, but even the Low preset does not exceed 110 FPS, indicating that the CPU is providing a performance ceiling. The scaling from Low to Ultra is steep, with a 57.7 FPS drop, demonstrating the GPU's workload increases dramatically with visual quality.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: 46.0 FPS
• High: 53.4 FPS
• Medium: 75.7 FPS
• Low: 100.0 FPS

The 1440p results show a more balanced distribution. The Low preset still delivers 100 FPS, but the High and Ultra presets fall below 60 FPS, making them less ideal for fast-paced gameplay. The drop from Medium to High is 22.3 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is only 7.4 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the higher preset.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: 33.6 FPS
• High: 44.6 FPS
• Medium: 62.5 FPS
• Low: 92.0 FPS

At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The Ultra preset produces a slideshow-like 33.6 FPS, while the High preset is close behind at 44.6 FPS. The Medium preset is the only 4K option that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, and the Low preset is the only one that approaches high refresh rates, but even that is a significant drop from the 1080p Low result. The data indicates that a 4K experience in The Medium requires the Low or Medium presets for acceptable performance, while 1440p is the practical ceiling for High or Ultra settings.