The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 show a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 107.3 FPS, which drops to 99.8 FPS at 1440p and 94.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a modest 11.7% total loss from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that at these lower graphical loads, the system is not entirely saturated.

The scaling becomes more aggressive when moving to higher settings. At Medium settings, the frame rate goes from 90.1 FPS at 1080p, to 85.2 FPS at 1440p, and down to 69.2 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep at 18.8%, suggesting the GPU is starting to hit its memory bandwidth and shading limits. At High settings, the pattern continues: 75.1 FPS at 1080p, 58.7 FPS at 1440p, and 50.6 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop here is 13.8%, which is less severe than Medium, indicating a more balanced load distribution.

The Ultra preset reveals the most demanding scenario. Starting at 57.1 FPS in 1080p, the frame rate falls to exactly 50 FPS at 1440p, and then to 41.1 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K delta for Ultra is 28.0%, which is the largest relative drop across all settings. This suggests that at Ultra, the combination of the RTX 5070's 12 GB GDDR7 memory and its 192-bit bus width becomes the limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions where texture and shading demands increase.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p Low, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600's six cores and twelve threads are likely providing sufficient throughput, and the GPU is not fully utilized. However, as resolution climbs to 4K, the RTX 5070's compute resources—its 6144 shading units and 48 RT cores—become the primary constraint. The benchmark results show diminishing returns when lowering resolution at Low settings, but clear GPU-bound behavior at Medium and above.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 481 out of 1,689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 28.5% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the CPU's age relative to the GPU.

The CPU itself sits at the 76th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 18,129. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-11400, which scores 18,150 (a delta of -0.1%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at 18,101 (delta of 0.2%). This indicates the Ryzen 5 3600 is very competitively positioned against modern mid-range processors, despite being from the 3000 series based on Zen 2 architecture.

The GPU, meanwhile, occupies the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 41,687. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41,610, delta 0.2%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (41,441, delta 0.6%). This places the RTX 5070 in a performance tier that substantially exceeds what the Ryzen 5 3600 would typically be paired with.

The combination rank of 481 suggests that while the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates in other contexts, the Ryzen 5 3600's single-thread performance (as reflected in its 3DMark single-thread score of 696) may be capping results in CPU-sensitive scenes. The gap between the CPU's 76th percentile and the GPU's 83rd percentile is notable, but the overall rank shows the pairing still delivers a playable experience across most settings and resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p with Medium settings provides a strong balance, delivering 85.2 FPS. This is well above the 4K Medium result of 69.2 FPS and only slightly below the 1080p Medium result of 90.1 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 scores 18,129 on average, which is 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-11400 (18,150) and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (18,101). These deltas are effectively negligible.

Q: Is the RTX 5070 significantly faster than the RTX 3090?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 41,687, which is 0.6% ahead of the RTX 3090's 41,441. This is a marginal difference, not a generational leap.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K Ultra?

A: The measured average is 41.1 FPS at 4K Ultra. This is below the 50 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay, so lower settings are recommended for 4K.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests so. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 107.3 FPS, which is only 7.5% higher than the 4K Low result of 94.7 FPS. This small gap indicates the CPU is limiting performance at lower resolutions.

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

A: It ranks 481st out of 1,689 combos, placing it in the top 28.5% of all tested systems for The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

For the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with RTX 5070 in The Medium, the measured data points to Medium settings as the best experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 90.1 FPS, which is smooth and leaves headroom for occasional dips. At 1440p Medium, the 85.2 FPS result is excellent and represents the sweet spot for most users with 1440p displays. Even at 4K Medium, 69.2 FPS is playable.

High settings are viable but show a significant drop at 1440p (58.7 FPS) and 4K (50.6 FPS). The 4K High result is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the 1440p High result is acceptable but noticeably less fluid than Medium. Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions: 57.1 FPS at 1080p, exactly 50 FPS at 1440p, and 41.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below the playable threshold.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates (107.3 FPS at 1080p, 99.8 FPS at 1440p, 94.7 FPS at 4K) but sacrifice visual quality. Given that Medium delivers a 16% improvement over Low at 1440p (85.2 vs 99.8 FPS is actually lower, so the trade-off is in the other direction), the data shows Low is only marginally faster than Medium at 1440p (99.8 vs 85.2, a 17.1% difference). The visual fidelity gain from Medium is worth the modest frame rate cost.

The recommendation is Medium for all resolutions. This setting provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, with the 4K Medium result being the only one that dips below 70 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 107.3 FPS, Medium produces 90.1 FPS, High produces 75.1 FPS, and Ultra produces 57.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 46.8% reduction in frame rate, which is substantial but expected given the increased graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 99.8 FPS, Medium at 85.2 FPS, High at 58.7 FPS, and Ultra at exactly 50 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra here is 14.8%, which is the largest single-step reduction at this resolution. The 1440p Ultra result of exactly 50 FPS is a notable data point.

At 3840x2160, the data shows: Low at 94.7 FPS, Medium at 69.2 FPS, High at 50.6 FPS, and Ultra at 41.1 FPS. The 4K results highlight the GPU's limits, with only Low settings providing a frame rate above 90 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 26.9%, which is significant.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset shows the least variation (107.3 to 94.7, a 11.7% drop), while Ultra shows the most (57.1 to 41.1, a 28.0% drop). This pattern confirms that higher settings amplify the resolution's impact on performance, as the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth become more heavily taxed.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 3600 shows strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 15,045, while the single-core score is 2,124. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1,361 (2 threads) to 4,605 (16 threads), with a max-thread score of 4,603. This indicates the CPU scales well up to its full thread count, though the 16-thread score is essentially identical to the max-thread score, suggesting no further gains beyond 16 threads.

For The Medium, the CPU's role is evident in the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 107.3 FPS. If the GPU were the sole limiting factor, we would expect a much larger drop when moving to 4K Low (94.7 FPS). The relatively small 11.7% drop indicates the CPU is providing a bottleneck at lower resolutions. This is consistent with the CPU's single-thread performance, which is in the 76th percentile but not exceptional.

The Ryzen 5 3600's 12 threads are sufficient for the game's threading model, as evidenced by the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,605 being nearly identical to the max-thread score of 4,603. The CPU's L3 cache of 32 MB shared is adequate for most game workloads. The 65 W TDP and AM4 socket compatibility make it a flexible choice.

The data suggests that while the Ryzen 5 3600 is not the primary limiter at 4K Ultra (where the GPU's 41.1 FPS result is clearly the constraint), it does cap performance at 1080p Low. The 107.3 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low, compared to the 94.7 FPS at 4K Low, shows that the CPU is the bottleneck in the former case. Upgrading the CPU would likely yield higher frame rates in low-settings, low-resolution scenarios, but would have minimal impact at 4K Ultra.