The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a playable experience in The Medium only at lower settings and resolutions, with the data showing that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. This combo ranks in the 1431st position out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 15% of systems, which aligns with its performance profile of being able to handle 1080p Low at an average of 74.5 FPS but struggling to maintain smooth frame rates at higher presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a clear pattern where performance degrades significantly as resolution increases, confirming that the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are insufficient for The Medium's demanding visual engine at higher pixel counts. At 1080p Low, the system achieves a comfortable 74.5 FPS average, but this drops to 63.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 46.9 FPS at 4K, representing a 37% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that while the GPU is the bottleneck, the Ryzen 5 4600G's 6 cores and 12 threads at 3.70 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost clock are adequate to feed the graphics card at lower resolutions.

The resolution scaling becomes more severe at higher settings, with the gap between 1080p and 4K widening as graphical complexity increases. At Medium settings, the system delivers 47.4 FPS at 1080p, 36.6 FPS at 1440p, and 32.8 FPS at 4K, showing a 31% drop from 1080p to 4K. The High preset shows an even steeper decline, going from 32.3 FPS at 1080p to 29.9 FPS at 1440p and 19.6 FPS at 4K, a 39% reduction. This pattern suggests that the GTX 1070's texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s become increasingly overwhelmed as both resolution and settings increase, with the GPU's 1920 shading units unable to maintain adequate throughput.

The Ultra preset at 4K produces an unplayable 16.7 FPS average, while 1440p Ultra manages only 24.8 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 27.1 FPS. The data shows that the system hits a performance wall at 4K High and above, where frame rates fall below 20 FPS, indicating that the GPU's 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth is severely constrained at these settings. The scaling between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling, with the gap widening from 17% at Low settings to 35% at High settings, demonstrating that the GPU's memory subsystem becomes the limiting factor as texture sizes and shader complexity increase.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the system can achieve consistently playable frame rates across most settings, with Low delivering 74.5 FPS, Medium 47.4 FPS, and High 32.3 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset stays above 60 FPS at 63.7 FPS, while 4K becomes marginal even at Low with 46.9 FPS.

Q: How does this system perform at 4K resolution?

A: The 4K results are largely unplayable except at Low settings. The system achieves 46.9 FPS at 4K Low, but drops to 32.8 FPS at Medium, 19.6 FPS at High, and 16.7 FPS at Ultra, showing that the GTX 1070 cannot handle 4K at higher graphical presets.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 4600G sufficient for this game?

A: The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads provide adequate processing power, as evidenced by the consistent performance scaling with resolution. The processor's 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its 13593 score in Cinebench R23 multicore suggest it is not the bottleneck, with the GPU clearly limiting frame rates.

Q: What settings should be avoided with this hardware?

A: Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as the system fails to reach 30 FPS at any resolution with this preset, maxing out at 27.1 FPS at 1080p. High settings at 1440p and 4K also produce sub-30 FPS results, making them impractical for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo compare to other systems tested?

A: This combo ranks 1431st out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 15% of all systems tested for The Medium. This ranking is consistent with the GTX 1070's 51st percentile position among all GPUs and the Ryzen 5 4600G's 75th percentile among CPUs.

Q: What is the playable threshold for this system?

A: The system maintains above 60 FPS only at 1080p Low (74.5 FPS) and 1440p Low (63.7 FPS). For a 30 FPS minimum playability threshold, the system can handle 1080p Medium (47.4 FPS), 1080p High (32.3 FPS), 1440p Medium (36.6 FPS), and 4K Low (46.9 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 4600G and GTX 1070 achieves a rank of 1431 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 15.3% of all systems tested. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GTX 1070's performance ceiling, as the GPU sits at only the 51st percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU performs much better at the 75th percentile. The GPU's average benchmark score of 12331 places it just 0.7% above the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and 1.3% below the GeForce GTX 880M, indicating that its performance is closely matched with several older or lower-tier cards.

The CPU's strong relative performance is evident in its benchmark scores, with the Ryzen 5 4600G achieving 13593 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1919 in single-core, while its nearest rivals show minimal performance differences. The AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE scores 0% differently, the Intel Core i5-12450H is 0.1% faster, and the Intel Core i3-14100T is 0.8% slower, confirming that the processor is not a significant limiting factor in this combination. The ranking disparity between the CPU and GPU components explains why the system falls so far down the combo rankings, as the GPU's 16 nm Pascal architecture from 2016 struggles with The Medium's 2021 release requirements.

The combo's position in the rankings is further supported by the measured FPS data, which shows that the system can only achieve smooth frame rates at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 74.5 FPS represents the system's peak performance, while the 4K Ultra result of 16.7 FPS represents its worst-case scenario. This performance spread of 57.8 FPS between best and worst settings demonstrates the GPU's sensitivity to graphical load, which is characteristic of a mid-range card from the GTX 10-series era being pushed beyond its intended capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings reveal a consistent hierarchy, with Low settings always producing the highest FPS and Ultra always producing the lowest. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 74.5 FPS at Low, 47.4 FPS at Medium, 32.3 FPS at High, and 27.1 FPS at Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 64% reduction in frame rate, indicating that each settings tier adds significant graphical workload that the GTX 1070 struggles to process.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop to 63.7 FPS at Low, 36.6 FPS at Medium, 29.9 FPS at High, and 24.8 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p results show a 61% reduction from Low to Ultra, with the Medium preset falling below the 40 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for acceptable gameplay. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p both remain below 30 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth play.

The 3840x2160 results are the most constrained, with 46.9 FPS at Low, 32.8 FPS at Medium, 19.6 FPS at High, and 16.7 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Low setting is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, while Medium is marginal and High and Ultra are effectively unplayable. The 64% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K mirrors the 1080p scaling, but the absolute frame rates are much lower across the board.

Comparing resolution performance at identical settings, the system shows a clear pattern of degradation. At Low settings, 1080p delivers 74.5 FPS, 1440p delivers 63.7 FPS (14.5% lower), and 4K delivers 46.9 FPS (37% lower than 1080p). At Medium settings, the drops are 22.8% from 1080p to 1440p and 30.8% from 1080p to 4K. The High preset shows the most severe scaling, with a 7.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 39.3% drop from 1080p to 4K, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes critically constrained at higher resolutions with complex shading.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal experience for this hardware combination is 1080p Medium, which delivers 47.4 FPS average and provides a balance between visual quality and performance. This preset offers a significant improvement over Low settings while remaining above the 30 FPS threshold that is generally considered the minimum for playable frame rates. The 1080p High preset at 32.3 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize visual fidelity, as it remains above 30 FPS, but it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes.

For players who prefer higher resolutions, 1440p Low is the only viable option, delivering 63.7 FPS and maintaining smooth gameplay. The 1440p Medium preset at 36.6 FPS is borderline playable but may experience noticeable frame drops during intensive sequences. At 4K, only the Low preset at 46.9 FPS is recommended, as all other settings fall below 33 FPS.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions, as it consistently produces frame rates below 28 FPS even at 1080p. The data shows that the difference between High and Ultra is relatively small in terms of frame rate impact, with a 16.1% reduction at 1080p, but the visual improvement is unlikely to justify the performance cost. Players seeking the best experience should prioritize resolution over settings, as the system can deliver 63.7 FPS at 1440p Low versus 27.1 FPS at 1080p Ultra.

The Medium preset at 1080p represents the sweet spot for this combination, offering 47.4 FPS which is 36% faster than High and 47% slower than Low, providing a reasonable middle ground. This setting allows the GTX 1070 to maintain consistent frame pacing without the severe drops seen at higher presets, making it the recommended configuration for most players.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 4600G's 6 cores and 12 threads provide adequate processing power for The Medium, as evidenced by the CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all processors. The Zen 2 architecture running at 3.70 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost clock delivers strong single-threaded performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1575 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1919. This single-thread performance is crucial for game logic and rendering thread management, and the data suggests it is sufficient for this title.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13593 and a Passmark multithread score of 15992. The 12 threads allow for efficient handling of background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems, though The Medium is not particularly CPU-intensive. The processor's 8 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for feeding the GPU.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals confirms that it is not the limiting factor in this combination. The nearest rivals show minimal performance differences, with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE at 0% delta, the Intel Core i5-12450H at 0.1% faster, and the Intel Core i3-14100T at 0.8% slower. This tight clustering indicates that the Ryzen 5 4600G performs as expected for its class, and any performance issues in The Medium can be attributed to the GPU rather than the processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the primary limiting component in this combination, with its 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs reflecting its age and performance tier. The Pascal architecture GPU features 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, running at a base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves insufficient for The Medium's demanding visuals at higher settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores show its mid-range positioning, with a Passmark G3D score of 13498 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 47395. The nearest rivals demonstrate the competitive landscape, with the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 scoring 0.7% lower, the GTX 880M scoring 1.3% higher, the GTX 1650 SUPER scoring 1.4% higher, and the Tesla K20Xm scoring 1.7% higher. This tight grouping indicates that the GTX 1070 performs within a narrow band of similar GPUs, and its limitations in The Medium are consistent with its overall performance class.

The GPU's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient for The Medium's high-preset requirements, particularly at higher resolutions. The 4K High result of 19.6 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 16.7 FPS demonstrate that the GPU cannot maintain adequate throughput when rendering complex scenes at high pixel counts. The 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU must process over 8 million pixels per frame, and the memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s limits texture streaming and buffer management.