The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers a highly variable experience in The Medium, one that is dictated almost entirely by graphics settings rather than resolution scaling. Benchmark results show a system capable of smooth frame rates at Low settings across all resolutions, but one that struggles to maintain playability at Ultra. This pairing ranks 1371st out of 1689 tested combinations in the game, placing it in the lower half of the performance spectrum, yet the data reveals specific strengths and clear bottlenecks depending on the workload.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a Zen 2 architecture processor built on a 7 nm process, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. Its base clock runs at 3.70 GHz, boosting up to 4.20 GHz, which provides a solid foundation for gaming workloads. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor achieves a single-thread score of 726 in 3DMark and 1919 in Cinebench R23, indicating competent per-core performance for a game like The Medium, which relies on consistent frame pacing rather than extreme multi-threading.

The processor’s multi-threaded capabilities are more pronounced, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13593 and a Geekbench multicore score of 6093. These numbers suggest that the CPU has ample headroom for background tasks and game logic, but the measured FPS results show that this headroom is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The Ryzen 5 4600G sits at the 75th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17489. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (0.1% ahead), while slightly trailing the Intel Core i3-14100T by 0.8% and the i3-13100F by 1%.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role becomes clear when examining the FPS deltas between Low and Ultra settings. At 1080p, moving from Low (84.1 FPS) to Ultra (30.5 FPS) results in a 63.7% drop, which is far too large to be attributed to CPU limits. The processor’s 8 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are adequate for the game’s demands. The data indicates that the CPU is rarely the primary constraint; even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 20.7, the bottleneck is overwhelmingly on the graphics side, as the CPU maintains similar frame times across resolutions at equivalent settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the decisive component in this pairing. Built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, it features 1920 shading units, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz, and its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for The Medium, a game that uses streaming environments and high-resolution textures.

The RTX 2060’s synthetic benchmark scores paint a picture of mid-range capability. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 14111 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 71278, placing it at the 58th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 16074. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (1.7% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.8% ahead). These close margins indicate that the RTX 2060 is competitive with other mid-range options, but the game’s heavy reliance on GPU compute and ray tracing features pushes it to its limits.

The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the primary performance gate. At 1080p, the RTX 2060 delivers 84.1 FPS on Low settings, which is a playable experience, but this drops to 52.3 FPS on Medium and 37.4 FPS on High. The jump to Ultra at 1080p yields only 30.5 FPS, revealing that the GPU’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are insufficient for the highest preset. The pattern is consistent across resolutions, with the GPU struggling to maintain frame rates as settings increase, regardless of CPU headroom.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 4600G compare to its closest CPU rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G scores 17489 on average. It is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE (17482, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12450H (17475, 0.1% ahead). It trails the Intel Core i3-14100T (17636, -0.8%) and the Core i3-13100F (17665, -1%).

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a playable frame rate above 60 FPS?

A: The only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS is 1080p Low, which averages 84.1 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 68.8 FPS, still above 60, while 4K Low averages 58 FPS, just below the threshold.

Q: Is the RTX 2060’s VRAM capacity a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests yes. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 30.5 at 1080p, 26.2 at 1440p, and 20.7 at 4K. These low values indicate that the 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated, preventing the GPU from maintaining higher frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 rank against its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074. The AMD Radeon RX 7600S scores 15996 (0.5% behind), while the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both score 16351 (1.7% ahead). The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15786 (1.8% behind).

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 58, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 20.7. The CPU’s performance remains consistent across resolutions, as evidenced by its high multi-threaded scores, indicating that the RTX 2060 cannot handle the increased pixel load.

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU-GPU combination in the game’s benchmark database?

A: The combination ranks 1371st out of 1689 tested configurations, placing it in the lower 19% of all tested systems for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 and Ryzen 5 4600G deliver a wide spread of results. Low settings produce an average of 84.1 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 52.3 FPS, representing a 37.8% reduction from Low. High settings yield 37.4 FPS, and Ultra falls further to 30.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 53.6 FPS, a 63.7% decrease, demonstrating the dramatic impact of quality presets on this hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern persists but with lower absolute values. Low settings average 68.8 FPS, a 18.2% drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 44.4 FPS, while High settings produce 29.7 FPS. Ultra at 1440p averages 26.2 FPS, which is only 4.3 FPS higher than 4K High. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is a 14.1% reduction, indicating that the GPU is already near its compute ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. Low settings average 58 FPS, which is surprisingly high given the resolution, but Medium drops to 35.6 FPS. High settings average 22.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 20.7 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 1.9 FPS, suggesting that the GPU’s resources are exhausted and additional settings have minimal impact. Across all resolutions, Low is the only preset that approaches or exceeds 60 FPS, while Ultra never reaches 31 FPS at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling behavior of this combination is telling. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS decreases by 18.2% on Low settings (from 84.1 to 68.8), by 15.1% on Medium (from 52.3 to 44.4), by 20.6% on High (from 37.4 to 29.7), and by 14.1% on Ultra (from 30.5 to 26.2). These percentages are relatively consistent, indicating that the GPU is handling the increased pixel count in a linear fashion, with no sudden collapse.

From 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops are more substantial. On Low settings, the average falls from 68.8 to 58, a 15.7% reduction. Medium drops from 44.4 to 35.6, a 19.8% reduction. High falls from 29.7 to 22.6, a 23.9% reduction, and Ultra drops from 26.2 to 20.7, a 21% reduction. The scaling is steeper at higher settings, which points directly to the GPU as the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain constant or drop significantly less across resolutions, as the CPU workload is largely independent of pixel count.

The data shows that the Ryzen 5 4600G has sufficient headroom to feed the RTX 2060 at all tested resolutions. The CPU’s multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 score of 13593, is far above what is needed for The Medium at these settings. Instead, the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary constraints. The steep FPS decline from Low to Ultra at any resolution, combined with the moderate resolution scaling, clearly indicates that graphics settings, not resolution, are the main performance lever for this hardware combination. For users seeking higher frame rates, reducing settings from High to Low provides a larger boost than dropping from 4K to 1080p.