The Medium

The Medium runs on a dual-world rendering engine that effectively doubles the frame cost whenever the protagonist crosses between realities. For the combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, benchmark results show a system that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming comfortably, but struggles to maintain playable rates at 4K on higher presets. The data indicates a 65th percentile GPU paired with a 71st percentile CPU, placing this combo in the 2162nd spot out of 3724 tested configurations for this specific title. The measured frames per second reveal a clear pattern: the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factor at 3840x2160, while the CPU’s six Zen 2 cores provide adequate headroom at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 offers the most consistent experience, with average frame rates ranging from 36 FPS on Ultra to 101 FPS on Low. The 2560x1440 resolution remains viable, but 3840x2160 drops below 30 FPS on High and Ultra presets, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 20282, placing it 1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, 1.2% behind the GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750. These deltas are minimal, indicating near-identical raw performance in general compute workloads.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 4600G bottleneck the RTX 2070 SUPER in this game?

A: Benchmark results suggest the CPU is not the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 101 FPS, and at 1440p Low it reaches 85 FPS, showing that the GPU remains the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU’s 12 threads and 4.20 GHz boost clock provide sufficient processing power for the game’s logic.

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

A: The Medium preset delivers an average of 63 FPS, while Ultra drops to 36 FPS. This 27 FPS gap represents a 43% performance reduction for the higher preset, which the data shows is not justified by playability gains on this hardware.

Q: Is the RTX 2070 SUPER’s VRAM capacity sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is adequate for the game’s textures, as shown by the 67 FPS average on Low at 3840x2160. However, the GPU’s compute power, not VRAM, becomes the bottleneck at higher presets, with Ultra yielding only 24 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance affect The Medium’s frame pacing?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G scores 1919 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is modest by modern standards. In The Medium, this translates to playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering, as minimum FPS values on Medium settings stay within 9-14% of the average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER serves as the primary rendering engine for The Medium’s dual-world visual effects. Its TU104 chip, built on a 12 nm process, contains 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output processors. The card operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz with a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

This memory configuration proves critical in The Medium, as the game frequently renders two complete scenes simultaneously. The GPU’s 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but do not appear to be heavily utilized, as the game does not mandate ray tracing for its core experience. The pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s provide the raw fill capacity needed for the game’s fixed-camera angles and detailed environments.

Benchmark results show the GPU achieves a PassMark G3D score of 18169, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores 20582, a 1.5% advantage, while the RTX 3070 Mobile sits 1.2% higher with 20534. These synthetic scores align with the measured FPS in The Medium, where the card delivers 63 FPS at 1080p Medium but falls to 42 FPS at 4K Medium, indicating a 33% performance penalty per resolution doubling.

The GPU’s 8 GB frame buffer is not the limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the 67 FPS result on Low settings. Instead, the compute throughput of 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 becomes saturated when shader complexity increases with higher presets. The 215 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest the card maintains boost clocks under sustained load, which is consistent with the stable average FPS figures across multiple runs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G provides six cores and twelve threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process. With a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, this processor delivers single-thread performance that scores 1919 in Cinebench R23 and multi-thread performance of 13593 in the same test. The 8 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth offer sufficient data throughput for game logic and asset streaming.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but its 12 threads handle the game’s physics, AI, and world-streaming tasks. The processor’s multithreaded capabilities are demonstrated by a 3DMark 16-thread score of 4863, which is nearly identical to its max-thread score of 4889, indicating that all 12 threads scale effectively under load. The single-thread score of 726 in 3DMark suggests adequate per-core performance for the game’s primary game loop.

The Ryzen 5 4600G sits in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17507. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, scores 17482, a mere 0.1% difference, while the Intel Core i3-14100T is 0.8% higher at 17648. These marginal differences indicate that the CPU’s performance envelope is well-understood and consistent.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 101 FPS, which represents the upper bound of what this CPU-GPU combination can produce. The fact that frame rates scale downward proportionally with resolution increases — 85 FPS at 1440p and 67 FPS at 4K — confirms that the GPU, not the CPU, is the performance ceiling. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for potential overclocking, though the stock configuration appears sufficient for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data provides average frame rates for four presets across three resolutions, with minimum and maximum values recorded only for Medium settings. At 1920x1080, the system produces 101 FPS on Low, 63 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, indicating a variance of 18 FPS during gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 85 FPS on Low, 53 FPS on Medium, 38 FPS on High, and 30 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset’s minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS show a tighter 16 FPS range, suggesting more consistent frame delivery at this resolution. The 1440p results represent a 16-20% reduction from 1080p across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens significantly. Low settings yield 67 FPS, Medium drops to 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 48, High falls to 30 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 24 FPS. The 4K Medium variance of 13 FPS is the smallest of all tested configurations, but the average of 42 FPS sits below the 50 FPS threshold many players consider smooth.

The scaling between presets is consistent across resolutions. Low to Medium represents a 38-40% performance drop, Medium to High a 28-29% drop, and High to Ultra a 20-21% drop. This pattern suggests each preset tier adds a similar computational load, with the largest single hit occurring when moving from Low to Medium due to texture filtering and shadow quality increases.

The data shows no anomalous spikes or crashes, as all recorded minimum FPS values remain within 15% of their respective averages. The 1080p Medium configuration, with its 63 FPS average and 54 FPS minimum, provides the most balanced measured experience for this hardware combination.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 produces a 16-20% frame rate reduction across all presets, which is consistent with the 78% increase in pixel count. This proportional scaling indicates that the GPU is handling the additional pixel workload efficiently, without hitting memory bandwidth or fill rate limits. The RTX 2070 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate for these resolutions.

However, the jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 tells a different story. The frame rate drops by 21-25% across presets, despite the pixel count increasing by 125%. This non-linear scaling reveals that the GPU is approaching its compute limits at 4K, particularly on higher presets where shader complexity compounds the pixel load. The 4K Low result of 67 FPS shows the card can handle 4K output, but only when the render workload is minimized.

The resolution scaling analysis suggests the limiting component shifts depending on settings. At Low presets, the GPU remains the bottleneck, as shown by the smooth 67 FPS at 4K. At Ultra presets, the 24 FPS result at 4K indicates the GPU’s 9.062 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for the game’s full visual feature set at that resolution.

For the CPU, resolution has minimal impact on its workload. The Ryzen 5 4600G’s performance is resolution-independent, meaning the 24 FPS at 4K Ultra is purely a GPU constraint. Players seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to reduce settings, as the CPU has no headroom to compensate for GPU limitations.

The data indicates that 1440p represents the practical sweet spot for this combination. The 53 FPS average on Medium at 2560x1440 provides a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining playable frame rates, whereas 4K requires dropping to Low settings to achieve similar performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 63 FPS average with a 54 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay, and the 72 FPS maximum shows the system has occasional headroom for demanding scenes. This configuration uses the game’s middle ground, avoiding the 43% performance penalty of Ultra while delivering better visuals than Low.

For players with 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the recommended choice. The 53 FPS average and 45 FPS minimum remain playable, and the 61 FPS maximum indicates the system can briefly exceed 60 FPS in less demanding areas. High settings at this resolution drop to 38 FPS, which falls below the smoothness threshold for most players.

At 4K, the data suggests that only the Low preset provides an acceptable experience. The 67 FPS average at 3840x2160 Low maintains fluid motion, but Medium drops to 42 FPS, which is borderline playable. The High and Ultra presets at 30 and 24 FPS respectively are not recommended for active gameplay, as they approach cinematic frame rates rather than interactive ones.

The Ultra preset provides no measurable benefit over High in terms of playability. At every resolution, the jump from High to Ultra costs 20-21% performance while the visual difference is unlikely to justify the frame rate loss. Players should avoid Ultra unless they prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness and have already exhausted other settings adjustments.

The Medium preset’s recorded minimum and maximum values provide the most complete picture of performance stability. Across all three resolutions, the Medium preset shows consistent frame delivery, with the 1080p configuration offering the tightest variance. This consistency suggests Medium is the intended performance target for this hardware combination in The Medium.