The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both the GPU and CPU, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti produces a specific set of performance characteristics. The data shows this pairing ranks 1207th out of 1689 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the lower half of the field. This is a system that can run the game, but it requires careful settings management to achieve a smooth experience, particularly at higher resolutions. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance, the roles of each component, and how to best configure the game for playable frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings is the only configuration that provides a clearly comfortable frame rate, hitting 91 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the Low setting drops to 74.8 FPS, which is still playable, but 3840x2160 at any setting falls short of a solid 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti perform compared to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti's average benchmark score is 25120, which is effectively a tie with the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, which scores 25180 with a deltaPct of -0.2%. It is also within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 and AMD Radeon 890M, indicating near-identical raw compute performance among these cards.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G a bottleneck for the RTX 3060 Ti in this game?

A: The CPU's performance is strong, with a percentile rank of 75th among all CPUs. However, the game's frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, which suggests that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher settings, rather than the CPU holding things back.

Q: What is the performance difference between the 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra presets?

A: The difference is substantial. The Low preset averages 91 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 33.9 FPS. This represents a drop of 57.1 FPS when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the CPU's integrated graphics have any impact on the game's performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 4600G includes Radeon Vega 7 integrated graphics, but the system is using the discrete RTX 3060 Ti for rendering. The integrated graphics do not appear in the measured FPS data and are not a factor in the game's performance.

Q: How much of a performance hit is there from the Medium preset to the High preset at 1440p?

A: Moving from Medium to High at 2560x1440 results in a frame rate drop from 49.7 FPS to 34.7 FPS. This is a reduction of 15 FPS, which is a significant hit that pushes the experience below a smooth 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the primary rendering engine for this system. It is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip and features 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is a critical resource for a game like The Medium that loads detailed textures. The GPU's clock speeds are listed with a base of 1410 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz, or 14 Gbps effective.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores show it is a capable mid-range part. Its Passmark G3D score is 20349, and its average benchmark score is 25120, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, RX 6600, and Radeon 890M, all have average scores within 0.7% of the RTX 3060 Ti, confirming its position in the market. The GPU's performance in The Medium is directly visible in the measured frame rates. The game is clearly GPU-intensive, as evidenced by the large FPS swings when changing resolution. At 1080p Low, the GPU is able to push out 91 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 21.7 FPS. This scaling indicates that the game's render load is heavily dependent on the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth, and the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the presets tested, but the core is not fast enough to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Renoir. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU's cache structure includes 64 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 per core, with a shared 8 MB of L3 cache. This processor is designed for the AM4 socket and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. While it has integrated Radeon Vega 7 graphics, this system relies on the discrete GPU for gaming.

In terms of raw processing power, the Ryzen 5 4600G is a solid performer. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 13593, and its single-core score is 1919. Its Passmark multithread score is 15992, and it ranks in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE and Intel Core i5-12450H, have average benchmark scores very close to its own, with deltaPct values of 0% and 0.1%, respectively. In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 91 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to indicate the CPU can handle the workload. As resolution increases and the GPU becomes more taxed, the frame rate drops, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's strong multicore performance ensures that it does not hold back the RTX 3060 Ti in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 91 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this system. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 57.1 FPS, while the High preset averages 42.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p is the most demanding, with an average of 33.9 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops across all settings. The Low preset averages 74.8 FPS, which is still a playable frame rate. The Medium preset falls to 49.7 FPS, and the High preset averages 34.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is quite demanding, with an average of only 27.1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 58.6 FPS, which is close to a 60 FPS target. However, the Medium preset drops to 36.8 FPS, and the High preset averages 28.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the most demanding configuration tested, with an average of just 21.7 FPS. These numbers show a consistent pattern: the game's performance scales directly with the graphics preset and resolution, with the Ultra preset being particularly punishing on the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 91 at 1080p to 74.8 at 1440p, a decrease of 16.2 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the FPS drops further to 58.6, another decrease of 16.2 FPS. This linear scaling suggests that the GPU is still able to handle the increased pixel count at the lowest settings.

However, at Ultra settings, the scaling is much more severe. The average FPS drops from 33.9 at 1080p to 27.1 at 1440p, a decrease of 6.8 FPS. From 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops to 21.7, another decrease of 5.4 FPS. This shows that the GPU's performance is hitting a hard wall at higher resolutions and quality settings. The difference between the Low and Ultra settings at 4K is a massive 36.9 FPS, highlighting that the RTX 3060 Ti is not capable of running the game at maximum quality in 4K. The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance is not the cause of these dramatic frame rate drops. The system is clearly GPU-bound at 1440p and 4K, especially when using higher quality presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this system depend on the target resolution and the player's preference for visual quality versus frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the only option is to play at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which averages 91 FPS. This provides a significant performance headroom and is the only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS.

For players with a 1440p monitor who want a balanced experience, the Low preset at 2560x1440 offers an average of 74.8 FPS, which is still quite smooth. The Medium preset at 1440p, with an average of 49.7 FPS, is a good compromise if a player can tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS, as it provides a better visual experience than Low. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p are not recommended for a consistently playable experience, as they average 34.7 and 27.1 FPS, respectively.

At 4K, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 58.6 FPS, which is very close to the 60 FPS target and offers the best chance at a playable experience at this resolution. The Medium preset at 4K, with an average of 36.8 FPS, is playable but will feel less fluid. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended, as they produce average frame rates of 28.1 and 21.7 FPS, which will likely result in a stuttery and unsatisfactory experience. Overall, the best experience per the measured rows is achieved by prioritizing the Low or Medium presets to maintain a playable frame rate, with the 1080p Low configuration being the only one that delivers a consistently high frame rate.