The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is heavily influenced by the game's rendering engine and the specific workload it places on each component. This analysis interprets the measured data to understand where the bottleneck lies and how this pairing ranks against other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, but the magnitude of the drop is telling. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 78.3 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces the average to 66.5 FPS, a decrease of 11.8 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls further to 52 FPS, which is a 26.3 FPS drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the pixel fill rate demand increases significantly.

However, the story changes when examining the Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 130.8 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it only drops to 119.7 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still manages 112.1 FPS. The relatively small penalty from 1080p to 4K at Low settings—an 18.7 FPS difference—suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU enough data to maintain high frame rates, but the game's engine has a ceiling on performance that is not purely resolution-dependent. The frame rate at 4K Low (112.1 FPS) being higher than the 1080p High (78.3 FPS) highlights how dramatically the settings impact the workload.

The data suggests that the scaling from High to Ultra is also severe. At 1080p, the drop from High (78.3 FPS) to Ultra (61.2 FPS) is 17.1 FPS, and at 4K, the drop from High (52 FPS) to Ultra (39.3 FPS) is 12.7 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive, likely related to the game's dual-world rendering mechanic. The limiting component shifts from the GPU at High and Ultra to a more balanced scenario at Low and Medium, where the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration can maintain a higher frame rate ceiling.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. In this title, the CPU's role is to manage the game's logic, physics, and the rendering of the dual-world split-screen effect that is central to The Medium's gameplay. Benchmark results show the processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, indicating a balanced performance profile.

The frame rate data reveals that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is clearly saturated. However, at 1080p, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent. The difference between 1080p Low (130.8 FPS) and 1080p High (78.3 FPS) is substantial, but the fact that 4K Low (112.1 FPS) is not far behind 1080p Low suggests that the CPU can maintain a high frame rate when the GPU workload is low. The processor's 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support contribute to its ability to handle the game's data streaming.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897, deltaPct -0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900, deltaPct -0.1). This suggests that the CPU's performance is in line with other mid-range processors, and any frame rate differences in The Medium are more likely due to the GPU or game engine optimizations. The processor's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a solid performer, but not a top-tier part, which is consistent with its role in this combo.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. Its Ada Lovelace architecture, with 8448 shading units and 66 RT cores, is designed for high-resolution gaming and ray-traced effects. The GPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Passmark G3D score of 31811 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 4K Ultra, the combo achieves only 39.3 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated by the game's most demanding settings. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is likely a factor at 4K, as the game needs to store high-resolution textures for the two simultaneous worlds. The memory bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s is also crucial for handling the data throughput required at 4K.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (avgScore 49071, deltaPct -0.7) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (avgScore 47915, deltaPct 1.6). The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's average benchmark score of 48704 places it between these two, but its performance in The Medium is more directly tied to its memory subsystem and compute capabilities. The fact that the GPU is end-of-life in production status does not diminish its measured performance here, as the data shows it can deliver 52 FPS at 4K High, which is playable but not ideal for a horror title where smooth motion is important.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 279th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 16.5% of all configurations, which is a strong showing. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's mid-range performance and the GPU's high-end capabilities. The data suggests that the combo is well-matched for 1440p gaming, where it achieves 94 FPS on Medium settings and 66.5 FPS on High, both of which are smooth experiences.

The rank is likely held back by the CPU's performance at lower resolutions, where it cannot fully utilize the GPU's potential. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 130.8 FPS, but this is lower than what a more powerful CPU might achieve with the same GPU, which would push the rank higher. However, the combo's performance at 4K is respectable, with 52 FPS on High, which is better than many other configurations that lack the 4070 Ti SUPER's memory bandwidth and compute power.

The ranking also considers the overall benchmark score of the components. The CPU's average benchmark score of 20875 is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-12500, while the GPU's average score of 48704 is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA CMP 50HX. These small deltas indicate that the combo is in a competitive tier, and its 279th rank is a result of the game's specific engine characteristics, which favor the GPU more than the CPU.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in The Medium?

A: At 1080p and 1440p with Low or Medium settings, the CPU can become a limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling. However, at 4K and at High or Ultra settings, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, with the CPU providing enough throughput to maintain the measured FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium (94 FPS) and 1440p High (66.5 FPS) offer a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. 4K High (52 FPS) is playable, but 4K Ultra (39.3 FPS) falls below ideal playability.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 16 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 16 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's dual-world rendering, allowing the GPU to handle high-resolution textures without running out of memory. This contributes to the stable frame rates at 4K, where memory pressure is highest.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration matter for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU's core count and threads are used for game logic and the dual-world simulation. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 shows it can handle these tasks, but it is not a top-tier part, which limits performance at lower resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to systems with a faster CPU?

A: While the data does not include a direct comparison, the CPU's rank (79th percentile) and its benchmark scores being within 0.2% of its nearest rivals suggest that a faster CPU might improve frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU would still be the main factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the frame rate consistent across different settings?

A: The data shows significant variation. For example, at 4K, the average FPS ranges from 112.1 at Low to 39.3 at Ultra. This indicates that the game's settings have a large impact on performance, with Ultra being particularly demanding due to its rendering effects.