The Medium

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 produces a striking imbalance in The Medium, where a high-end graphics card is frequently held back by a mid-range processor. The benchmark results show a system that delivers excellent frame rates at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K Ultra, revealing a clear performance ceiling dictated by the CPU. This analysis examines the measured data to quantify the relationship between the resolution, settings, and the components' respective roles.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a dramatic shift in system behavior as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates show a compressed range, with the Low preset hitting 128 FPS and the Ultra preset at 68 FPS. This relatively small delta of 60 FPS between the lowest and highest settings suggests that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly, but the processor cannot feed it data fast enough to push frame rates higher. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is moderate, with the High preset dropping from 86 FPS to 72 FPS, a 16% reduction, while the Medium preset falls from 107 FPS to 101 FPS, a smaller 6% decline. This indicates that at these settings, the system is still partially CPU-limited, as the frame rate does not scale down proportionally with the increased pixel count.

The most significant change occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K. The High preset at 2560x1440 yields 72 FPS, but at 3840x2160, it drops to 57 FPS, a 21% reduction. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, falling from 101 FPS at 1440p to 79 FPS at 4K, a 22% reduction. This steep drop-off indicates that the GPU is now becoming the limiting factor, as the RTX 4080 is being tasked with rendering a much larger number of pixels. The Ultra preset at 4K produces just 45 FPS, which is a 21% drop from its 57 FPS at 1440p. The data suggests a transition point around 1440p where the system moves from a CPU-bound state at 1080p to a more balanced state, and finally to a GPU-bound state at 4K, where the RTX 4080's raw power is fully exercised but still struggles to maintain high frame rates on the most demanding preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a formidable piece of hardware, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Its 9728 shading units and boost clock of 2505 MHz allow for immense computational throughput. In The Medium, the GPU's role is most clearly defined at 4K resolution, where the frame rates show a clear dependency on the graphics preset. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is substantial, with average FPS rising from 112 to 79, a 29% reduction, indicating that the Medium preset's additional visual effects and texture detail place a significant load on the GPU. The gap between Medium and High is smaller, with a drop from 79 to 57 FPS, a 28% reduction, while the jump from High to Ultra is the most punishing, falling from 57 to 45 FPS, a 21% reduction.

This scaling pattern suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are particularly taxing on the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute units. The VRAM capacity of 16 GB does not appear to be a limiting factor at any tested setting, as the frame rate drops are consistent with increased computational load rather than memory swapping. The GPU's performance at 1080p, where it achieves 128 FPS on Low, is never fully utilized because the CPU cannot keep pace. The benchmark results show that the RTX 4080's full potential is only partially realized in this game, as its performance is capped by the processor at lower resolutions, and at 4K Ultra, it still cannot deliver a smooth 60 FPS experience, averaging only 45 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the comprehensive database of tested combinations, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing ranks 499th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 13.4% of all systems tested, which is a strong overall position. However, this ranking is somewhat misleading, as it reflects the combination's performance, which is heavily influenced by the CPU's limitations. The RTX 4080 GPU itself holds an 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 5500 CPU holds a 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs. This disparity in component tier is reflected in the game's results, where the system's overall rank is pulled down by the weaker processor.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 0.1% higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, which scores 1.1% lower. The CPU's nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, which scores 0.1% lower, and the Intel Core i5-12500, which scores 0.4% lower. The data suggests that the combo's rank is a direct result of the CPU's inability to fully feed the GPU in this specific title. A system with a more powerful processor would likely rank significantly higher, as the RTX 4080's potential would be unlocked. The 499th rank confirms the GPU's raw power, but it also serves as a warning about the importance of balanced component selection.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a granular view of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 128 FPS, while the Medium preset delivers 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS. The High preset produces 86 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 68 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, even the Ultra preset is playable, though the gap between Low and Ultra is a substantial 60 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still provides a high 121 FPS, while the Medium preset yields 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. The High preset averages 72 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 57 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance landscape changes dramatically. The Low preset maintains a respectable 112 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to an average of 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. The High preset averages 57 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the Ultra preset produces just 45 FPS. The frametime data for the Medium preset shows a variance of 24 FPS between minimum and maximum at 4K, which is the largest spread recorded, indicating potential stuttering in demanding scenes. The data shows a clear pattern: the Low preset is the only option that provides a consistently high frame rate across all resolutions, while the Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. For a 4K display, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice, offering an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is generally sufficient for a smooth experience in a slower-paced horror title. The High preset at 57 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid during camera movements, while the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for a consistent experience. The Low preset at 112 FPS is technically the smoothest, but it sacrifices visual fidelity, which is a key component of the game's atmosphere.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides an excellent experience with 101 FPS average and a minimum of 86 FPS, offering a strong balance between visual quality and performance. The High preset at 72 FPS is also viable for players who prefer more visual detail, while the Ultra preset at 57 FPS is playable but may not maintain a consistent frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 86 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while still maintaining a high frame rate. The Ultra preset at 68 FPS is also viable for those who want maximum visual fidelity, as the frame rate remains above the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the safest choice for most users, as it offers the best combination of frame rate and visual stability across all resolutions.

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. Its 16 MB of L3 cache is modest by modern standards. In The Medium, the CPU's role is clearly defined as the primary bottleneck at 1080p. The fact that the Low preset at 1080p reaches 128 FPS, while the High preset only reaches 86 FPS, shows that the CPU is not able to process the game's logic and draw calls fast enough to keep the RTX 4080 fully occupied. The frame rate difference between Low and High at 1080p is 42 FPS, which is a much larger gap than the 33 FPS difference at 4K, further confirming that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The CPU's performance is also reflected in its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. These scores place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable but not top-tier. When paired with a GPU that is in the 86th percentile, this creates a significant imbalance. The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 5500 cannot fully utilize the RTX 4080's capabilities in this game, particularly at resolutions below 4K. The system's overall ranking of 499th out of 3724 combos is a direct result of this CPU limitation, as the GPU's potential is left untapped. For players with a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor, this CPU would be a significant hindrance, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's weakness is less exposed.