The Medium

The Medium presents a significant challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination. The benchmark data shows this pairing ranks 1407th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 17% of systems. This is a configuration that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings, requiring substantial compromises to achieve smooth gameplay. The data indicates a system where the GPU is the primary limiting factor, with the CPU providing adequate support but unable to overcome the graphical demands of this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound, particularly at higher quality settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 75.8 at 1920x1080 to 50.6 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 33%. This relatively modest decline suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is still contributing to the performance ceiling, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the reduced graphical load. However, the picture changes dramatically at Ultra settings, where the average FPS falls from 27.4 at 1080p to 18.5 at 4K, a 32% decrease that highlights the GPU's inability to cope with the increased pixel count.

The scaling pattern becomes more telling when comparing the High preset across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 34.8 FPS, which drops to 30.0 at 2560x1440 and then plummets to 20.8 at 3840x2160. The steep decline between 1440p and 4K indicates that the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit memory bus are being saturated, causing a performance cliff. The 4K Ultra result of 18.5 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows the GPU is operating at its absolute limits, with the 1506 MHz base and 1683 MHz boost clocks unable to compensate for the workload.

The data suggests that the limiting component is overwhelmingly the GPU. The Ryzen 5 5600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the bottleneck here, as evidenced by the fact that lowering graphical settings produces significant FPS gains even at 4K. The jump from 18.5 FPS at Ultra to 50.6 FPS at Low in 4K demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU much faster than the GPU can render at high quality, confirming a GPU-limited scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination's rank of 1407 out of 1689 tested combos places it in the lower quartile of all systems tested for The Medium. This is a poor showing, indicating that the GTX 1070 is not well-suited for this title's demanding rendering requirements. The GPU's percentile rank of 51 against all GPUs suggests it sits at the median of all graphics cards, but the game's specific demands push it lower in the context of this combo ranking.

The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 12331 places it extremely close to its nearest rivals, with the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 just 0.7% behind and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M 1.3% ahead. The comparison to the GTX 1650 SUPER, which is 1.4% faster on average, is particularly relevant, as it shows the 1070 is competitive with much newer budget cards despite its age. However, this parity does not translate to strong performance in The Medium, where the game's specific requirements push the 1070 to the bottom of the pack.

The CPU's position is somewhat better, with the Ryzen 5 5600 ranking in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 21765 puts it within 0.9% of the Intel Core i7-11700F, a solid mid-range processor. The 5600's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and single-core score of 2584 demonstrate solid performance that should not hold back the GPU in most scenarios. Yet in this game, the overall combo rank reflects the GPU's limitations, making this a system that will require significant settings reductions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600, based on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process, provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. These specifications are more than adequate for a game like The Medium, which is not known for extreme CPU demands. The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for game logic and asset streaming.

The CPU's benchmark results confirm its capability. The Cinebench R20 multicore score of 7689 and single-core score of 1085 show strong performance, while the 3DMark single-thread score of 882 indicates solid per-core efficiency. The PassMark multithread score of 21541 and single-thread score of 3256 further reinforce that this is a capable processor. Given that the measured FPS at Low settings reaches 75.8 at 1080p, it is clear that the CPU can push well beyond 60 FPS in this title when the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. The fact that FPS scales significantly when lowering graphical settings, even at 4K where the jump from Ultra to Low produces a 173% increase from 18.5 to 50.6 FPS, proves that the CPU has ample headroom. The Ryzen 5 5600's 12 threads are sufficient to handle The Medium's processing requirements, and the 65W TDP indicates efficient operation under load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 75.8 FPS on Low settings, which is the only configuration that approaches a truly smooth experience. Medium settings drop this to 46.4 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 34.8 and 27.4 FPS respectively. These numbers show a clear pattern: even at the lowest resolution, only the Low preset provides playable performance, with Medium being borderline and High/Ultra falling below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades predictably. Low settings yield 65.8 FPS, still respectable, but Medium drops to 36.3 FPS and High falls to 30.0 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces only 24.3 FPS, which is below playable standards. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes dire: Low settings manage 50.6 FPS, but Medium drops to 32.8 FPS, High to 20.8 FPS, and Ultra to a slideshow-like 18.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 17.8 FPS, indicating a steep performance curve as settings increase.

The data reveals that the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM is a critical constraint. At 4K Ultra, the game likely exceeds the memory capacity, causing texture thrashing and severe performance drops. The 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth also becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the GPU struggles to feed the rendering pipeline with sufficient texture data. The measured results consistently show that Low settings are the only viable option across all resolutions, with Medium being playable only at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, based on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process, features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz, delivering 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These specifications were impressive for its 2016 release, but The Medium's demands expose their age.

The GPU's benchmark results show a mixed picture. Its PassMark G3D score of 13498 places it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, indicating a mid-range positioning. However, its DirectX 12 score of 48 is notably low, suggesting poor optimization for modern APIs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 reinforces this observation. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 47395 and OpenCL score of 47490 are more respectable but still reflect the GPU's limitations in compute-heavy workloads.

In The Medium, the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit memory bus are significant bottlenecks. The game's high-resolution textures and complex lighting effects strain the memory subsystem, causing the dramatic FPS drops observed at 4K. The GPU's 107.7 GPixel/s pixel rate and 202.0 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient for this title's demands, particularly at higher settings. The 150W TDP and dual-slot cooling solution are adequate, but the underlying architecture simply cannot keep pace with modern horror game requirements.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings configuration for this system is the Low preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 75.8 FPS, which is the only configuration that provides a consistently smooth experience above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 65.8 FPS, still playable but requiring a monitor that supports this resolution. At 3840x2160, Low settings yield 50.6 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay but not ideal for fast action sequences.

The Medium preset is only viable at 1080p, where it achieves 46.4 FPS. This is marginally playable but may result in noticeable stuttering during intense scenes. At 1440p, Medium drops to 36.3 FPS, which is on the edge of playability, while at 4K, the 32.8 FPS result is below the 60 FPS target most players prefer. High and Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution, as even the best result (34.8 FPS at 1080p High) falls below the 30 FPS minimum for acceptable gameplay in a horror title where smooth camera movement is essential.

The data supports a clear recommendation: use Low settings for the best balance of visual quality and performance. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 29.4 FPS (from 75.8 to 46.4), a 39% reduction that is not worth the marginal visual improvement. Similarly, the gap between Medium and High at 1440p is only 6.3 FPS (from 36.3 to 30.0), but the visual difference is minimal. Players seeking the smoothest experience should stick with Low and potentially use resolution scaling if available.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers 75.8 FPS, the highest average FPS across all tested configurations. This is the only combination that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the optimal choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce 50.6 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium settings drop to 32.8 FPS, High to 20.8 FPS, and Ultra to 18.5 FPS, all of which are below acceptable playable thresholds.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 4K, lowering settings from Ultra to Low increases FPS from 18.5 to 50.6, a 173% improvement, showing the CPU can feed the GPU much faster than it can render at high quality.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score of 12331 is 0.7% higher than the Quadro K4200 but 1.3% lower than the GTX 880M and 1.4% lower than the GTX 1650 SUPER. These small differences indicate the 1070 performs similarly to these cards.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows 36.3 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This is playable but not ideal, as it falls below the 60 FPS target that provides the smoothest experience.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600 capable of handling this game?

A: Yes, the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate it is not the limiting component.