The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination delivers a versatile 1080p and 1440p experience in The Medium, with 4K requiring settings adjustments. The data shows this combo ranks in the 86th percentile among tested configurations, placing it firmly in the upper tier for this horror title. The RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth prove sufficient for the game’s demands, while the Ryzen 5 5600’s six-core, twelve-thread design keeps pace without bottlenecking. Measured results indicate that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate across all resolutions, with a 52.5 FPS average at 4K, 94.7 FPS at 1440p, and 112.4 FPS at 1080p.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo averages 94.7 FPS at 2560x1440, while 1080p only improves this to 112.4 FPS. The jump to 4K drops the average to 75 FPS at Medium, indicating diminishing returns beyond 1440p.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 233rd out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the top 14% of all configurations. This percentile position is consistent with the RTX 4070 Ti's 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the Ryzen 5 5600's 79th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings?

A: Ultra settings are playable but demanding. At 1080p, the combo averages 63.8 FPS, which drops to 53.8 FPS at 1440p. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 41.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Users should prefer Medium or High settings for 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and single-core score of 2584 indicate strong processing power. Meanwhile, GPU load scales heavily with resolution, as evidenced by the 52.5 FPS at 4K High versus 80.7 FPS at 1080p High, showing the graphics card is the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with this setup?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 63.8 on Ultra to 137.8 on Low. The Medium preset delivers 112.4 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings provide 80.7 FPS, still comfortably above the 60 FPS standard.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti's average benchmark score of 44900 places it within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (44195) and 0.6% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152). The Intel Arc A730M scores 45592, putting it 1.5% ahead of the RTX 4070 Ti.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for The Medium’s texture-heavy environments. The GPU’s boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2310 MHz drive its 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, enabling the high frame rates observed in the measured data. The card’s 7680 shading units and 80 ROPs process the game’s fixed-camera scenes efficiently, with the 240 TMUs handling texture filtering across multiple resolutions.

The measured FPS data reveals that the GPU’s workload scales directly with resolution and settings. At 1080p High, the combo produces 80.7 FPS, but at 4K High, this drops to 52.5 FPS. This 35% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K aligns with the GPU’s pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s, which becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores support the game’s visual effects, though the performance impact is more pronounced at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 41.5 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 233 out of 1689 tested configurations places this system in the 86th percentile for The Medium. This is a strong showing, though not elite. The RTX 4070 Ti’s 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with the Ryzen 5 5600’s 79th percentile among CPUs, creates a balanced setup that outperforms 86% of tested combos in this specific game. The CPU’s nearest rivals—the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (0.6% faster), AMD EPYC 9554P (0.6% slower), and AMD EPYC 9534 (0.6% slower)—are all within 1% of its average benchmark score of 21765, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5600 provides consistent mid-range performance.

The GPU’s nearest rivals show a wider spread. The Intel Arc A730M leads by 1.5% with an average score of 45592, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT trails by 1.6% at 45642. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 is 1.6% behind at 44195. This close grouping means the RTX 4070 Ti’s in-game performance is influenced more by driver optimization and game-specific features than by raw benchmark scores. The combo’s 86th percentile rank confirms that this pairing is well-suited for The Medium’s fixed-camera horror presentation, where consistent frame pacing matters more than peak throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across all four settings presets and three resolutions. At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 114.4 FPS on Low, 75 FPS on Medium, 52.5 FPS on High, and 41.5 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show 127.4 FPS on Low, 94.7 FPS on Medium, 67.8 FPS on High, and 53.8 FPS on Ultra. At 1080p, the frame rates are 137.8 FPS on Low, 112.4 FPS on Medium, 80.7 FPS on High, and 63.8 FPS on Ultra.

The Low preset consistently doubles the frame rate compared to Ultra across all resolutions. At 4K, Low delivers 114.4 FPS versus 41.5 FPS on Ultra—a 2.76x difference. The Medium preset offers the most balanced performance, with 1080p delivering 112.4 FPS and 4K hitting 75 FPS. High settings sit between Medium and Ultra, with 1080p at 80.7 FPS and 4K at 52.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that the game’s settings have a substantial impact on GPU load, with Ultra being roughly 2.2x more demanding than Medium at each resolution.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling in The Medium follows a predictable pattern, with frame rates declining as pixel count increases. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 16-18% across all settings. For example, Medium settings produce 112.4 FPS at 1080p and 94.7 FPS at 1440p—a 15.8% reduction. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more severe, with Medium falling from 94.7 FPS to 75 FPS, a 20.8% reduction. The full 1080p to 4K transition shows a 33.3% decrease on Medium (112.4 to 75 FPS) and a 35% decrease on High (80.7 to 52.5 FPS).

This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component. The RTX 4070 Ti’s 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate become stretched at 4K, particularly on Ultra settings where the 41.5 FPS average suggests the GPU is fully saturated. The CPU’s role is less pronounced, as the Ryzen 5 5600’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.40 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom at all resolutions. The 1080p to 4K FPS drop of roughly 35% is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the additional pixel workload directly translates to lower frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 plays a supporting role in this combo, providing 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded performance as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2584. The CPU’s multicore score of 18309 in Cinebench R23 demonstrates its ability to handle the game’s background processing without introducing bottlenecks. The 65W TDP and 7nm process node from TSMC keep thermal loads manageable, allowing sustained boost clocks during extended gaming sessions.

The benchmark data shows that the Ryzen 5 5600’s performance is well-matched to the RTX 4070 Ti in this game. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 882 and 16-thread score of 5641 indicate balanced threading capabilities. In The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and scripted sequences, the CPU’s job is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations. The consistent frame rates across settings—from 41.5 FPS at 4K Ultra to 137.8 FPS at 1080p Low—suggest that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the GPU load scales predictably with resolution and quality presets.

Settings Recommendations

The Medium preset provides the best experience across all resolutions for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 112.4 FPS, which is 39% higher than High’s 80.7 FPS and 76% higher than Ultra’s 63.8 FPS. The visual difference between Medium and High is less impactful in this horror title than the frame rate advantage. At 1440p, Medium produces 94.7 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS standard and close to the 127.4 FPS achieved on Low. For 4K, Medium is the only preset that maintains playability, with 75 FPS versus 52.5 FPS on High and 41.5 FPS on Ultra.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, Low settings at 1440p (127.4 FPS) or 4K (114.4 FPS) provide high-refresh-rate experiences. However, the Medium preset offers the optimal balance, as it maintains 75 FPS at 4K and exceeds 90 FPS at 1440p. High settings are viable at 1080p (80.7 FPS) and 1440p (67.8 FPS) but fall short at 4K. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p gaming, where the 63.8 FPS average is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay. The data strongly suggests that Medium is the default choice, with High as an alternative for 1080p users who prefer enhanced lighting effects.