The Medium

# CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer) using TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. The chip carries 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth, with ECC support enabled. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU only, and its 65 W TDP classifies it as a power-efficient desktop part.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5600F demonstrates a single-thread score of 2872 and a multithread score of 19236 in Passmark tests. The integer math score sits at 59339, floating-point math at 34548, and extended instructions at 16266. Data compression reaches 232836, while encryption hits 13839. Prime number finding scores 120, random string sorting 23422, and physics 1043. The average benchmark score is 36945, placing the CPU in the 85th percentile among all processors.

The nearest rivals in the benchmark database show how tightly grouped this chip is. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938, a delta of 0% from the 5600F. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D posts 37018, which is -0.2% relative to our CPU. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 hits 37093, a -0.4% delta, and the Intel Core i9-12900T reaches 37112, a -0.5% delta. These margins are remarkably thin — the entire cluster of four rival processors falls within a 0.5% performance band of each other, suggesting that the 5600F is positioned in an extremely competitive mid-range segment where architectural differences translate to negligible real-world deltas.

For a horror game like The Medium, which relies on fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds in many scenes, the CPU's role is often more about maintaining consistent frame pacing than raw throughput. The 12 threads provide headroom for background tasks, but the measured FPS data suggests the CPU is rarely the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 108 FPS, which is the highest measured average across all settings and resolutions. This indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at lower settings, though the GPU becomes increasingly constrained as resolution and quality rise.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1525 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it slightly above the median — roughly the 52nd percentile of all tested combinations. The rank reflects a pairing that is competent but not exceptional for this specific game, which is notable given that both components are mid-range offerings from their respective generations.

Looking at the GPU's synthetic standing, the RTX 4060 scores 19545 in Passmark G3D and 17639 average benchmark score, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (-0.2% delta), AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (+0.3%), AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (+0.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17509 (+0.7%). The RTX 4060 sits just above all four of these competitors in average score, but the margins are minuscule — less than 1% separates the entire group. This suggests that in raw compute terms, the 4060 is performance-equivalent to a set of much older or integrated-class parts, which is surprising for a dedicated discrete GPU from the Ada Lovelace generation.

The combo rank of 1525 out of 2911 implies that many other pairings outperform this setup in The Medium. Given that the CPU is in the 85th percentile and the GPU in the 61st, the bottleneck is clearly the graphics card. The rank reflects this imbalance — the CPU has more headroom than the GPU can utilize, particularly at higher resolutions where pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor. The data indicates that this combo is better suited to 1080p gaming, where the CPU's stronger relative standing can help push frame rates higher, rather than 4K where the GPU's limitations become pronounced.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 108 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 91 FPS, a reduction of approximately 15.7%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 72 FPS, another 20.9% drop from 1440p. The scaling from 1080p to 4K Low represents a total decline of about 33.3%.

For Medium settings, the progression is 68 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 16.2%, and from 1440p to 4K is 21.1%. High settings show 49 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K — a 16.3% decline between 1080p and 1440p, followed by a 22.0% decline to 4K. Ultra settings deliver 39 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K, with drops of 17.9% and 21.9% respectively.

The consistent pattern of roughly 16-18% drops from 1080p to 1440p and 21-22% drops from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component across all settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see diminishing FPS differences at higher resolutions as the GPU becomes more loaded. Instead, the steady decline suggests that the RTX 4060's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are being progressively saturated as resolution increases.

The 4K Ultra result of 25 FPS is particularly telling — it falls below playable thresholds for most users, and the gap between 4K Low (72 FPS) and 4K Ultra (25 FPS) represents a 65.3% performance swing. This wide range at a single resolution highlights how sensitive the RTX 4060 is to quality settings at higher pixel counts, reinforcing the notion that this GPU is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming with moderate settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 108 FPS on Low settings, 68 FPS on Medium (with min 58, max 78), 49 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting includes the only recorded frame time variance in the dataset, showing a range of 20 FPS between minimum and maximum. This 58-78 FPS band suggests some scene-to-scene variability at 1080p Medium, likely due to the game's fixed-camera transitions or loading of new areas.

Moving to 2560x1440, Low settings produce 91 FPS, Medium drops to 57 FPS (min 49, max 66), High yields 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 32 FPS. The Medium range at 1440p is 17 FPS, slightly narrower than at 1080p, which could indicate that the GPU is becoming more consistently saturated and thus less variable in its frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the results are 72 FPS on Low, 45 FPS on Medium (min 38, max 52), 32 FPS on High, and 25 FPS on Ultra. The Medium range at 4K is 14 FPS, the tightest of any resolution, suggesting that at this pixel count the workload is overwhelmingly GPU-bound and frame times stabilize as the render pipeline stays consistently busy.

The overall pattern shows that Low settings at any resolution provide playable frame rates, with even 4K Low hitting 72 FPS. Medium settings are playable at 1080p (68 FPS) and 1440p (57 FPS), but marginal at 4K (45 FPS). High settings are only comfortable at 1080p (49 FPS), while Ultra is borderline at 1080p (39 FPS) and below 30 FPS at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the AD107 chip using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. The GPU has 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operation processors. It includes 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The base clock runs at 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, while memory operates at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s, texture rate is 236.2 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS (with FP16 at 15.11 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio). The TDP is 115 W, requiring a 300 W suggested PSU, and it uses a single 12-pin power connector. The card is dual-slot, 240 mm long, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x8.

In Passmark benchmarks, the GPU scores 19545 in G3D, 236 in DirectX 9, 175 in DirectX 11, 103 in DirectX 10, and 76 in DirectX 12. The G2D score is 1037, and GPU compute hits 9213. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2302. Geekbench results show 95057 in OpenCL and 48643 in Vulkan. The average benchmark score is 17639, placing it in the 61st percentile among all GPUs.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor for The Medium. The game's horror aesthetic relies on high-resolution textures and complex lighting, and the 128-bit memory bus at 272 GB/s may struggle with large texture datasets at 4K. The measured FPS data supports this — at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 25 FPS, which suggests the GPU is both bandwidth-limited and compute-limited. The RTX 4060's nearest rival in the database, the AMD Radeon HD 7790, is a much older part, yet the performance delta is negligible (-0.2%). This indicates that while the RTX 4060 has modern features like RT and DLSS, its raw rasterization performance is not dramatically ahead of much older hardware in this database's metrics.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 68 FPS with a 58-78 FPS range, which offers a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. High settings at 1080p drop to 49 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1080p (39 FPS) is borderline, and the jump from Medium to Ultra costs 29 FPS — a 42.6% performance penalty for the highest quality tier.

For 1440p, Medium settings at 57 FPS (min 49, max 66) represent the best playable option. Low settings at 91 FPS are smoother but sacrifice visual fidelity, while High (41 FPS) and Ultra (32 FPS) fall into less comfortable territory. The Medium preset at 1440p provides a stable frame rate that stays above 49 FPS even in the worst-case measured scenes.

At 4K, Low settings at 72 FPS are the only clearly playable option. Medium at 45 FPS is marginal, and High (32 FPS) or Ultra (25 FPS) are not recommended for a smooth experience. The 4K Medium range of 38-52 FPS shows significant dips that could be noticeable in a horror game where frame pacing matters for atmosphere.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, offering 68 FPS average with a minimum of 58 FPS. This preset maintains playability while allowing the game's visual design to shine without the performance degradation seen at higher settings. For users prioritizing higher resolutions, 1440p Low (91 FPS) or 4K Low (72 FPS) are viable alternatives, but they require accepting lower quality presets to achieve acceptable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings for this combo?

A: The average FPS is 68, with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 78.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in The Medium?

A: It ranks 1525 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it slightly above the median.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows consistent FPS drops as resolution increases (108 FPS to 72 FPS at Low, 68 to 45 at Medium), indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K.

Q: What is the RTX 4060's percentile standing among all GPUs?

A: The GPU is in the 61st percentile with an average benchmark score of 17639.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Only at Low settings (91 FPS). Medium settings average 57 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

Q: What is the highest playable setting at 4K based on the measured data?

A: Low settings at 72 FPS is the only clearly playable option. Medium at 45 FPS is marginal, and High/Ultra fall below 32 FPS.