The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that leans heavily on fixed camera angles and pre-rendered-style environments, but the benchmark data for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination reveals a system that is clearly capable of handling it, with performance scaling that points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured results show a wide performance envelope, from a very playable 117 FPS at 1080p on Low settings down to a demanding 41 FPS at 4K on Ultra. This pairing sits at rank 546 out of 2911 total tested combinations, placing it in the upper tier of systems for this specific game. The data suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti has enough headroom to push high frame rates at 1440p, while 4K gaming will require careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 79 FPS at 1920x1080 to 66 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 13 FPS, and then further down to 52 FPS at 3840x2160, marking a total drop of 27 FPS from the starting point. This indicates that as the pixel count increases, the workload on the RTX 4070 Ti grows substantially, and the CPU is not the limiting factor here. The Ryzen 5 5600F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, maintains its end of the bargain even at 1080p, where CPU overhead is often more pronounced. The data shows that moving from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 16% of the frame rate at High settings, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs an additional 21%, highlighting the exponential cost of pushing more pixels.

Looking at the Low settings preset, the trend is similar but with higher absolute numbers. The average FPS goes from 117 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p, and then drops to 102 at 4K. The smaller percentage drop between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (about 5%) compared to High settings (about 16%) suggests that at lower graphical fidelity, the system is still somewhat CPU-limited at 1080p, but the GPU quickly becomes the bottleneck as resolution climbs. At Ultra settings, the pattern is the most pronounced, with frame rates of 62 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and a demanding 41 FPS at 4K. This scaling behavior tells us that the RTX 4070 Ti is the component that dictates performance in The Medium, and users should expect to adjust resolution and settings together to hit their target frame rate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AM4 socket with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. Its PassMark multithread score of 19236 and single-thread score of 2872 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid mainstream performance. In the context of The Medium, the data shows that the CPU is not the primary constraint. For instance, at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 117 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would stress a weaker processor, yet the 5600F handles it without issue. The fact that the frame rate only increases by a small margin from 1080p Low to 1440p Low (117 to 111 FPS) suggests that the CPU is already near its output limit for this game at lower resolutions, but it is not causing a significant bottleneck.

The nearest rivals to the 5600F, based on average PassMark scores, include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a score of 36938 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with a score of 37018 (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 with a score of 37093 (-0.4% delta). These figures indicate that the 5600F is performance-competitive with these chips in general workloads, and its 32 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for gaming. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and support for DDR4 memory are adequate for feeding the RTX 4070 Ti. The benchmark results show that in The Medium, the processor's role is to provide a stable platform for the GPU, which it does effectively, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across different resolutions when other settings are held constant.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the star of this configuration, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 7680 shading units, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its clocks are set at a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2610 MHz. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 31624 and its 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirm its high-end status. In The Medium, the GPU’s performance is directly reflected in the measured FPS. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system only manages 41 FPS, which is a heavy load for the card. This is expected, as the game's detailed environments and lighting effects at Ultra settings are demanding on the GPU's compute and memory subsystems.

The RTX 4070 Ti's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (avgScore 45152, -0.8% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (avgScore 45384, -1.3% delta), and the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (avgScore 44075, 1.6% delta). These deltas show that the 4070 Ti is closely matched with some very powerful cards, but its performance in The Medium is what matters most. The card's 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for all tested settings, as none of the benchmark runs show a precipitous drop that would indicate VRAM overflow. The GPU's pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s are high, but the game's 4K Ultra preset still proves to be a significant challenge, pulling the average down to 41 FPS. This indicates that The Medium can be a punishing title for even high-end GPUs at maximum settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the "Medium" settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this hardware combination. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 92 FPS with a minimum of 78 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is a very smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold, and it provides a significant visual upgrade over Low settings. At 1920x1080, Medium settings yield an average of 98 FPS (min 83, max 112), which is also excellent. The High preset at 1440p drops to 66 FPS, which is playable but not as fluid, while Ultra at 1440p falls to 52 FPS. For users with a 1440p monitor, Medium is the clear choice to maintain high frame rates without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

For 4K gaming, the situation is more delicate. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 73 FPS (min 62, max 83), which is respectable and playable for a horror game where atmosphere matters more than twitch reflexes. The High preset at 4K drops to 52 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra is not recommended at 41 FPS. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Medium settings for 4K to ensure a consistent experience. The Low preset, while offering high frame rates (102 FPS at 4K, 111 FPS at 1440p, 117 FPS at 1080p), will likely have a noticeable impact on the game's visual atmosphere, which is a core element of the horror genre. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, providing over 90 FPS at 1440p and over 70 FPS at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K with a stable 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but not on Ultra settings. The measured data shows that at 4K with Medium settings, the average FPS is 73, with a minimum of 62 FPS. This indicates that a stable 60 FPS is achievable at Medium settings. On High settings, the average drops to 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for the highest frame rates?

A: For the highest frame rates, 1920x1080 is the best choice. The data shows that at Low settings, the system achieves 117 FPS, and at Medium settings, it hits 98 FPS. Even at Ultra settings, 1080p yields 62 FPS. This resolution provides the least strain on the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the main bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops significantly from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is a clear sign of GPU limitation. The CPU's performance is sufficient to support high frame rates, as shown by the 117 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K on High settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 66 at 2560x1440 to 52 at 3840x2160 on High settings. This is a reduction of 14 FPS, or approximately 21% of the frame rate, showing the significant cost of rendering at 4K.

Q: What settings preset provides the most consistent frame times?

A: The Medium preset provides the most consistent frame times across all resolutions. The data includes minimum and maximum FPS values for this preset, which show a range of 20-28 FPS between the low and high points at each resolution. This indicates a stable performance profile.

Q: Does the 12 GB of VRAM on the RTX 4070 Ti cause any issues in The Medium?

A: No, the data does not indicate any VRAM-related issues. The frame rates at 4K Ultra, while low at 41 FPS, are still consistent with a GPU compute limitation rather than a memory capacity problem. The game runs at all settings without any indication of stuttering from memory swapping.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance ranges from a high of 117 FPS on Low settings to a low of 62 FPS on Ultra. The Medium settings provide an average of 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 and a maximum of 112. High settings produce an average of 79 FPS. This resolution is clearly the easiest for the system, with all settings providing playable frame rates, and Low and Medium settings delivering well over 90 FPS for a highly responsive experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings hit 111 FPS, Medium settings average 92 FPS (min 78, max 106), High settings average 66 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS. The step down from 1080p is noticeable but still leaves Medium as a very strong option for high refresh rate monitors. The 1440p resolution is the sweet spot for this hardware, balancing visual clarity with high performance.

At 3840x2160, the strain on the GPU becomes evident. Low settings still manage an average of 102 FPS, which is impressive. Medium settings average 73 FPS (min 62, max 83), making it the only preset at this resolution that consistently stays above 60 FPS. High settings drop to an average of 52 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 41 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is possible with this combo, but users will need to stick to Medium or Low settings to avoid dips below acceptable frame rates.