The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers a robust, high-refresh-rate experience in The Medium, though it demands settings management at 4K. The combo ranks in the 81st percentile among all tested configurations, with the CPU providing ample headroom while the GPU becomes the primary scaling factor at higher resolutions. Benchmark results indicate that while 1080p and 1440p gameplay is exceptionally smooth, the 4K Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in The Medium?

A: The combination ranks 540th out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the top 18.5% of all configurations. This high percentile indicates that the pairing is well-balanced for this specific horror title.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600F has an average benchmark score of 36945, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, scores nearly identically at 36938 (a 0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is only 0.2% faster with a score of 37018.

Q: What is the GPU's relative standing against its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves an average benchmark score of 31087, placing it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA Quadro M5000 is the closest rival at 31206, which is 0.4% higher, while the NVIDIA TITAN RTX scores 31676, representing a 1.9% advantage.

Q: What is the maximum FPS observed across all tested settings?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 117 at 1080p with Low settings. At the same resolution, the High preset yields 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 63 FPS, showing a significant performance range based on graphical fidelity.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded, and under what conditions?

A: The lowest average FPS is 42, observed at 4K (3840x2160) resolution with the Ultra settings preset. This is the only configuration tested that falls below the 52 FPS minimum seen at 4K High, indicating a heavy GPU load.

Q: Does the data show a consistent frame rate pattern between Medium settings at different resolutions?

A: Yes, the data shows a clear progression. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 98; at 1440p Medium, it drops to 92; and at 4K Medium, it further drops to 73. This demonstrates a predictable scaling curve as pixel count increases.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. Its base clock of 3.00 GHz can boost up to 4.00 GHz, and it features a 32 MB shared L3 cache. This processing power is more than sufficient for The Medium’s demands, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across various settings. The CPU’s general benchmark performance, with a single-thread score of 2872 and a multithread score of 19236, suggests it is not the bottleneck in this pairing.

The data supports this conclusion through the FPS scaling patterns. At 1080p, where GPU load is lowest, the difference between Low and High settings is 38 FPS (from 117 to 79), which is a substantial change driven by GPU workload. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would show less variance across different quality presets. The CPU’s high percentile ranking (85th) versus the GPU’s (76th) further suggests that the processor has more relative headroom than the graphics card in this system context.

The Zen 3 architecture’s efficiency is highlighted by its 7 nm process node and 65 W TDP, allowing for sustained performance without thermal throttling. In The Medium, a game that relies on fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. The PassMark physics score of 1043 indicates adequate computational power for the game's physics simulations, ensuring that the frame rate is not artificially capped by processor limitations. The performance delta with the nearest CPU rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, is essentially negligible at 0%, confirming that this processor sits in a performance tier where minor architectural differences do not translate to noticeable FPS changes in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this configuration, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2610 MHz and 8448 shading units allow it to render the game’s dark, detailed environments effectively. The GPU’s architecture, Ada Lovelace, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is crucial for modern horror titles that utilize advanced lighting and shadow effects.

The GPU’s influence is most apparent in the 4K resolution results. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 42, a 60% reduction from the 102 FPS achieved at 4K Low settings. This significant performance swing demonstrates that the rendering resolution and quality settings directly tax the GPU’s compute and memory resources. The memory capacity of 16 GB is a key asset; even at 4K Ultra, the game does not appear to hit a VRAM ceiling, as the frame rates remain playable albeit not high-refresh.

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s benchmark scores, such as a PassMark G3D score of 31811 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 199267, position it as a high-end part. However, its nearest rival, the NVIDIA TITAN RTX, is 1.9% faster in average score, which explains why the 4K Ultra preset struggles to maintain 60 FPS in a demanding game like The Medium. The GPU’s texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s are sufficient for 1440p gaming, where the combo achieves a 92 FPS average on Medium settings, but the 4K Ultra settings demand more than the chip can consistently deliver. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should stick to High settings (52 FPS) or lower to maintain a stable experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware configurations for The Medium, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 540 out of 2911 combos. This places it in the 81.5th percentile of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The ranking indicates that the system outperforms the vast majority of other configurations, but it is not at the absolute top tier, which would require a more powerful CPU to unlock the GPU's full potential.

The rank is notably higher than what the GPU’s individual percentile (76th) might suggest, which implies that the CPU is not holding the system back significantly. The CPU’s own percentile (85th) is higher than the GPU’s, so the bottleneck is clearly on the graphics side. This is a good sign for future-proofing, as a future GPU upgrade would likely yield substantial FPS gains without needing a processor swap.

Compared to the nearest rival combos, the data shows that the processor is the weaker link. The CPU’s average benchmark score is essentially tied with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, but the GPU’s performance is slightly below that of the NVIDIA TITAN RTX. This means that in a head-to-head matchup, a system with a TITAN RTX would likely score slightly higher in The Medium, assuming the same CPU. The ranking of 540 is a solid result, but it is not a top-500 finish, leaving room for improvement with a higher-tier CPU like a Ryzen 7 or Core i7.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear trend of performance degradation as resolution increases, indicating a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 98. Moving to 1440p Medium, the FPS drops by 6.1% to 92. The most significant drop occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, where the Medium preset average falls by 20.7% to 73 FPS. This non-linear scaling is typical of GPU-limited workloads, where the number of pixels rendered quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 63 at 1080p to 53 at 1440p, a 15.9% decrease, and then to 42 at 4K, a further 20.8% decrease. The fact that the frame rate does not halve when the pixel count quadruples suggests that the game’s engine is not purely pixel-bound; other factors like draw calls and memory bandwidth also play a role.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. The CPU’s performance remains constant, but the GPU’s workload increases significantly. The 16 GB of VRAM is sufficient, but the 672.3 GB/s bandwidth is likely the constraining factor at 4K Ultra, where large textures and high-resolution shadow maps require massive data throughput. The data shows that 1440p is the "sweet spot" for this combo, offering a 92 FPS average on Medium, which is a good balance between visual fidelity and smoothness. At 4K, users must compromise on settings to stay above 60 FPS, with High (52 FPS) and Medium (73 FPS) being the only viable options.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following are the exact average frame rates recorded for this configuration in The Medium:

1920x1080:

• Low: 117 FPS
• Medium: 98 FPS (min 83, max 112)
• High: 79 FPS
• Ultra: 63 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 111 FPS
• Medium: 92 FPS (min 78, max 106)
• High: 67 FPS
• Ultra: 53 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 102 FPS
• Medium: 73 FPS (min 62, max 84)
• High: 52 FPS
• Ultra: 42 FPS

At 1080p, the system provides an excellent experience across all settings. The Low preset hits 117 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh monitors, while the Ultra preset still manages a very playable 63 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 83 FPS ensures no significant stutters. At 1440p, the performance remains strong, with the Low preset at 111 FPS and the Ultra preset at 53 FPS. The High preset at 67 FPS is a good target for a 60 Hz display, offering a stable experience.

At 4K, the limitations become apparent. The Low preset is surprisingly playable at 102 FPS, but the quality is suboptimal. The Medium preset provides a good experience at 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS, which is acceptable for most players. The High preset dips to 52 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience, and the Ultra preset drops to 42 FPS, which is not recommended for action-heavy sequences. The data suggests that 4K Medium is the maximum playable setting for a consistent 60+ FPS experience, while 4K High is viable for those who prioritize visuals and can tolerate occasional dips below 60 FPS.