The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 pairing in The Medium delivers a stark performance profile: the CPU provides a solid foundation, but the GPU is overwhelmingly the dominant component, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. The data shows that while this combo ranks in the top 12.6% of all tested configurations, its behavior is defined by the massive performance headroom of the RTX 4090, which is ultimately constrained by the game's engine at lower resolutions.

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 based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. This CPU features a 32 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, offering a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. In the broader PassMark benchmark suite, this chip achieves an average score of 36,945, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a score of 36,938 (a 0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37,018 (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37,093 (-0.4% delta).

In the context of The Medium, the 5600F's role is to feed frames to the RTX 4090 without becoming a bottleneck. The benchmark results indicate this is largely successful. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 117 FPS, which is the highest average recorded across all resolution and settings combinations. This high framerate at a low resolution, where the GPU has less work to do, suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. However, the ceiling for this processor in this game appears to be reached at that point; when moving to higher resolutions, the FPS does not increase beyond the 117 FPS mark, indicating that the CPU's single-threaded and multi-threaded capabilities, while adequate, establish a performance plateau. The PassMark single-thread score for this CPU is 2,872, and its multithread score is 19,236, which are respectable figures but not extraordinary. The data suggests that the 5600F is a capable partner for the RTX 4090 at 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p, it is the limiting factor preventing even higher framerates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an absolute powerhouse, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip on a 5 nm process. It features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, along with 128 RT cores and 512 Tensor cores. Its memory configuration is equally imposing: 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2,235 MHz with a boost clock of 2,520 MHz, and its memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This hardware translates to a PassMark G3D score of 38,194, placing the GPU in the 88th percentile of all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score is 60,347, with nearest rivals including the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, -2.5% delta).

In The Medium, the RTX 4090's immense compute power is the primary driver of performance. The benchmark results show that this GPU is capable of delivering playable framerates even at 4K Ultra, with an average of 50 FPS. The data reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. For instance, at 4K, the average FPS scales from 102 at Low settings down to 50 at Ultra, demonstrating the GPU's workload increasing with graphical fidelity. The 24 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for this title, ensuring that memory capacity is not a limiting factor at any tested setting. The GPU's raw power means that the primary variable affecting performance is the rendering resolution and the quality preset, with the GPU consistently being the component that determines the final framerate. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant performance drop, which is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario, as the CPU is less stressed at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. It provides a significant performance boost over High and Ultra while maintaining a level of visual quality that is likely acceptable for most players. At 1080p, the Medium preset yields an average of 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. This is a substantial jump from the High preset's 86 FPS and Ultra's 75 FPS. The Low preset does reach 117 FPS at 1080p, but the visual compromise is likely too steep for a game like The Medium, which relies heavily on atmosphere and visual storytelling.

The pattern repeats at higher resolutions. At 1440p, Medium produces 92 FPS (min 78, max 106), which is smoother than High's 80 FPS and much faster than Ultra's 63 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset averages 85 FPS (min 72, max 98), which is excellent for a 4K experience. This is vastly superior to the Ultra preset's 50 FPS, which, while playable, is not ideal for a horror game that benefits from smooth motion. The High preset at 4K averages 63 FPS, which is also viable, but the Medium preset's 85 FPS provides a much more comfortable margin. The data strongly suggests that Medium is the "sweet spot" for this combo, delivering the best balance of framerate and visual fidelity. It ensures that the experience remains fluid and responsive, which is critical for a game with fixed camera angles and tense exploration sequences.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination holds a rank of 366 out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 12.6% of all configurations, which is a very strong showing. This ranking is likely driven by the RTX 4090's sheer power, which can brute-force its way to high framerates even with a less powerful CPU like the 5600F. The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of other systems, but it is not at the absolute top tier. The rank suggests that some combinations with more powerful CPUs (e.g., those with higher single-threaded performance) achieve slightly better results, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU is more of a factor.

The ranking reflects the RTX 4090's dominance. In a GPU-intensive game like The Medium, the graphics card is the primary determinant of performance, and the RTX 4090 is the best consumer GPU available. The 5600F, while not a top-tier CPU, does not significantly hamper the GPU's performance at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the high FPS figures. The gap between this combo and the top-ranked ones is likely small, but it exists due to the 5600F's limitations at 1080p. This combo is an excellent choice for high-resolution gaming, and its rank reflects its exceptional capability in that scenario.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component in this pairing. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 98 at 1080p to 92 at 1440p, a modest 6% decrease. However, moving from 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 92 to 85, a further 7.6% decrease. This pattern is expected, as the GPU's workload increases with the number of pixels rendered. The fact that the FPS does not drop proportionally to the pixel count increase (4K has 2.25x the pixels of 1440p) suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated at 1440p and has headroom to spare.

The data tells a more interesting story at Low and Ultra settings. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 117 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p and then to 102 at 4K. This is a 12.8% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is relatively small, indicating that the CPU is still managing to feed the GPU enough data even at 4K. In contrast, at Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 75 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p (a 16% decrease) and then to 50 at 4K (a 20.6% decrease from 1440p). This much steeper decline at Ultra settings is a clear sign that the GPU is struggling to maintain performance as the pixel count and graphical complexity increase. The GPU is the bottleneck here, as the CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions. The conclusion is clear: the RTX 4090 is the component that determines performance, and the 5600F provides sufficient support to avoid being a significant hindrance, especially at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following table presents the exact average FPS figures from the measured data for this combo:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|:--------- |:------- |:------ |:------ |:------ |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 117 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 98 | 83 | 112 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 86 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 75 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 111 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 92 | 78 | 106 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 80 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 63 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 102 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 85 | 72 | 98 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 63 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 50 | N/A | N/A |

At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 117 FPS, which is the highest average of any configuration tested. However, the Medium preset at 98 FPS is the recommended choice for a balance of quality and performance. The High preset at 86 FPS is also playable, but Ultra at 75 FPS begins to show the CPU's influence, as the framerate is lower than at 1440p with the same settings. Moving to 1440p, the framerates remain high, with Low at 111 FPS and Medium at 92 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 63 FPS, which is a significant step down. At 4K, the RTX 4090's power is on full display, with Low still achieving 102 FPS. The Medium preset's 85 FPS is the standout figure for 4K gaming, providing a smooth experience. High and Ultra presets drop to 63 FPS and 50 FPS, respectively, which are less ideal for a game that benefits from high framerates but are still playable. The data confirms that this combo is best utilized at 1440p or 4K with Medium settings for the optimal experience, and that the GPU is the clear performance driver throughout.