The Medium

# The Medium with AMD Ryzen 5 5600G + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces a curious split in The Medium: the GPU clearly dominates at higher resolutions, while the CPU's six Zen 3 cores keep the system competitive at lower settings. Measured data across twelve resolution/settings combinations shows a combo that ranks 1307th out of 2911 tested configurations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. The frame rate behavior reveals a system that is heavily resolution-bound, with performance collapsing at 4K Ultra but remaining respectable at 1080p Low. This analysis breaks down the measured rows to explain what each number means for actual gameplay, where the bottlenecks sit, and how the hardware's specifications align with the observed results.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling pattern in The Medium is steep and consistent across all four settings presets. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops by roughly 16-21% depending on the preset, while the jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 costs another 29-33% of performance. This is a heavy scaling curve that points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 115 FPS average; at 1440p Low, that falls to 97 FPS; at 4K Low, it drops further to 76 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 39 FPS, or about 34% of the 1080p figure — a substantial loss that indicates the RX 7700's rendering throughput is being consumed by pixel count rather than compute or geometry.

At Medium settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The measured rows show 72 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K, with minimum frame rates of 61, 51, and 40 FPS respectively. The 4K Medium result sits just above the 30 FPS playability threshold, but the minimum of 40 FPS suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable in a horror title where smooth motion matters for atmosphere. High settings tell a similar story: 51 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K at High is 17 FPS, a 33% reduction that mirrors the Low preset pattern.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling collapse. The combo manages 41 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and just 27 FPS at 4K. This is the only preset where the 4K result falls below 30 FPS, making it effectively unplayable at that resolution. The fact that 1080p Ultra still only reaches 41 FPS — barely above the 1440p High result — indicates that the Ultra preset's additional effects are taxing the GPU's shader and ROP throughput rather than the CPU. The 5600G's six cores and 12 threads are clearly not the constraint here; even at 1080p Low with 115 FPS, the CPU has headroom, as evidenced by the fact that raising resolution at the same settings produces predictable GPU-bound frame rate drops.

The limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p Low, the system may be partially CPU-bound, but the 115 FPS result is high enough that gameplay remains smooth. By 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU's 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth are being fully utilized, and frame rates scale almost linearly with pixel count. This is classic GPU-bound behavior in a horror game with heavy fixed-camera rendering and volumetric effects.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target. The 4K Medium result of 48 FPS average with 40 FPS minimum is playable but not ideal for a genre that relies on tension and timing. At 1440p Medium, 61 FPS average with 51 FPS minimum is the sweet spot for high-refresh displays, offering smooth motion without the steep performance penalty of High or Ultra.

High settings are viable but require resolution trade-offs. At 1440p High, the combo produces 43 FPS average, which is acceptable for a slower-paced horror title but will feel less responsive than Medium. At 1080p High, 51 FPS average is workable, but the jump to 4K High at 34 FPS is marginal. The data suggests that High is best reserved for 1080p or for players who prioritize visual detail over frame rate consistency.

Low settings are only necessary if the target is 4K at high frame rates. The 4K Low result of 76 FPS is surprisingly strong — higher than 1440p High — which indicates that Low settings remove enough GPU workload to allow the RX 7700 to push 4K comfortably. However, Low settings in The Medium likely sacrifice significant visual quality, including shadows, textures, and post-processing effects that contribute to the horror atmosphere. For most users, Medium at 1440p or 1080p is the recommended starting point, with the option to drop to Low only for 4K gaming.

Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution based on the measured data. Even at 1080p, Ultra only reaches 41 FPS average, and the 4K result of 27 FPS falls below playability thresholds. The performance cost of Ultra over High — roughly 20% at each resolution — does not justify the frame rate loss, especially when the visual difference in a game like The Medium is likely subtle during fast camera transitions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1307th out of 2911 tested configurations in The Medium, placing it in the 55th percentile of all combos in the database. This is a mid-pack position that reflects the GPU's modest standing (58th percentile among all GPUs) while the CPU sits higher at the 74th percentile among all CPUs. The ranking suggests that this system is neither a high-end showcase nor a budget compromise; it sits firmly in the middle of what the database has measured for this title.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks show how the 5600G slots into the broader landscape. The Intel Core i3-1220P scores 21066, just 0.1% below the 5600G's 21088 average, making them nearly identical in overall CPU performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7530U scores 21133, 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 155U scores 21174, 0.4% higher. The Intel Core Ultra 7 256V scores 21112, 0.1% higher. These sub-1% deltas mean the CPU is essentially interchangeable with four other processors in aggregate tasks, though gaming performance may vary based on architecture-specific behaviors.

The GPU's nearest rivals tell a more interesting story. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862, just 0.1% higher than the RX 7700's 15852 average, despite being an older architecture. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014, 1% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679, 1.1% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, 1.7% higher. These small deltas indicate that the RX 7700 is in a tightly contested performance band where a few percentage points separate it from several rivals. In The Medium specifically, the combo's 1307th rank among 2911 suggests that many other GPU+CPU pairings deliver similar or better results, but the system is far from the bottom of the pack.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 115 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings drop this to 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. High settings produce 51 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 41 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 74 FPS, showing a wide range of performance depending on the preset chosen.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down predictably. Low settings yield 97 FPS average, Medium produces 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS, High delivers 43 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 51 FPS is notable because it stays above the 50 FPS threshold, suggesting relatively stable frame pacing at this resolution. The 1440p results are 16-20% lower than their 1080p counterparts across all presets, which aligns with the pixel count increase from roughly 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels.

At 3840x2160, the system's GPU limitations become apparent. Low settings produce 76 FPS average, which is still playable but 34% below the 1080p Low result. Medium settings deliver 48 FPS average with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. High settings drop to 34 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS average. The 4K Medium minimum of 40 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS minimum recorded across all Medium presets, indicating that 4K pushes the RX 7700 to its limits. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is the only measured value below 30 FPS in the entire dataset, making it the sole unplayable configuration.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p in The Medium?

A: At Medium settings, the measured average is 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, so it just meets the 60 FPS average target. At High settings, the average drops to 43 FPS, so 60 FPS is not achievable at higher presets.

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

A: The data shows 1080p Medium delivers 72 FPS average with 61 FPS minimum, which is the most consistent experience. At 1440p Medium, the average is 61 FPS, but the minimum of 51 FPS introduces occasional dips.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it produces 76 FPS average. At Medium settings, 4K drops to 48 FPS average, and at Ultra it falls to 27 FPS, which is below playable thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600G has an average benchmark score of 21088, which is within 0.4% of all four nearest rivals. The Intel Core i3-1220P scores 21066, the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V scores 21112, the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U scores 21133, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 155U scores 21174.

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

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, with the closest rival being the R9 370X at 15862 (0.1% higher). The RX 9060 scores 16014 (1% higher), the Pro W5500 scores 15679 (1.1% lower), and the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129 (1.7% higher).

Q: What is the worst measured configuration in the dataset?

A: The 3840x2160 Ultra preset produces 27 FPS average, which is the lowest of all twelve measured rows. The 4K High result of 34 FPS is the second-lowest, followed by 1440p Ultra at 34 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Cezanne codename. It operates at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the measured frame rates suggest it does so without becoming a bottleneck at any resolution below 1080p Low.

The CPU's benchmark results show a strong single-thread performance of 872 in 3DMark single-thread and 1409 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is important for a game that may rely on a primary simulation thread. The multithreaded scores are also respectable: 10551 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 8428 in Geekbench multicore. The 5600G's percentile rank of 74th among all CPUs indicates it outperforms roughly three-quarters of tested processors, which is a solid position for a mid-range chip.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's 12 threads are likely sufficient to handle the fixed-camera horror gameplay without issue. The fact that 1080p Low produces 115 FPS while 4K Low produces 76 FPS — a 34% reduction — suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Even at 1080p Ultra with 41 FPS, the drop from Medium's 72 FPS is more likely due to GPU effects workload than CPU threading constraints. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR4 interface is modest, but it does not appear to hinder performance in this title based on the measured results.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. It is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's FP32 throughput is 25.18 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s.

In The Medium, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor in frame rate scaling. The measured data shows that increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K at any given settings preset reduces frame rates by roughly 30-35%, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's 58th percentile rank among all GPUs places it slightly above average, and its average benchmark score of 15852 puts it in a tight cluster with rivals that are within 1.7% of its performance.

The RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for The Medium at any resolution, even at 4K Ultra, where the game's textures and effects would likely not exceed this allocation. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s provides ample throughput for the game's streaming requirements, and the 96 ROPs ensure adequate fill rate for the fixed-camera scenes. The GPU's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a mid-range card, and its performance in The Medium reflects that positioning: capable at 1080p and 1440p with tuned settings, but struggling at 4K Ultra where the 27 FPS result falls below playability.