The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 presents a striking imbalance in The Medium, a horror title known for its fixed-camera angles and dual-reality rendering. The data shows a configuration where a flagship-class GPU is harnessed to a mid-range 5000-series processor, producing results that are heavily dictated by resolution and preset. This analysis examines the measured FPS across three resolutions and four quality settings, interpreting what these numbers reveal about the limiting components and the overall experience this combo delivers.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern, but the magnitude of the drop is heavily influenced by the graphics preset. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 results in a 33 FPS loss, moving from 97 FPS to 64 FPS. This represents a 34% reduction in performance, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the strain of rendering the game’s dual-world scenes at 4K, though the absolute numbers remain playable.

The scaling story changes dramatically at Ultra settings. Here, the 1080p result of 77 FPS falls to 51 FPS at 4K, a 26 FPS decline that pushes the experience below the coveted 60 FPS threshold. This is a significant drop that signals the RTX 5090 is being pushed to its limits by the highest quality assets, even with a capable CPU behind it. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 14 FPS (65 to 51), which is steeper than the 15 FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p (77 to 65), suggesting that the transition to 4K imposes a disproportionate load on the rendering pipeline.

Conversely, at Low settings, the resolution scaling is far more forgiving. The combo achieves 140 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is only 18 FPS, or 13%, which is remarkably small. This indicates that at Low presets, the bottleneck shifts away from the GPU’s raw pixel-pushing capabilities and toward other factors, likely the CPU’s ability to feed the frames. The data shows that the 5600GT, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, can still deliver high frame rates when the graphical load is light, but the scaling curve flattens, implying a ceiling is being approached.

The Medium’s unique rendering technique, which often displays two simultaneous perspectives, makes resolution scaling particularly relevant. The 4K Medium preset result of 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS shows a stable range, while the 4K Low preset jumps to 122 FPS. This suggests that for players targeting high refresh rates at 4K, dropping from High to Medium yields a 26 FPS improvement (64 to 90), which is a substantial gain for a single preset step. The data clearly indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor from Medium to Ultra, while the CPU becomes more relevant at Low settings where the GPU has spare capacity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT is a 5000-series processor built on the Zen 3 architecture, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz provide a solid foundation for gaming, but the benchmark results place it in the 74th percentile among all CPUs. In synthetic tests, it scores 17,272 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,438 in single-core, which are respectable figures for its class but not exceptional. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12490F, shows an average score that is 0.3% higher, indicating the 5600GT is closely matched with its direct competition.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role becomes apparent when examining the frame rate ceilings. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 140 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded across all configurations. This is a strong result, but it is telling that the 4K Low preset still achieves 122 FPS. The difference of 18 FPS between these two extremes suggests that the CPU is capable of driving the game well beyond 120 FPS, but the GPU at 4K is still managing to keep up. However, the fact that 1080p Low does not exceed 140 FPS indicates a potential CPU limitation, as a more powerful processor might push this number higher.

The 5600GT’s 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for modern titles, but the data from The Medium shows that the CPU does not become a severe bottleneck until the GPU is underutilized. At 1440p High, the combo produces 82 FPS, which is only 15 FPS less than the 1080p High result of 97 FPS. This relatively modest drop suggests that the CPU is still providing enough throughput to keep the GPU fed, even as resolution increases. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 913, is sufficient for the game’s logic and camera systems.

The Cezanne codename and 7 nm process node contribute to the CPU’s efficiency, but the real story is that this processor is not the star of the show. Its 3DMark max-thread score of 5,554 shows it can handle multi-threaded workloads, yet The Medium’s results at lower presets do not scale beyond the 140 FPS marker. This implies that the game’s engine may be limited by single-core performance or that the 5600GT’s 4.60 GHz boost clock is the practical ceiling for this title. The data suggests that upgrading the CPU would yield diminishing returns unless the GPU is also pushed to its limits, which only happens at Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed powerhouse of this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a massive 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for a game like The Medium that often renders two views simultaneously. The GPU’s boost clock of 2407 MHz and 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, though its average benchmark score of 79,842 is closely rivaled by the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which is only 0.3% behind.

The GPU’s role in The Medium is clearly demonstrated by the frame rate differences between presets. At 4K, the jump from Low to Medium yields a 32 FPS increase (122 to 90), but the jump from Medium to High drops 26 FPS (90 to 64). This nonlinear scaling indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher-quality textures and effects. The 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for any preset, so the frame rate drops are not due to memory exhaustion but rather to the computational load of the Blackwell architecture’s shading units, of which there are 21,760.

The RTX 5090’s 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are relevant for a horror game that may use ray tracing, though The Medium’s measured results do not specify RT settings. The raw rasterization performance, as shown by the 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate, is what drives the high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the GPU delivers 77 FPS, which is a strong result, but the 4K Ultra figure of 51 FPS reveals that even this flagship card cannot maintain 60 FPS at the highest settings in this title. The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at Ultra and High presets, where its performance dictates the experience.

The 1,999 USD launch MSRP of the RTX 5090 positions it as a top-tier product, and its benchmark scores reflect that. However, the measured FPS in The Medium show that the card’s immense power is somewhat constrained by the 5600GT at lower presets. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely idle for significant periods, waiting for the CPU to deliver draw calls. The 4K Medium result of 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS shows the GPU is still capable of smooth performance when settings are moderated, but the Ultra preset’s 51 FPS average suggests that players must make a choice between visual fidelity and frame rate. The GPU’s 1,750 MHz memory clock and 28 Gbps effective speed ensure that data transfer is never a bottleneck, but the computational demands of The Medium’s dual-reality rendering ultimately cap performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 234th out of 3,724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 6.3% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given the CPU’s mid-range status. The rank reflects that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting, as the 5090’s percentile of 92 is significantly higher than the CPU’s 74. The data shows that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, but it does not reach the top tier, likely because the 5600GT holds back the 5090 in CPU-bound scenarios.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the Intel Core i5-12490F with a delta of -0.3%, and the Intel Xeon 6325P with -0.4%, suggest that the 5600GT is competitive with its peers. However, the GPU’s nearest rivals, including the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with a delta of 0.3%, are professional-grade cards that may not be optimized for gaming. The combo’s rank of 234 indicates that there are 233 other combinations that perform better, likely featuring higher-end CPUs paired with the same GPU or similar. This rank confirms the GPU’s dominance, but it also highlights the CPU as a potential upgrade path.

When considering the measured FPS, the combo achieves playable frame rates at most settings. The 4K Ultra result of 51 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, but the 1440p Ultra result of 65 FPS just crosses that threshold. The rank of 234 out of 3,724 means that this combo is in the upper echelon, but it is not the absolute best. The data suggests that pairing the RTX 5090 with a more powerful CPU, such as one with higher single-thread scores, would move this combo higher in the rankings, but the current configuration still delivers a high-quality experience for the vast majority of the game’s settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the combo produces an average of 140 FPS at Low settings, 117 FPS at Medium, 97 FPS at High, and 77 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 99 FPS and a maximum of 134 FPS, indicating a stable frame pacing with only a 35 FPS variance. The Low and High results do not have min/max values, but the averages suggest a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease as expected. Low settings yield 132 FPS, Medium produces 110 FPS with a minimum of 94 FPS and a maximum of 127 FPS, High drops to 82 FPS, and Ultra falls to 65 FPS. The Medium variance of 33 FPS is slightly tighter than at 1080p, showing that the GPU is still managing the load well. The step from Medium to High at 1440p is a 28 FPS drop, which is significant and indicates that High settings are substantially more demanding.

At 3840x2160, the 4K results are the most telling. Low settings achieve 122 FPS, which is impressive for 4K, while Medium produces 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. High settings drop to 64 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51 FPS. The Medium preset’s 27 FPS variance is the widest recorded, showing that the dual-reality rendering can cause occasional frame dips. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 71 FPS drop, from 122 to 51 FPS, demonstrating the massive impact of settings on this GPU-heavy title.

The data reveals that the combo is most consistent at Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average is 117 FPS, at 1440p it is 110 FPS, and at 4K it is 90 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K is only 27 FPS, which is a 23% reduction. This suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this pairing, offering high frame rates without the steep penalties seen at High and Ultra. The Low settings, while achieving the highest frame rates, may sacrifice too much visual quality, while Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality for this combo. At 1080p, the 117 FPS average with a minimum of 99 FPS ensures a fluid experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, the 110 FPS average with a 94 FPS minimum maintains that smoothness, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K, the 90 FPS average with a 76 FPS minimum provides a playable and responsive experience, which is rare for this resolution in a demanding title.

The Ultra preset, while visually superior, cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K, with an average of just 51 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra achieves 65 FPS, which is playable, but the 1080p Ultra result of 77 FPS shows that even at the lowest resolution, the combo does not reach the high refresh rates possible at Medium. For players with 4K displays, the data suggests that High settings at 64 FPS are a viable alternative to Ultra, but the 26 FPS improvement from High to Medium at 4K (64 to 90) makes Medium the recommended choice for a stable 60+ FPS experience.

The Low preset, offering 140 FPS at 1080p and 122 FPS at 4K, is best suited for competitive play or for players who prioritize frame rate above all else. However, the visual degradation may be too severe for a horror game that relies on atmosphere. The Medium preset provides a 4K experience that is 38 FPS higher than Ultra (90 vs 51) and 26 FPS higher than High (90 vs 64), making it the clear winner for this configuration. At 1440p, Medium’s 110 FPS is 45 FPS higher than Ultra’s 65 FPS, and at 1080p, it is 40 FPS higher (117 vs 77). The measured rows consistently show that Medium is the optimal preset, delivering the highest frame rates while maintaining a level of detail that is acceptable for a cinematic horror game.