The Medium

The Medium is a horror game that stresses both the CPU and GPU through its fixed-camera scenes and dual-reality rendering. This analysis covers the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, using measured FPS data at three resolutions and four settings. The data shows a system that is balanced at 1440p, but shifts toward a GPU bottleneck at 4K and a CPU-limited scenario at 1080p Low.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals how the workload scales with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 126 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 106 FPS, a reduction of 20 FPS (roughly 16% lower). At 4K Low, the average falls further to 83 FPS, which is 43 FPS below the 1080p result. This pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as pixel count rises, though the CPU still has headroom at 1080p.

For High settings, the scaling is steeper in percentage terms. At 1080p High, the average is 56 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 47 FPS (a 9 FPS or 16% decline), and at 4K High, it falls to 37 FPS (a 19 FPS or 34% decline from 1080p). The gap between 1440p and 4K at High settings is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, suggesting that the RX 7700 XT’s 12 GB memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated more heavily at 4K.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic resolution penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 45 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 38 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 30 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is exactly half of the 1080p Low result (30 vs 126), which illustrates how much the pixel count and setting complexity combine to reduce performance.

The Medium’s engine appears to scale almost linearly with resolution at High and Ultra, but the Low setting shows a smaller relative drop, meaning the CPU is still contributing meaningfully at 1080p Low. The data suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5600X with 6 cores and 12 threads can keep up, but at 4K, the GPU’s 245 W TDP and 2544 MHz boost clock are the determining factors.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT’s performance compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 5060 Mobile?

A: The RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 22549, which is 0.5% higher than the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 22435, according to the nearestRivals data.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average is 126 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 30, which is below the 60 FPS target. Given that the GPU’s pixel rate is 244.2 GPixel/s, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting component at this resolution and setting.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1392 out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the upper portion of the field.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 5600X have a higher single-thread score than its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600X’s 3DMark single-thread score is 917, and its nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U, Intel Core i7-11700, AMD EPYC 9554P) have average scores within -0.6% to 0.1% of the 5600X, so the differences are minimal.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows that Low settings provide the best frame rates, but the gap between Low and Medium is significant. At 1080p, Low yields 126 FPS, while Medium yields 79 FPS, a 47 FPS difference. Medium also has a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS, which is smooth enough for most displays. At 1440p, Medium averages 66 FPS with a 56 FPS minimum, which is playable. High settings at 1440p drop to 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for many users.

For a balanced experience, Medium settings at 1440p appear to be the sweet spot. The 66 FPS average is close to the 1080p High result of 56 FPS, but with higher resolution. At 4K, Medium drops to 52 FPS, which is borderline, but the 44 FPS minimum suggests occasional dips. Low at 4K gives 83 FPS, which is more comfortable.

If the goal is maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p yields 45 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced scenes. Ultra at 1440p (38 FPS) and 4K (30 FPS) are below 60 FPS and likely to feel stuttery. The data suggests that Medium is the best compromise between visual quality and performance for this combo, especially at 1440p and 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 126 (Low) down to 45 (Ultra). The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91. High averages 56 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 81 FPS, indicating that the settings have a large impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 106 (Low), 66 (Medium), 47 (High), and 38 (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 76 FPS, which is a tighter range than the 1080p Medium result. The drop from Low to Medium is 40 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 19 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 9 FPS. This suggests that the performance cost of each setting tier decreases as you go higher.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 83 (Low), 52 (Medium), 37 (High), and 30 (Ultra). The Medium preset has a minimum of 44 FPS and maximum of 60 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 31 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 15 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 7 FPS. The 4K Low result of 83 FPS is notable because it is higher than the 1080p High result of 56 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle 4K if the settings are reduced.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with both minimum and maximum FPS recorded, providing a consistent frame pacing. The High and Ultra presets have no min/max data, which means the averages may be less representative of real-world stutter.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. Its boost clock is 2544 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz and a base clock of 1435 MHz. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2250 MHz with an 18 Gbps effective data rate, providing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s over a 192-bit bus.

The GPU’s benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 22547 and a Passmark GPU compute score of 12912. Its average benchmark score is 22549, placing it at the 67th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals include the RTX 5060 Mobile (0.5% higher), RTX 4060 Mobile (-0.8% lower), RTX 2080 (-1.5% lower), and RX 5700 (1.7% higher). This puts the RX 7700 XT in a competitive mid-range position.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is most evident at 4K. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 83, which is 43 FPS lower than 1080p Low. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 30 FPS. The pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s are theoretical limits, but the measured data shows that the GPU cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K High or Ultra. The 12 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this game, but the bandwidth and compute load at 4K are the limiting factors.

The GPU’s TDP of 245 W and the suggested PSU of 550 W indicate that this is a power-hungry part, but the performance data shows it is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring lower settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X has 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer). It runs at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The processor has 32 MB of L3 cache, with 64 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core. Its memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

The CPU’s benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11838 and a single-core score of 1541. Its Geekbench scores are 9173 (multicore) and 1989 (single-core). The Passmark multithread score is 21858, and the single-thread score is 3364. Its average benchmark score is 21771, placing it at the 75th percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rivals are all within -0.6% to 0.1% of its score, including the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U, Intel Core i7-11700, and AMD EPYC 9554P.

In The Medium, the CPU’s influence is visible at 1080p Low, where the average FPS is 126. This is higher than the 1440p Low result of 106 FPS, and the difference is likely due to the GPU being less stressed at 1080p, allowing the CPU to push more frames. However, at 4K Low, the FPS drops to 83, which is still high but shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this game’s fixed-camera scenes, as the data does not show any resolution where the FPS collapses due to CPU limitations.

The single-thread performance of the 5600X, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 917, is competitive with its rivals. This is important for The Medium, which likely relies on single-threaded rendering logic. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.60 GHz helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 1392 out of 3724 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the top 37% of all combos. The rank reflects the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, with the combo showing strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, but falling behind at 4K Ultra.

Compared to other combos, the CPU’s 75th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 67th percentile ranking suggest that the combo is well-matched. The CPU is slightly stronger relative to its peers than the GPU, which explains why the system is not CPU-limited in most scenarios. The combo’s rank of 1392 indicates that many other combinations, likely with higher-end GPUs, achieve better performance at 4K, but for 1080p and 1440p gaming, this setup is competitive.

The nearest rival CPUs (Ryzen 7 4800H, Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U, Core i7-11700, EPYC 9554P) all have average scores within 0.6% of the 5600X, meaning that swapping the CPU would not change the ranking significantly. Similarly, the GPU’s rivals (RTX 5060 Mobile, RTX 4060 Mobile, RTX 2080, RX 5700) are all within 1.7% of the RX 7700 XT’s score, so the combo’s rank is stable against minor hardware variations. The data shows that this combo is a balanced mid-range option for The Medium, with the caveat that 4K Ultra is not playable at 60 FPS.