The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a solid, if not spectacular, experience in The Medium. The benchmark data shows that the sweet spot for this pairing is the Medium preset, which provides a playable framerate across all tested resolutions while maintaining visual fidelity. High and Ultra presets become increasingly demanding, while the Low preset, though fast, sacrifices too much visual quality for the performance gain. The data indicates that this combo ranks in the 25th percentile of tested configurations, placing it in the upper echelon of systems, but with clear headroom for more powerful hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The most balanced experience for this hardware pairing is the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset yields an average of 93 FPS, which is a significant 26 FPS improvement over the High preset's 67 FPS. This difference is likely more noticeable than the visual step down from High to Medium, making Medium the optimal choice for smooth gameplay. The framerate scaling holds up at higher resolutions as well, with the Medium preset delivering 79 FPS at 2560x1440 and 62 FPS at 3840x2160, both of which are comfortably playable.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the Low preset is the only option that fully utilizes the display's potential, achieving 141 FPS. However, this comes at the cost of visual quality. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p is a 48 FPS decrease, but the graphical enhancements are substantial in a horror title where atmosphere is key. The data suggests that the performance cost of Medium is worth the improved immersion.

The High and Ultra presets are best avoided on this configuration. At 1080p, High produces 67 FPS and Ultra drops to 53 FPS. While playable, these framerates leave little headroom for demanding scenes. The situation worsens at higher resolutions; at 2560x1440, Ultra falls to 45 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it drops to 35 FPS, which is below the threshold for a smooth experience. High at 4K also struggles, hitting only 44 FPS. The performance gap between Medium and High is consistent (approximately 15-18 FPS across resolutions), suggesting that the visual upgrade is not efficiently implemented for this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. It is the only preset that maintains an average framerate above 60 FPS at all three tested resolutions (93 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K).

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

A: Yes, but only with the Medium preset, which achieves an average of 62 FPS. The High preset drops to 44 FPS and Ultra to 35 FPS, which are not ideal for a smooth experience. The Low preset is an outlier, hitting 99 FPS, but it severely compromises visual quality.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low?

A: At 1080p, the framerate nearly triples, jumping from 53 FPS on Ultra to 141 FPS on Low. At 1440p, it goes from 45 FPS to 126 FPS, and at 4K, from 35 FPS to 99 FPS. The performance scaling is substantial, but the visual fidelity loss is equally significant.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600X a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The consistent performance scaling across resolutions suggests the GPU is the primary driver of framerate changes. The CPU's single-threaded performance (1541 in Cinebench R23) is more than adequate for this title.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested configurations?

A: This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 942nd out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the top 25% of all systems tested for The Medium.

Q: What is the expected performance difference between 1080p and 1440p?

A: The framerate drops by approximately 20-25% when moving from 1080p to 1440p on the same preset. For example, on Medium, the average FPS goes from 93 to 79, and on High, it goes from 67 to 56.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is a key asset, as the game's high-resolution textures and complex scenes can place a significant load on VRAM. The benchmark results show a clear pattern: as resolution increases, framerates drop, indicating that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and its 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are tasked with rendering the game's dual-world mechanic, which requires significant computational power.

The RTX 4070's 46 RT cores are also relevant, as The Medium likely utilizes ray-traced effects for its lighting and reflections. While the dataset does not specify if ray tracing is enabled in the measured presets, the hardware is more than capable of handling it. The GPU's performance is strong enough to push the Medium preset to a playable level even at 4K, which reflects its raw power. The GPU's average benchmark score of 37648 puts it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end positioning.

The performance difference between the RTX 4070 and its nearest rivals helps contextualize its results. It is 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 0.1% faster than the NVIDIA Tesla P4. However, it trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile by 1.3%. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4070's performance in this game is well within the expected range for its class. The GPU's 200W TDP and dual-slot design are reasonable for the performance it delivers, and its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures it can communicate efficiently with the Ryzen 5 5600X.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 achieves a rank of 942 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the 75th percentile of all configurations, a strong result that indicates it outperforms the majority of systems tested. However, the rank also reveals that there is a significant portion of the field (over 2700 combos) that achieves higher framerates. This is likely due to the fact that more powerful CPUs and GPUs exist, and the game's performance can be further improved with more expensive hardware.

The rank is a holistic view of the system's performance across all presets and resolutions. While the Medium preset at 1080p delivers an excellent 93 FPS, the Ultra preset at 4K only manages 35 FPS. This wide spread in performance is what determines the overall rank. The Ryzen 5 5600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is a capable processor, and its 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its solid mid-to-high-end status. The RTX 4070's 81st percentile ranking among GPUs is slightly better, suggesting that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing.

The data suggests that this combo is a well-balanced 1080p and 1440p machine. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 79 FPS, which is excellent for a horror game that relies on atmosphere. The system is not a 4K powerhouse, but it can handle 4K at Medium settings, which is a respectable achievement. The rank of 942 indicates that while this is not a top-tier enthusiast build, it is a very capable gaming system that will provide a satisfying experience for most players.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor in this configuration. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a consistent framerate drop of roughly 20-25% across all presets. For instance, the Medium preset drops from 93 FPS to 79 FPS, and the Low preset drops from 141 FPS to 126 FPS. This is a typical scaling factor for a GPU-bound scenario, as the number of pixels rendered increases by about 78% (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million).

The transition from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 is even more punishing, with framerates dropping by an additional 25-30%. The Medium preset falls from 79 FPS to 62 FPS, while the High preset drops from 56 FPS to 44 FPS. This steeper decline is due to the pixel count jumping by another 125% (from 3.69 million to 8.29 million). The RTX 4070's 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus are strained at 4K, leading to the more significant performance hit.

This scaling behavior strongly indicates that the game is highly GPU-dependent. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the framerate would remain relatively flat across different resolutions, as the CPU's workload (draw calls, physics) does not change with resolution. The fact that the framerate drops so significantly at higher resolutions proves that the RTX 4070 is working at its limits. For this system, 1080p and 1440p are the optimal resolutions for high framerates, while 4K is only viable for the Medium and Low presets. The performance gap between Low and Medium at 4K (99 FPS vs. 62 FPS) is substantial, but both are playable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers a wide range of performance depending on the preset. The Low preset achieves the highest average framerate at 141 FPS, which is ideal for competitive or fast-paced play. The Medium preset follows at 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS, ensuring a stable experience. The High preset drops to 67 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding only 53 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the system can easily handle the game's demands, but the visual quality must be traded off for higher framerates.

At 2560x1440, the system still performs admirably. The Low preset delivers a high 126 FPS, while the Medium preset maintains a smooth 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. The High preset falls to 56 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 45 FPS. This resolution is the sweet spot for this hardware, as the Medium preset provides a great balance of visuals and performance. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but not detrimental, with the Medium preset losing only 14 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations are exposed. The Low preset still manages an impressive 99 FPS, but the Medium preset is the only other playable option, achieving an average of 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. The High preset drops to 44 FPS, and the Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at 35 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming requires a significant reduction in settings to maintain a consistent framerate. The framerate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial, with the Medium preset losing 31 FPS and the High preset losing 23 FPS. This confirms that the RTX 4070 is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.