The Medium

The Medium is a horror game that relies on a fixed-camera perspective and heavy atmospheric effects, which makes GPU performance the primary factor in frame rate. The data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination shows a system that can handle the game smoothly at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain a consistent experience at 4K. The measured results indicate that the RX 9070 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 7400F provides sufficient processing headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset depends entirely on your target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, which is a solid baseline for a smooth horror experience. However, the Low preset pushes the average to 141 FPS, offering a significant margin for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1080p yields 63 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced scenes, and the Ultra preset drops to 50 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear sweet spot. It produces an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS, keeping the experience above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the game. The Low preset at this resolution reaches 119 FPS, which is excellent for competitive or high-refresh play, but the visual fidelity takes a hit. The High preset at 1440p averages 53 FPS, which is borderline for a game that can have sudden scene changes, and the Ultra preset at 42 FPS is too choppy for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset is the only viable option, averaging 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 67 FPS. This is just barely playable, but you will notice frame dips in intense moments. The Low preset at 4K averages 93 FPS, which is surprisingly smooth, but the graphical compromises are severe for a horror game that relies on mood and lighting. The High preset at 42 FPS and Ultra at 33 FPS are both below the playable threshold, making them unsuitable for anything other than screenshots.

Benchmark results indicate that for the best balance of visual quality and performance, you should use the Medium preset at all resolutions. At 1080p and 1440p, it provides a comfortable frame rate with acceptable visual detail. At 4K, it is the only preset that keeps the average above 55 FPS, making it the recommended choice for that resolution. If you have a high-refresh monitor at 1080p or 1440p, the Low preset offers a significant FPS boost, but you will sacrifice the atmospheric shadows and textures that define this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium. The data shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average FPS drops proportionally across all settings, indicating that the GPU's rendering workload is the bottleneck. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for this game's textures and effects at any of the measured settings. The 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs handle the fixed-camera scenes efficiently, but the frame rate scaling suggests that the GPU's raw compute power is what limits performance at 4K.

The clock speeds play a role in this behavior. The base clock is 1330 MHz, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz and a game clock of 2070 MHz. The measured FPS at Medium settings shows a consistent pattern: 88 FPS at 1080p, 74 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. This roughly 20% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another 20% drop from 1440p to 4K aligns with the pixel count increase, confirming that the GPU is operating near its peak capability. The 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is being fully utilized at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 56 ray tracing cores are relevant, but The Medium's use of ray tracing is limited compared to other horror titles. The data does not separate ray tracing performance, but the overall scores suggest that the traditional rasterization pipeline is the primary workload. The card's position in the benchmark hierarchy, with a percentile of 69 against all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 23877, places it in the mid-to-high range, and the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER and AMD Radeon RX 6800S.

The VRAM usage is not explicitly measured, but 16 GB is unlikely to be a limiting factor at any of the tested settings. The game's maximum texture quality at Ultra settings would benefit from the large frame buffer, and the 644.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming does not cause stutters. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component, as the FPS scales almost linearly with resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 88 at 1920x1080 to 74 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 14 FPS or approximately 16%. From 1440p to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 58 FPS, another 16 FPS or roughly 22% reduction. This scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced. The average FPS goes from 141 at 1080p to 119 at 1440p, a drop of 22 FPS, and then to 93 at 4K, a further drop of 26 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 34%, which is less than the pixel count increase, suggesting that the GPU is still managing the load but with diminishing returns. The High settings show a different pattern: 63 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, with a near-linear drop of about 10 FPS per resolution step.

Ultra settings show the steepest absolute decline, with 50 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. This is a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K, similar to the Low settings, but the starting point is much lower. The data suggests that the game's Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive at higher resolutions, likely related to shadow quality or post-processing. The limiting component is clearly the GPU, as the Ryzen 5 7400F's single-core performance is sufficient to handle the game's logic at all tested resolutions.

The resolution scaling analysis shows that if you are targeting 4K, you must accept the Medium preset to stay near 60 FPS. Dropping to Low at 4K gives you 93 FPS, but the visual quality suffers. At 1440p, you have more flexibility, with Medium offering a comfortable 74 FPS and Low providing a high-refresh option at 119 FPS. At 1080p, the CPU is not a bottleneck, and the GPU has enough power to push High settings to 63 FPS, though Medium at 88 FPS is a better experience for most players.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS values provides a detailed picture of how this combo performs. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 141 FPS, followed by Medium at 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 and maximum of 101, High at 63 FPS, and Ultra at 50 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is significant, but the jump from Medium to High is also notable, indicating that the High preset adds substantial visual effects.

At 2560x1440, the order remains the same. Low averages 119 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 and maximum of 85, High averages 53 FPS, and Ultra averages 42 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p is the only one that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS, which is crucial for a game with sudden scares and camera cuts. The High preset at 53 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive, and Ultra at 42 FPS is best avoided.

At 3840x2160, the numbers tell a story of diminishing returns. Low averages 93 FPS, Medium averages 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 67, High averages 42 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only one that approaches a playable frame rate, but the minimum of 50 FPS indicates that there will be noticeable stutters in complex scenes. The Low preset at 93 FPS is smooth, but you will lose the atmospheric lighting that makes this game visually distinctive.

The min and max FPS values for the Medium preset are only provided, showing a consistent pattern across resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 75-101 FPS, at 1440p it is 63-85 FPS, and at 4K it is 50-67 FPS. This narrowing range as resolution increases suggests that the GPU is becoming more consistently saturated, reducing the variance but also lowering the overall performance. The data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most stable experience, with the smallest relative drop between average and minimum FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 797 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 27% of all configurations, which is a solid result for a mid-range pairing. The combo's rank is influenced by both the CPU and GPU, but the data suggests that the GPU's performance is the primary driver of this position.

The CPU, AMD Ryzen 5 7400F, has a percentile of 83 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32750. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T, which is 0.1% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, which is 0.2% behind. This places the CPU in a competitive position, but for a game like The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The CPU's performance in single-threaded workloads, as shown by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3072, is sufficient for the game's logic.

The GPU, AMD Radeon RX 9070, has a percentile of 69 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, which is 1.2% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S, which is 0.8% behind. The GPU's rank is lower than the CPU's, which explains why the combo's overall rank is not higher. The GPU's performance in the measured FPS data is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it falls short at 4K, which drags down the combo's ranking.

The combo's rank of 797 out of 2911 suggests that there are many configurations with more powerful GPUs that can achieve higher frame rates at 4K. However, for the majority of players using 1080p or 1440p monitors, this combo delivers a good experience. The data shows that the combo is well-balanced for its target market, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions. The ranking is a single number, but it reflects the overall capability of the system across all settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice at 2560x1440, delivering an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS and a maximum of 85 FPS. This keeps the game above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, while the Low preset at 119 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but only with the Medium preset, which averages 58 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. The Low preset at 93 FPS is smoother but visually compromised, while the High and Ultra presets at 42 and 33 FPS respectively are not playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The measured FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, from 88 FPS at 1080p to 74 FPS at 1440p and 58 FPS at 4K on Medium settings, indicating that the Radeon RX 9070 is fully utilized.

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

A: The combo ranks 797 out of 2911 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the top 27% of all configurations tested. This is a solid mid-range result.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 141 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. This is a difference of 91 FPS, making Low nearly three times faster than Ultra.

Q: Does the 16 GB of VRAM help at higher resolutions?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RX 9070 is sufficient for all tested settings. The data shows that performance drops are due to compute limits, not memory capacity, as the frame rate scales with pixel count rather than stalling due to memory constraints.