The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror game that leans heavily on atmosphere, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience. The data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises. The measured results indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER, a 12 nm Turing part with 8 GB of GDDR6, is the primary bottleneck in this pairing, while the 6-core Zen 4 processor provides ample headroom. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, settings recommendations, and the individual roles of the CPU and GPU in shaping this game's performance profile.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with an average of 63 FPS at Medium settings and 101 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 53 FPS average, which is playable, but 3840x2160 only reaches 42 FPS at Medium and 30 FPS at High, making it the weakest option for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in terms of overall benchmark score?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, which places it slightly below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, -1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2% delta), the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3% delta), and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta). The performance differences are minimal, all within a 1.5% margin.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested processors?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. Its average benchmark score is 32750, which is nearly identical to its closest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T, which scores 32707 (0.1% delta).

Q: Does the game performance scale evenly across the three tested resolutions?

A: No, the scaling is not linear. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS at Medium settings drops from 63 to 53, a 10 FPS reduction. From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the drop is more severe, from 53 to 42 FPS at Medium. The transition to 4K is particularly punishing, with High settings falling from 38 FPS at 1440p to 30 FPS at 2160p.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for The Medium?

A: This specific pairing (Ryzen 5 7400F + RTX 2070 SUPER) ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos for this game. This places it in the middle of the pack, meaning there are many faster combinations, but also a substantial number of slower ones.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it sufficient for this game?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The measured FPS data suggests this capacity is adequate for the tested settings, as the game runs at playable framerates up to 1440p Medium, though 4K Ultra (24 FPS) and 4K High (30 FPS) indicate the memory bandwidth or capacity may be a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for The Medium with this hardware reveals a clear hierarchy of playability across resolutions and presets. For a smooth, consistent experience, the Medium preset is the sweet spot for most users. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. This level of performance is well within the range of smooth gameplay, and the minimum frame rate indicates that even during demanding scenes, the game will not stutter severely. Pushing to High at 1080p reduces the average to 45 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less fluid, and the lack of a recorded minimum FPS in the data suggests it may be more variable. Low at 1080p hits 101 FPS average, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual compromise is often too steep for a game like The Medium, where atmosphere matters.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the recommended choice. The average FPS drops to 53, with a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 61. This is still a playable experience, though users with 144 Hz monitors will need to accept that they won't be hitting high refresh rates. High at 1440p yields 38 FPS average, which is borderline and may feel choppy in slower, more atmospheric sections. Low at 1440p reaches 85 FPS, providing a much smoother experience, but again with significant visual downgrades. For 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, ensuring that the game's detailed environments and lighting effects are not overly compromised.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. The Medium preset averages only 42 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. This is below the ideal 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness. High at 4K drops to 30 FPS average, which is often considered the edge of playability for slow-paced games, but the low frame rate will be noticeable. Low at 4K provides a much better 67 FPS average, making it the only 4K preset that delivers a fluid experience. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields 36 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, all of which are too low for comfortable play.

For the best overall experience, the data supports using Medium settings at 1920x1080 or 2560x1440. At 1080p, Medium ensures a stable 60+ FPS average, while at 1440p, it keeps the game above 45 FPS, which is acceptable for a title that does not require twitch reflexes. If a higher framerate is desired, Low at 1080p (101 FPS) or 1440p (85 FPS) are the alternatives. For 4K, Low is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience, but the visual trade-off is substantial. The measured data clearly indicates that this combo is not designed for 4K Ultra, and users should avoid that preset entirely.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 56th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning that roughly 44% of combinations are slower, and 56% are faster. This is a middle-of-the-road ranking, which is consistent with the hardware's individual performance characteristics. The RTX 2070 SUPER is an older, end-of-life GPU from the GeForce 20-series, and while it remains capable, it is outclassed by newer mid-range and high-end parts. The CPU, however, is a modern Zen 4 part that ranks in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, suggesting that the processor is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The rank indicates that for The Medium, this combo will provide a decent experience at lower resolutions and settings, but it will struggle at higher resolutions and ultra presets. The fact that the GPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A750 and the RTX 3070 Mobile, with performance deltas of only -1.5% and -1.2% respectively, shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER is still competitive with some newer GPUs, but it is not a top-tier performer. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T, is essentially equal in average benchmark score (32707 vs 32750, a 0.1% delta), which reinforces the idea that the CPU is not holding back the system.

When interpreting the combo rank, it is important to consider that the ranking is specific to The Medium and may not reflect performance in other games. The game's fixed-camera angles and horror atmosphere may place different demands on the hardware compared to fast-paced shooters or open-world titles. The measured FPS data shows that the combo is capable of 101 FPS at 1080p Low, which is quite high, but the 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS highlights its limitations under heavy load. Overall, this is a balanced pairing that will satisfy users with 1080p or 1440p monitors, but it is not a high-end solution for 4K gaming. The rank of 1648 out of 2911 is a fair representation of its position in the market: solid mid-range, but not exceptional.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo provides a detailed picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings average 101 FPS, Medium averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 72, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is significant, a 38 FPS drop, indicating that the Medium preset introduces substantial visual effects that tax the GPU. The jump from Medium to High is another 18 FPS drop, and High to Ultra is a 9 FPS drop. This pattern suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as each increase in settings directly reduces frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. Low averages 85 FPS, a 16 FPS reduction from 1080p Low. Medium averages 53 FPS (min 45, max 61), a 10 FPS reduction from 1080p Medium. High averages 38 FPS, a 7 FPS reduction, and Ultra averages 30 FPS, a 6 FPS reduction. The relative performance gap between settings remains consistent, with Low being significantly faster than Medium, and High being marginally faster than Ultra. The minimum FPS of 45 at Medium settings at 1440p is notable, as it indicates that the game can dip below 50 FPS during intense scenes, which may be noticeable to sensitive players.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low averages 67 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 42 FPS (min 35, max 48), High drops to 30 FPS, and Ultra drops to 24 FPS. The 4K results show a severe performance hit, with even Low settings producing less than half the frame rate of 1080p Low. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Medium settings is 11 FPS (53 to 42), which is a 21% reduction. The difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings is 8 FPS (38 to 30), a 21% reduction as well. This consistent percentage drop suggests a linear scaling with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

The data also reveals that the minimum FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the min is 54 FPS, at 1440p it is 45 FPS, and at 4K it is 35 FPS. The absence of min FPS data for other presets limits a full analysis of frame time consistency, but the available numbers indicate that the Medium preset provides a reasonable frame rate floor. The maximum FPS values follow a similar pattern, with 72 at 1080p, 61 at 1440p, and 48 at 4K. These numbers suggest that while the average FPS is the headline figure, the actual gameplay experience will have some variability, particularly at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the central component in determining this combo's gaming performance in The Medium. This GPU is based on the TU104 chip, built on TSMC's 12 nm process, and it features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, which support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) features, though The Medium's use of ray tracing is not detailed in the measured data. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and it has a TDP of 215 W. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a critical specification, as the game's high-resolution textures and effects require substantial memory bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context for its performance. It scores 18169 in Passmark G3D, 7557 in Passmark GPU Compute, and 1651 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its average benchmark score is 20282, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, -1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2% delta), the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3% delta), and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta). This indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is statistically equivalent to these parts, with all deltas under 1.5%. This is a mature GPU that has been on the market since 2019, and its end-of-life status means it is no longer in production.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is evident from the FPS data. At 1080p, the GPU can push up to 101 FPS at Low, but it drops to 63 FPS at Medium. This significant drop suggests that the Medium preset introduces effects that heavily utilize the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, with even Low settings producing only 67 FPS, and Ultra producing just 24 FPS. The 8 GB of VRAM may also be a factor at 4K, as the game's assets at that resolution could exceed the available memory, leading to performance degradation. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, while adequate for 1080p and 1440p, appears to be a limiting factor at 4K, where the demand for texture data is much higher. The data suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, and it lacks the raw power and memory bandwidth to handle 4K at high settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a modern 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It is manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process and has a base clock of 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 65 W and supports DDR5 memory on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a 32 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's memory bandwidth is rated at 83.2 GB/s, and it supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. The Ryzen 5 7400F was released in January 2025 with a launch MSRP of $229.

In terms of benchmark performance, the Ryzen 5 7400F is a strong processor. It scores 21765 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 3072 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 9141 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Its average benchmark score is 32750, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707, 0.1% delta), the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (32697, 0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812, -0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662, 0.3% delta). The deltas are all within 0.3%, indicating that these processors are essentially identical in overall performance. The CPU's high single-core score (3072 in R23) suggests it can handle the game's logic and AI tasks without bottlenecking the GPU.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU, as indicated by the FPS data. The game is primarily GPU-bound, as evidenced by the dramatic FPS drops at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to achieve 101 FPS, but it is likely not the limiting factor. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for a game like The Medium, which does not typically require high core counts. The 32 MB of L3 cache and Zen 4's high IPC (instructions per clock) help maintain smooth frame pacing. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking confirms that it is a capable part, and its performance is unlikely to be a concern for this game. The data shows that the CPU provides ample headroom, and the GPU is the component that dictates the final frame rate. For users upgrading from an older platform, the Ryzen 5 7400F offers a solid foundation for future GPU upgrades, as it is unlikely to become a bottleneck in most games.