The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and AMD Radeon RX 570 pairing produces a set of measured results in The Medium that are heavily constrained by the graphics card. The data shows a clear pattern of performance limitations across all tested resolutions and settings, with the combination ranking in the 3557th position out of 3724 tested combos. This places the system in the bottom tier of configurations, indicating that while the CPU is modern and capable, the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck in this horror title. The following analysis walks through the specific numbers, the roles of each component, and what the measurements indicate about the playability of this game on this hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 44 frames per second. This is the highest average frame rate achieved across all tested settings and resolutions in the data set.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-11850H, scores 24935, which represents a delta of 0.1%. This indicates the two processors are essentially performance equivalents in aggregate synthetic testing.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 23 FPS, while the High preset averages 17 FPS. This represents a 6 FPS drop when moving from Medium to High, amounting to roughly a 26% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: Does the GPU support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon RX 570 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. This API support is relevant for compatibility with The Medium, but the measured frame rates suggest the hardware is still severely limited in this title.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3557 out of 3724 total tested combos in The Medium. This puts the system in the bottom 5% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 7 Gbps effective.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance, scoring 22799 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 9575 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread scores are also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core result of 3218.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be largely supportive rather than performance-limiting. The measured FPS at all settings and resolutions are low enough that the GPU is clearly the constraining factor. The processor's 3DMark scores, including 6376 for 16 threads and 974 for single thread, indicate it has ample processing headroom for the game's logical tasks. The fact that the combo ranks 3557 out of 3724 suggests that the CPU's capabilities are being masked by the GPU's inability to render frames quickly enough. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-11850H, has nearly identical average scores (24935 vs 24964), reinforcing that the processor is not an outlier or a weak link in this specific pairing.

The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide the CPU with fast access to game data. However, at the measured frame rates, the CPU is likely spending most of its time waiting for the GPU to complete rendering tasks. The data indicates that the processor is not the bottleneck, as even at the lowest settings and resolution, the system only reaches 44 FPS average at 1080p Low, which is well below what this CPU could theoretically support in less GPU-limited scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that approaches acceptable playability is the 1920x1080 Low preset, which delivers an average of 44 FPS. This is the sole setting that exceeds the 30 FPS threshold typically considered the minimum for playable frame rates. The 2560x1440 Low preset achieves 37 FPS average, which is also above 30 FPS, but the lower resolution is preferable for maintaining higher frame rates on a 1080p display.

The Medium preset at 1080p yields 28 FPS average, which is below the 30 FPS mark and may result in noticeable stuttering or a less smooth experience. The High preset at 1080p drops further to 20 FPS, and Ultra falls to 16 FPS, making both presets impractical for actual gameplay. At 1440p, the Low preset at 37 FPS is the only viable option, while Medium at 23 FPS and High at 17 FPS are too low for comfortable play. The 4K resolution results are uniformly poor, with Low at 29 FPS being the highest, but still below the 30 FPS threshold and requiring a 4K display.

The data suggests that players should prioritize the Low preset at 1080p to achieve the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. The jump from Medium to High settings at 1080p costs 8 FPS (from 28 to 20), which is a significant reduction for what is likely a modest visual improvement. Given the 4 GB VRAM capacity and the GPU's age, the Low preset is the most sensible choice to maintain playable frame rates, as it provides the only measured configuration that exceeds 40 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3557 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the bottom 5.5% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the GPU's severe limitations in this title, as the CPU is a modern, high-performance part that would rank much higher in isolation.

For context, the GPU's average benchmark score is 28766, which puts it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, scores 28874, a delta of -0.4%, indicating the RX 570 is slightly below that mobile part. The CPU's average benchmark score of 24964 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-11850H, at 24935. The discrepancy between the CPU and GPU percentiles (77th vs 74th) is relatively small, but the in-game rank of 3557 out of 3724 shows that the combination performs far worse than either component's synthetic scores would suggest.

The low rank is directly attributable to the GPU's performance in this specific game. The Medium appears to be particularly demanding on the graphics card, as evidenced by the sub-30 FPS averages at most settings. The combo's rank indicates that nearly all other tested combinations, including those with older or weaker CPUs paired with stronger GPUs, achieve better frame rates in this title. This underscores the importance of GPU performance for The Medium, where the CPU's high scores cannot compensate for the graphics card's inability to render the game's scenes efficiently.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is a 14 nm Polaris 20 chip based on GCN 4.0 architecture, with 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, with a 150 W TDP. The GPU features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Its compute capabilities include 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s.

In The Medium, the GPU is the primary bottleneck across all tested configurations. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 44 FPS, which is the only result above 40 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 28 FPS, and at High it falls to 20 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a steady decline: 44, 28, 20, and 16 FPS respectively. This pattern indicates that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the game's rendering demands as settings increase.

The GPU's synthetic benchmarks show it performs reasonably in general compute tasks, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 32084 and a Vulkan score of 42752. However, these scores do not translate to playable performance in The Medium. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is likely a limiting factor, as the game may require more memory at higher settings, causing the GPU to rely on slower system memory. The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, while adequate for its era, is insufficient for the texture and geometry loads at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 470, has a delta of -0.8%, indicating the RX 570 is slightly faster in synthetic benchmarks. However, neither GPU is capable of delivering smooth performance in this title, as evidenced by the low measured frame rates. The GPU's 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs is misleading in this context, as The Medium appears to be an outlier in terms of its demands on the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS shows a clear downward trend as settings increase. The Low preset delivers 44 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire data set. Medium drops to 28 FPS, with minimum and maximum values of 23 and 32 FPS respectively. High further reduces the average to 20 FPS, while Ultra bottoms out at 16 FPS. The frame time consistency also degrades, as indicated by the wider spread between minimum and maximum at Medium compared to the more stable Low preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance decreases across all settings. Low averages 37 FPS, which is a 7 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 23 FPS with a range of 20 to 27 FPS, representing a 5 FPS reduction from 1080p Medium. High falls to 17 FPS, and Ultra drops to 13 FPS. The percentage degradation from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 16% for Low, 18% for Medium, 15% for High, and 19% for Ultra, showing a relatively consistent scaling penalty with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes largely unplayable. Low averages 29 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 25 FPS. Medium averages 18 FPS with a range of 15 to 21 FPS, while High drops to 13 FPS and Ultra falls to 10 FPS. The gaps between settings narrow at this resolution, indicating that the GPU is saturated and further reducing settings yields diminishing returns. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 11 FPS, but the difference between Medium and High is only 5 FPS, suggesting the GPU is struggling to maintain even minimal frame rates regardless of visual complexity.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a significant performance drop when scaling from 1080p to 4K across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS decreases from 44 at 1080p to 37 at 1440p and 29 at 4K, representing a 16% and 34% reduction respectively. At Medium settings, the averages are 28, 23, and 18 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, showing a 18% and 36% drop. High settings follow a similar pattern with 20, 17, and 13 FPS, a 15% and 35% reduction. Ultra settings show 16, 13, and 10 FPS, a 19% and 38% decline.

The resolution scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the frame rate drops are roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count. Going from 1080p to 4K represents a 4x increase in pixels, but the frame rate only drops by about 34-38%, not the 75% that would be expected if the GPU were purely pixel-bound. This suggests that the game's rendering load is not solely determined by pixel count, but the consistent degradation across all settings points to the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth as the primary constraints.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal, as the Ryzen 5 7500F has sufficient processing power to handle the game's logic at any resolution. The fact that the frame rate drops nearly linearly with resolution increases, rather than plateauing at a CPU-limited level, confirms that the RX 570 is the bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low, the system only reaches 44 FPS, which is far below what the CPU could theoretically support. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial improvements at all resolutions, while the CPU would remain underutilized in this specific title.