The Medium

# The Medium: AMD Ryzen 5 7500F + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT — Benchmark Analysis

This configuration pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, a 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 desktop processor, with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, an RDNA 2.0 graphics card featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. In The Medium, a horror title released in early 2021, this combination delivers playable frame rates at lower settings but struggles at higher presets and resolutions, as the measured data indicates a system that is primarily GPU-limited in this specific title. The combo ranks 2434 out of 3724 tested configurations, placing it in the lower third of the database.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination shows a clear pattern: performance drops dramatically as settings increase, with the gap widening at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 95 FPS average, which is the highest measured value for this combo at any resolution or setting. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 59 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, which crosses the 60 FPS threshold only marginally on average but remains playable throughout. High at 1080p drops to 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS.

For the best experience balancing visual quality and smoothness, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended choice. The data shows a 59 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum, meaning the frame rate stays within a narrow band and avoids the stutter that can occur when dips approach 30 FPS. Compared to Low, Medium provides better visual fidelity while sacrificing 36 FPS on average — a significant but acceptable trade-off for a horror game where atmosphere matters. High at 1080p, at 43 FPS, is borderline for a genre that benefits from consistent frame pacing, and Ultra at 34 FPS risks falling below comfortable thresholds during demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 50 FPS average with a 43 FPS minimum. This remains playable, though not ideal for a game that relies on tension and timing. Low at 1440p hits 80 FPS, which is smooth, but the visual downgrade is substantial. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a playable 63 FPS; Medium drops to 39 FPS, High to 28 FPS, and Ultra to 22 FPS. Given these numbers, the recommendation is to prioritize 1080p Medium as the primary target, with 1440p Medium as an alternative for users who prefer higher resolution over the highest frame rates. At 4K, Low is the only viable option, but the experience is compromised compared to lower resolutions at similar settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT achieves a rank of 2434 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 35th percentile of all configurations. This indicates that a majority of tested systems outperform this pairing in this specific game, which is notable given the hardware involved. The CPU itself sits at the 77th percentile among all processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 24964, while the GPU sits at the 65th percentile among all graphics cards, with an average score of 19765. The discrepancy between the component-level percentiles and the in-game rank suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in this title.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 7500F scores nearly identically to several other processors: the Intel Core i7-11850H is 0.1% behind, the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is 0.2% ahead, the Intel Core i7-13620H is 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core 5 210H is 0.4% behind. These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals, meanwhile, include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (0.6% ahead), the AMD FirePro D300 (0.7% behind), the AMD FirePro W7000 (0.7% ahead), and the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (0.8% behind). These are all professional or older workstation cards, which underscores that the RX 6650 XT occupies a specific performance tier that is not particularly strong for this game.

The in-game rank of 2434 out of 3724 means roughly 65% of tested combos achieve better performance in The Medium. This is a significant finding: despite the CPU's strong standing relative to other processors, the overall combo underperforms in this title, pointing squarely at the GPU as the bottleneck. For a horror game with fixed camera angles and pre-rendered elements, the GPU's rasterization throughput is what determines playability, and the data suggests the RX 6650 XT is overtaxed at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in The Medium?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 at Medium preset provides 59 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum, which is the most balanced option. At 2560x1440, Medium drops to 50 FPS average, and at 3840x2160, only Low achieves a playable 63 FPS.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS values are 63 (Low), 39 (Medium), 28 (High), and 22 (Ultra). Only the Low preset reaches a smooth frame rate; all other settings fall below 40 FPS, with Ultra dipping to 22 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 7500F ranks at the 77th percentile among CPUs, while the RX 6650 XT ranks at the 65th percentile among GPUs. The combo's in-game rank of 2434 out of 3724 is much lower than either component's standalone percentile, suggesting the GPU holds the system back.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500F compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 24964, with the nearest competitors being the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935, 0.1% behind), AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005, 0.2% ahead), Intel Core i7-13620H (24911, 0.2% behind), and Intel Core 5 210H (24872, 0.4% behind). These differences are minimal.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p with this setup?

A: At 2560x1440, the measured averages are 80 FPS (Low), 50 FPS (Medium), 36 FPS (High), and 28 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset offers the best compromise at 50 FPS with a 43 FPS minimum.

Q: Does the RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The measured FPS drops suggest that at higher settings and resolutions, the card's memory bandwidth and capacity likely contribute to the steep performance decline, though the data does not explicitly separate VRAM usage from other factors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across settings are: Low at 95 FPS, Medium at 59 FPS (with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 68), High at 43 FPS, and Ultra at 34 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium represents a 36 FPS drop, which is the largest single-step decline at this resolution. Medium to High drops another 16 FPS, and High to Ultra drops 9 FPS. The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset (51 FPS), which indicates that the frame time variance is relatively controlled at this setting, with a 17 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 80 FPS, Medium at 50 FPS (minimum 43, maximum 58), High at 36 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 30 FPS, Medium to High costs 14 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 8 FPS. Compared to 1080p, the Medium preset shows a 9 FPS reduction, while Low drops by 15 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium is 43, which is 8 FPS lower than the 1080p Medium minimum, indicating that 1440p stresses the system noticeably more during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 63 FPS, Medium at 39 FPS (minimum 33, maximum 45), High at 28 FPS, and Ultra at 22 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 24 FPS, Medium to High is 11 FPS, and High to Ultra is 6 FPS. The 4K Medium preset has a minimum of 33 FPS, which is close to the 30 FPS threshold and could result in perceptible stutter. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Medium is 11 FPS, while at Low it is 17 FPS, showing that higher resolutions amplify the GPU's workload disproportionately.

The overall pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low is always playable, Medium is borderline at 1440p and above, and High/Ultra are only viable at 1080p with reduced frame rates. The minimum FPS data, available only for Medium presets, shows that the frame rate floor scales from 51 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p to 33 FPS at 4K, representing a 18 FPS degradation across the resolution range.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals how frame rates scale from 1080p to 4K for this combo. At the Medium preset, the average FPS goes from 59 at 1920x1080 to 50 at 2560x1440 to 39 at 3840x2160. This represents a 15.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 22% drop from 1440p to 4K, for a cumulative 33.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At the Low preset, the values are 95 FPS (1080p), 80 FPS (1440p), and 63 FPS (4K), which corresponds to a 15.8% drop to 1440p and a 21.3% drop to 4K, totaling 33.7% from 1080p to 4K.

At High settings, the scaling is 43 FPS (1080p) to 36 FPS (1440p) to 28 FPS (4K), representing a 16.3% drop to 1440p and a 22.2% drop to 4K, for a 34.9% total reduction. The Ultra preset shows 34 FPS (1080p), 28 FPS (1440p), and 22 FPS (4K), with a 17.6% drop to 1440p and a 21.4% drop to 4K, totaling 35.3% from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops — all falling between roughly 33% and 35% — indicates that the scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven.

This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would show less variation across resolutions, since the CPU's workload is largely independent of pixel count. Instead, the data shows that moving from 1080p to 4K reduces performance by roughly one-third regardless of the quality preset, which points to the GPU's pixel processing throughput as the constraining factor. The RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM, 128-bit memory bus, and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth are likely contributors, as higher resolutions demand more memory bandwidth and capacity, but the measured FPS scaling suggests the compute units are also saturated.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings further supports this: the minimum scales from 51 (1080p) to 43 (1440p) to 33 (4K), a 35.3% total reduction. The fact that the minimum FPS drops proportionally with the average indicates that the GPU is consistently taxed across all frames, not just during peak loads, which is typical of a rendering-bound scenario.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built 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 cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3. It supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, providing 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, and features PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 22799 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 3218 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 26825 in Passmark multithread, placing it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling discussed above. The CPU's single-thread performance, measured at 974 in 3DMark single-thread and 3841 in Passmark single-thread, is more than adequate for a game that does not heavily stress multi-core processors. The 6-core/12-thread configuration provides headroom for background tasks and any game logic threading, but the data shows that this is not where the bottleneck lies. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i7-11850H, AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, Intel Core i7-13620H, and Intel Core 5 210H — all score within 0.4% of the 7500F, meaning any of these processors would likely produce identical frame rates when paired with the same GPU.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, while not directly measured in the game benchmarks, is sufficient to feed the GPU's needs at the tested resolutions. The fact that frame rates drop consistently across resolutions, even at Low settings where CPU overhead might be expected to surface, confirms that the CPU is not a limiting factor. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at higher resolutions rather than continue declining, but the data shows no such plateau. The CPU's high percentile ranking relative to the combo's in-game rank further reinforces that the processor is performing its role adequately, and the 7500F's strong multi-thread scores (22799 in Cinebench R23) suggest it has ample headroom for this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, along with 32 ray accelerators. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Memory consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective) providing 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The card has a 176 W TDP and supports PCIe 4.0 x8, with a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is rated at 10.79 TFLOPS.

In The Medium, the GPU is clearly the determining factor for playability. The measured frame rates show a steep decline as settings increase: at 1080p, Low produces 95 FPS but Ultra only 34 FPS, a reduction of 64.2%. At 1440p, the range is 80 FPS (Low) to 28 FPS (Ultra), a 65% drop. At 4K, Low yields 63 FPS and Ultra 22 FPS, a 65.1% reduction. This consistent ~65% performance loss from Low to Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the GPU's compute and memory resources are being saturated by the game's higher-quality effects.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are likely contributing factors. The Medium, as a horror game with detailed environments and lighting effects, can consume significant memory at higher settings and resolutions. The bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s may become a limiting factor at 4K, where the data shows only Low is playable. The GPU's nearest rivals in the database — the NVIDIA Tesla K40m, AMD FirePro D300, AMD FirePro W7000, and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 — are all older or professional cards, indicating that the RX 6650 XT's performance tier is not particularly well-suited for this game. The GPU's percentile ranking of 65th among all GPUs, combined with the combo's 35th percentile in-game rank, suggests that the RX 6650 XT underperforms relative to its synthetic benchmark standing in this specific title. The data shows that for a smoother experience at higher settings, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the CPU is not the constraint.