The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti pairing delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly favors lower settings at higher resolutions. The data shows a combo that sits in the 65th percentile of all tested configurations, offering a solid foundation for 1440p gaming but requiring compromises at 4K.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7500F is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz can boost up to 5.00 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The processor integrates 32 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1 MB of L2 cache per core and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. Built on TSMC's 5 nm process, this chip features a 71 mm² die size and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong single-threaded performance with a 3DMark single-thread score of 974 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3218. Multi-threaded results are equally respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22799 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 12362. The processor's overall average benchmark score of 24964 places it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs tested. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H with an average score of 24911 (0.2% ahead of the 7500F) and the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F at 25005 (0.2% behind). These margins are negligible, meaning any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame pacing in this game.

For The Medium, a horror title that relies on fixed camera angles and environmental storytelling, the CPU's role is less about raw frame generation and more about maintaining consistent frame times. The benchmark results indicate that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 129 FPS average, which suggests the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 30 FPS, signaling that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck long before the CPU's limits are reached. The 7500F's 12 threads are sufficient for this title's demands, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that even the most demanding scripted sequences won't introduce CPU-related stutter.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is an Ampere-architecture card built on Samsung's 8 nm process, featuring the GA104 chip with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. It comes with 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's base clock runs at 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, while memory operates at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). With 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs, the card offers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. It also includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS.

The GPU's benchmark results place it at the 75th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29945. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile at 29928 (0.1% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 at 30095 (0.5% behind). The RTX 3070 Ti also edges out the RTX 2080 Ti by 0.5% (29783 vs. 29945), showing that it remains competitive with previous-generation flagship hardware. In DirectX 12 workloads, the card scores 91 in PassMark's DX12 test, while its G3D score of 23356 reflects strong overall rasterization performance.

In The Medium, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is the defining constraint. At 4K Ultra, the game demands more memory bandwidth and capacity than this card can comfortably provide, resulting in a 30 FPS average. The VRAM limitation becomes apparent when comparing 4K High (38 FPS) to 4K Medium (53 FPS); the step down from High to Medium provides a substantial 39% performance uplift, which is more than typical scaling would suggest. This indicates that High settings likely exceed the VRAM buffer, forcing the card to swap textures to slower memory. The 608.3 GB/s bandwidth helps mitigate this, but it cannot fully compensate for the 8 GB capacity limit at 4K with High or Ultra presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern: The Medium scales almost linearly with pixel count when settings are held constant. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 129 FPS at 1080p to 109 FPS at 1440p (a 15.5% decrease) and then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 22% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound workload where the RTX 3070 Ti's compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors.

At Medium settings, the same resolution progression yields 81 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 16% from 1080p to 1440p and 22% from 1440p to 4K, matching the Low-setting pattern almost exactly. This consistency suggests that resolution scaling is independent of quality preset, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck across all tested configurations.

The High and Ultra presets tell a different story. At High settings, performance drops from 58 FPS at 1080p to 49 FPS at 1440p (15.5% decrease) and then to 38 FPS at 4K (22.4% decrease). Ultra settings produce 46 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K, with similar percentage drops. The fact that the relative scaling remains consistent even at these higher presets indicates that the VRAM capacity issue at 4K High/Ultra does not cause disproportionate frame drops; rather, the card simply runs out of compute headroom. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly at the threshold of playability, and the 4K High result of 38 FPS is marginal for a horror title where responsive camera movement matters.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 5 7500F and RTX 3070 Ti ranks 1304 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 65th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely bottlenecks the other at typical gaming resolutions. The CPU's 77th percentile standing and the GPU's 75th percentile standing align closely, suggesting that this is a well-matched duo for this particular game.

The rank suggests that roughly 2420 other combinations outperform this setup in The Medium, while about 1303 fall behind. Given that the RTX 3070 Ti's nearest rivals include the RTX 5070 Mobile and RX 6800, the GPU is positioned slightly above the mid-range of modern hardware. The combo's ranking indicates it will handle 1080p and 1440p gaming comfortably but will struggle with 4K at higher quality presets. For a horror game that emphasizes atmosphere over fast-paced action, the 65th percentile ranking is respectable, but it means this setup is not optimized for maximum visual fidelity at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 129 FPS, which provides a significant headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings average 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS, offering smooth gameplay with better visual quality. High settings drop to 58 FPS average, which is still playable but begins to show the GPU's limitations. Ultra settings average 46 FPS, which is playable but may cause noticeable frame pacing issues during intense scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales as expected. Low settings maintain an average of 109 FPS, still suitable for high-refresh displays. Medium settings average 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS, providing a good balance between visuals and smoothness. High settings average 49 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced horror title but not ideal for fast camera movements. Ultra settings average 39 FPS, which dips below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for comfortable gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become pronounced. Low settings average 85 FPS, which is surprisingly playable given the resolution. Medium settings average 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS and a maximum of 61 FPS, making this the highest preset that maintains a consistent playable experience at 4K. High settings average 38 FPS, which is borderline playable but may cause discomfort during extended sessions. Ultra settings average 30 FPS, which is cinematic but not recommended for interactive gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear sweet spot for this combination. At 1080p, Medium settings with 81 FPS average and a 69 FPS minimum provide the best experience, as the visual quality improvement from Medium to High is not worth the 28% performance penalty (from 81 to 58 FPS). The 1080p Medium preset offers smooth gameplay with good detail, and the 69 FPS minimum ensures that even demanding scenes won't drop below playable thresholds.

For 1440p gaming, Medium settings are again the optimal choice, delivering 68 FPS average with a 58 FPS minimum. This preset provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target while maintaining acceptable visual quality. The step to High settings costs 28% of the frame rate (from 68 to 49 FPS), which is a steep price for marginal visual gains in a game that relies more on atmosphere than fine texture detail.

At 4K, the recommendation narrows to Low or Medium settings. Low settings deliver 85 FPS average, which is excellent for the resolution, but the visual quality may be too compromised for a game that emphasizes environmental storytelling. Medium settings at 53 FPS average with a 45 FPS minimum provide the best balance at 4K, offering a playable frame rate while retaining enough visual fidelity to appreciate the game's art direction. High settings at 38 FPS and Ultra at 30 FPS are only suitable for players who prioritize visual quality over gameplay smoothness, and the 8 GB VRAM limitation suggests that High and Ultra presets at 4K may cause texture pop-in or stuttering beyond the measured averages.

The overall recommendation is to use Medium settings at any resolution. At 1080p, this yields 81 FPS; at 1440p, 68 FPS; and at 4K, 53 FPS. This preset provides consistent performance scaling and avoids the VRAM-related issues that appear at High and Ultra settings on 4K displays. Players with 1080p or 1440p monitors can also consider High settings if they prefer visual quality over frame rate, but the measured data shows that Medium offers a more stable experience with a higher minimum frame rate.