The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents an interesting challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of high frame rates but requires careful settings management to balance visual fidelity against the game’s demanding rendering style. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, examining the roles of both the CPU and GPU in shaping the final experience.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly indicates that the Medium preset is the optimal starting point for this hardware combination across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 113.1 FPS, which is a substantial 52.5 FPS higher than the High preset’s 78 FPS and nearly double the Ultra preset’s 60.3 FPS. This suggests that the jump from Medium to High or Ultra incurs a disproportionate performance cost relative to the visual gains.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains a highly playable 93.3 FPS average. This is 29.7 FPS above the High preset’s 64.6 FPS and 42.5 FPS above Ultra’s 50.8 FPS. At this resolution, the Medium preset is the clear choice for maintaining a smooth experience above 90 FPS, while High remains viable for those prioritizing visual quality over frame rate.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the situation becomes more stratified. The Medium preset produces a 74.9 FPS average, which is the only setting that comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. The High preset dips to 49.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.2 FPS, both of which are below the ideal range for a horror game where responsiveness is key. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the only sensible choice for this combo, as it provides a playable frame rate without the significant drops seen at higher settings.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (163.2 FPS at 1080p, 149.2 FPS at 1440p, and 116.3 FPS at 4K), likely sacrifices too much visual detail for a horror game that relies heavily on atmosphere and shadow work. The performance delta between Low and Medium is significant, but the medium preset’s frame rates are already high enough to make the visual trade-off unnecessary. The recommendation is to use the Medium preset for the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this hardware?

A: The data shows that the Medium preset is the only option that provides a consistently playable experience at 3840x2160, yielding an average of 74.9 FPS. The High preset drops to 49.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.2 FPS, making both less suitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much of a performance jump is there from High to Low at 1440p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 149.2 FPS, while the High preset only reaches 64.6 FPS. This represents an 84.6 FPS advantage for the Low preset, indicating that the higher settings place a significant load on the rendering pipeline.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops consistently as resolution increases (e.g., from 113.1 FPS at 1080p Medium to 74.9 FPS at 4K Medium), which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU's performance is adequate to feed the GPU at these settings.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever a good choice for this combo?

A: Based on the measured data, the Ultra preset only provides a 60.3 FPS average at 1080p and falls to 50.8 FPS at 1440p and 39.2 FPS at 4K. While 1080p Ultra is playable, the performance at higher resolutions makes it a poor option for maintaining a high refresh rate experience.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's performance here compare to its overall benchmark standing?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 48704 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. However, its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (avg score 49071) and the Intel Arc A550M (avg score 49737), show that it is not at the very top of the pack, which aligns with the game’s demanding rendering at higher presets.

Q: What is the performance difference between the 1080p and 4K Medium presets?

A: The average frame rate drops from 113.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 74.9 FPS at 3840x2160 on the Medium preset. This is a 38.2 FPS decrease, which represents a significant load increase on the GPU when moving to 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the primary driver of performance in The Medium. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 672.3 GB/s of bandwidth, is more than sufficient for the game’s textures and data at all tested settings. The GPU’s high boost clock of 2610 MHz and its 8448 shading units allow it to process the complex lighting and shadow calculations that are central to the game’s horror aesthetic.

The measured FPS data demonstrates the GPU’s scaling. At 1080p, the difference between Low (163.2 FPS) and Medium (113.1 FPS) is 50.1 FPS, showing a significant cost for the Medium preset’s enhanced effects. The jump to High (78 FPS) and Ultra (60.3 FPS) further illustrates the GPU’s workload. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the frame rates across all presets drop considerably. The Ultra preset at 4K only manages a 39.2 FPS average, which is a substantial reduction from the 60.3 FPS seen at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are heavily taxed at higher resolutions, making the Medium preset the practical ceiling for this title.

The GPU’s overall benchmark score of 48704 places it in the 86th percentile, and its performance in this game aligns with that standing. The data shows a capable card that can handle high refresh rates at lower resolutions but requires settings management at 4K to maintain playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates reveals a consistent pattern of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 163.2 on Low, 113.1 on Medium, 78 on High, to 60.3 on Ultra. This shows a steady decline of roughly 35 FPS between each successive preset, with the largest single drop being 35.1 FPS from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 149.2 on Low, 93.3 on Medium, 64.6 on High, and 50.8 on Ultra. The performance gap between Medium and High is 28.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 13.8 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows an average reduction of about 15-20% across presets, with the Low preset being the least affected.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 116.3 on Low, 74.9 on Medium, 49.5 on High, and 39.2 on Ultra. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steep, with the Medium preset losing 18.4 FPS and the High preset losing 15.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the least playable configuration in the entire dataset, with an average below 40 FPS. The data indicates that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are exhausted at this resolution with higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of a GPU-bound workload. For the Medium preset, the frame rate drops from 113.1 FPS at 1080p to 93.3 FPS at 1440p, and then to 74.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.8% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K. The Low preset shows a similar pattern, dropping from 163.2 FPS to 116.3 FPS, a 28.7% reduction. The High preset falls from 78 FPS to 49.5 FPS, a 36.5% reduction.

These percentage drops are relatively consistent, indicating that the game scales predictably with pixel count. The fact that the frame rate does not halve when pixel count quadruples (from 1080p to 4K) suggests that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU’s demands. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be more similar across resolutions. The data strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s rendering capabilities, including its pixel rate of 250.6 GPixel/s, are the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides a solid foundation for this gaming combo. Its boost clock of 5.00 GHz and Zen 4 architecture deliver strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic and draw calls. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 974 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3218 indicate robust single-thread capability.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in The Medium. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, which would not happen if the CPU were bottlenecking. The CPU’s performance in multi-threaded tests, such as Cinebench R23 multicore (22799) and Geekbench multicore (12686), shows it can handle background tasks and game threads without issue. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-11850H, has a similar average benchmark score (24974 vs. 24993), indicating that the 7500F is in a competitive performance tier.

The data suggests that the CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support are sufficient to feed the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (163.2 FPS) is high enough to imply that the CPU can generate frames well above 100 FPS in this title, meaning the GPU is the primary determinant of the final frame rate at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 196 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the combo in the top 11.6% of all configurations, indicating a strong overall performance level. The rank confirms the balance between the CPU and GPU, with neither component being a significant weak point.

The GPU’s performance is a key contributor to this ranking. Its 86th percentile standing among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48704, shows it is a high-end part. The CPU, while only in the 82nd percentile, is still a capable performer that does not bottleneck the GPU in this game. The combination’s rank suggests that for most users, this system will provide a very good experience in The Medium, provided the settings are adjusted appropriately.

The data indicates that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming and can handle 4K at medium settings. The rank of 196 out of 1689 is a strong result, and the system’s performance is consistent with the hardware’s individual benchmark standings.