The Medium

# The Medium with AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in The Medium, but the game's demanding fixed-camera rendering and heavy post-processing push this combo to its limits at 4K. Benchmark results indicate this pairing ranks in the 77.5th percentile among all tested combos for this title, sitting at rank 655 out of 2,911 combinations. The data reveals a component pairing where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial L3 cache provides ample headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the gap between 1080p and 4K widening dramatically at higher quality settings. At Low settings, the combo delivers 146 FPS at 1920x1080, dropping to 126 FPS at 2560x1440, and further down to 99 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 32.2% performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that even at the lowest quality preset, resolution scaling exacts a significant toll.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling pattern becomes more pronounced: 93 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 33.3%, slightly steeper than at Low, suggesting the GPU is becoming increasingly stressed as pixel count rises. The High settings preset shows the most dramatic scaling penalty: 67 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and just 44 FPS at 4K. That 34.3% reduction from 1080p to 4K at High demonstrates how the RTX 4070's 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width begin to struggle with the game's high-resolution textures and effects.

Ultra settings exhibit the worst scaling behavior of all presets: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K drop of 34.0% at Ultra confirms that this game's Ultra preset imposes a heavy uniform load that scales almost linearly with pixel count. Notably, the gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is only 22.2%, whereas the gap between 1080p and 1440p is 15.1% — the game appears to hit a memory bandwidth wall at 4K that compresses the performance curve.

The limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p Low, the 146 FPS figure approaches the realm where CPU overhead could matter, but the Ryzen 5 7500X3D's 6 cores and 12 threads with 96 MB of shared L3 cache appear sufficient to avoid bottlenecking. At 4K Ultra, the 35 FPS result clearly indicates the GPU is the sole constraint, as the RTX 4070's 5 nm AD104 chip with 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance simply cannot maintain higher frame rates under this load. The data suggests that for 4K play, users must drop to Medium settings to achieve 62 FPS, while 1440p at High (56 FPS) remains marginally playable but not ideal.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this pairing at 655 out of 2,911 tested combinations, which translates to roughly the top 22.5% of all configs tested in The Medium. This is a respectable showing, though not a top-tier result, indicating that the RTX 4070's mid-range positioning in the GPU hierarchy limits overall standing despite the strong CPU. The rank demonstrates that this combo outperforms the majority of tested systems, but there is substantial headroom above it for higher-end GPUs.

For context on the GPU's standing, the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs in the broader benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. Its nearest rivals in the GPU rankings include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628, deltaPct 0.1%), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507, deltaPct 0.4%), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37,157, deltaPct 1.3%), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135, deltaPct -1.3%) sits slightly above. This tightly clustered group shows the RTX 4070 is positioned competitively within its performance tier, with deltas of less than 1.5% separating it from its nearest competitors.

The CPU's percentile ranking is higher at 89% among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 44,573. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600 (44,889, deltaPct -0.7%), Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44,466, deltaPct 0.2%), Intel Core i9-13950HX (44,342, deltaPct 0.5%), and AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44,309, deltaPct 0.6%). These sub-1% deltas indicate the CPU is squarely in a competitive band with several strong alternatives, though the 96 MB L3 cache gives it a unique advantage in cache-sensitive workloads.

The rank of 655 out of 2,911 combos reflects the balanced nature of this pairing — the CPU is strong enough to not hold back the GPU in most scenarios, but the GPU's mid-range positioning prevents the combo from climbing higher. In The Medium specifically, the game's reliance on fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered environments means the GPU's raw throughput is more critical than CPU cache benefits, which partially explains why the combo's rank doesn't exceed the GPU's percentile more substantially.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz effectively delivering 21 Gbps. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves to be a critical factor in The Medium's high-resolution performance.

In The Medium, the VRAM capacity and bandwidth directly influence the measured FPS across presets. At 4K Medium, the combo achieves 62 FPS with minimums of 53 FPS and maximums of 71 FPS — a 18 FPS variance that suggests the GPU is managing memory pressure adequately but not comfortably. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's texture requirements at 4K, but the 192-bit bus width creates a bandwidth constraint that becomes evident when comparing 1440p and 4K scaling. The game's atmospheric horror environments with volumetric effects and dynamic lighting place substantial demands on memory bandwidth, particularly at Ultra settings where the 35 FPS 4K result indicates the GPU is overwhelmed.

The RTX 4070's 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to the measured performance: at 1080p High, the GPU produces 67 FPS, which scales to 56 FPS at 1440p and 44 FPS at 4K — a clear illustration of how the ROP throughput becomes a limiting factor as resolution increases. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but The Medium's implementation doesn't appear to leverage ray tracing heavily, as the performance deltas between presets are consistent with traditional rasterization loads.

The GPU's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design are reasonable for this performance class, though the 1x 16-pin power connector and 550 W suggested PSU requirement are worth noting for system builders. The end-of-life production status for the RTX 4070 means this is a current-generation part being phased out, but its benchmark results in The Medium remain competitive. The 81st percentile standing among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,648, confirms the RTX 4070 delivers above-median performance, yet the nearest rival deltas of 0.1% to 1.3% show it is not dominant within its immediate performance tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all presets. Low settings produce 146 FPS average, providing a highly fluid experience that exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. Medium settings yield 93 FPS average with minimums of 79 FPS and maximums of 108 FPS, offering a smooth 60+ FPS experience with improved visual fidelity. High settings drop to 67 FPS average, which remains playable but begins to show the game's heavier effects. Ultra settings produce 53 FPS average, dipping below the 60 FPS threshold but remaining playable for those prioritizing visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the performance profile shifts downward across all presets. Low settings deliver 126 FPS average, still comfortably above 60 FPS and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium settings produce 79 FPS average with minimums of 67 FPS and maximums of 91 FPS, maintaining a playable experience with good visual quality. High settings drop to 56 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings produce 45 FPS average, noticeably below the ideal 60 FPS target and suggesting this preset is not recommended at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher presets. Low settings deliver 99 FPS average, surprisingly strong for 4K and indicating the game scales well when effects are minimized. Medium settings produce 62 FPS average with minimums of 53 FPS and maximums of 71 FPS, providing a playable experience that hovers near the 60 FPS target. High settings drop to 44 FPS average, which is below the playability threshold for many users. Ultra settings produce 35 FPS average, rendering this preset effectively unplayable at 4K.

The Medium settings preset consistently provides the best balance across all resolutions, with the measured range of 62-93 FPS depending on resolution. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings (53 FPS at 4K, 67 FPS at 1440p, 79 FPS at 1080p) indicate that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains within a playable range, whereas the High and Ultra presets lack corresponding minimum FPS data in the measurements, suggesting potentially more severe drops.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium settings preset offers the optimal experience across all resolutions for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 93 FPS with a tight 79-108 FPS range, providing both smooth gameplay and improved visuals over Low settings. The 146 FPS at Low is impressive but unnecessary for most displays, while High's 67 FPS and Ultra's 53 FPS sacrifice too much performance for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, Medium settings at 79 FPS (67-91 FPS range) represent the sweet spot — this is the highest preset that consistently maintains above 60 FPS. High settings at 56 FPS fall below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 45 FPS is not recommended. Users with G-SYNC or FreeSync displays might tolerate High settings, but Medium provides the most consistent experience.

At 4K, Medium settings at 62 FPS (53-71 FPS range) are the only viable option for playable performance above 60 FPS. Low settings at 99 FPS are smoother but require significant visual compromises. High at 44 FPS and Ultra at 35 FPS are below acceptable playability thresholds for most users. The data clearly indicates that 4K users should select Medium settings to balance visual quality with performance.

For users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, High settings at 1080p (67 FPS) is the highest preset that remains comfortably playable, while 1440p High (56 FPS) is borderline. Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions given the 53 FPS maximum at 1080p and 35 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset is the recommended default for this combo, offering the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay across all tested resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process with 11,270 million transistors on a 71 mm² die. It operates with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, delivering 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and features 96 MB of shared L3 cache — a defining characteristic of the X3D line.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at most settings, but its performance characteristics still influence results. The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 3,494 and multithread score of 25,047 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for a game that may rely on specific threads for rendering logic. The 96 MB L3 cache is particularly beneficial for games with large working sets, though The Medium's fixed-camera design and pre-baked environments may limit cache sensitivity compared to open-world titles.

The CPU's 89th percentile standing among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 44,573, places it above the RTX 4070's 81st percentile in relative performance. This hierarchy suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo for most scenarios. The nearest rival deltas — ranging from -0.7% for the Intel Core i5-14600 to 0.6% for the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 — show the 7500X3D is competitive but not dominant in its processing tier.

The measured FPS data corroborates the CPU's sufficiency: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 146 FPS, which approaches the point where CPU overhead could become relevant, yet the processor maintains this frame rate. The 12 threads and 4.50 GHz boost clock provide adequate headroom for The Medium's threading model. The lack of minimum FPS data for Low, High, and Ultra presets suggests these settings may have more variable frame delivery, but the overall averages indicate the CPU is not creating a bottleneck at any resolution.

The CPU's 96 MB L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth work in tandem to feed the RTX 4070 efficiently, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU can process frames quickly. At 1080p Low, the 146 FPS result demonstrates that the CPU can deliver frames fast enough for the GPU to render at high throughput. The processor's 5 nm process and 65 W TDP make it an efficient choice, though the lack of a multiplier unlock limits overclocking potential. The CPU's release date of 2025-11-11 and $269 launch MSRP position it as a recent, mid-range offering that pairs well with the RTX 4070's performance class.