The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique stress test for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a system that is decisively GPU-bound at higher settings, yet capable of producing extremely high frame rates when the graphical load is reduced. This analysis breaks down the data to show exactly how this pairing behaves in this specific title, from 1080p to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but it is not uniform across all presets, which tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 100 FPS at 1920x1080 to 84 FPS at 2560x1440, and then down to 66 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 16% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 21% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is more aggressive at High settings, where the 72 FPS at 1080p drops to 60 FPS at 1440p (a 17% decrease) and then plummets to 47 FPS at 4K (a 22% decrease from 1440p).

The pattern suggests that while the RTX 5070 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, the impact of resolution scaling is somewhat mitigated by the game's engine. The jump from 1080p to 1440p consistently costs about 16-17% of the average FPS, regardless of whether you are on High or Medium settings. However, the subsequent jump to 4K is more punishing, costing over 20% of the frame rate. For a horror game that relies on atmosphere and slow pacing, the 66 FPS average at 4K Medium is playable, but the 47 FPS at 4K High reveals the GPU’s limitations in this title. The data implies that 4K is only a viable target when using the less demanding presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, with its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, is the star of the show in this configuration. The measured results indicate that the GPU’s capabilities are stretched thin at 4K on higher presets, but it has ample headroom at 1080p. The card’s 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are the likely drivers behind the significant frame rate differences between Low and High settings. At 4K, the difference between Low (106 FPS) and Ultra (38 FPS) is a massive 68 FPS, highlighting how much work the GPU is doing as the preset increases.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a notable point of analysis. While the game does not appear to be hitting a hard VRAM wall based on the data, the 192-bit bus width suggests that memory bandwidth could become a constraint at higher resolutions. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset yields an average of only 38 FPS indicates that the GPU is likely becoming saturated with both compute and memory operations. In contrast, the 1080p Low preset’s 146 FPS average shows the GPU is far from being the limiting factor at lower resolutions, allowing the CPU to take more of a leading role. The RTX 5070's performance in this game is best described as a high-end 1080p and 1440p card, with 4K requiring concessions in visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the "Medium" preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 4K Medium, the system achieves an average of 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that provides a frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the clear choice for 4K owners. The min FPS of 56 is also reassuring, suggesting that the game will not stutter heavily during intense scenes.

At 2560x1440, Medium again appears to be the sweet spot, delivering an 84 FPS average with a minimum of 71 FPS. While High at 1440p achieves 60 FPS, the Medium preset offers a substantial 40% performance uplift while likely still looking very good. For 1080p users, the High preset at 72 FPS is a solid option, but the data suggests that Medium at 100 FPS provides a much smoother experience for a game that can have sudden, jarring transitions. The Ultra preset is generally not recommended, as it drops the average frame rate to 57 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K, which compromises the fluidity that is crucial for a tense horror experience. The measured data points to Medium as the definitive recommendation for a smooth experience, with High being a viable alternative for 1080p users who prefer visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 522nd out of 2911 combos for The Medium. This puts it in the top 18% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end system. The percentileVsAllCpus of 89 for the CPU and 82 for the GPU further contextualize this rank, indicating that both components are well above average in their respective fields.

The rank suggests that while this is not an absolute top-tier setup for this specific game, it is far above the median experience. The combination of a strong 6-core CPU with a high-end Blackwell GPU is clearly effective. The fact that it sits in the top quintile indicates that users can expect a very playable experience at most settings, with the caveat that 4K Ultra is out of reach. The rank also implies that other combos with more powerful GPUs, such as those with higher VRAM or more compute units, will achieve higher scores, but the 7500X3D + RTX 5070 combo holds its own as a capable and balanced performer.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, plays a supporting but crucial role in this benchmark. The CPU’s large 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a key feature for gaming, and while The Medium is not a CPU-heavy title, the data suggests it still matters. The Passmark multithread score of 25047 and single-thread score of 3494 indicate a solidly capable processor. The nearestRivals data shows it performing within a 0.7% margin of the Intel Core i5-14600 and Intel Core i9-13950HX, confirming its position as a high-performing mid-range chip.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's limiting role becomes apparent only at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 146 FPS, which is a high number, but it is not as high as the GPU could theoretically go. This suggests that the CPU is starting to become a slight bottleneck at this point, preventing the RTX 5070 from reaching its absolute maximum frame rate. However, at higher presets like 4K Ultra, the CPU is nowhere near the limiting factor; the GPU is clearly the constraint. The 65 W TDP of the CPU is also worth noting, as it allows for efficient operation without throttling, ensuring consistent performance during long gaming sessions. The data implies that the 7500X3D provides ample computational headroom for this game, ensuring that it will not hold back the GPU in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data provides a granular view of the system's performance. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 146 FPS on Low, 100 FPS on Medium (with min/max of 85/115), 72 FPS on High, and 57 FPS on Ultra. The progression shows a clear 28-30% drop in performance for each step up in preset from Low to Medium and Medium to High, with a slightly smaller 21% drop from High to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 135 FPS on Low, 84 FPS on Medium (min/max of 71/97), 60 FPS on High, and 48 FPS on Ultra. The performance hit from 1080p is consistent, with the Low preset dropping by only 8%, while the Medium and High presets drop by 16% and 17% respectively. The Ultra preset at 1440p is 16% slower than its 1080p counterpart.

Finally, at 3840x2160, the system averages 106 FPS on Low, 66 FPS on Medium (min/max of 56/76), 47 FPS on High, and 38 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1440p to 4K is significant across the board, ranging from a 21% decrease on Low to a 22% decrease on High. The 4K Medium result is the only 4K preset that breaks the 60 FPS average barrier, while the 4K Ultra result of 38 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. This data confirms the GPU-centric scaling and provides a clear roadmap for users to achieve their target frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on Medium settings provides an excellent experience with an 84 FPS average. While 1080p can hit higher frame rates, 1440p offers a better visual-to-performance balance. 4K is also viable but only with the Medium preset, which yields a 66 FPS average.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 106 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 38 FPS. This represents a 68 FPS difference, meaning the Low preset is about 2.8 times faster than Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The 146 FPS average at 1080p Low suggests the system is well-balanced. However, given the GPU's high benchmark scores, it is likely that the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration is beginning to limit the maximum frame rate, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher numbers.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest recorded average FPS in the measured data is 146, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the fastest setting combination tested for this system.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested systems?

A: This specific combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 522nd out of 2911 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the top 18% of all systems.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM of the RTX 5070 cause issues at 4K?

A: The data does not show a direct VRAM capacity failure, but the 4K Ultra average of 38 FPS indicates the GPU is heavily loaded. The 192-bit memory bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely stressed, but the game remains playable on lower settings, suggesting VRAM capacity is sufficient for Medium and High presets.