The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers its best performance in The Medium at lower settings, with the data showing a clear trend: the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, but the game's preset scaling is unusually steep. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 112 FPS, but dropping to 4K Ultra reduces that to just 24.2 FPS, a 78% performance loss that points to a demanding engine and a graphics card that is outclassed at the highest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a predictable but stark resolution scaling pattern. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average FPS drops from 112 to 90.3, a 19% reduction. The same resolution step at High settings sees a smaller relative drop, from 49.5 to 40.2 FPS, an 18% decline. The most severe scaling occurs when jumping from 1440p to 4K: at Low settings, performance falls from 90.3 to 73.4 FPS (a 19% drop), but at High settings, the drop is from 40.2 to 35 FPS (a 13% decline). This indicates that at higher presets, the game is already heavily taxing the GPU even at 1440p, so the additional pixel count at 4K yields a less proportional penalty.

The Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 36.4 FPS, which is only 10% higher than the 4K High result of 35 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive regardless of resolution. The data shows that the limiting component shifts between settings: at Low, the CPU has more headroom, allowing the GPU to scale more linearly with resolution. At Ultra, the GPU is saturated even at 1080p, making the resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p a modest 15% drop (36.4 to 31 FPS), while the 1440p to 4K step at Ultra is a 22% drop (31 to 24.2 FPS). This indicates that the game's Ultra settings push the RX 6700 XT beyond its comfortable operating range, making the resolution choice more impactful than the preset choice at the high end.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the primary driver of these results, and its specifications explain the performance ceiling. With 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card offers 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process, includes 2560 shading units and 40 ray accelerators, yet the measured FPS at Ultra settings shows the card is not powerful enough to maintain smooth frame rates. The boost clock of 2581 MHz and game clock of 2424 MHz are high, but the benchmark results indicate that raw clock speed does not compensate for the workload at higher presets.

The data shows a strong correlation between the GPU's pixel rate and the game's performance. The card's pixel rate is 165.2 GPixel/s, and at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 24.2 FPS, which translates to roughly 99.5 million pixels per second processed, far below the theoretical maximum. This suggests the game's effects are not purely pixel-bound but also shader-limited. The GPU's FP32 performance of 13.21 TFLOPS is substantial, yet the 4K Ultra result of 24.2 FPS indicates that the game's compute demands outstrip this capability at maximum settings. The 12 GB VRAM is a key factor at 4K, where the High preset yields 35 FPS but Low jumps to 73.4 FPS, a 110% improvement that suggests texture streaming and memory allocation are major bottlenecks at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 112 FPS, which is excellent for a horror game where responsiveness matters. The Medium preset at 70.7 FPS provides a more balanced visual experience while still maintaining smooth gameplay. The High preset at 49.5 FPS is playable but drops below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 36.4 FPS should be avoided for anything other than screenshot purposes. For 1440p, the Low preset at 90.3 FPS is the only option that guarantees high refresh rate performance. Medium at 56.5 FPS is the best compromise for visual fidelity without sacrificing fluidity, while High at 40.2 FPS and Ultra at 31 FPS are marginal for a horror title where stutter can ruin immersion.

At 4K, the data is clear: Low is the only viable preset, delivering 73.4 FPS. Medium at 42.7 FPS is borderline, and High at 35 FPS is too inconsistent for a genre that relies on tension. The Ultra preset at 24.2 FPS is effectively unplayable. The recommendation is to use Low at 4K or Medium at 1440p, depending on the display's native resolution. The 1080p Medium setting offers a good middle ground, providing 70.7 FPS, which is 44% higher than High and 95% higher than Ultra, indicating that the medium preset avoids the most expensive visual effects while retaining core fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 112 FPS and Medium hits 70.7 FPS, both above 60 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset at 90.3 FPS exceeds 60 FPS; Medium at 56.5 FPS falls short. At 4K, the Low preset at 73.4 FPS is the only option above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 36.4 FPS, which is 26% lower than the High preset's 49.5 FPS. This is a substantial penalty for what is likely a marginal visual gain, suggesting Ultra is not worth the performance cost.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck at 4K High settings?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. The 4K High result of 35 FPS is nearly identical to the 1080p Ultra result of 36.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturated by the preset's demands regardless of resolution.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1440p and 4K at Low settings?

A: At Low settings, 1440p produces 90.3 FPS, while 4K produces 73.4 FPS, a difference of 16.9 FPS or a 19% reduction. This is a smaller penalty than at higher presets, showing the Low preset is more resolution-tolerant.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at any setting above Low?

A: The Medium preset at 4K achieves 42.7 FPS and High achieves 35 FPS, both below the 60 FPS target. While playable, they are not recommended for a smooth experience, making Low the only sensible 4K choice.

Q: How does the 1080p Medium result compare to the 1440p Medium result?

A: The 1080p Medium result is 70.7 FPS, which is 25% higher than the 1440p Medium result of 56.5 FPS. This indicates that the Medium preset scales well with resolution but still benefits from the lower pixel count.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides the computational foundation for this combo. The CPU's Zen 4 architecture, clocked at a base of 3.80 GHz and a boost of 5.10 GHz, is more than capable of feeding the GPU in this game. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck, the combo achieves 112 FPS, indicating the CPU is not a limiting factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3246 confirm strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for a horror game that may rely on physics and AI calculations.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth further reduce potential bottlenecks. The benchmark data shows that the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22992, are sufficient for the game's background tasks. However, the game's performance scaling with resolution and settings indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint across all measured configurations. The CPU's percentile rank of 83 among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26617, places it in the upper tier, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, scores a nearly identical 26574 (a 0.2% delta), suggesting that the 7600 is not leaving performance on the table in this title. The data shows that upgrading the CPU would not yield meaningful FPS gains in The Medium; the RX 6700 XT is the clear bottleneck at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo across resolutions and settings is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 112 FPS, Medium produces 70.7 FPS, High produces 49.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 36.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 67% reduction in performance, with the largest single drop occurring between Medium and High (a 30% loss).

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 90.3 FPS, Medium achieves 56.5 FPS, High achieves 40.2 FPS, and Ultra achieves 31 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 37% loss, while Medium to High is a 29% loss. The 1440p results are consistently 15-20% lower than their 1080p counterparts, except for Ultra, which is 15% lower (31 vs 36.4 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 73.4 FPS, Medium delivers 42.7 FPS, High delivers 35 FPS, and Ultra delivers 24.2 FPS. The 4K Low result is notably high, only 19% below the 1440p Low result, showing that the Low preset is the most scalable. The 4K Ultra result of 24.2 FPS is the lowest in the entire dataset, 33% below the 1440p Ultra result and 33% below the 1080p Ultra result. Comparing across the board, the Medium preset at 4K (42.7 FPS) is nearly identical to the High preset at 1440p (40.2 FPS), suggesting that the game's Medium preset at a higher resolution is visually comparable to High at a lower resolution, but the performance cost is similar.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 956 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower half of all configurations, which is expected given the GPU's age and the game's demanding nature. The rank reflects the GPU's performance ceiling more than the CPU's capability. The RX 6700 XT has a percentile rank of 77 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 33721, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6800, scores 33493 (a 0.7% delta), indicating the 6700 XT is slightly above that comparison point. However, the game's measured FPS at Ultra settings shows that this GPU is not designed for maximum fidelity in The Medium.

The CPU's rank is higher, with a percentile of 83, and its average benchmark score of 26617 is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D's 26574 (a 0.2% delta), showing that the 7600 is a strong performer. The combo's overall rank of 956 out of 1689 suggests that while the CPU is capable, the GPU holds the pair back, particularly at 1440p and 4K Ultra settings. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Low to Medium presets, where it can achieve playable frame rates. At 4K, the combo is only viable at Low settings, which is a significant limitation for a game that is likely played on high-refresh-rate monitors. The rank relative to other tested combos indicates that users seeking higher settings or higher resolutions would need a more powerful GPU to move significantly up the leaderboard.