The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both CPU and GPU, but with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, the benchmark data paints a clear picture of a system that is heavily limited by its graphics card at nearly every setting and resolution. This combination ranks 1603 out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 5% of systems, which aligns with the GPU's 43rd percentile ranking among all GPUs. The results indicate that the GTX 1650, with its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128-bit bus, is the primary bottleneck, while the Ryzen 5 7600's six Zen 4 cores provide more than enough processing headroom for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system where the GPU is saturated early. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 45 FPS, but moving to 1440p Low drops that to 37.7 FPS (a 16% reduction), and further to 4K Low yields 29.6 FPS (a 34% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that runs out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution increases. The GTX 1650's 128.1 GB/s bandwidth and 4 GB frame buffer are simply insufficient for 4K textures and pixel counts.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings at a given resolution is stark. At 1080p, Low produces 45 FPS while Ultra produces only 16.7 FPS — a 63% performance drop. At 1440p, the spread is from 37.7 FPS (Low) down to 15.5 FPS (Ultra), and at 4K it ranges from 29.6 FPS (Low) to a nearly unplayable 9.2 FPS (Ultra). These deltas show that the GTX 1650's shading units (896) and texture units (56) are overwhelmed by the higher quality shaders and effects in The Medium's Ultra preset.

Interestingly, the CPU is not the limiting factor here. The Ryzen 5 7600's boost clock of 5.10 GHz and 32 MB of shared L3 cache ensure that even at 1080p Low, where CPU load is typically highest relative to GPU, the system still only reaches 45 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see FPS remain relatively flat across resolutions at a given setting; instead, FPS drops consistently with resolution, confirming GPU limitation. The data suggests that 1080p Low is the only viable path to playable frame rates, as 4K Ultra at 9.2 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 15.5 FPS are both below acceptable thresholds for this genre.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not practically. At 4K Low, the system averages 29.6 FPS, which is borderline playable, but 4K Medium drops to 20.5 FPS and 4K High to 14.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra preset is unplayable at 9.2 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: 1080p is the only resolution where the combo approaches acceptable performance. At 1080p Low, it hits 45 FPS. Even at 1080p Medium, the 26.7 FPS average is below the 30 FPS threshold most players consider minimum for a horror title.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 1603 out of 1689 combos, placing it in the bottom 5% of all tested configurations. This is consistent with the GTX 1650's 43rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, which is the dominant factor in this pairing.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 holding back the GTX 1650?

A: No. The benchmark data shows FPS scaling with resolution and settings that is characteristic of GPU limitation. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a single-thread score of 999 in 3DMark, are more than sufficient for this game's demands.

Q: What settings should I use for the best experience?

A: Based on the measured rows, 1080p Low is the only configuration that exceeds 30 FPS. The 1080p Medium preset at 26.7 FPS is a compromise, but the data suggests dropping to Low is necessary for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GTX 1650's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GTX 1650's average benchmark score of 8713 is within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671) and within 0.4% of the AMD Radeon 550X (8749). It trails the RTX 3050 A Mobile by 0.4%, showing that it is competitive with these lower-tier cards.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a modern 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3246. This matters for The Medium because horror games often have scripting, AI, and physics calculations that are single-thread dependent.

However, in this specific combo, the CPU's role is largely secondary. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the system only manages 45 FPS. If the Ryzen 5 7600 were a weaker chip, we might see lower FPS at this setting, but the data shows that the GPU is already saturated. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (83.2 GB/s bandwidth) ensure that data feeding is not a bottleneck.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22992 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 27058. The Medium can utilize multiple threads for rendering and streaming, but the GTX 1650's 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance simply cannot push enough pixels to keep the CPU busy. In essence, the Ryzen 5 7600 is overqualified for this GPU pairing, and the benchmark results confirm that upgrading the GPU would yield significant FPS gains without needing a CPU change.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of what to expect at each resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 45 FPS on Low, 26.7 FPS on Medium, 19.9 FPS on High, and 16.7 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that the Low preset is the only one that breaks the 30 FPS barrier, while Ultra is nearly 63% slower than Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the scores drop across the board: Low produces 37.7 FPS, Medium 23.6 FPS, High 16 FPS, and Ultra 15.5 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra at 1440p is minimal (16 vs 15.5 FPS), suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are either not heavy or the GPU is already so constrained that the extra load makes little difference.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes dire. Low yields 29.6 FPS, Medium 20.5 FPS, High 14.1 FPS, and Ultra 9.2 FPS. The 4K Low result is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability, but it still falls short of the 30 FPS target. The progression from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (45 to 37.7 to 29.6 FPS) shows a 34% total drop, which is severe but expected for a 4 GB GPU at high resolution.

Notably, there is no significant difference between High and Ultra at 1440p (16 vs 15.5 FPS), indicating that the game's Ultra preset at this resolution may be limited by memory capacity rather than raw compute. The GTX 1650's 4 GB frame buffer is likely spilling over at 1440p Ultra, causing the performance to plateau.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 7600 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1603 out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. That places it in the bottom 5% of all configurations, which is a poor result for a game that demands substantial GPU resources. The combo's ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance, as the GTX 1650 sits at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, meaning 57% of GPUs are faster.

The CPU's ranking is much better — the Ryzen 5 7600 is at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26617. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i9-12900HK (0.2% slower), and the Intel Core i9-11900K (0.3% faster). These deltas show that the CPU is a top-tier performer in synthetic benchmarks, but that performance does not translate to in-game results because the GPU cannot keep up.

The disconnect between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank underscores the importance of balanced builds. In The Medium, the GTX 1650 is the clear limiting factor, and the Ryzen 5 7600's power is largely wasted. Users with this combo would see a dramatic improvement by upgrading the GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom to drive a much faster graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that delivers a consistently playable experience is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which averages 45 FPS. This is the recommended starting point for any user with this combo. The 1080p Medium preset (26.7 FPS) is close to playable but will likely feel stuttery in fast-paced horror sequences, and it is not recommended for a smooth experience.

At 1440p, even Low settings (37.7 FPS) are below the 45 FPS achieved at 1080p Low, so there is little reason to push to a higher resolution unless the user prioritizes image clarity over frame rate. The 1440p Medium (23.6 FPS) and High (16 FPS) presets are not viable for sustained gameplay. At 4K, all settings are essentially unplayable, with the best result being 29.6 FPS on Low, which is still below the 30 FPS threshold and will be inconsistent in demanding scenes.

For users who want to try higher settings, the data suggests that 1080p High (19.9 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (16.7 FPS) are too slow for a horror game where reaction time matters. The GTX 1650's 4 GB of VRAM is a hard limit at higher resolutions and settings, as The Medium's textures and effects likely exceed this capacity. The pragmatic choice is to accept 1080p Low, which yields a playable frame rate, and sacrifice visual fidelity for performance. This combo is fundamentally mismatched for this game, and the settings recommendations reflect that reality: the Low preset at 1080p is the only path to a playable experience.