The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER pairing delivers a solid, high-refresh-rate experience in The Medium at 1080p, but the game’s demanding Ultra preset and 4K resolution will push this combo to its limits. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across settings, with the sweet spot being the Medium preset for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael) using a 5 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which are the key figures for understanding its gaming throughput. The processor’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide the memory subsystem necessary for feeding a modern GPU. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 3,246 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 22,992 in multi-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile against all CPUs.

For The Medium, a horror title that relies on static scenes and scripted sequences rather than physics-heavy simulations, the CPU’s single-thread strength is more relevant than its multi-core muscle. The 3dmark single-thread score of 999 suggests that the 7600 has ample headroom to process game logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. This is evident in the measured frame rates: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 165.1 FPS, indicating that the CPU is not limiting the GPU at this level. The processor’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, has an average benchmark score of 26,574, which is only 0.2% higher than the 7600’s 26,617 average, confirming that the 7600 offers comparable gaming performance despite having fewer cores. This parity means that in The Medium, the CPU choice is unlikely to be the deciding factor between playable and unplayable frame rates; instead, it provides a stable foundation for the GPU to operate.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the driving force in this pairing, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Ada Lovelace architecture (chip AD104) operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This GPU includes 7,168 shading units, 56 RT cores, and 224 tensor cores, making it well-equipped for the visual effects in The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and heavy post-processing. The GPU’s 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,627 and Passmark G3D score of 29,995 place it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs.

The VRAM capacity is crucial at higher settings and resolutions. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 37 FPS, while 4K High yields 50.5 FPS. This steep decline suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s) and raw compute are being saturated, particularly by the Ultra preset’s texture and shadow quality. The RTX 4070 SUPER’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, has an average benchmark score of 42,653, which is only 0.2% higher than the 4070 SUPER’s 42,576 average. This indicates that the 4070 SUPER is punching well above its class in synthetic tests, but in The Medium, the 12 GB VRAM buffer may be a limiting factor at 4K, where the game’s high-resolution textures can consume significant memory. The GPU’s 220 W TDP and suggested 550 W PSU are reasonable for this performance level, but the data shows that the GPU is the primary component determining frame rates in this title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 165.1 FPS, which drops to 137.7 FPS at 1440p Low (a 16.6% reduction) and then to 108 FPS at 4K Low (a 34.6% reduction from 1080p). This pattern indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. At High settings, the drop is more pronounced: 75.4 FPS at 1080p, 62.9 FPS at 1440p (a 16.6% drop), and 50.5 FPS at 4K (a 33.0% drop from 1080p). This consistent percentage decrease across settings suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints, not the CPU.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with 56.7 FPS at 1080p, 52.4 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling—it is only 34.6% of the 1080p Low performance, demonstrating that the combination of high resolution and Ultra settings overwhelms the RTX 4070 SUPER’s capabilities. The data reveals that the CPU (Ryzen 5 7600) is not a bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rate drops scale almost perfectly with the pixel count increase. For example, moving from 1080p to 1440p increases pixels by 77.8%, but the FPS drop at Low is only 16.6%, indicating that the GPU still has headroom at lower settings. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly saturated, as evidenced by the sub-40 FPS result. This analysis points to the GPU as the limiting component in this pairing, especially at higher resolutions and quality presets.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 101.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and it is a significant improvement over the High preset’s 75.4 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 26.1 FPS (a 25.7% reduction), which is a substantial penalty for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a game with The Medium’s fixed-camera style. At 1440p Medium, the 90.3 FPS result remains playable on high-refresh-rate monitors, while 4K Medium drops to 71.7 FPS, which is still acceptable for a single-player horror title.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates (165.1 FPS at 1080p, 137.7 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K), but these numbers exceed what most displays can show and likely come at the cost of visual fidelity in shadows and textures. Conversely, the Ultra preset is not recommended for this combo, as it produces 56.7 FPS at 1080p and 37 FPS at 4K, which falls below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. For the best experience, the data suggests using Medium at 1080p or 1440p, where the frame rates are high enough to ensure consistent motion without dipping into stutter territory. At 4K, Medium is the highest playable preset, with 71.7 FPS, while High (50.5 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) should be avoided unless the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 254th out of 1,689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 15% of all tested pairings, which is a strong result considering the breadth of hardware tested. The rank reflects the GPU’s dominance in this title, as the CPU is unlikely to be a limiting factor. The data shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER outperforms its direct rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (which has an average benchmark score of 42,723, only 0.3% higher than the 4070 SUPER), but in The Medium, the NVIDIA card’s driver optimization and RT cores likely contribute to its strong showing.

The rank of 254 out of 1,689 means that there are 253 combos that perform better, but these are likely to include higher-tier GPUs like the RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX, which are not in this comparison. For a mid-range to upper-mid-range pairing, this result is commendable. The GPU’s percentile rank of 84 (versus all GPUs) and the CPU’s percentile of 83 (versus all CPUs) suggest that both components are well-matched, with neither dragging the other down. The combo’s rank confirms the RTX 4070 SUPER’s efficiency, as it delivers near-top-tier performance without requiring a flagship CPU. Users with this combo can expect a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K being playable only at lower presets, as reflected in the measured FPS data.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?*

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium (90.3 FPS) offers an excellent balance, while 1080p Medium (101.5 FPS) is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. 4K is playable at Medium (71.7 FPS) but drops to 50.5 FPS at High.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 SUPER in this game?

A: No. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K scale consistently with pixel count, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s single-thread score of 999 in 3dmark is sufficient for this title.

Q: Which preset should I avoid with this combo?

A: The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions, as it produces 56.7 FPS at 1080p and 37 FPS at 4K, both below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar systems?

A: It ranks 254th out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 15%. The GPU’s performance is comparable to the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% difference in average benchmark score).

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?*

A: Yes, but only at Low (108 FPS) or Medium (71.7 FPS) presets. The High preset (50.5 FPS) and Ultra preset (37 FPS) are below the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the impact of the 12 GB VRAM on this game?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6X memory is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all presets, but at 4K Ultra, the game’s high-resolution textures may cause performance to drop to 37 FPS, suggesting VRAM or bandwidth limitations.