The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination delivers a highly capable, though not top-tier, experience in The Medium. The benchmark data shows a system that excels at lower settings and resolutions, but encounters significant strain when pushed to maximum graphical fidelity at 4K.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which are strong frequencies for a desktop part. The processor is built on a 5 nm process and supports DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface, providing a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. This configuration is well-suited for modern gaming workloads, where high single-thread performance is often critical.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's capabilities are more than adequate to feed the GPU. The game is not known for being particularly CPU-intensive, and the Ryzen 5 7600X's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and high boost clocks ensure that it will not become a bottleneck in most scenarios. The data supports this; the CPU ranks in the 83rd percentile among all processors, indicating it is a solidly above-average performer.

When comparing to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 7600X shows a tight grouping. Its average benchmark score of 26272 is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, which scores 26262, a delta of 0%. It is also essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 7735U and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE, with deltas of -0.1% and -0.2% respectively. The only rival in the list that edges it out is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, which scores 26214, a delta of 0.2% in favor of the 7600X. This suggests that the CPU has ample headroom for the gaming task at hand, and its performance is consistent with other high-end options in its class.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the primary driver of performance in this pairing. It is a high-end graphics card based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. This provides a substantial memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, which is a key asset for high-resolution textures and demanding effects. The GPU has a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2015 MHz.

The GPU's specifications make it a powerful component for The Medium. The game's fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments can be demanding on fill rate and memory. The RX 6800 XT's 128 ROPs and 288 TMUs help to process these scenes efficiently. The data shows that the GPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, reinforcing its position as a high-end part.

Looking at its nearest rivals, the RX 6800 XT holds its own. Its average benchmark score of 49982 is 0.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A550M, which scores 49737. It also leads the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, which scores 49071, by 1.9%. However, it trails the NVIDIA RTX A1000, which scores 50826, by 1.7%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, which scores 48704, by 2.6%. These deltas show that the RX 6800 XT is competitive with a range of other high-performance cards, and its 16 GB of VRAM is a significant advantage for a game like The Medium that can use large amounts of memory.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Ryzen 5 7600X and the RX 6800 XT is ranked 550th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the upper third of all systems tested, indicating that it is a strong performer but not among the absolute elite. The ranking suggests that while the components are individually capable, the overall system is not the fastest configuration possible for this title.

This rank of 550 out of 1689 is a useful indicator of the system's standing. It shows that there are 549 other combinations that achieve better average frame rates in this game. These higher-ranked systems likely feature more powerful GPUs, such as newer flagship models, or perhaps more optimized CPU-GPU pairings. The data implies that this combo is a solid high-end choice, but there is room for improvement if the goal is to achieve the highest possible frame rates. The system is clearly not at the bottom of the pack, but it is also not at the top, sitting comfortably in the upper-middle range of performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how the system performs across different resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the system shows a wide range of performance depending on the settings preset. With Low settings, the average FPS is 137.9, which is very high and ensures a smooth experience. Moving to Medium settings, the average FPS drops to 87. At High settings, the average is 61.8, and at Ultra, it falls to 52. This shows that even at the highest settings, the system maintains a playable frame rate at 1080p.

At 1440p, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset yields an average of 116.6 FPS, which is still excellent. The Medium preset delivers 75.5 FPS, and High settings produce 52.5 FPS. The Ultra preset is more demanding, with the average FPS dropping to 42. This indicates that the system can handle 1440p well at lower settings, but at Ultra, the frame rate becomes less fluid.

At 4K, the system's limitations become apparent. The Low preset still achieves a respectable 92.3 FPS, which is quite good for 4K. The Medium preset drops to 54.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The High preset yields 41.3 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings the average down to 35.4 FPS. These numbers show that the system is not able to provide a consistently smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K with higher settings, and at Ultra, the frame rate is below what is generally considered optimal for a horror title that benefits from a stable frame rate.

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

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear trend. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 137.9 FPS. At 1440p Low, this drops to 116.6 FPS, a decrease of 21.3 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate is 92.3 FPS, which is a further drop of 24.3 FPS from 1440p. This shows that the GPU is the primary limiting factor when moving to higher resolutions, as the workload on the graphics card increases significantly.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. At Medium, the frame rate drops from 87 at 1080p to 75.5 at 1440p, and then to 54.5 at 4K. At High, the progression is 61.8 to 52.5 to 41.3. At Ultra, it goes from 52 to 42 to 35.4. The relative performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, particularly at higher settings. For example, at Ultra, the 4K frame rate is 35.4, which is only 68% of the 1080p frame rate of 52. This indicates that the GPU is being heavily taxed at 4K, and the CPU is not the bottleneck.

The data suggests that the Radeon RX 6800 XT is the component that limits performance at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its high clocks and strong single-thread performance, is able to keep up with the GPU's demands at 1080p and 1440p. However, as the resolution increases, the GPU's raw pixel-pushing power becomes the deciding factor. The substantial frame rate drops at 4K, especially at High and Ultra settings, clearly show that the GPU is working at its limits, while the CPU likely has more headroom to spare. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card is the limiting component in the system.