The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K in The Medium is steep and consistent across all settings, which reveals that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At High settings, the measured average frame rate falls from 63.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 50.9 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 40.9 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 22.5 FPS reduction between 1080p and 4K, translating to roughly a 35% performance loss. The pattern is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the drop from 50.1 FPS at 1080p to 39.4 FPS at 1440p and finally 32.7 FPS at 4K demonstrates that the GPU's rendering workload scales almost linearly with resolution.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo produces 142.9 FPS, which falls to 121.5 FPS at 1440p and 95.8 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K here is about 33%, which is smaller in absolute terms than the High preset's 22.5 FPS loss but still substantial. This suggests that even at Low settings, where the GPU has less geometry and shading work, the RX 9070's raw throughput is still the bottleneck rather than the Ryzen 5 7600X's six cores. The data indicates that the CPU, with its 4.70 GHz base and 5.30 GHz boost clocks, has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions but cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher pixel counts.

Interestingly, the Medium preset at 4K achieves 60.8 FPS, which is nearly identical to the High preset at 1440p (50.9 FPS) plus a 10 FPS margin. This suggests that for players targeting 4K, dropping from High to Medium recovers roughly 20 FPS at that resolution, which is a more effective lever than dropping resolution from 4K to 1440p at High settings (which only gains about 10 FPS). The scaling data clearly shows that settings adjustments have a larger impact on frame rates than resolution changes in this title, a hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario where the RX 9070's 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are being exercised heavily.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for this combo, particularly for 4K displays. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average FPS is 60.8, which is playable for a horror title that prioritizes atmosphere over twitch reflexes. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs 19.9 FPS (from 60.8 to 40.9), which is a 33% reduction that pushes the experience below the 60 FPS threshold. Conversely, dropping from Medium to Low at 4K gains 35 FPS (from 60.8 to 95.8), but Low settings in a game like The Medium, which relies on fixed camera angles and dense environmental detail, would significantly degrade the visual presentation.

For 1440p users, High settings at 50.9 FPS is borderline, but Medium at 76.9 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The 26 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1440p is substantial, and Medium remains the safer choice for consistent frame pacing. At 1080p, the situation flips: High at 63.4 FPS is acceptable, but Medium at 89.5 FPS is clearly superior, and even Ultra at 50.1 FPS is playable. The data suggests that Ultra is only viable at 1080p, where the 50.1 FPS average is above the 40 FPS minimums seen in other horror titles, but it is not recommended for 1440p or 4K where it drops to 39.4 and 32.7 FPS respectively.

The verdict is clear: Medium settings provide the best balance across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium (89.5 FPS), 1440p Medium (76.9 FPS), and 4K Medium (60.8 FPS), the combo never falls below 60 FPS, which is the target for smooth gameplay. Players with 120 Hz displays can even consider High at 1080p, but the 63.4 FPS figure falls short of 120 FPS, so Medium remains the recommendation for high-refresh-rate panels as well.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070's specifications directly explain the measured performance in The Medium. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card has ample capacity for this game's texture streaming, but the bandwidth figure of 644.6 GB/s is the more relevant metric for a title that shows a 35% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz indicate that the card is running at high frequencies, yet the 4K Ultra result of 32.7 FPS suggests that the 128 ROPs and 3584 shading units are saturated by the game's rendering demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate the gaming results. The PassMark G3D score of 25381 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 place the RX 9070 in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable but not top-tier. The nearest rival data shows the card trading blows with the NVIDIA A2 (deltaPct of -0.2), the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (0.3), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (0.7), though these comparisons are based on average benchmark scores rather than gaming-specific metrics. In The Medium specifically, the GPU's 79th percentile ranking translates to playable frame rates at Medium settings but not at Ultra, which is consistent with a card that is strong for mainstream gaming but not for maxed-out 4K.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor here; even at 4K Ultra, the game would not likely exceed 16 GB of usage. Instead, the data points to the GPU's compute throughput as the bottleneck. The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS is high, but The Medium's fixed-camera horror presentation with layered rendering effects appears to be more dependent on texture fill rate and pixel throughput, where the RX 9070's 322.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 564.5 GTexel/s texture rate are being pushed to their limits at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 512th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the pairing in the 70th percentile of all tested configurations, which is a solid mid-to-upper tier result. The rank is more reflective of the GPU's performance than the CPU's, as the game is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the CPU's contribution cannot be ignored. The Ryzen 5 7600X's 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs (with an average benchmark score of 26272) ensures that it is not holding back the GPU in most scenarios.

The combo's rank of 512 means that there are 511 tested configurations that outperform it in this specific game, which is expected given that the RX 9070 is not a flagship GPU. The data shows that the pairing is competitive with systems featuring more powerful CPUs but similar GPUs, as the 7600X's six cores and 12 threads with a 32 MB L3 cache provide sufficient processing power for the game's CPU-bound scenes. The nearest CPU rivals — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, Ryzen 7 7735U, Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE, and Ryzen 7 5700X — all have average scores within 0.2% of the 7600X, confirming that the CPU is not a differentiator in this title. The rank is therefore primarily a function of the GPU's 79th percentile standing, and the fact that the combo sits 70th percentile of all combos suggests the CPU is adding a small but measurable benefit.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, but the data reveals that it is more than adequate for this title. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (142.9 FPS) indicates that the CPU can push well over 140 frames per second when the GPU is not the limiting factor, which means the processor's single-thread performance is strong enough to keep up with the game's logic and physics on one or two threads.

The CPU's benchmark scores support this conclusion. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3406 and multi-core score of 24128 are strong for a six-core part, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4135 places it well above average. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1060 and 2-thread score of 2028 show that the CPU scales well with the limited thread counts that most games use. The Medium, being a horror title with a fixed camera perspective, likely relies on a few heavily loaded threads rather than broad multi-threading, which plays to the 7600X's strengths.

The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26272, is notably higher than the GPU's 79th percentile. This means the CPU is slightly overqualified for the GPU pairing, which is a good thing for frame consistency. The 32 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) ensure that data can be fed to the GPU quickly, and the 5.30 GHz boost clock means that even the most demanding CPU-bound scenes in The Medium should not cause stuttering. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution or settings combination tested; the only time the CPU might show its limits is at 1080p Low, where the 142.9 FPS figure approaches the upper range of what a six-core part can sustain in a game with this level of CPU overhead.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on settings. Low settings produce an average of 142.9 FPS, which is the highest figure measured in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 89.5 FPS, High settings to 63.4 FPS, and Ultra settings to 50.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 92.8 FPS, indicating that settings have a massive impact at this resolution. The 1080p Ultra result of 50.1 FPS is above the 40 FPS minimum often cited for playability, but it is not recommended for consistent 60 FPS gaming.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings yield 121.5 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS. Medium settings produce 76.9 FPS, which is the sweet spot for 1440p. High settings drop to 50.9 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 39.4 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is the first sub-40 FPS figure in the dataset, and it indicates that Ultra is not viable at this resolution. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 82.1 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p but still substantial.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low settings produce 95.8 FPS, which is still playable and even smooth. Medium settings yield 60.8 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that achieves the 60 FPS target. High settings drop to 40.9 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 32.7 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset. The 4K Ultra figure is below the 40 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay in a horror title, and even 4K High at 40.9 FPS is borderline. The data shows that 4K Medium is the only viable option for this combo at 4K, while 4K Low at 95.8 FPS is an option for players prioritizing frame rate over visuals.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: Medium settings at 3840x2160 produce an average of 60.8 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that achieves the 60 FPS target. Low settings at 4K reach 95.8 FPS, but Medium offers a 20 FPS improvement over High (40.9 FPS) and a 28 FPS improvement over Ultra (32.7 FPS).

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600X a bottleneck for the RX 9070 in The Medium?

A: No. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking (average benchmark score 26272) is higher than the GPU's 79th percentile. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 142.9 FPS, indicating the CPU can sustain high frame rates without limiting the GPU.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 63.4 at 1080p to 40.9 at 4K, a loss of 22.5 FPS (35%). At Low settings, the drop is from 142.9 to 95.8 FPS, a loss of 47.1 FPS (33%).

Q: Is Ultra settings viable at any resolution for this combo?

A: Ultra is only marginally viable at 1080p, where it produces 50.1 FPS. At 1440p it drops to 39.4 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 32.7 FPS, both of which are below the 40 FPS threshold for smooth playability.

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

A: The combo ranks 512th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 70th percentile of all tested systems. This is consistent with the GPU's 79th percentile and CPU's 83rd percentile rankings.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 produce 76.9 FPS, while High settings produce 50.9 FPS. The difference is 26 FPS, which is significant enough to recommend Medium for consistent 60 FPS gameplay.