The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a playable, though not universally smooth, experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p on medium settings, but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases, a classic indicator of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 168.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 140.3 FPS, a 17% reduction. The jump to 4K Low yields 113.1 FPS, another 19% decline. This scaling pattern suggests that even at lower graphical presets, the rendering load grows substantially with pixel count, taxing the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

The trend becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At Medium, the averages are 101.9 FPS (1080p), 89.2 FPS (1440p), and 68.3 FPS (4K). The delta between 1080p and 4K at Medium is 33% — a significant drop that points to the GPU's compute resources being saturated. At High settings, the numbers fall to 73.1, 63.5, and 52 FPS respectively, with the 4K result dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 57 FPS at 1080p, 51.8 FPS at 1440p, and 41.1 FPS at 4K.

The pattern is clear: the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting to 5.30 GHz, has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The severe FPS penalty from 1080p to 4K at every preset confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting factor. The 4K Ultra result of 41.1 FPS is only 72% of the 1080p Ultra score, demonstrating that the GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is overwhelmed by the combination of high pixel count and intense shader work.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p as the sweet spot. At High settings, it delivers 63.5 FPS, which is comfortably above the 4K result of 52 FPS but still below the 1080p figure of 73.1 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset achieves 89.2 FPS, offering a strong balance of visual quality and performance.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the combo averages 113.1 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 68.3 FPS. However, 4K High drops to 52 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to 41.1 FPS. Users targeting 60 FPS at 4K should stick to Medium settings or lower.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600X has an average benchmark score of 26272, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, scores 26262, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 7 7735U scores 26305, showing a -0.1% delta, meaning the 7600X is essentially tied with these parts in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER a strong performer relative to other GPUs?

A: The GPU sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores 42653, a delta of -0.2%. The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE scores 42723 (-0.3% delta), indicating the 4070 SUPER is statistically indistinguishable from these top-tier cards in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 140.3 FPS while Ultra produces 51.8 FPS. This is a 63% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset, highlighting the massive computational cost of Ultra-quality effects.

Q: Does the combo rank well among tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 234th out of 1689 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 14% of all systems evaluated. This is a strong result, though not elite, given the GPU's end-of-life production status.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination achieves a rank of 234 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the 86th percentile of all configurations, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of tested hardware pairings for this specific title. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's 83rd percentile standing and the GPU's 84th percentile position.

The combo's rank is impressive given that the GPU is marked as end-of-life. The RTX 4070 SUPER's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, has a delta of -0.2%, suggesting that the 4070 SUPER is competitive with professional-grade workstation cards in aggregate performance. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U and AMD Ryzen 7 7735U, show deltas of 0% and -0.1% respectively, indicating that the 7600X is well-matched with these mobile and lower-power desktop parts in synthetic tests.

In practical terms, this rank means the combo will handle The Medium without major compromises at 1080p and 1440p. The 1689 tested combos include a wide range of hardware, so being in the top 234 is a clear indication of strong overall capability. However, the 4K Ultra result of 41.1 FPS shows that this is not a top-tier 4K system, as those slots are likely reserved for higher-end GPUs with more VRAM and compute throughput.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth 60+ FPS experience, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. At 1080p, Medium yields 101.9 FPS, at 1440p it produces 89.2 FPS, and even at 4K it achieves 68.3 FPS. This preset provides a significant performance boost over High while likely retaining most of the visual fidelity that matters in a horror title like The Medium, where atmosphere and lighting are critical.

Users with 1440p monitors should strongly consider Medium as the default. The 89.2 FPS result at this setting leaves ample headroom for frame rate dips in intense scenes, and the visual upgrade from Low to Medium is substantial. For 4K displays, Medium is the only preset that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the clear choice for a locked experience.

High settings are viable for 1080p (73.1 FPS) and 1440p (63.5 FPS), but the 4K result of 52 FPS falls short of the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings are not recommended for any resolution, as even 1080p only achieves 57 FPS, and the 4K result of 41.1 FPS is borderline unplayable for a game that relies on smooth camera movement for its horror atmosphere. Low settings are only necessary for users seeking maximum frame rates, with 168.9 FPS at 1080p being the highest measured result.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce an average of 168.9 FPS, Medium yields 101.9 FPS, High drops to 73.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 57 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 111.9 FPS, demonstrating the massive impact of graphical presets on this horror title.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down consistently. Low settings average 140.3 FPS, Medium achieves 89.2 FPS, High reaches 63.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 51.8 FPS. The 1440p results show a 15% to 20% reduction compared to 1080p at each preset, which is expected given the 78% increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings still manage 113.1 FPS, but Medium drops to 68.3 FPS. High settings fall to 52 FPS, and Ultra plunges to 41.1 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured frame rate in the entire dataset, representing just 24% of the 1080p Low score. This confirms that 4K resolution with maximum settings is beyond the comfortable reach of this hardware combination.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, provides the computational backbone for this system. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it offers a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high-frequency design is well-suited for gaming, as The Medium benefits from strong single-thread performance. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1060 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3406 indicate excellent per-core capability.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24128 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 12905. This ensures that the 12 threads can handle background tasks and any game engine threads that scale beyond 6 cores without becoming a bottleneck. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache provides a large pool for game data, reducing latency and improving frame pacing.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. Given that the FPS drops significantly at 4K, the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 3DMark max threads score of 6845, compared to the 16-thread score of 6879, shows that the CPU has consistent scaling across its thread count, meaning it can handle the game's multi-threaded workloads without stalling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the observed performance. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra preset likely pushes VRAM usage close to the limit, contributing to the 41.1 FPS result.

The GPU's Ada Lovelace architecture delivers 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether these features were enabled. The boost clock of 2475 MHz ensures high throughput in compute-heavy scenes.

The PassMark G3D score of 29995 places the GPU in the 84th percentile, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, shows a delta of -0.2%. This indicates that the 4070 SUPER performs on par with much more expensive professional cards in general 3D workloads. However, the game-specific results show that The Medium's rendering engine is particularly demanding on GPU resources, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops at higher settings. The GPU's 220 W TDP and 549 W suggested PSU requirement are the only power-related figures provided, but they suggest the card is a high-power component that delivers substantial performance for its class.