The Medium

# The Medium: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a playable but uneven experience in The Medium, with results that shift dramatically based on settings and resolution. The combo ranks in the 90th percentile of tested configurations (170th of 1689), indicating strong overall performance, yet the game's demanding visual effects create notable bottlenecks at higher presets. The data shows a clear pattern: this system excels at Low and Medium settings across all resolutions, but struggles to maintain smooth framerates at Ultra, particularly at 4K where the average drops below 45 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the hardware limits lie. At Low settings, the system delivers 174.6 FPS at 1920x1080, 149.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and 119 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 31.8% drop from 1080p to 4K — a relatively modest penalty that suggests the CPU and GPU are both well-utilized at lower settings. The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 112 FPS at 1080p, 92.5 FPS at 1440p, and 70.9 FPS at 4K, a 36.7% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution.

High settings change the picture considerably. The system produces 75.6 FPS at 1080p, 64.6 FPS at 1440p, and 52.4 FPS at 4K — a 30.7% drop from 1080p to 4K. This is the sweet spot where the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the frame rates are beginning to show the game's rendering demands. Ultra is where the scaling becomes punishing: 59.6 FPS at 1080p, 51.3 FPS at 1440p, and 40.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 32.0% below the 1080p Ultra figure, and critically, it falls below the 45 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for a horror title where atmosphere depends on fluid motion.

The scaling pattern indicates that at Ultra, the GPU is the limiting component. The RTX 4070 Ti's 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 80 ROPs are simply not enough to maintain high framerates when The Medium's full visual effects stack is enabled at higher resolutions. Conversely, at Low settings, the relatively modest resolution scaling suggests the CPU — the Ryzen 5 7600X with its 6 cores and 12 threads — is keeping pace effectively.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti's specifications directly explain the measured results. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at all settings but becomes strained at 4K Ultra. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2310 MHz are high for the Ada Lovelace architecture, yet the 285 W TDP and dual-slot cooler are the physical limits that constrain sustained performance.

The benchmark data shows the GPU's percentile ranking at 85th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152 — just 0.6% higher — which puts the RTX 4070 Ti in a competitive position for this generation. However, The Medium's measured results suggest that the game's specific demands, particularly its use of split-screen rendering for the dual-reality mechanic, place unusual stress on the GPU's memory subsystem and compute units.

At 4K Ultra, the 40.5 FPS result indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The 70.9 FPS at 4K Medium shows that reducing texture quality and shadow resolution can free up enough memory bandwidth and shader throughput to nearly double the framerate. The RTX 4070 Ti's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present, but The Medium does not appear to benefit significantly from ray tracing or DLSS in these measurements, as the framerates scale linearly with traditional rendering settings rather than showing the jumps typical of upscaling technologies.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of playable settings. For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the options are limited at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, only Low settings (119 FPS) and Medium settings (70.9 FPS) clear the 60 FPS bar. High settings at 4K produce 52.4 FPS, which is borderline, while Ultra at 40.5 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves. Medium settings deliver 92.5 FPS, High settings deliver 64.6 FPS, and Low settings hit 149.9 FPS. Ultra at 51.3 FPS is still below 60, but the gap is smaller than at 4K. For 1920x1080, all presets except Ultra clear 60 FPS: Low at 174.6 FPS, Medium at 112 FPS, and High at 75.6 FPS. Ultra at 59.6 FPS is just barely under the 60 FPS mark, making it a viable choice for players who prioritize visual fidelity over a strict framerate target.

The optimal balance between visual quality and performance is the High preset at 1440p, which delivers 64.6 FPS while retaining most of the game's atmospheric effects. For 4K users, Medium at 70.9 FPS is the best trade-off, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while preserving enough detail for the game's horror aesthetic. The Ultra preset, across all resolutions, represents a significant performance cost (ranging from 21.1% slower than High at 1080p to 22.7% slower at 4K) that is difficult to justify given the modest visual improvements it likely provides.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 170 out of 1689 tested configurations places it in the top 10.1% of all systems tested in The Medium. This is a strong showing, reflecting the balance between the Ryzen 5 7600X and the RTX 4070 Ti. The CPU's percentile ranking of 83rd among all processors and the GPU's 85th percentile ranking are closely matched, indicating that neither component is drastically over- or under-powered relative to the other.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U (26262, 0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 7 7735U (26305, -0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE (26320, -0.2% delta). These are all mobile or lower-power desktop parts, which underscores how competitive the 7600X is for its class. The GPU's nearest rivals — the RTX 5090 Mobile (45152, -0.6% delta), Intel Arc A730M (45592, -1.5% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45642, -1.6% delta) — are also a mix of mobile and workstation parts, suggesting that the RTX 4070 Ti holds its own against a wide range of hardware.

In the context of The Medium specifically, the combo's rank suggests that it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, but the game's demanding nature means that even top-tier hardware cannot run all settings at maximum with high framerates. The data shows that this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring settings compromises.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a supporting role in The Medium's performance. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz are among the highest for a mainstream desktop processor, and the Zen 4 architecture on the 5 nm TSMC process delivers strong single-thread performance. The CPU's benchmark scores confirm this: a single-thread score of 1060 in 3DMark, 4135 in PassMark, and 3406 in Cinebench R23 single-core.

The game's measured framerates at Low settings across resolutions (174.6 FPS at 1080p, 149.9 FPS at 1440p, 119 FPS at 4K) suggest that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough frames to avoid being a bottleneck, even at lower resolutions where CPU load is typically higher. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6879 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 24128 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which is relevant for The Medium's use of multiple rendering threads for its dual-world presentation.

However, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU in this title. The framerate drops from 1080p to 4K at every settings level are primarily attributable to GPU load, not CPU limitations. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth with DDR5 support are sufficient for the game's data streaming requirements, and the 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that even the most demanding CPU-bound scenes are handled without issue.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: Only at Low (119 FPS) or Medium (70.9 FPS) settings. High settings at 4K produce 52.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 40.5 FPS, both below 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: High settings deliver 64.6 FPS at 2560x1440, which is the highest preset that clears 60 FPS. Medium delivers 92.5 FPS and Low delivers 149.9 FPS, but High offers the best visual quality per frame.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The data suggests yes. The 4K Ultra result of 40.5 FPS is 32.0% lower than 1080p Ultra's 59.6 FPS, and the GPU's 12 GB memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are likely insufficient for the game's highest-quality textures at that resolution.

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

A: It ranks 170th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the top 10.1% of all configurations tested in The Medium.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600X holding back the RTX 4070 Ti?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores (e.g., 3DMark single-thread 1060, Cinebench R23 single-core 3406) and the framerates at Low settings (174.6 FPS at 1080p) indicate it can keep pace with the GPU.

Q: What settings should I use for a locked 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1080p, use High (75.6 FPS) or Medium (112 FPS). At 1440p, use Medium (92.5 FPS) or High (64.6 FPS). At 4K, only Low (119 FPS) or Medium (70.9 FPS) are viable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces 174.6 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium, 75.6 FPS on High, and 59.6 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs 35.9% performance, while the step from Medium to High costs 32.5%, and the step from High to Ultra costs 21.1%.

At 2560x1440, the results are 149.9 FPS on Low, 92.5 FPS on Medium, 64.6 FPS on High, and 51.3 FPS on Ultra. The penalty from Low to Medium is 38.3%, from Medium to High is 30.2%, and from High to Ultra is 20.6%.

At 3840x2160, the system delivers 119 FPS on Low, 70.9 FPS on Medium, 52.4 FPS on High, and 40.5 FPS on Ultra. The drops are 40.4% from Low to Medium, 26.1% from Medium to High, and 22.7% from High to Ultra.

The data shows that the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance across all resolutions, with the smallest percentage penalty from 1080p to 4K (36.7% drop) compared to Low (31.8%), High (30.7%), and Ultra (32.0%). This suggests that Medium settings are where the RTX 4070 Ti's resources are most efficiently utilized in The Medium.