The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a robust, yet heavily settings-dependent, experience in The Medium. Benchmark data shows this combination ranks 86th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of systems. While the CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking and the GPU’s 88th percentile ranking are close, the measured frame rates reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, with CPU headroom becoming apparent only at lower presets and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system produces an average of 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. The average frame rate drops from 69.5 FPS at High settings to 57.9 FPS at Ultra settings at 2560x1440, a decrease of approximately 16.7%.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in raw benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT's score of 53489.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 7600X bottleneck the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 175 FPS, while the GPU’s performance scaling from 1440p to 1080p is less than linear, indicating that the CPU’s single-thread performance is a limiting factor at very high frame rates.

Q: What is the FPS at 4K with Low settings?

A: The system achieves an average of 126 FPS at 3840x2160 with Low settings, showing that the GPU has substantial headroom when visual fidelity is reduced.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 3406 points in single-core and 24128 points in multi-core, indicating strong single-thread capabilities that support high frame rates in less demanding scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, built on a 5 nm process. This configuration provides a high level of single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3406 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1060. These scores are critical for gaming, as The Medium relies on a strong primary thread for game logic and scene management.

In multi-threaded workloads, the CPU’s 12 threads deliver a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24128. This is a solid result, but the game’s engine does not appear to scale perfectly with all available threads. The data shows that when the GPU is not the bottleneck, such as at 1080p Low settings (175 FPS), the CPU’s performance ceiling is reached. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6879, which is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 6845, confirms that the processor’s scaling plateaus after a certain point, making its high single-thread clocks more valuable for this title.

The 7600X’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support contribute to its responsiveness. Compared to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, the 7600X holds a marginal 0.2% advantage in average benchmark score (26272 vs. 26214). While this delta is negligible in synthetic tests, the 7600X’s architecture is better suited for the high-frequency demands of The Medium, where its boost clock of 5.30 GHz can be fully utilized. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a high-end part, and in this game, it provides sufficient throughput to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER in most scenarios, though it does become a limiting factor at extreme frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of visual performance in The Medium. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This memory capacity and bandwidth are ample for the game’s high-resolution textures, even at 4K. The GPU’s architecture, Ada Lovelace, includes 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores, processing at a boost clock of 2550 MHz. This hardware allows for a peak FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS, which is substantial for rasterization and ray-traced effects.

The GPU’s raw compute power is reflected in its benchmark scores, such as a Geekbench OpenCL score of 246994 and a Passmark G3D score of 34245. Its average benchmark score of 53610 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. When compared to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, the RTX 4080 SUPER is only 0.2% faster in average score. However, in this specific game, the NVIDIA card’s driver optimizations and feature set may provide a more consistent experience, especially at higher settings where the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes crucial.

The GPU’s performance is directly visible in the measured FPS. At 4K High settings, the card produces 54.8 FPS, but this drops to 43 FPS at Ultra, showing the heavy cost of the highest preset. The 16 GB VRAM ensures that there are no memory-related stutters, allowing the GPU to work at its full potential. The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, with its performance ceiling being the primary factor in determining playability at resolutions above 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system starts strong with 175 FPS on Low settings. This drops to 121.1 FPS on Medium and 82.9 FPS on High. The Ultra preset yields 68 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a significant 20% reduction from High.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down accordingly. The Low preset delivers 159.7 FPS, remaining highly playable. Medium settings produce 101.5 FPS, while High settings drop to 69.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution brings the system to 57.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for ideal smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s workload becomes the limiting factor. The Low preset still achieves 126 FPS, demonstrating the card’s headroom. Medium settings produce 78.2 FPS, and High settings drop to 54.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K yields the lowest result of 43 FPS, which is not ideal for a horror game that benefits from fluid motion. The data shows that for a consistent 60+ FPS experience, users should opt for High settings at 1440p or Medium settings at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K shows how the system’s bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low, the system hits 175 FPS. When moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 159.7 FPS, a reduction of 8.7%. However, moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low results in a larger drop to 126 FPS, a 21.1% decrease. This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is still a significant contributor, but the GPU is beginning to take over as the primary limiter at 4K.

For High settings, the scaling is more dramatic. The system produces 82.9 FPS at 1080p, 69.5 FPS at 1440p, and 54.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 16.2% and 21.1% respectively, showing a consistent increase in GPU load. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 68 at 1080p to 57.9 at 1440p (a 14.9% reduction) and then to 43 at 4K (a 25.7% reduction). This steep falloff at 4K Ultra confirms that the RTX 4080 SUPER is entirely GPU-bound at this setting, with the CPU having ample headroom to spare.

The data suggests that The Medium is a GPU-intensive title, particularly when settings are raised. The CPU’s role is more pronounced at lower settings and resolutions, where it can push frame rates higher. However, at 4K, the GPU’s rendering load dominates, and the FPS is dictated by the RTX 4080 SUPER’s raw throughput. The system’s rank of 86th out of 1689 combos reflects its high-end status, but the measured FPS shows that the Ultra preset at 4K is too demanding for this pairing to maintain high frame rates, making High settings the optimal balance for a smooth experience.