The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a broad performance envelope in The Medium, with measured frame rates ranging from a playable 53.7 FPS at 4K Ultra to a fluid 173.3 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination, ranking 14th out of 1689 tested hardware combinations in this title, demonstrates that while the GPU is exceptionally powerful, the game's demands scale steeply with both resolution and quality settings. The data indicates a system capable of high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p play, but one that requires careful settings management to maintain smooth performance at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 98.4 FPS at 1080p to 85.3 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 13.1 FPS, and then falls further to 63.6 FPS at 4K. This progression shows that the most significant performance cost occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, where the pixel count increases substantially, placing a heavier load on the GPU.

The scaling behavior across all settings points to the GPU as the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. At the Low preset, the frame rate only drops from 173.3 FPS at 1080p to 164.9 FPS at 1440p, a mere 8.4 FPS difference, before falling to 142.5 FPS at 4K. This relatively modest decline at lower settings suggests that the RTX 5090 has ample headroom to handle the rendering workload when visual effects are reduced, but the CPU becomes more influential in maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Conversely, the Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling curve, with frame rates falling from 79.9 FPS at 1080p to 66.7 FPS at 1440p, and then to 53.7 FPS at 4K. The 26.2 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Ultra highlights how the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical features creates an intense GPU workload. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is more balanced, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering capabilities are the definitive bottleneck, as the frame rates at all settings converge toward a narrower range. The 63.6 FPS at 4K High versus 53.7 FPS at 4K Ultra demonstrates that the transition from High to Ultra carries a significant performance penalty at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, is clearly the dominant component driving performance in these tests. The GPU's high bandwidth is particularly relevant for a game like The Medium, which likely streams large textures and environments. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening from 93.4 FPS at 1080p to 88.8 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are being taxed more heavily at higher resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2017 MHz and a boost of 2407 MHz, contribute to its substantial raw performance. The 32 GB VRAM capacity is a notable asset, ensuring that memory capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor even at 4K with High or Ultra textures. While the exact VRAM usage is not measured in the data, the sheer capacity suggests that the card can handle the game's highest quality assets without spilling into system memory. The RTX 5090's performance percentile of 94, with an average benchmark score of 84306, places it in the top tier of graphics cards, and the measured FPS results align with this high standing.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 is the primary driver of FPS differences across settings. At 1440p, the difference between Medium (116.8 FPS) and High (85.3 FPS) is 31.5 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra (66.7 FPS) is 18.6 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that certain settings, likely those related to shadows, reflections, or post-processing, have a disproportionate impact on the GPU's workload. The RTX 5090's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, is designed to handle these demanding effects, but the data shows that even this high-end card cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, highlighting the game's demanding nature.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing solid frame rates without the extreme performance cost of Ultra. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 136.8 FPS, which is a substantial 56.9 FPS higher than Ultra (79.9 FPS) while still offering a visual upgrade over Low (173.3 FPS). The performance jump from Medium to High at 1080p is a significant 38.4 FPS reduction, suggesting that High settings introduce a heavy visual feature that is not worth the cost for most users.

At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 116.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and provides a 50.1 FPS advantage over Ultra (66.7 FPS). The High preset at 1440p yields 85.3 FPS, which is still very playable, but the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, Medium settings are the recommended choice to maximize frame rates while retaining a good level of visual fidelity.

At 4K, the Medium preset produces 88.9 FPS, which is an excellent result for a horror game where smoothness is important for immersion. This is a 35.2 FPS improvement over High (63.6 FPS) and a 35.2 FPS improvement over Ultra (53.7 FPS). While High is technically playable at an average of 63.6 FPS, the Medium preset provides a more consistent and comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target, making it the superior recommendation for 4K gaming. The Ultra preset, with its 53.7 FPS average, is not recommended for 4K as it falls below the ideal smoothness threshold, though it may be acceptable for users prioritizing maximum visual quality over frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5090 and Ryzen 5 7600X combination demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves the highest average frame rate of 173.3 FPS, followed by Medium at 136.8 FPS, High at 98.4 FPS, and Ultra at 79.9 FPS. The spread of 93.4 FPS between the lowest and highest quality settings indicates that the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU even at lower resolutions, where the graphics card is less stressed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected, but remains highly playable. The Low preset still delivers 164.9 FPS, which is only an 8.4 FPS drop from 1080p, showing that the GPU can handle the increased pixel count with minimal settings. The Medium preset achieves 116.8 FPS, a 20 FPS reduction from 1080p, while High drops to 85.3 FPS and Ultra falls to 66.7 FPS. The relative performance gaps between settings remain consistent, with Medium offering a 31.5 FPS advantage over High.

At 3840x2160, the performance impact of the higher resolution is most apparent. The Low preset maintains a respectable 142.5 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 88.9 FPS, a 27.9 FPS reduction from 1440p. The High preset achieves 63.6 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while the Ultra preset falls to 53.7 FPS. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as even the Low preset cannot maintain the 173.3 FPS seen at 1080p. The measured FPS values at 4K indicate that users should choose between Medium for high frame rates or High for a balance, as Ultra does not provide a playable experience for most users.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware for the highest frame rates?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average frame rate at 173.3 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and performance, 2560x1440 with Medium settings achieves 116.8 FPS, which is a strong choice.

Q: How well does this system perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the system can deliver 142.5 FPS on Low, 88.9 FPS on Medium, and 63.6 FPS on High settings. The Ultra preset drops to 53.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using in this game?

A: The measured data shows that Ultra provides a significant performance penalty over High across all resolutions. At 4K, the difference is 9.9 FPS (63.6 vs 53.7), and at 1080p, it is 18.5 FPS (98.4 vs 79.9). The visual uplift is not quantified in the data, but the performance cost is substantial.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's memory configuration impact performance?

A: The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with a 512-bit bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. This high bandwidth is likely a key factor in maintaining playable frame rates at 4K, as the game can access textures and geometry data quickly.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings?

A: The difference is significant. At 1080p, the drop is 38.4 FPS (136.8 to 98.4), and at 4K, it is 25.3 FPS (88.9 to 63.6). This suggests that High settings enable a particularly demanding feature that heavily impacts the GPU.

Q: Is the CPU a limiting factor at lower resolutions?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a primary bottleneck at 1080p, as the frame rates are very high (up to 173.3 FPS). However, the Ryzen 5 7600X has an average benchmark score of 26272, and its performance is sufficient to keep up with the GPU at these settings.