The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a robust experience in The Medium, with performance scaling predictably across resolution and preset combinations. The data indicates that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing the lowest frame rates at every resolution, while the Low preset offers the highest headroom. Across the board, the Medium preset provides a significantly better balance of visual fidelity and performance compared to High, making it the most practical choice for sustained playability.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results show that the Medium preset is the optimal configuration for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, Medium yields an average of 100.4 FPS, which is 25.3 FPS higher than the High preset’s 75.1 FPS. This gap widens at higher resolutions: at 2560x1440, Medium achieves 85.1 FPS versus 63.8 FPS on High, and at 3840x2160, the difference is 66.3 FPS compared to 51.1 FPS. The performance cost of moving from Medium to High is substantial, while the visual uplift is typically less pronounced in this title’s fixed-camera scenes.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combo, as it drops average frame rates to 59.2 FPS at 1080p, 46.8 FPS at 1440p, and 36.9 FPS at 4K. These figures fall below the smooth thresholds that most users target, particularly at higher resolutions. Conversely, the Low preset offers the highest frame rates—159.8 FPS at 1080p, 134.2 FPS at 1440p, and 106.2 FPS at 4K—but sacrifices significant visual quality. For a balanced experience, Medium stands out as the sweet spot, delivering playable frame rates even at 4K, where it remains above 60 FPS. The data suggests that users prioritizing smoothness should select Medium, while those with high-refresh-rate 1080p displays might consider Low for maximum FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 293rd out of 1689 tested combos. This places it in the top 17.3% of all configurations, indicating a strong overall performance level. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU, with the Radeon RX 7900 XT providing the majority of the rendering power. The CPU, with a percentile rank of 85 against all processors, demonstrates ample processing headroom, while the GPU’s percentile of 82 against all graphics cards confirms its high-end status.

The combo’s position in the rankings is consistent with its component strengths. The Ryzen 5 9600X’s multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 25525, ensures that the system does not bottleneck the GPU in this horror title, which is known for its cinematic presentation rather than extreme CPU load. The GPU’s synthetic benchmarks, such as a Passmark G3D score of 29009, support the observed in-game frame rates. Relative to other tested combos, this build is positioned well within the upper echelon, offering a level of performance that will comfortably handle the game’s requirements across most settings. The 293rd rank out of 1689 combos signifies that while there are faster configurations, this one delivers a consistently strong experience without approaching the lower-tier results.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of performance in The Medium, a game that relies heavily on GPU compute for its dual-reality rendering mechanic. The GPU is equipped with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. This large memory allocation is particularly relevant for a game like The Medium, which renders two simultaneous perspectives at times, potentially increasing memory pressure. The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and data transfer remain efficient, preventing stutter even at high resolutions.

Clock speeds play a significant role in the observed performance scaling. The GPU’s base clock is 1387 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The boost behavior is evident in the frame rate differences between presets; as the load increases with higher settings, the GPU sustains higher clocks to maintain output, but the increased shader work still results in lower average FPS. The card’s 5376 shading units and 84 ray tracing cores provide the raw compute for the game’s lighting and shadow effects, though The Medium does not heavily utilize ray tracing, meaning the traditional RDNA 3.0 architecture is sufficient.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS indicates substantial raw throughput, which translates directly to the measured frame rates. For instance, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p reduces average FPS from 159.8 to 100.4, a 37.2% decrease, reflecting the increased pixel and texture workload. At 4K, the same settings change results in a drop from 106.2 to 66.3 FPS, showing that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute units become more saturated at higher resolutions. The 20 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, memory is not a limiting factor, as evidenced by the playable (if not ideal) 36.9 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s capabilities across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 159.8 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium drops to 100.4 FPS, still very smooth, while High yields 75.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 59.2 FPS. The progression shows a consistent scaling pattern, with each preset step costing roughly 20-25% performance.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges but with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 134.2 FPS, Medium 85.1 FPS, High 63.8 FPS, and Ultra 46.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 21.3 FPS, which is notable for a single preset change. The Ultra preset at 1440p dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making it a less desirable option for most users. The data indicates that Medium is the highest preset that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed harder. Low still achieves a very playable 106.2 FPS, while Medium drops to 66.3 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS target. High falls to 51.1 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 36.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 39.9 FPS, highlighting the significant cost of higher-quality textures and effects. The results show that this combo can handle 4K gaming, but only at Medium settings or lower for a consistent experience. Notably, the 4K Medium result of 66.3 FPS is higher than the 1440p Ultra result of 46.8 FPS, suggesting that users should prioritize lower presets over higher resolutions to maintain smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 60 FPS experience at 4K resolution?

A: The Medium preset is the only higher-tier option that averages above 60 FPS at 3840x2160, with a measured average of 66.3 FPS. The High and Ultra presets fall below this threshold, reaching 51.1 and 36.9 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of frame rate cost?

A: The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding than High. At 1920x1080, Ultra drops the average FPS from 75.1 to 59.2, a reduction of 15.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, the cost is 17.0 FPS (from 63.8 to 46.8), and at 3840x2160, the drop is 14.2 FPS (from 51.1 to 36.9).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU’s strong multi-threaded score (25525 in Cinebench R23) and high percentile rank (85) indicate it can keep pace, while the GPU’s average FPS varies dramatically with settings, reflecting its workload. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 29009 correlates with the observed performance scaling.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 134.2 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 85.1 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 49.1 FPS when moving from Low to Medium, indicating a substantial increase in rendering complexity.

Q: Does the large VRAM capacity help with high resolutions?

A: The 20 GB of GDDR6 memory ensures that the GPU does not run out of memory in The Medium. At 4K Ultra, the GPU still produces an average of 36.9 FPS, which is low due to compute limits rather than memory constraints, as the bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s supports the data throughput.

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

A: This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 293rd out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 17.3% of all systems, indicating a high-performance pairing that handles the game well across most settings.