The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination delivers a split personality in The Medium, producing high refresh rates at lower settings but struggling to maintain smooth motion at maximum quality presets. The data shows a system that is heavily influenced by the game’s rendering load, with the CPU providing a stable foundation and the GPU dictating the overall experience based on resolution and settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. For a title like The Medium, which relies on a mix of physics and scene complexity, the CPU’s multi-threaded capability is relevant. The processor posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25525 and a single-core score of 3603, indicating strong per-thread performance that helps maintain consistent frame pacing.

The Ryzen 5 9600X ranks in the 85th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28246. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230, both scoring nearly identically at 28173 and 28164, respectively, with a delta of just 0.3%. The AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and Intel Core i5-14500T are slightly ahead, at 28369 and 28377, with deltas of -0.4% and -0.5%, meaning the 9600X trails those by less than half a percent.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role becomes apparent when examining the 3DMark thread scaling. The processor scores 7590 in the max-thread test and 7585 in the 16-thread test, showing nearly identical performance, which suggests the game does not fully utilize all 12 threads. The single-thread score of 1253 in 3DMark is more indicative of the CPU’s ability to handle the game’s primary game logic and camera tasks. This single-thread strength prevents the CPU from becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions where the GPU is less taxed, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1660 MHz, a boost clock of 2970 MHz, and a game clock of 2400 MHz, with memory running at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective). Its architecture is RDNA 4.0, built on a 4 nm process, with 4096 shading units and 64 RT cores.

The GPU’s raw compute power is substantial, with an FP32 throughput of 48.66 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s. In the benchmark suite, the RX 9070 XT achieves a Passmark G3D score of 26795 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260. It ranks in the 82nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39647. The nearest rivals listed are the AMD Radeon Pro 575, NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, AMD Radeon Pro 575X, and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, all of which are within a 0.6% delta, indicating the RX 9070 XT sits in a competitive but not dominant position in aggregate benchmarks.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is critical for The Medium’s high-resolution textures. At 3840x2160, the frame rate drops dramatically as settings increase, which aligns with the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading load rather than capacity limits. The data shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at Ultra settings, where the average FPS falls to 35.6 at 4K. The boost clock of 2970 MHz allows for strong performance at lower settings, where the GPU is not as constrained by memory bandwidth, resulting in 101.2 FPS at 4K Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest recorded average is 148.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 35.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 148.1, which is high enough to suggest the CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient to keep up with the GPU’s output.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 77.5 FPS, while High settings yield 57.4 FPS, a difference of 20.1 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain above 60 FPS at 4K with any settings preset?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average is 101.2 FPS. At Medium settings, it drops to 62.9 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU’s benchmark percentile relate to its in-game performance?

A: The GPU is in the 82nd percentile against all GPUs, yet in The Medium at 4K Ultra, it only achieves 35.6 FPS, indicating that the game’s Ultra preset is exceptionally demanding on the GPU’s shading and memory resources.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT ranks 403rd out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the pairing in the top 24% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the database includes a wide range of hardware. The rank reflects a balance between the CPU’s mid-range positioning and the GPU’s high-end capabilities.

The CPU’s 85th percentile standing and the GPU’s 82nd percentile standing are closely aligned, but the in-game rank is lower than either component’s individual percentile. This suggests that The Medium’s engine is not perfectly scaling with the hardware’s strengths; the game appears to be more GPU-bound at higher settings, which drags the combo’s rank down relative to other pairings that might have a stronger GPU or a more CPU-heavy workload. The delta between the CPU and its nearest rivals is negligible (0.3% to -0.5%), so the CPU is not a differentiator in this rank. The GPU’s nearest rivals are similarly close in aggregate benchmarks, yet the RX 9070 XT’s specific architecture traits may influence its performance in this particular horror title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of diminishing returns as settings increase. At 1920x1080, the combo starts at 148.1 FPS on Low, drops to 93.4 FPS on Medium, 66 FPS on High, and 53.9 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 54.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 12.1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds significant visual load without a proportional frame rate cost.

At 2560x1440, the same trend continues: Low yields 125.5 FPS, Medium drops to 77.5 FPS, High to 57.4 FPS, and Ultra to 43.4 FPS. The step from Medium to High is a 20.1 FPS reduction, while the step from High to Ultra is a 14 FPS reduction. This resolution is the sweet spot for High settings, where the frame rate remains playable, but Ultra becomes marginal.

At 3840x2160, the performance degrades sharply. Low settings produce 101.2 FPS, Medium drops to 62.9 FPS, High to 45.7 FPS, and Ultra to 35.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 38.3 FPS, showing that the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck early in the settings hierarchy. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 10.1 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions, suggesting the GPU is fully saturated at this point.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual fidelity and frame rate is achieved with the Medium preset at 3840x2160, where the combo delivers 62.9 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains an average above the 60 FPS threshold without sacrificing too much on the Low settings. For users prioritizing smoothness over sharpness, the Low preset at 4K offers 101.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a horror game where reaction time matters less than atmosphere.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended choice, yielding 57.4 FPS. While this is just below 60 FPS, it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (77.5 FPS) and is more stable than Ultra (43.4 FPS). Users with high-refresh-rate monitors may prefer the Medium preset for a 77.5 FPS experience, but the High preset’s graphical improvements are worth the frame rate trade-off for most players.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 53.9 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sequences. The High preset at 66 FPS offers a better balance for 1080p, providing smooth gameplay with enhanced shadows and reflections. The data indicates that the game is heavily GPU-bound at Ultra settings across all resolutions, so the RX 9070 XT’s 16 GB VRAM is not the limiting factor; rather, the shading workload and memory bandwidth are the constraints. For the best experience, the Medium preset at 4K or the High preset at 1440p align with the hardware’s capabilities, avoiding the steep performance cliff found at Ultra settings.