The Medium

The Medium presents a significant challenge for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, particularly at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates across the 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions show a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, with its strong single-thread performance, provides a capable foundation, but the data indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER's limits are reached quickly when visual fidelity is prioritized.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for The Medium shows a clear trade-off between visual quality and frame rate for this combination. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 55.4 FPS, which is the most balanced option for a smooth experience without major graphical compromises. While the Low preset achieves a much higher 89.5 FPS, the visual downgrade is substantial. The High preset at 42.4 FPS is playable but dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and the Ultra preset at 34.1 FPS is best reserved for slower-paced scenes or screenshots.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset drops to 45.7 FPS, which is still acceptable for a horror title where atmosphere matters more than competitive responsiveness. The Low preset at 78.1 FPS is the only way to maintain a high refresh rate experience at this resolution. The High preset at 34.4 FPS and Ultra at 24.5 FPS are not recommended for sustained gameplay, as the frame pacing will feel inconsistent.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. Even the Low preset only manages 62.4 FPS, which is the only setting that provides a comfortable frame rate. The Medium preset at 38.5 FPS and High at 28.7 FPS are playable but will feel sluggish. The Ultra preset at 23.5 FPS is effectively a slideshow and should be avoided. The optimal strategy for this GPU is to prioritize the Medium preset at 1080p for the best blend of image quality and performance, while dropping to Low settings at higher resolutions to maintain playability.

FAQ

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X bottleneck the RTX 2060 SUPER in The Medium?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 9600X has a strong single-thread score of 1253 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 7590 in 3DMark max threads. The frame rate drops consistently with resolution, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation, indicating the CPU has headroom to spare.

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware?

A: 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At this setting, the Medium preset achieves 55.4 FPS, which is a good balance. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset falls to 45.7 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it drops to 38.5 FPS, showing a steep performance penalty for higher pixel counts.

Q: How significant is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. The Low preset at 1080p delivers 89.5 FPS, which is over 2.6 times higher than the Ultra preset's 34.1 FPS. This shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is heavily taxed by the game's higher graphical features, such as ray tracing and complex volumetric effects.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER a good match for the Ryzen 5 9600X in this game?

A: The pairing is unbalanced for this specific title. The Ryzen 5 9600X's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25525, are far above what the game requires. The RTX 2060 SUPER, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2011, is the definitive performance ceiling, making the CPU's power mostly irrelevant for The Medium.

Q: Can this system achieve a stable 60 FPS in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings and resolutions. A stable 60 FPS is achievable at 1080p with Low settings (89.5 FPS) and at 1440p with Low settings (78.1 FPS). At 4K, only the Low preset (62.4 FPS) breaks the 60 FPS barrier, but it is close to the limit.

Q: How does the 4K performance compare to 1080p performance?

A: The performance drop is severe. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 55.4 FPS at 1080p to 38.5 FPS at 4K, a reduction of approximately 30%. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory are insufficient for the higher resolution's demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark results show exceptional single-thread capability, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3363. Multi-threaded performance is also strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25525.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears minimal. The game's performance is overwhelmingly dictated by the GPU, as shown by the frame rate scaling with resolution. The Ryzen 5 9600X's rapid boost clock and high instruction throughput ensure that it will not stall the rendering pipeline. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4570 and its PassMark physics score of 2012 suggest it can handle the game's logic and physics calculations without issue.

The data indicates that the CPU is a non-factor in this specific benchmark. The frame rates at 1080p Low (89.5 FPS) are not limited by the CPU's processing power, as the GPU is still the primary constraint. Even at the highest settings, the CPU has ample headroom, meaning that any performance issues are directly attributable to the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER. The Ryzen 5 9600X's performance is more than adequate for this title, and its capabilities are largely untapped.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks at 1200 out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the lower percentile of results, indicating that it is not a high-performing setup for this game. The ranking reflects the GPU's middling performance tier, as the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 85th percentile.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which has an average score that is 0.5% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which is 0.3% higher. This shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is closely matched with these older or lower-tier cards, and its performance in The Medium aligns with this positioning. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-13490F with a 0.3% higher average score, are effectively equivalent in performance, confirming that the CPU is not a differentiator in this ranking.

The combination's rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 105.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply not enough to handle the demands of The Medium at high settings. The data shows that the combo is better suited for less demanding titles or for playing The Medium at lower graphical presets. The rank of 1200 out of 1689 suggests that users with this setup will need to make significant compromises to achieve playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Medium preset, the average frame rate falls from 55.4 FPS at 1080p to 45.7 FPS at 1440p, and then to 38.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 17.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 30.5% drop from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern is a strong indicator that the GPU is the limiting component.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's memory subsystem, with a 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is likely the primary constraint. At higher resolutions, the demand for texture data and pixel fill rate increases dramatically, overwhelming the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and its 64 ROPs. The pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s is insufficient for 4K rendering at high quality settings, leading to the low frame rates observed.

The CPU's performance is not a factor in this scaling. The Ryzen 5 9600X's capabilities are constant across resolutions, and the frame rate drops are entirely attributable to the GPU's workload. The data shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER is only comfortable at 1080p, and even then, only at lower settings. The steep decline in performance at 1440p and 4K confirms that users seeking higher resolutions will need to rely on the Low preset, which at 4K still only provides 62.4 FPS. The scaling behavior firmly establishes the GPU as the bottleneck in this configuration.