The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1376th out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the combo squarely in the middle of the database, indicating a balanced pairing that neither pushes into the top tier nor falls into the lower quartile. The percentile data for the individual components supports this positioning: the CPU sits at the 84th percentile among all processors, while the GPU trails significantly at the 58th percentile. This gap suggests that in this specific title, the graphics card is the more likely constraint on overall performance, as the processor has more relative headroom compared to its peers than the graphics card does.

How This Combo Ranks

The 1376th rank out of 2911 combos places this system at approximately the 53rd percentile of all tested configurations in The Medium. This is a solid mid-pack result, showing that the pairing is capable of handling the game but is not optimized for maximum frame rates. The delta between the CPU and GPU percentiles is notable: the Ryzen 7 3700X outperforms 84% of all CPUs, whereas the RX 7700 outperforms only 58% of all GPUs. This discrepancy often manifests as the GPU becoming the bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions where pixel throughput demands increase.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the performance clustering is extremely tight. The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 34260. Its closest competitor, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, scores 34222, a mere 0.1% difference. Similarly, the AMD EPYC 4244P scores 34220, also 0.1% behind. The Intel Core i5-13450HX is 0.2% ahead with a score of 34333, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H trails by 0.5% with a score of 34083. These sub-1% margins indicate that the 3700X's compute capabilities are entirely typical for its class, and any performance differences in The Medium will be driven by the game's specific engine demands rather than raw CPU throughput.

For the GPU, the rivalry is similarly close but with a different character. The RX 7700's average benchmark score is 15852. The AMD Radeon R9 370X is essentially identical at 15862, just 0.1% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% ahead at 16014, and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is 1.1% behind at 15679. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the strongest rival, sitting 1.7% ahead with a score of 16129. These margins are larger than those seen on the CPU side, suggesting that the RX 7700 sits at a competitive but not dominant position in the GPU hierarchy. In The Medium, this translates to frame rates that are playable at most settings but require compromises at the highest presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and can boost up to 4.40 GHz. This configuration provides ample parallel processing capacity for a game like The Medium, which is a horror title that often benefits from multiple threads for streaming, physics, and AI routines. The 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are typical for this generation and provide sufficient data throughput for gaming workloads.

In the context of The Medium's measured results, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 111 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all tested configurations. This suggests that even in CPU-leaning scenarios with reduced graphical load, the 3700X is not a limiting factor. The single-thread performance, as measured by benchmarks like Geekbench's single-core score of 1593, is adequate for the game's main thread, while the multi-core score of 8899 ensures that background tasks and streaming don't cause hitches.

The CPU's benchmark results also show strong integer and floating-point performance, with Passmark scores of 66399 and 39005 respectively. These translate to smooth gameplay in The Medium, which relies on both types of calculations for character movement and environmental effects. The 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs means that this processor is more powerful than the vast majority of installed hardware, making it unlikely to be the cause of any frame rate dips observed in the measured data. Instead, the data points toward the GPU as the primary performance arbiter, particularly as resolution increases.

FAQ

*Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p in The Medium?*

A: At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 111 FPS on Low settings, 72 FPS on Medium, 51 FPS on High, and 41 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, indicating smooth gameplay with some variance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RX 7700 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU ranks at the 84th percentile while the GPU is at the 58th percentile. The high frame rates at 1080p Low (111 FPS) indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively, and the performance drop at higher resolutions is more consistent with a GPU limitation.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the measured average FPS is 43. This is a significant drop from the 51 FPS seen at 1080p High, indicating that the GPU is struggling with the increased pixel count.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K in The Medium?*

A: At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 76 FPS on Low, 48 FPS on Medium, 34 FPS on High, and 27 FPS on Ultra. While Low settings are playable, the Ultra preset falls below 30 FPS, suggesting 4K is only viable with reduced graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, which is 1.7% higher than the RX 7700's 15852. This small delta suggests comparable performance in The Medium, though the measured FPS data for this specific game is only available for the RX 7700.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, while High averages 51 FPS. This represents a 29% drop in average frame rate when moving from Medium to High, with the Medium preset providing a more stable experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data for The Medium covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, providing additional insight into frame time consistency.

At 1920x1080, the performance scales predictably with settings. Low settings produce an average of 111 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. High settings average 51 FPS, and Ultra settings average 41 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 70 FPS, representing a 63% reduction in average frame rate when maxing out all graphical options. The Medium preset's minimum of 61 FPS suggests that frame pacing remains acceptable, with no severe stutters.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all settings. Low settings average 97 FPS, a 13% drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 61 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. High settings average 43 FPS, and Ultra settings average 34 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is more pronounced at higher settings: High drops by 8 FPS (16%), while Ultra drops by 7 FPS (17%). This scaling suggests that the GPU is becoming more stressed as resolution increases, with the CPU maintaining its ability to feed frames.

At 3840x2160, the performance metrics show significant strain. Low settings still manage an average of 76 FPS, but Medium drops to 48 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. High settings average 34 FPS, and Ultra settings average 27 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K falls below the 30 FPS threshold, indicating a poor experience for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 40 FPS, which is playable but may exhibit occasional dips in demanding scenes. The overall pattern shows that 4K is only viable for Low or Medium settings with this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 111 FPS, which drops to 97 FPS at 1440p and 76 FPS at 4K. This represents a 14% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 22% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The relatively modest drop at lower settings suggests that the CPU is still capable of keeping up, but the GPU is beginning to hit its limits.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more dramatic. From 72 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 61 FPS at 1440p (15% reduction) and then to 48 FPS at 4K (21% reduction). The minimum FPS follows a similar trajectory, with 61 at 1080p, 51 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the frame rate drops are roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count.

For High and Ultra settings, the scaling is even steeper. High settings go from 51 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p (16% drop) to 34 FPS at 4K (21% drop). Ultra settings go from 41 FPS to 34 FPS to 27 FPS, with the 4K result being 34% lower than the 1080p result. The fact that the frame rate drops more than the pixel count increase (1080p to 4K is a 4x pixel increase) indicates that the GPU is not scaling efficiently at these higher loads, likely due to memory bandwidth or shader limitations. The RX 7700's 16 GB of VRAM is sufficient, but the 624.1 GB/s bandwidth may become a constraint at 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 72 FPS and a minimum of 61 FPS. This provides a smooth experience for most players. The High preset drops to 51 FPS, which is still playable but may show more noticeable dips. The Ultra preset at 41 FPS is borderline, and while it offers the best visual quality, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS ideal.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is again the recommended choice, averaging 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS. This is right at the edge of playability for fast-paced action. The Low preset at 97 FPS is the only option that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. High settings at 43 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS are both below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in a less responsive experience.

For 3840x2160, the data clearly shows that only Low settings are viable for a smooth experience, with 76 FPS. Medium settings at 48 FPS are playable but may suffer from occasional stutters, as indicated by the 40 FPS minimum. High settings at 34 FPS and Ultra at 27 FPS are not recommended for consistent gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K provides a reasonable compromise between visual fidelity and performance, with a 48 FPS average that falls within the acceptable range for slower-paced horror titles.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is based on the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. Its boost clock is 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The benchmark results show that the RX 7700 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti, is just 1.7% faster in synthetic tests. The measured FPS data reflects this mid-range positioning: the GPU can handle 1080p and 1440p well at medium settings, but struggles at 4K with high fidelity options.

The 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for The Medium at all tested settings, as the game does not appear to exceed this capacity even at 4K Ultra. The 40 ray tracing cores suggest that the GPU can handle ray-traced effects, though the measured data does not include specific ray tracing benchmarks for this title. The 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth is a critical factor when moving from 1080p to 4K, as the frame rate drops of 22-34% indicate that memory throughput is likely a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The GPU's 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance provides solid rasterization power, but the game's engine appears to be more sensitive to memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate, given the significant performance degradation at 4K.