The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in The Medium. The benchmark data shows a configuration that is heavily influenced by graphics settings, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and quality presets. The 8-core, 16-thread processor provides ample headroom, but the Radeon RX 9060’s 8 GB of VRAM and mid-range compute power define the performance envelope.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 101 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 85 FPS, a 16 FPS decrease, and at 4K Low it falls to 67 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting factor; the Ryzen 7 3700X has enough processing power to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the render load at higher pixel counts overwhelms the graphics card.

The gap between settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 65 FPS (101 vs. 36). At 1440p, that spread narrows to 55 FPS (85 vs. 30), and at 4K it is 43 FPS (67 vs. 24). This suggests that the GPU’s compute units and memory bandwidth are saturated at 4K regardless of preset, making the setting choice less impactful than at 1080p where the CPU can still push more frames. The 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS is essentially unplayable, while 4K Low at 67 FPS is smooth, showing that resolution scaling is the single most important factor for this hardware.

The data indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot for balancing visual fidelity and performance. With Medium settings, the combo produces 53 FPS at 1440p, which is 11 FPS higher than 4K Medium and 10 FPS lower than 1080p Medium. The min FPS at 1440p Medium is 45, which keeps frame pacing stable enough for a horror title where sudden drops can break immersion. At 4K Medium, the min FPS falls to 35, which is noticeably less consistent.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a Zen 2 Matisse chip with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores show a strong multi-threaded capability, with a Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 2092 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8899. The processor’s PassMark multi-thread score of 22458 places it at the 84th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is well above average for overall processing power.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU. The fact that 1080p Low yields 101 FPS while 4K Low yields 67 FPS suggests the processor can handle the game’s logic and draw calls efficiently, but the GPU cannot maintain the same frame rate at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 7 3700X’s single-thread performance, reflected in a PassMark single-thread score of 2656, is sufficient for the game’s requirements, as frame rates do not collapse at lower resolutions where CPU load is relatively higher.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 3700X’s average benchmark score of 34260 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222, delta 0.1%) and the AMD EPYC 4244P (34220, delta 0.1%). It sits just 0.2% below the Intel Core i5-13450HX (34333) and 0.5% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (34083). This means the 3700X is not a bottleneck in this configuration; any performance differences between these CPUs would be negligible in gaming workloads. The 32 MB of L3 cache helps with game data locality, but the measured FPS deltas across resolutions are far more attributable to the GPU than the processor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the decisive component in this benchmark. Built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, it features 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2990 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz provide solid compute throughput, but the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus is a limiting factor. The memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the combination of VRAM capacity and bandwidth becomes strained.

The GPU’s benchmark scores position it as a mid-range part. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 and PassMark G3D score of 17631 place it at the 59th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 16014 is just 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129), making them direct competitors. The RX 9060 is 1% faster than both the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852), and 2.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679). This rivalry explains why the card delivers playable frame rates at medium settings but struggles at ultra.

The 8 GB VRAM is the most significant concern. At 4K Ultra, the game likely exceeds this capacity, causing the 24 FPS average. The step down to High at 4K yields 30 FPS, which suggests the card is still swapping data. At 1440p, the difference between Medium (53 FPS) and High (38 FPS) indicates a memory bandwidth bottleneck, as the compute units are not fully utilized. The card’s FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS is respectable, but the memory subsystem cannot feed it fast enough at higher settings. For a horror game like The Medium, which relies on detailed environments, the 8 GB limit is the primary barrier to higher preset usage.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K smoothly?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 67 FPS. At High, the average drops to 30 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 24 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo?

A: 1440p with Medium settings provides a balanced experience at 53 FPS average with a 45 FPS minimum. This is the highest resolution where the frame rate remains consistently above playable thresholds.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 9060’s average benchmark score of 16014 is 0.7% lower than the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129, making them statistically equivalent in performance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X holding back the Radeon RX 9060?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmark scores are within 0.5% of its nearest rivals, and the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K indicates the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS is 45, with a maximum of 61, providing a relatively stable frame pacing for a horror game.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 36, which is low, likely due to VRAM pressure. At 1080p Medium, the average is 63 FPS, indicating the card handles the lower memory usage well.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists the exact measured FPS averages for each resolution and settings combination. Minimum and maximum FPS are only provided for Medium settings, where the data was captured.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 101 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 63 | 53 | 72 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 45 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 36 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 85 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 53 | 45 | 61 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 38 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 30 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 67 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 42 | 35 | 48 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 30 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 24 | — | — |

At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 38 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 18 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 9 FPS. This diminishing return suggests that the card’s compute units are less stressed at Lower settings. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low to Medium drops 32 FPS, Medium to High drops 15 FPS, and High to Ultra drops 8 FPS. At 4K, the drops are 25 FPS, 12 FPS, and 6 FPS respectively, showing that the GPU is so saturated that each setting tier has less impact.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing a 19 FPS spread at 1080p (53-72), a 16 FPS spread at 1440p (45-61), and a 13 FPS spread at 4K (35-48). The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that frame times become more consistent as the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the averages are lower.

Settings Recommendations

For a playable experience, the Medium preset is the clear choice across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 63 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum, which is well within the range for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Medium provides 53 FPS average and 45 FPS minimum, which is acceptable for a slow-paced horror title. At 4K, Medium drops to 42 FPS average with a 35 FPS minimum, which is borderline but playable if you prioritize visual detail over absolute smoothness.

The Low preset is the only reliable option for 4K, delivering 67 FPS average. This sacrifices visual quality but ensures a consistent frame rate. If you have a 4K display, Low settings are the only way to avoid the sub-30 FPS results seen at High and Ultra.

High and Ultra presets are only viable at 1080p, where they produce 45 FPS and 36 FPS respectively. The High preset at 1080p is playable, but the drop to 36 FPS at Ultra is noticeable. At 1440p, High (38 FPS) and Ultra (30 FPS) are marginal, and at 4K they should be avoided entirely due to the 30 FPS and 24 FPS averages.

The data suggests that the RX 9060’s 8 GB VRAM is the primary constraint at High and Ultra. The step from Medium to High consistently costs 15-18 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 6-9 FPS. This indicates that High is not a worthwhile step up from Medium, as the performance penalty is steep. For this configuration, Medium is the highest preset that balances visual quality with frame rate stability. If you need higher frame rates, lowering the resolution is more effective than lowering the preset from Medium to Low.