The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It belongs to the 3000 series and is manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process, with a 65 W TDP. In the context of The Medium, a horror title that heavily leverages asynchronous gameplay mechanics and fixed camera angles, the CPU’s multi-threaded capacity is relevant for managing the game’s dual-reality rendering logic. The processor’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087 and single-core score of 2694 indicate a balanced throughput profile, with the multi-core result suggesting that the 3700X can handle the background tasks and physics simulations that The Medium uses to maintain its split-world sequences. The data shows that the chip’s PassMark multithread score of 22458 places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, which signals robust overall compute capability. However, in this specific game, the CPU’s influence on frame rates appears secondary to the graphics card, as the measured FPS data at 1080p High shows an average of 43 FPS, which is a modest figure for a processor with this level of benchmark strength. The 3700X’s 32 MB L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provide solid data throughput, but the game’s visual demands at higher settings tend to shift the bottleneck toward the GPU. The CPU’s nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks, the Intel Core i5-12600, scores 28654 with a delta of -0.1%, indicating that the 3700X is effectively on par with that chip in raw compute, yet the gaming results here are more constrained by the graphics pipeline than by processor arithmetic.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER achieves a rank of 1185 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the lower third of the database, which reflects a pairing that is capable but not exceptional for this title’s demands. The rank suggests that while the CPU holds up reasonably well in synthetic tests, the overall gaming performance is held back by the GPU’s limits at higher settings. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 19774 puts it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with a delta of 0.5%, meaning the 2060 SUPER is just slightly behind that card, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN with a delta of 0.3%. These margins are narrow, indicating that the GPU is competitive within its class, but the combo’s rank of 1185 implies that many other tested pairings—likely those with higher-tier GPUs—deliver smoother frame rates in The Medium. The data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the system produces 34.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most hardware analyses consider playable for a smooth experience. The rank is not a reflection of CPU deficiency, as the 3700X’s PassMark single-thread score of 2656 and multi-thread score of 22458 are respectable, but rather it underscores that the game’s rendering load is predominantly GPU-bound. Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits in a zone where users would need to dial back settings to achieve higher frame rates, as evidenced by the 91.6 FPS result at 1080p Low, which is a dramatic improvement over the 43 FPS at High.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear pattern of resolution-dependent performance scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91.6 FPS, but this drops to 58.9 FPS at 4K Low, representing a significant reduction of approximately 36% in frame rate. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s compute capacity remains constant across resolutions. At Medium settings, the frame rates fall from 54.5 FPS at 1080p to 39.7 FPS at 4K, a decrease of about 27%, which further confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and its 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed to their limits as pixel count increases. The High settings show a more drastic drop: from 43 FPS at 1080p to 27.1 FPS at 4K, a 37% reduction, which suggests that the game’s high-quality textures and effects place substantial strain on the GPU’s 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs. At Ultra settings, the system struggles to maintain playability, with 34.4 FPS at 1080p plummeting to 19.3 FPS at 4K, a 44% drop that highlights the GPU’s inability to handle the most demanding configurations. The data shows that the CPU’s role in this scaling is minimal; the Ryzen 7 3700X’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz and its 16 threads provide ample headroom for the game’s logic, but the frame rate ceiling is clearly set by the graphics card. The resolution scaling patterns indicate that for this combo, 1080p is the only resolution where High settings approach acceptable playability, while 1440p and 4K require significant settings reductions to stay above 30 FPS, with 1440p Low yielding 77.8 FPS and 4K Low yielding 58.9 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this CPU-GPU pairing in The Medium?*

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1080p Low provides the highest average frame rate at 91.6 FPS, while 1080p High achieves 43 FPS. For a balance between visual quality and performance, 1440p Low at 77.8 FPS is a strong option, as it maintains high frame rates while offering a higher resolution than 1080p.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070. It also outperforms the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 by 0.8% and the NVIDIA Tesla K40m by 1.3%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RTX 2060 SUPER in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck. The 3700X’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087 and PassMark multithread score of 22458 indicate strong performance, and the frame rates at various resolutions scale with GPU load rather than CPU limits. The 91.6 FPS at 1080p Low demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond the GPU’s typical output.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 43 at 1080p to 27.1 at 4K, a decline of 15.9 FPS or approximately 37%. This indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are significantly strained at 4K resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank in the overall database for this game?

A: The pairing ranks 1185 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower third. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status, as the CPU’s synthetic benchmark performance is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p Ultra?

A: At 1440p Ultra, the system achieves an average of 26.3 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS minimum considered playable for most users. This setting is not recommended for a smooth experience with this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on TSMC’s 12 nm process, with a chip designated as TU106. It features 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, along with 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, which are designed to accelerate ray tracing and AI-based features. The GPU’s base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 1750 MHz with a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. In The Medium, the GPU’s role is central, as the measured FPS data shows a clear dependence on the graphics card’s capabilities. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91.6 FPS, but this drops to 19.3 FPS at 4K Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU’s memory capacity and compute throughput are the primary determinants of performance. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s PassMark G3D score of 16462 places it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with a delta of 0.5%, indicating that the 2060 SUPER is only marginally slower than that card. The GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224.4 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p gaming but struggle at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the 44% frame rate drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a limiting factor at 4K with High or Ultra settings, where the game’s textures and effects likely exceed the available memory, contributing to the low average FPS of 27.1 at 4K High. The GPU’s dual-slot design and 175 W TDP suggest it is a mid-range card, and the data confirms that it is best suited for 1080p or 1440p play, with the understanding that Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p where it produces 34.4 FPS.