The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance that scales predictably across resolutions. The data indicates that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, while the CPU provides a solid foundation that prevents bottlenecking at lower settings and resolutions. The benchmark results show that this combo ranks in the lower half of tested configurations, making it a mid-tier option for this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a clear GPU bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 42.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 35.8 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 28.1 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single drop occurring when moving from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the Radeon RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases.

The Low preset tells a different story, with a much larger performance headroom. At Low settings, the combo achieves 90.8 FPS at 1080p, 79.2 FPS at 1440p, and 57.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a more modest 36% drop from 1080p to 4K, suggesting that when graphical load is reduced, the system has more bandwidth to spare. The gap between Low and High at 1080p is 48.7 FPS, which narrows to 29.7 FPS at 4K, confirming that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases regardless of preset.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with frame rates falling from 32.1 FPS at 1080p to 23.6 FPS at 4K. The difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p is 17.5 FPS, while at 4K it is 12.2 FPS. This compressed scaling at higher resolutions shows that the RX 6600 XT is running out of compute resources, with the 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 performance being insufficient for maxed-out settings at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 provides ample processing power for The Medium, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture. The CPU's boost clock of 4.60 GHz and base clock of 3.70 GHz deliver strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 901. This is relevant because The Medium relies on consistent frame pacing, and the data shows that CPU performance is not the primary constraint in this configuration.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are substantial, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655 and a 3DMark max-thread score of 6617. These results place the Ryzen 7 5700 in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27220. When compared to rivals, the CPU is nearly identical in performance to the Intel Core i9-9900K, which scores 27043 with a deltaPct of 0.7%, and the Intel Core i7-12700H at 27006 with a deltaPct of 0.8%.

The 16 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game's asset streaming. The CPU's performance headroom is evident in the scaling data: at 1080p Low, the system hits 90.8 FPS, which is a 58.7 FPS improvement over 4K Ultra. This indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively when graphical load is low, and the bottleneck shifts entirely to the graphics card at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the dominant factor in this combo's performance, and its specifications explain the observed frame rates. The GPU features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, running at a boost clock of 2589 MHz and a game clock of 2359 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes strained at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores show it performs at the 71st percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 27985. It is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, which scores 27956 with a deltaPct of 0.1%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M395X at 27883 with a deltaPct of 0.4%. Interestingly, the RX 6600 XT is also close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which scores 28238 with a deltaPct of -0.9%, indicating that this card punches slightly above its weight class in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU's RDNA 2.0 architecture with 32 ray tracing cores supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, but the measured FPS data shows that this feature set does not translate into high frame rates at demanding settings. The pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are the key metrics for this game's rendering load. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 23.6 FPS, which is below playable thresholds, while at 1080p High it reaches 42.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary limiter in all configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 1188 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the pairing in the 70th percentile of all configurations, meaning roughly 30% of tested systems perform better. This rank is consistent with the GPU's mid-tier standing, as the RX 6600 XT's percentile rank of 71 among all GPUs closely matches the combo's in-game position.

The CPU's high percentile rank of 84 suggests that the processor is not holding back the system, and the bottleneck is firmly on the graphics side. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield better results, while upgrading the CPU alone would provide minimal benefit for this title. The combo's rank is also reflected in the measured FPS data, where even at 1080p Low, the system does not achieve a high refresh rate experience, staying below the 100 FPS mark.

When compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 6600 XT's performance in The Medium is consistent with its synthetic scores. The GTX 980 Ti, which is essentially tied in average benchmark score, would likely produce similar frame rates in this game. This positions the combo as a competent 1080p solution that can handle 1440p with settings adjustments, but it is not competitive at 4K beyond Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all presets. The average frame rates are 90.8 FPS on Low, 57.9 FPS on Medium, 42.1 FPS on High, and 32.1 FPS on Ultra. This represents a spread of 58.7 FPS between the lowest and highest settings, demonstrating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution. The jump from Low to Medium is 32.9 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is 15.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 10.0 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. The average frame rates are 79.2 FPS on Low, 46.7 FPS on Medium, 35.8 FPS on High, and 29.2 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 50.0 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more constrained. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 11.6 FPS, while at Ultra it is only 2.9 FPS, showing that higher settings compress the resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The average frame rates are 57.8 FPS on Low, 35.8 FPS on Medium, 28.1 FPS on High, and 23.6 FPS on Ultra. Only the Low preset approaches a smooth experience, while all other settings fall below the 30 FPS threshold. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Medium settings is 10.9 FPS, and at High settings it is 7.7 FPS, confirming that 4K is beyond the GPU's comfortable range.

Settings Recommendations

The data clearly supports the Low preset as the best option for a smooth experience in The Medium with this combo. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 90.8 FPS, which is nearly double the 42.1 FPS seen at High settings. This preset provides a significant performance advantage with only a visual quality trade-off, making it the recommended choice for players who prioritize frame rate over fidelity.

For 1440p gaming, the Medium preset at 46.7 FPS offers a balanced experience, though it falls short of the 60 FPS target. The Low preset at 79.2 FPS is the only option that delivers smooth gameplay at this resolution. At 4K, only the Low preset at 57.8 FPS is viable, while Medium at 35.8 FPS and High at 28.1 FPS are borderline playable at best. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it produces frame rates below 32.1 FPS even at 1080p.

Given the measured data, the optimal strategy is to use the Low preset at all resolutions to maintain playable frame rates. The performance gap between Low and Medium is substantial, with a 32.9 FPS difference at 1080p and a 22.0 FPS difference at 4K. Players who can tolerate lower visual fidelity will find the Low preset provides the most consistent experience, while those who prefer higher settings should stick to 1080p resolution.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution, with the Low preset achieving 90.8 FPS and Medium reaching 57.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low at 79.2 FPS provides smooth gameplay, while 3840x2160 is only playable on Low at 57.8 FPS.

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 perform relative to its rivals?

A: The CPU has an average benchmark score of 27220, placing it in the 84th percentile. It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i9-9900K, 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700H, and 1.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340.

Q: Is the RX 6600 XT a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: Yes, the data indicates a GPU bottleneck. The frame rate drops by 33% from 1080p to 4K at High settings, and the GPU's percentile rank of 71 is lower than the CPU's rank of 84, confirming that the graphics card limits overall performance.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and RX 6600 XT ranks 1188 out of 1689 combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower half of tested systems.

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

A: Only at Low settings, which achieves 57.8 FPS. Medium settings at 35.8 FPS and High at 28.1 FPS are below the 30 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 23.6 FPS is not recommended.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 27985, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 M395X. It is 0.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070.