The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT pairing delivers a playable but heavily settings-dependent experience in The Medium, with frame rates ranging from a fluid 123.4 FPS at 1080p Low to a cinematic 30.5 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance ensures consistent scaling across the board.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 provides the most consistent performance, with average frame rates from 43.3 FPS at Ultra to 123.4 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to between 35.3 and 103, while 3840x2160 sees averages from 30.5 to 82.4.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform at 1440p?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 35.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests the setting is too demanding for this resolution with this hardware.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as frame rates drop significantly from 1080p to 4K. The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads provide a solid foundation, but the RX 7700 XT’s performance dictates the final output.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 123.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 43.3 FPS, a decrease of approximately 80 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: In the database, this specific combination of CPU and GPU ranks 758th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems.

Q: What is the frame rate at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 49.4 FPS. This is a more playable option than High (37.5 FPS) or Ultra (30.5 FPS) at the same resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. This is a critical specification for a game like The Medium, which features detailed environments and dual-reality rendering. The GPU’s 3456 shading units and boost clock of 2544 MHz are the primary drivers of the measured frame rates. Its 54 RT cores suggest capability for ray-traced effects, though the game’s performance is more directly tied to the raw rasterization power.

The data shows a clear correlation between the GPU’s workload and the in-game settings. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 123.4, which indicates the GPU is not fully saturated. As the resolution increases to 4K, the pixel count quadruples, and the average FPS at Low drops to 82.4. This demonstrates that the RX 7700 XT is being pushed harder at higher resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for the textures at these settings, as the frame rate scaling is consistent with a compute-bound scenario rather than a memory-capacity issue.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a significant performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, confirming that the GPU is the dominant limiting factor in this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 123.4 at 1080p to 103 at 1440p, and further to 82.4 at 4K. This is a 33% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a typical pattern for a GPU-bound scenario.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra, the average FPS drops from 43.3 at 1080p to 35.3 at 1440p, and finally to 30.5 at 4K. The relatively smaller absolute drop at Ultra settings (12.8 FPS from 1080p to 4K) compared to Low (41 FPS) suggests that the game’s visual complexity at Ultra is already heavily taxing the GPU even at 1080p. This indicates that the CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the bottleneck here; the performance ceiling is set by the RX 7700 XT’s ability to process the increasing pixel and shader workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a comprehensive view of performance across a matrix of resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 59 FPS on High, 78.9 FPS on Medium, and 123.4 FPS on Low. The Ultra preset at this resolution is the only one below 60 FPS, with an average of 43.3 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The High preset yields an average of 49.8 FPS, while Medium achieves 63.8 FPS and Low reaches 103 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is the most demanding configuration tested, with an average of 35.3 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly under maximum load. The Low preset still manages an average of 82.4 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings drop to 49.4 FPS, High to 37.5 FPS, and Ultra to 30.5 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming with this hardware is only viable on Low settings for a smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT holds a rank of 758 out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, indicating a solidly mid-pack performance level. The rank reflects the overall balance of the system, where the GPU’s capabilities are well-matched with the CPU’s processing power.

The CPU itself has an average benchmark score of 27220, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with rivals like the Intel Core i9-9900K being only 0.7% faster. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 30097, placing it in the 73rd percentile, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 being a direct rival with a 0% delta. The combo’s rank in the game suggests that while the individual components are strong, the overall system is not at the top tier for this specific title, likely due to the demanding nature of the game’s rendering.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, provides a robust foundation for gaming. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with 16 MB of L3 cache, ensure that it won't bottleneck the GPU in most scenarios. The CPU’s benchmark scores, such as 20655 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2916 in single-core, confirm its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s logic, physics, and streaming. The data suggests it performs this task effectively, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load. At 1080p Low, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU is able to feed it enough data to achieve 123.4 FPS. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with a 0.7% delta to the Intel Core i9-9900K, indicates it has ample headroom. This means that the performance limits observed in the measured FPS are attributable to the GPU, not the processor.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the optimal settings are clear from the data. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 78.9 FPS and High delivers 59 FPS, making Medium the best choice for a smooth experience with good visual quality. For a high-refresh-rate monitor, Low settings at 1080p, with an average of 123.4 FPS, are the only option.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings achieve an average of 63.8 FPS, which is the only preset above 60 FPS at this resolution. High and Ultra fall below this threshold, making Medium the recommended preset for 1440p gaming. At 3840x2160, none of the presets reach 60 FPS. Low settings provide the most playable experience at 82.4 FPS, while Medium dips to 49.4 FPS. For a playable experience at 4K, Low is the only viable choice, while Medium is acceptable for slower-paced sections. The data overall suggests that Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p offer the best balance of performance and visual fidelity for this hardware combination.