The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The Medium shows a pronounced GPU-bound scaling curve with this AMD Ryzen 7 5700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings drops average FPS from 75.4 to 67.4, a modest 10.6% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 Ultra is far more severe, falling to 53.6 FPS — a 29% loss relative to 1080p Ultra. This pattern indicates that at higher resolutions, the RTX 5090's rendering workload becomes the dominant constraint, while the CPU has ample headroom.

At Low settings, the scaling story changes. The 1080p result is 139.8 FPS, dropping to 129.9 at 1440p (a 7.1% decline) and then to 120.6 at 4K (a 13.7% decline from 1440p). The smaller percentage gaps at Low settings across resolutions suggest the CPU begins to matter more at lower graphical loads, though the Ryzen 7 5700 with its 8 cores and 16 threads still keeps frame rates comfortably high.

The Medium preset tells a similar GPU-bound tale: 117.6 FPS at 1080p, 108.7 at 1440p, and 92.8 at 4K. The 4K Medium result is 21% slower than 1440p Medium, while the 1080p-to-1440p gap is only 7.6%. This non-linear drop underscores that 4K resolution places a disproportionate load on the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth — the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is clearly being exercised heavily.

High settings produce the most balanced scaling curve: 100.7 FPS at 1080p, 82.0 at 1440p, and 66.7 at 4K. The 1440p-to-4K drop is 18.7%, while the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 18.6% — nearly linear, suggesting this preset scales predictably with pixel count. The data indicates the limiting component shifts between presets: at Low and Medium, the CPU's Zen 3 architecture with a 3.70 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost clock keeps up well, but at Ultra and 4K, the GPU's 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost clocks become the bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results point to Medium as the optimal experience across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 117.6 FPS, which is 16.8% faster than High's 100.7 and 56% faster than Ultra's 75.4. The visual quality difference between Medium and High typically justifies the frame rate trade-off, but the data shows Medium provides the best balance of smoothness and fidelity.

At 2560x1440, Medium hits 108.7 FPS — still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High at 1440p produces 82.0 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1440p drops to 67.4 FPS, approaching the edge of comfort for action-heavy horror sequences. Medium's 108.7 FPS at 1440p is the clear recommendation for players prioritizing a responsive experience.

For 3840x2160, Medium yields 92.8 FPS, making it the only preset besides Low that stays above 90 FPS at 4K. High at 4K manages 66.7 FPS, which is acceptable but noticeably less fluid. Ultra at 4K falls to 53.6 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS standard — this is the only measured configuration that fails to maintain 60 FPS. Low at 4K produces 120.6 FPS, but the graphical compromise is substantial for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and lighting. The measured rows indicate Medium is the sweet spot for 4K, offering 92.8 FPS while retaining enough visual detail for the game's fixed-camera horror aesthetic.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's specifications explain its dominant role in these results. With 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs, the card has immense pixel-pushing capability. Its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate directly support the rendering demands of The Medium's dual-reality presentation, where two worlds are often rendered simultaneously.

Memory bandwidth is a critical factor at 4K. The 32 GB GDDR7 pool on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s, which is essential for the game's high-resolution textures and the split-screen effect that shows both the real world and the spirit world at once. The 4K Ultra result of 53.6 FPS — the lowest measured — suggests that even this massive bandwidth is strained by the game's most demanding settings.

Clock behavior matters for frame pacing. The GPU's base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz are relatively close, indicating stable sustained performance under load. The benchmark scores reinforce this: the passmark G3D score of 39,650 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 place the card in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 84,306 sits within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600's 83,209 and just 0.1% above the RTX 5090 D's 84,241 — though these rival comparisons are for synthetic tests, not game-specific performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 69th out of 1,689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 4.1% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top — the ranking reflects that the Ryzen 7 5700, while capable, is not the fastest CPU paired with the RTX 5090 in the database.

The CPU's percentile of 84 among all processors indicates it is a solid mid-to-high-tier performer. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i9-9900K (0.7% higher average score), Intel Core i7-12700H (0.8% higher), and Intel Core i7-1370P (0.8% higher), with the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 trailing by 1.2%. These deltas are small, meaning the CPU is well-matched to its competition in general compute tasks.

For the GPU, the RTX 5090's 94th percentile ranking is near the top of the database. Its nearest rivals in synthetic scores include the RTX 5090 D (0.1% higher), RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% higher), and AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (1.3% higher), with the NVIDIA CMP 40HX 1.6% above. The game-specific rank of 69 out of 1,689 suggests that while the GPU is elite, the CPU's Zen 3 architecture with 16 MB of L3 cache and DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) may slightly limit the combo in CPU-influenced scenes at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra?

A: No. The measured 4K Ultra average is 53.6 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The closest 4K preset to 60 FPS is High at 66.7 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want over 100 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium (117.6 FPS) and High (100.7 FPS) both exceed 100 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Medium (108.7 FPS) and Low (129.9 FPS) break 100 FPS.

Q: How much faster is Low compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low produces 139.8 FPS while Ultra delivers 75.4 FPS, making Low 85.4% faster — a difference of 64.4 FPS.

Q: Does 4K resolution cause a disproportionate performance hit?

A: Yes. At Medium settings, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 15.9 FPS (108.7 to 92.8), while the drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 8.9 FPS (117.6 to 108.7). The 4K jump is nearly double the penalty.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic tests?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700's average benchmark score of 27,220 is 0.7% below the Intel Core i9-9900K's 27,043 (the rival is actually 0.7% higher) and 0.8% below both the Intel Core i7-12700H and i7-1370P.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded in the entire measured set?

A: The maximum average FPS is 139.8, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 53.6 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings ladder spans from 139.8 FPS (Low) down to 75.4 FPS (Ultra). Medium sits at 117.6 FPS and High at 100.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 22.2 FPS, between Medium and High is 16.9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 25.3 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low delivers 129.9 FPS, Medium 108.7 FPS, High 82.0 FPS, and Ultra 67.4 FPS. The Low-to-Medium difference is 21.2 FPS, Medium-to-High is 26.7 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 14.6 FPS. The Medium-to-High gap is the largest at this resolution, indicating a significant visual-quality jump between those presets.

At 3840x2160, Low produces 120.6 FPS, Medium 92.8 FPS, High 66.7 FPS, and Ultra 53.6 FPS. The Low-to-Medium drop is 27.8 FPS, Medium-to-High is 26.1 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 13.1 FPS. At 4K, the Low-to-Medium transition is the steepest, suggesting that Medium adds substantial rendering complexity on top of the already heavy 4K pixel load.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings: Low goes from 139.8 (1080p) to 129.9 (1440p) to 120.6 (4K) — a total loss of 19.2 FPS from 1080p to 4K. Medium drops from 117.6 to 108.7 to 92.8 — a 24.8 FPS total loss. High falls from 100.7 to 82.0 to 66.7 — a 34.0 FPS total loss. Ultra declines from 75.4 to 67.4 to 53.6 — a 21.8 FPS total loss. The High preset shows the largest sensitivity to resolution changes, while Low is the most resolution-resistant.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process with 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. Its 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB L2 per core provide adequate data locality for The Medium's streaming-heavy design, where the game loads two synchronized worlds.

In synthetic multi-threaded tests, the CPU scores 20,655 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,916 in single-core, reflecting strong per-thread performance from the 4.60 GHz boost clock. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6,628 and max-thread score of 6,617 indicate consistent scaling across all 16 threads. Passmark multi-thread results (24,303) and integer math (90,091) show robust compute throughput.

The CPU's role in The Medium becomes evident when comparing Low-preset results across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 139.8 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently. However, the 4K Low result of 120.6 FPS — only 13.7% lower — indicates that even at 4K, the CPU is not the primary limiter. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 51.2 GB/s DDR4 memory bandwidth are modest by modern standards, but the data shows this does not bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this title.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 84 and average benchmark score of 27,220 place it just below the Intel Core i9-9900K (0.7% higher) and Intel Core i7-12700H (0.8% higher). These rivals have similar core counts but different architectures, yet the performance deltas are within 1.2%. For a game like The Medium, which primarily stresses the GPU with its dual-world rendering, the Ryzen 7 5700's 8-core/16-thread configuration proves sufficient — the combo's 69th place ranking out of 1,689 is primarily a GPU-driven achievement, with the CPU providing reliable, if not class-leading, support.