The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents an unusual stress profile that combines heavy GPU load with a demand for consistent frame pacing. This analysis examines the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 pairing, a combination that pits a mid-range 8-core APU from 2021 against a flagship-tier 40-series GPU. The data set provides a clear view of how this asymmetric pairing behaves across resolutions and settings, revealing where the CPU becomes a bottleneck and where the GPU's raw power dominates.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5700G compare to its nearest CPU rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700G’s average benchmark score of 27,051 places it within a tight cluster of competitors. It is effectively tied with the Intel Core i9-9900K (27,097), sitting just 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i5-14400T (27,166), which is 0.4% ahead. Conversely, it edges out the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 (26,936) by 0.4% and the Intel Core i7-1370P (26,900) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the performance gap between the RTX 4080 and its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score of 54,247 is remarkably close to its direct successor, the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54,209, a negligible 0.1% difference. The data shows it trailing the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% (54,828) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.6% (55,698), with the AMD Radeon 8060S also ahead by 2.7% (55,757).

Q: What is the best-case average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS in the measured data is 137, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is a significant jump from the 130 FPS average seen at 2560x1440 with the same Low settings, highlighting the CPU's capability at lower resolutions.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo fail to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows sub-60 FPS averages in two instances: at 3840x2160 with High settings (57 FPS) and at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings (45 FPS). Both are at 4K resolution, indicating the GPU is being pushed to its limits there.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: This specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 392nd out of 3,724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 10.5% of all configurations tested.

Q: Is there a measurable frame time variance in the data?

A: Yes, the Medium settings at each resolution provide min and max FPS figures. At 1920x1080, the average is 115 FPS with a range from 97 to 132 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average is 101 FPS, ranging from 86 to 116 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average is 79 FPS, with a range of 67 to 91 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is a Zen 3 architecture processor built on the Cezanne codename, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, with a boost clock reaching 4.60 GHz. This 7nm chip from TSMC has a 65W TDP and supports DDR4 memory via a dual-channel bus, offering 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is pivotal in managing the game's fixed-camera angles and the logic of its dual-reality mechanic, which can be demanding on single-thread performance.

Benchmark results show the 5700G achieves a single-thread score of 899 in 3dmark and 1,494 in Cinebench R23 single-core. These scores are modest compared to the GPU's power, suggesting the CPU could be a limiting factor in high-refresh-rate scenarios. The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12,830.5 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 9,950, indicating it can handle background tasks and the game's overall logic without issue.

However, the data implies that at lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU's single-thread capabilities become the primary bottleneck. The jump from 115 FPS at 1080p Medium to 101 FPS at 1440p Medium is a 12.2% drop, while the drop from 1440p to 4K Medium is a 21.8% reduction. This pattern suggests that the CPU is not fully taxed at higher resolutions, but it is struggling to feed the GPU enough frames at 1080p. The 5700G's performance percentile of 79 places it above the majority of all CPUs, but its nearest rivals like the Intel Core i9-9900K show it is not a top-tier gaming processor by modern standards, potentially limiting the RTX 4080 in less GPU-bound scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 392nd out of 3,724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the 89.5th percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong showing, but the data invites a closer look at what this ranking means. The RTX 4080 is a high-end GPU, ranking in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the 5700G sits in the 79th percentile of CPUs. The combo's ranking is higher than the individual percentiles of its components, suggesting that The Medium is more GPU-dependent than CPU-dependent.

The ranking implies that while this system is not at the absolute top tier, it outperforms the vast majority of configurations. The GPU's near-tie with the RTX 4080 SUPER in average benchmark scores (54,247 vs 54,209) suggests that this system's performance is close to what one might expect from a newer flagship card. However, the CPU's relatively lower standing compared to its GPU counterpart means that in games with lighter GPU loads or at lower resolutions, the system's overall ranking could drop. The data for The Medium shows the combo is capable of 4K Ultra at 45 FPS, which is a demanding scenario, but its 1080p performance of 137 FPS on Low indicates a potential CPU limitation that could affect its rank in other, less GPU-intensive titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 137 FPS on Low, 115 FPS on Medium, 86 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a frame range of 97 to 132 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 130 FPS on Low, 101 FPS on Medium, 72 FPS on High, and 57 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Medium range is 86 to 116 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results show a significant drop-off. The Low setting still manages a high 120 FPS average, but Medium falls to 79 FPS, High to 57 FPS, and Ultra to 45 FPS. The 4K Medium range is 67 to 91 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 5.1% decrease in FPS for Low settings (137 to 130), a 12.2% decrease for Medium (115 to 101), a 16.3% decrease for High (86 to 72), and a 16.2% decrease for Ultra (68 to 57). From 1440p to 4K, the decreases are more pronounced: 7.7% for Low (130 to 120), 21.8% for Medium (101 to 79), 20.8% for High (72 to 57), and 21.1% for Ultra (57 to 45).

These numbers reveal that the performance hit from increasing resolution is more severe at higher settings. The transition from Medium to High at 1080p costs 25.2% of the frame rate (115 to 86), while the same transition at 4K costs 27.8% (79 to 57). This suggests that the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth are heavily taxed by the higher detail levels, especially at 4K. The Low setting at 4K (120 FPS) is over 2.6 times faster than the Ultra setting at 4K (45 FPS), demonstrating a massive range of performance scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD103 chip manufactured on a 5nm process by TSMC. It features 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, along with 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores. Its base clock is 2205 MHz, boosting to 2505 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a substantial 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1400 MHz, effective at 22.4 Gbps.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the benchmark results. The RTX 4080's passmark G3D score of 34,457 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567 indicate immense raw computational power. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions and settings. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for The Medium, likely preventing any texture-related stuttering at 4K. The boost clock of 2505 MHz allows for high sustained performance, which is critical for maintaining the frame rates seen in the 1080p and 1440p tests.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 86 places it above the vast majority of graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 54,247 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 SUPER, suggesting that the performance difference between the two in this game is negligible. The 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth is a key factor in the 4K performance; however, the drop to 45 FPS at 4K Ultra indicates that even this high bandwidth is insufficient to maintain fluid frame rates with maximum detail settings. The RTX 4080's performance is so strong that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p, where the FPS ceiling appears to be around 137.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this hardware combination. For a 60 FPS target, the highest playable setting at 4K is Medium, which averages 79 FPS. High settings at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold with a 57 FPS average, and Ultra is not viable at 45 FPS. At 2560x1440, High settings are the best choice for a high refresh rate experience, averaging 72 FPS, while Ultra averages 57 FPS and is suitable for a 60 FPS target. For 1920x1080, Ultra settings are the best option, delivering an average of 68 FPS, which is sufficient for a smooth experience on a standard 60Hz monitor.

The data suggests that for this combo, the "best experience" depends on the display. For 4K owners, Medium settings at 79 FPS provide the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, avoiding the sub-60 FPS dips of High. The min FPS of 67 on 4K Medium indicates that even at this setting, there are moments of frame rate variance, but it remains above the critical 60 FPS line. At 1440p, High settings are recommended, as they offer a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a 72 FPS average, which is ideal for 144Hz monitors. The 1080p Ultra setting at 68 FPS is the most visually rich option and is perfectly playable.

The largest performance gap is between High and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the drop from High to Ultra is 20.9% (86 to 68 FPS). At 1440p, it is 20.8% (72 to 57 FPS), and at 4K, it is 21.1% (57 to 45 FPS). This consistent percentage drop suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a specific rendering cost that is independent of resolution, likely related to shadow quality or post-processing effects. For a smoother experience, dropping from Ultra to High provides a substantial FPS boost with only a moderate visual penalty. The Low preset is only recommended for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, as it offers the highest FPS but with a significant reduction in visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a complex relationship between the CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 137 at 1080p to 130 at 1440p (a 5.1% decrease) and then to 120 at 4K (a 7.7% decrease from 1440p). This relatively mild scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The 5700G's single-thread performance is likely limiting the frame rate, preventing the GPU from being fully utilized. The 17 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is relatively small, indicating that the CPU is holding the system back from hitting even higher frame rates.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The FPS drops from 115 at 1080p to 101 at 1440p (12.2% decrease) and then to 79 at 4K (21.8% decrease from 1440p). This pattern suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor. The 36 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium is larger than at Low, showing the GPU is starting to be taxed. The trend continues at High settings, with a drop from 86 at 1080p to 72 at 1440p (16.3% decrease) and then to 57 at 4K (20.8% decrease from 1440p).

The most telling data comes from the Ultra settings. The FPS drops from 68 at 1080p to 57 at 1440p (16.2% decrease) and then to 45 at 4K (21.1% decrease from 1440p). The consistent 21% drop from 1440p to 4K across Medium, High, and Ultra settings indicates that at these higher quality levels, the GPU's rendering load is scaling predictably with pixel count. However, at Low settings, the GPU is not the bottleneck; the CPU is. The data implies that the RTX 4080 is capable of far higher frame rates than 137 FPS at 1080p, but the Ryzen 7 5700G cannot keep up. This is a classic case of a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions, which diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.