The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The Medium presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination, with resolution scaling revealing a clear shift in the balance of power. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 96 FPS, which is a strong starting point. However, moving to 1440p at the same settings reduces the average to 81 FPS, a drop of 15 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 64 FPS, indicating a steady and predictable decline as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 43 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 36 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 29 FPS. This represents a 32.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a significant loss, but not a dramatic one. The Medium settings tell a similar story: 60 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows 34 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 29 FPS at 1440p and just 23 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU effectively, allowing the RTX 5050 to stretch its legs. The drop from 96 FPS at 1080p Low to 81 FPS at 1440p Low (a 15.6% decrease) suggests that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases. However, the relatively modest drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low (from 81 to 64 FPS, a 21% decrease) indicates that the GPU is not the sole bottleneck. The 8 cores and 16 threads of the Ryzen 7 5700G, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, may be contributing to the scaling pattern, especially at higher resolutions where the CPU's single-thread performance can become a factor.

The most telling observation is the difference between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap is 62 FPS (96 Low vs 34 Ultra). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 52 FPS (81 vs 29). At 4K, the gap shrinks further to 41 FPS (64 vs 23). This narrowing gap suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so heavily loaded that the difference between Low and Ultra settings becomes less impactful on the final frame rate. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated.

The benchmark results indicate that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K. At 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has spare capacity. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, struggling to maintain playable frame rates. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates on lower presets, while 4K gaming is only viable on Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

Interpreting the measured FPS rows, the most balanced experience for this combo is achieved at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is exactly 60, which is the standard target for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS recorded in this configuration is 51, indicating that the frame rate stays within a comfortable range, with a maximum of 69. This provides a stable and responsive experience without the visual compromises of Low settings.

At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 51 FPS, which is still playable, though the minimum of 43 FPS suggests some potential for stutter in demanding scenes. The data shows that this is a viable option for users with 1440p displays who prioritize frame rate over maximum visual fidelity. The gap between the minimum and maximum (43 to 58) indicates a reasonable level of consistency.

For users seeking higher visual quality, the High preset at 1080p delivers an average of 43 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target, but may be acceptable for a horror game where atmospheric detail is important. The Ultra preset, at 34 FPS, is only suitable for users who prioritize visuals over smoothness, as the frame rate is likely to feel sluggish during gameplay.

The Low preset at 1080p, with an average of 96 FPS, provides the highest frame rate, but at a significant cost to visual quality. This is recommended for competitive or fast-paced scenarios, but for a game like The Medium, which relies on atmosphere and suspense, the Medium preset offers the best trade-off. The data indicates that Medium settings at 1080p provide the most consistent experience, with a minimum FPS that is only 9 frames below the average.

At 4K, the only setting that yields a playable frame rate is Low, with an average of 64 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 40 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. High and Ultra at 4K are not viable options, with averages of 29 and 23 FPS respectively. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Medium settings at 1080p for the best experience, with Low at 1440p as a secondary option for users with higher-resolution displays.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 in The Medium?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the most balanced experience, with an average FPS of 60, a minimum of 51, and a maximum of 69. This offers smooth gameplay while maintaining decent visual quality.

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce an average FPS of 64. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 40 FPS, and High and Ultra are not playable, with averages of 29 and 23 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 96 at 1080p to 81 at 1440p, a decrease of 15.6%. At Medium settings, the drop is from 60 to 51 FPS, and at High, from 43 to 36 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has spare capacity. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, with the frame rate dropping to 23 FPS. The shift in bottleneck occurs as resolution increases.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 34, occurring at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 43, and at 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 51.

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

A: The combo ranks 1765 out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the lower half of all tested systems.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combo ranks 1765 out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the 39th percentile of all systems tested for The Medium. This ranking indicates that while this is a functional setup, it is not among the top performers. The data suggests that this combo is better suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve playable frame rates on medium to low settings.

When considering the individual components, the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27051. This is a strong showing, as the Ryzen 7 5700G performs within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-9900K, which has an average score of 27097. The GPU, however, ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. This places it within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL and 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's lower percentile explains the combo's mid-pack ranking. The CPU is capable, but the GPU holds the system back in demanding games like The Medium. The data implies that for this game, the GPU is the primary constraint, as the CPU's performance is competitive with top-tier processors from its generation. The ranking suggests that users with this combo should focus on optimizing graphics settings rather than expecting high frame rates at high resolutions.

The combo's rank of 1765 out of 2911 indicates that there are 1146 combinations that perform worse, but also 1764 that perform better. This positions the system in the lower half of the field, suggesting that while it can handle the game, it will not provide a high-end experience. The data shows that the RTX 5050's 8 GB of VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely contributing to the GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 plays a critical role in determining the performance of this combo in The Medium. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p gaming, but the data suggests it becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 23, which is likely due to the GPU's memory bandwidth being saturated by the high-resolution textures.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2317 MHz base and 2572 MHz boost, with a memory clock of 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). These clocks contribute to a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. The GPU's FP32 performance is 13.17 TFLOPS, which is modest for a modern graphics card. The data indicates that these specifications are sufficient for 1080p gaming on medium settings, but not for high-resolution gaming.

The GPU's 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs are arranged in a configuration that is typical for a mid-range card. The 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores provide support for advanced features, but The Medium's benchmark results do not show a significant benefit from these. The data shows that the GPU's performance in DirectX 12 benchmarks (a score of 66 in Passmark) is relatively low, which may explain the frame rate drops at higher settings.

The GPU's 5 nm process node and 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die indicate a dense and efficient design. However, the 130 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU requirement suggest that this is not a low-power card. The benchmark results show that the GPU ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. This places it close to the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which scores 21153, and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which scores 20713.

The data reveals that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this combo, especially at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU can produce 96 FPS, but this drops to 64 FPS at 4K Low. The scaling suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and processing power are insufficient for 4K gaming, making 1080p the optimal resolution for this setup.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 96 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset at the same resolution produces an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 69. The High preset drops to 43 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 34 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 81 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset drops to 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 and a maximum of 58. The High preset at 1440p averages 36 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS. This resolution shows a clear decline in performance across all settings, with the Ultra preset falling below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 and a maximum of 46. The High preset falls to 29 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 23 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases, with the gap between Low and Ultra narrowing from 62 FPS at 1080p to 41 FPS at 4K.

The minimum FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum is 51 FPS, at 1440p it is 43 FPS, and at 4K it is 34 FPS. These minimums are within 9 FPS of the averages, indicating that the frame pacing is relatively stable. The absence of minimum FPS data for other presets makes it difficult to assess their consistency, but the average values suggest that lower presets are more stable.

The data reveals that the combo performs best at 1080p, where it can achieve frame rates above 60 FPS on Low and Medium settings. At 1440p, the Medium preset is the only option that maintains an average above 50 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset is viable, and even then, the average of 64 FPS is below the 96 FPS achieved at 1080p Low. This breakdown indicates that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is a capable processor that plays a significant role in this combo's performance. With 8 cores and 16 threads, the CPU provides ample multi-threaded performance for modern games. The base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensure that single-threaded tasks are handled efficiently. The CPU's architecture is Zen 3, built on a 7 nm process with 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die.

The CPU's benchmark results show a strong performance across various tests. In Cinebench R23, it scores 12830.5 in multi-core and 1494 in single-core. The Geekbench scores are 9950 for multi-core and 1894 for single-core. The Passmark multi-thread score is 24419, with a single-thread score of 3283. These scores place the CPU in the 79th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27051.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is notable. It is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-9900K, which scores 27097, and within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445, which scores 26936. The CPU also outperforms the Intel Core i5-14400T by 0.4% and the Intel Core i7-1370P by 0.6%. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 5700G is a competitive processor, even against newer and more expensive options.

The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. This cache hierarchy is designed to reduce latency and improve data access speeds. The CPU supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. This is sufficient for the RTX 5050's needs, as the GPU has its own dedicated memory.

In The Medium, the CPU's performance is likely sufficient to avoid being a bottleneck at 1080p. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 96 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. However, at higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's performance becomes less critical. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking indicates that it is a strong performer, but the combo's overall rank of 1765 out of 2911 suggests that the GPU is the primary constraint in this game.