The Medium

The Medium, a horror title from early 2021, presents a unique challenge for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combo. The measured data reveals a configuration that is capable of high frame rates at lower settings but struggles to maintain smooth performance at maximum graphical fidelity, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, focusing on how the CPU and GPU each contribute to the experience and what the numbers imply for players.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for playing The Medium with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 provides the best balance. At High settings, it delivers 62 FPS, which is smoother than the 45.9 FPS at 4K, while offering a sharper image than 1080p's 71.8 FPS at the same settings.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G has an average benchmark score of 25626. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, scores nearly identically at 25706, showing a negligible performance difference of -0.3%. It is also just 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon D-2752TER.

Q: Is the RTX 5070's performance similar to any older or different-brand graphics cards?

A: The data shows the RTX 5070's average benchmark score is 41687. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which has an average score of 41441, indicating the RTX 5070 is 0.6% faster in synthetic tests. It also sits within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The benchmark data shows an average of 103.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This is a significant jump from the 71.8 FPS seen at High settings, suggesting Medium is a very playable and responsive setting for this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 5700G scores in the 83rd percentile compared to all CPUs. While the RTX 5070 also scores in the 83rd percentile for GPUs, the massive FPS differences between Low and Ultra settings indicate the GPU is the main limiting factor at higher graphical loads.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: The impact is substantial. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 71.8 at 1080p to 45.9 at 4K, which is a reduction of about 36%. This demonstrates the heavy load that 4K resolution places on the GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, and it can boost up to 4.60 GHz, which are strong specifications for a desktop CPU. The data shows it performs well in various synthetic benchmarks, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20755 and a single-core score of 2930. Its overall average benchmark score of 25626 places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a powerful processor.

In the context of The Medium, this CPU provides ample computational headroom. The data reveals that the game's frame rate is heavily influenced by graphical settings, which primarily stress the GPU. For instance, at 1080p, the average FPS more than doubles from 56.1 at Ultra settings to 137 at Low settings. This massive swing is a classic indicator of GPU-bound performance, where the graphics card is struggling to process the visual data, not the CPU. The processor's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, allowing it to perform to its potential without being a limiting factor. The 16 MB of L3 cache also helps with data locality, reducing latency for frequently accessed game data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 356 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 21.1% of all combinations tested, indicating a strong pairing overall. This high ranking is likely due to the CPU's solid single-threaded and multi-threaded performance, which prevents it from holding back the capable RTX 5070.

However, the ranking also reflects the inherent balance of the system. While the CPU is not a bottleneck, the data suggests that the GPU is the component that determines the final frame rate. The fact that this combo ranks in the top quarter of all tested systems while the GPU itself only scores in the 83rd percentile suggests that the CPU is effectively enabling the GPU to reach its full potential in this game. If the CPU were significantly slower, the combo's rank would likely be much lower, as it would cap the GPU's performance. The data implies a well-matched system where the CPU's capabilities are sufficient to fully utilize the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data offers a clear view of the system's performance across different settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system shows a wide range of performance:

• Low: 137 FPS
• Medium: 103.5 FPS
• High: 71.8 FPS
• Ultra: 56.1 FPS

At 2560x1440, the impact of increased resolution is clear:

• Low: 132.8 FPS
• Medium: 83 FPS
• High: 62 FPS
• Ultra: 48.6 FPS

At 3840x2160, the most demanding resolution, performance drops significantly:

• Low: 104.5 FPS
• Medium: 67.7 FPS
• High: 45.9 FPS
• Ultra: 38.1 FPS

These numbers show a clear pattern. The transition from Low to Medium settings at 1080p results in a 33.5 FPS drop, while the transition from High to Ultra is comparatively smaller at 15.7 FPS. This suggests that the Low to Medium jump involves a significant increase in GPU workload, perhaps from effects like shadows and textures, while the High to Ultra step is less demanding. The data also shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that drops below 40 FPS, making it the most challenging scenario for this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This is a substantial amount of memory bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures and effects. With 6144 shading units and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, the GPU is capable of immense computational throughput, delivering 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU's role in The Medium is clearly the primary determinant of frame rate. The benchmark data shows a direct correlation between graphical settings and FPS. For example, at 2560x1440, the average FPS decreases from 132.8 at Low to 48.6 at Ultra. This 84.2 FPS difference is entirely due to the increasing workload on the GPU. The 12 GB of VRAM is also a key factor; at 4K resolution with high-detail textures, the GPU must manage a large amount of data, and the ample memory capacity ensures it does not run out, which would cause severe stuttering. The synthetic benchmark scores support this, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 and a Passmark G3D score of 29137, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this hardware depend heavily on the user's target resolution and preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate.

For 1080p, the High preset at 71.8 FPS offers a solid experience, but the Medium preset at 103.5 FPS is a compelling choice for players who prioritize smoothness. The jump to Ultra only yields 56.1 FPS, which is a significant cost for marginal visual gains. The data suggests that Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and high frame rate at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 62 FPS, which is very playable. The Medium preset offers a higher 83 FPS, but the visual difference between Medium and High in a horror game can be substantial for atmosphere. The data indicates that High is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it provides a good balance, while Ultra's 48.6 FPS might be too low for some players who prefer a 60 FPS target.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that the Medium preset is the only one that achieves a playable frame rate, at 67.7 FPS. The High preset drops to 45.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many consider smooth. The Ultra preset is essentially unplayable at 38.1 FPS. Therefore, Medium is the clear recommendation for 4K gaming with this setup.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's performance characteristics. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 71.8 FPS at 1080p to 62 FPS at 1440p, and then to 45.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 13.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p, but a 26% drop from 1440p to 4K.

This non-linear scaling is a strong indicator that the system is heavily GPU-limited. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops significantly as resolution increases, which means the GPU is working progressively harder to render more pixels.

The data shows that the RTX 5070 is the limiting component. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to render frames quickly, but as the pixel count increases at 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU's fill rate and shading power become the critical constraint. The CPU, with its 8 cores and high boost clock, is able to keep up with the GPU's demands at all tested resolutions, proving it is not the performance limiter in this configuration. The result is a system that is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, but requires a reduction in settings to maintain smooth performance at 4K.