The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that scales significantly with resolution and settings, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a wide range of performance outcomes. The data reveals a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still capable of delivering smooth frame rates at lower settings, making it a flexible option for players who prioritize visual fidelity or competitive responsiveness.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the primary limiting component in this configuration. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 89 FPS, which drops to 75 FPS at 2560x1440, and further down to 59 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33.7% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings, a substantial hit that underscores the pixel-pushing demands of The Medium.

The scaling behavior becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 137 FPS, which decreases to 130 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 120 FPS at 3840x2160. The drop from 1080p to 4K is only 12.4% at Low settings, suggesting that the CPU and GPU have more headroom to maintain higher frame rates when the graphical load is reduced. This indicates that the RTX 5080 is not fully saturated at lower resolutions with Low settings, and the Ryzen 7 5700G is able to feed frames at a rate that keeps the GPU busy.

The Medium settings tell a different story, with a more linear decline in performance. From 115 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 104 FPS at 1440p, and then to 82 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.7% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is slightly less severe than the High preset but still indicates that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck. The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest scaling curve, with 70 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, a 32.9% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution.

The data strongly suggests that the Ryzen 7 5700G is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the frame rate differences between 1440p and 4K are relatively modest across all settings. The GPU's capability to render The Medium's complex scenes is what determines the final output, and the 5080's performance scales predictably with the number of pixels being processed.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a rank of 336 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it comfortably within the top 9% of all configurations. This is a strong showing that reflects the GPU's high-end positioning, even when paired with a mid-range CPU from an earlier generation. The rank indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, though it falls short of the absolute top-tier configurations that likely pair the 5080 with newer, higher-performing processors.

The GPU's individual performance metrics help contextualize this ranking. The RTX 5080 has a percentile rank of 87 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S, which scores 55757 with a deltaPct of 0.6%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which scores 55698 with a deltaPct of 0.7%. The RTX 5080 is also 2.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, but trails the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE by 2.2%. These close margins indicate that the 5080 is competitively positioned within its performance class.

The CPU, meanwhile, has a percentile rank of 79 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27051. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K, which scores 27097 with a deltaPct of -0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445, which scores 26936 with a deltaPct of 0.4%. The Ryzen 7 5700G is also 0.4% behind the Intel Core i5-14400T and 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1370P. These comparisons show that the CPU is a solid performer, but it is not the reason this combo ranks so highly in The Medium.

The combination of a top-tier GPU with a capable but not elite CPU results in a system that excels in GPU-bound scenarios like The Medium at higher resolutions. The rank of 336 out of 3724 confirms the RTX 5080's raw power, which drives the overall performance in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the observed performance in The Medium. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This high bandwidth is crucial for a game like The Medium, which likely streams large textures and assets, and the ample 16 GB frame buffer ensures that the GPU does not run out of memory at 4K resolutions.

Clock speeds are also a key factor in the GPU's performance. The RTX 5080 has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, with memory running at 1875 MHz or 30 Gbps effective. These high clocks allow the GPU to process the complex shading and lighting effects in The Medium efficiently, contributing to the frame rates seen in the measured data. The GPU's architecture is Blackwell 2.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die.

The RTX 5080's compute capabilities are substantial, with 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It also includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, which are relevant for games that utilize ray tracing or DLSS, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether these features are enabled. The GPU's FP32 performance is 56.28 TFLOPS, and its texture rate is 879.3 GTexel/s, indicating that it can handle high-resolution textures without issue.

The GPU's benchmarking results reinforce its high-end status. It scores 8637 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 235901 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 255450 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 36565, and its GPU compute score is 21789. These numbers place the RTX 5080 well above the average GPU, and its percentile rank of 87 against all GPUs confirms that it is a top-tier part.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and the player's preference for frame rate versus visual quality. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 89 FPS, which is smooth for most players, while the Medium preset offers 115 FPS with only a modest visual downgrade. The Low preset achieves 137 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, but sacrifices significant visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 75 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Medium preset, however, delivers 104 FPS, which is a much better balance of quality and performance. The Low preset reaches 130 FPS, making it the best choice for players who want maximum smoothness at this resolution. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 59 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that benefits from a stable frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. The High preset averages 59 FPS, which is right at the threshold for acceptable performance, but the Medium preset offers a better experience at 82 FPS with only a slight reduction in visual quality. The Low preset achieves 120 FPS, which is excellent for 4K, but it may look noticeably worse than the Medium or High presets. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 47 FPS, which is too low for a smooth experience and should be avoided.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset is the recommended choice across all resolutions. It provides a significant frame rate boost over High and Ultra while maintaining a level of visual quality that is likely to be acceptable to most players. At 4K, the Medium preset's 82 FPS is particularly compelling, as it offers a smooth experience without requiring a drop to Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of how this combo performs in The Medium across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 137 FPS, the Medium preset averages 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS, the High preset averages 89 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 70 FPS. This shows a clear progression of decreasing performance as settings increase, with the Medium preset offering a notable 26 FPS advantage over High.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 130 FPS, the Medium preset averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS, the High preset averages 75 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 59 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 89 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that frame pacing remains stable even during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 120 FPS, the Medium preset averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS, the High preset averages 59 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 47 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 70 FPS is the most important number here, as it shows that the system does not drop below acceptable levels even in the most demanding moments.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combination, as it consistently delivers frame rates that are significantly higher than High and Ultra while remaining visually appealing. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates at every resolution, but the Medium preset provides a better balance of performance and quality.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G plays a supporting role in this configuration, and its specifications and benchmarks indicate that it is more than sufficient for The Medium. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It is based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne, and is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of L3 cache. This cache configuration is adequate for gaming workloads, and the CPU's memory support for DDR4 with a dual-channel bus and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for feeding the RTX 5080. The CPU's PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes is a potential bottleneck for the GPU, which supports PCIe 5.0, but this does not appear to significantly impact performance in The Medium based on the measured FPS.

In terms of raw performance, the Ryzen 7 5700G scores 12830.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1494 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 9950 for multicore and 1894 for single-core. These numbers place it in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27051. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K, which is nearly identical in performance with a deltaPct of -0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 445, which is 0.4% slower.

The CPU's performance in gaming-specific benchmarks is also solid, with a 3DMark 16-thread score of 6629 and a single-thread score of 899. These results indicate that the CPU can handle the multi-threaded workload of The Medium, which likely uses multiple cores for rendering and physics. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is well-suited for this type of game, and the CPU's boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures that it can keep up with the GPU's demand for frames.

Overall, the Ryzen 7 5700G is a capable partner for the RTX 5080 in The Medium. While it may not be the absolute best CPU on the market, its performance is more than adequate for this game, and the combination ranks highly due to the GPU's dominance in this title.