The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination in The Medium exhibits a clear pattern: the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings. The data indicates that this combo is well-suited for 1440p gaming, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with high visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, revealing the heavy load placed on the GPU by this horror title. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 73.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 59.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 14.6 FPS. The decline continues to 48.8 FPS at 3840x2160, showing that 4K High demands significantly more from the RX 7900 XT.

The scaling pattern is more dramatic at Ultra settings. The combo delivers 58.7 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 45.6 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 37.5 FPS at 4K. This 21.2 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K Ultra indicates that the GPU’s rendering pipeline becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The game’s fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds appear to amplify the cost of higher resolutions.

Interestingly, the Low preset shows the least relative degradation. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 142.9 FPS, which falls to 133.1 FPS at 1440p and 105.8 FPS at 4K. The smaller gap here suggests that when the GPU is less stressed, the CPU can better keep pace, though the RX 7900 XT still bears the primary workload.

The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory to High, with 103.8 FPS at 1080p, 82.7 FPS at 1440p, and 68.5 FPS at 4K. This consistency across presets confirms that resolution scaling is predictable: each step up in pixel count costs roughly 15-20% performance, regardless of quality level.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7900 XT’s 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus is a defining characteristic for this game. With 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample memory throughput for The Medium’s high-resolution textures and layered scene rendering. The 20 GB capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, VRAM is unlikely to be a constraint, allowing the GPU to focus on compute rather than memory swapping.

Clock speeds play a notable role in the observed results. The card’s boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz provide the raw speed needed for the game’s DirectX 12 rendering path. The 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance helps drive the complex lighting and shadow effects that are central to the horror atmosphere.

The GPU’s 84 ray tracing cores are present, but the benchmark data does not isolate ray tracing performance. The measured FPS values reflect standard rasterization, where the RX 7900 XT’s 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs handle the workload efficiently. At 4K Ultra, the 37.5 FPS average suggests that the card is fully saturated, with the GPU’s pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s being the limiting factor.

The GPU’s percentile rank of 82 versus all GPUs indicates strong overall performance, but the measured results in this specific title show that The Medium’s engine is demanding. The card’s 29009 Passmark G3D score corroborates its high-end positioning, yet the game still pushes it to its limits at maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 347 out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 20.5% of all combos, indicating solid performance but not class-leading. The rank reflects the balance between the Ryzen 7 5700X’s processing power and the RX 7900 XT’s graphical capabilities.

The combo’s ranking suggests that while the GPU is powerful, the CPU may be holding back performance in certain scenarios. The Ryzen 7 5700X’s average benchmark score of 26214 puts it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, but its nearest rivals show how close the competition is. The Intel Core i9-11900KF scores 26196, a delta of just 0.1%, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X scores 26272, a delta of -0.2%. These negligible differences mean that swapping the CPU for a similarly priced alternative would likely yield no measurable change in this game.

The GPU’s ranking is similarly tight. The RX 7900 XT’s average score of 38358 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which scores 38349 with a 0% delta. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX trails by 0.3%, and the RTX 4080 Mobile is 0.6% behind. This indicates that the RX 7900 XT is well-positioned among high-end graphics cards, and the combo’s rank is more influenced by the game’s optimization than by component deficiencies.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 142.9 FPS, Medium reaches 103.8 FPS, High achieves 73.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 58.7 FPS. All of these are above the 60 FPS threshold except Ultra, which suggests that 1080p Ultra is borderline for smooth gameplay.

The 2560x1440 results show a noticeable step down. Low hits 133.1 FPS, Medium manages 82.7 FPS, High falls to 59.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 45.6 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p are below 60 FPS, indicating that this resolution is best paired with Medium settings for a consistent experience.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low delivers 105.8 FPS, Medium drops to 68.5 FPS, High falls to 48.8 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 37.5 FPS. Only Low and Medium maintain playable frame rates at 4K, with High and Ultra requiring significant compromises.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial. At 1080p, the difference is 84.2 FPS; at 1440p, it is 87.5 FPS; and at 4K, it is 68.3 FPS. This consistent spread indicates that the game’s quality settings have a major impact on GPU load, with Ultra adding expensive effects that the RX 7900 XT cannot fully compensate for at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X provides 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz offer solid single-threaded performance, which is evident in its 3dmark single-thread score of 921 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3193. This helps maintain frame pacing in a game that relies on consistent frame times.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are strong, with a 3dmark max-threads score of 6850 and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22620. However, The Medium does not appear to be heavily multi-threaded, as the 16 threads are likely underutilized. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache aids in reducing memory latency, which is beneficial for the game’s streaming of large texture assets.

The 65W TDP and 7 nm process node indicate efficient power usage, allowing the CPU to sustain boost clocks without thermal throttling. This is crucial for maintaining the 142.9 FPS seen at 1080p Low, where the CPU must feed the GPU quickly. The Ryzen 7 5700X’s 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for the game, though not excessive.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 37.5 FPS result is clearly GPU-limited, as the CPU would have no trouble generating frames at that quality level. The CPU’s percentile rank of 83 versus all CPUs confirms it is a capable processor, but its age relative to newer Ryzen 7000 series parts is reflected in its benchmark scores.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 with Medium settings offers 82.7 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and visually detailed. 1920x1080 with High settings also works well at 73.7 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in this title?

A: At 4K, only Low and Medium presets are playable, with 105.8 FPS and 68.5 FPS respectively. High and Ultra fall below 50 FPS, so 4K is only viable with reduced quality settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X scores 26214 in average benchmark, which is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and Intel Core i9-11900KF. This indicates negligible performance differences in games.

Q: Is the GPU’s 20 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The 20 GB GDDR6 memory with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is more than enough for The Medium’s requirements, ensuring no VRAM-related stuttering even at 4K Ultra.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking?

A: The combo ranks 347 out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20.5% of all CPU-GPU pairings for this game.

Q: Does the game favor CPU or GPU performance?

A: The data shows a clear GPU bias, as performance drops significantly with resolution increases. The CPU maintains high frame rates at Low settings, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at High and Ultra presets.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point. At 1920x1080, it delivers 103.8 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 82.7 FPS, remaining well above the 60 FPS threshold.

The High preset is only advisable at 1080p, where it produces 73.7 FPS. At 1440p, High dips to 59.1 FPS, which is marginal for many players. The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions, as it only reaches 58.7 FPS at 1080p and drops to 37.5 FPS at 4K.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 105.8 FPS is the only guaranteed smooth experience. The Medium preset at 68.5 FPS is a viable compromise, offering better fidelity while staying above 60 FPS. The data suggests that players should prioritize resolution over quality settings, as the GPU handles lower presets much more efficiently.