The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The measured data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded headroom remains largely untapped by this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and tells a clear story about where the hardware limit lies. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 63 FPS at 1920x1080 to 53 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 10 FPS, and then plummets to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% performance loss when moving from 1440p to 4K, a pattern that indicates the Radeon RX 9060's rendering pipeline is saturated by the pixel count.

The scaling becomes even more dramatic when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 101 FPS, which drops to 85 FPS at 1440p and then to 67 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still 34 FPS higher than the 4K High result, showing that the GPU has significant headroom when texture and shading complexity are reduced. This is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario, as the CPU's workload does not change meaningfully with resolution.

Ultra settings are the most punishing, with average frame rates falling from 36 FPS at 1080p to 30 FPS at 1440p and finally to 24 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K on Ultra is only 12 FPS, which suggests that the game's Ultra preset introduces a fixed cost that the GPU cannot overcome regardless of resolution. The data indicates that at 4K, even Low settings (67 FPS) cannot fully utilize the hardware, while at 1080p, the gap between Low (101 FPS) and Medium (63 FPS) shows that the GPU is the limiting factor even at the lowest resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, is the dominant performance determinant in this test. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Medium settings at all resolutions but struggles with the demands of High and Ultra presets. The GPU's boost clock of 2990 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz are high for the segment, yet the 4K Ultra average of 24 FPS shows that raw clock speed cannot compensate for the architectural limits at maximum load.

The GPU's benchmark profile places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129, a 0.7% advantage that falls within the margin of error. This positioning explains the measured results: the RX 9060 is a solid mid-range performer that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but lacks the compute resources for 4K Ultra in a title as demanding as The Medium.

The FP32 compute rating of 21.43 TFLOPS and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are respectable, but the game's fixed camera angles and heavy post-processing effects appear to place disproportionate stress on the ROP throughput. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s is clearly insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the 24 FPS average indicates that the GPU is rendering frames as fast as the pixel pipeline allows. The 132 W TDP and dual-slot cooler suggest this is not a power-limited scenario; rather, the GPU is compute-bound at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, provides far more processing power than The Medium requires. The CPU's 3.40 GHz base clock and 4.60 GHz boost clock are supplemented by 32 MB of shared L3 cache, and its benchmark results confirm strong multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 13184 and Geekbench multicore score of 10779 place it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27578.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12600K, matches its average score exactly at 27578 with a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 trails by just 0.2%. This parity indicates that the 5700X is a well-rounded processor, but its influence on The Medium's frame rates is minimal. The measured data shows that the CPU does not become a bottleneck at any resolution, as evidenced by the consistent FPS patterns that track GPU load rather than CPU capability.

The single-thread performance, measured at 921 in 3DMark single-thread and 1499 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is adequate for the game's AI and logic systems. The 16 threads handle the game's background tasks easily, but the benchmark results suggest that the game engine is not heavily threaded. The Passmark multithread score of 26612 and Passmark physics score of 1337 indicate that the CPU has substantial headroom for other tasks, but in this specific title, the GPU remains the limiting component across all settings and resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves an average of 67 FPS. Medium settings at 4K yield 42 FPS, while High and Ultra drop to 30 and 24 FPS respectively, making those presets unsuitable for smooth gameplay at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware combination?

A: 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with Medium settings achieving 63 FPS and Low reaching 101 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium drops to 53 FPS, which is still playable but shows the GPU starting to struggle.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The FPS scales dramatically with resolution and settings changes, while the CPU's performance metrics (Cinebench R23 multicore 13184, single-core 1499) are far beyond what this game demands. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 59th percentile confirms this disparity.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its closest rival in this game?

A: The RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, a 0.7% difference. This close proximity suggests similar real-world performance, though the measured FPS data for The Medium specifically shows the RX 9060 handling Medium settings at 1080p with 63 FPS.

Q: What settings preset provides the most balanced experience?

A: Medium settings offer the best balance, with 63 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The min FPS of 53 at 1080p and 45 at 1440p indicate acceptable frame pacing, while High and Ultra presets sacrifice too much performance for marginal visual gains.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance?

A: The data suggests that VRAM capacity is not the primary constraint, as performance scales consistently with resolution and settings rather than showing a sudden drop when memory fills. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is more likely the limiting factor, given the consistent FPS reductions across all resolution steps.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data identifies Medium as the optimal preset for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS, providing a smooth experience that stays well above the 30 FPS threshold. The jump to High at the same resolution costs 18 FPS (down to 45 FPS), which is a significant loss for visual improvements that many players may not notice in a horror title with fixed camera angles.

At 2560x1440, Medium remains the best choice, achieving 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS. This is borderline but playable, and the Low preset at 85 FPS offers a much safer margin for those who prioritize frame rate stability. The High preset at 38 FPS is too close to the 30 FPS floor for comfort, while Ultra at 30 FPS is the absolute minimum for playability.

For 4K, the recommendation changes dramatically. Medium settings at 42 FPS are playable but not ideal, and Low at 67 FPS provides a much better experience. The 4K High (30 FPS) and Ultra (24 FPS) presets should be avoided entirely, as they fall below the standard playability threshold. Players with 4K displays should accept the visual compromise of Low settings to maintain a fluid frame rate.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Medium offers the best visual fidelity per frame rate cost, while Low provides the headroom needed for higher resolutions. Ultra is universally poor, with the 4K result of 24 FPS confirming that this preset is intended for more powerful GPUs. The RX 9060's performance ranking, at the 59th percentile and just 0.7% behind the RTX 3060 Ti, suggests that this GPU is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is available. Low settings deliver 101 FPS average, representing the maximum performance the system can achieve in this game. Medium settings produce 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, offering a stable and responsive experience. High settings drop to 45 FPS, while Ultra falls to 36 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for consistent smoothness.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance ceiling lowers noticeably. Low settings achieve 85 FPS, a 16 FPS reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS and maximum of 61 FPS, maintaining playability but with less headroom. High settings produce 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS, which is the minimum playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations are fully exposed. Low settings still manage 67 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle the pixel count when shading complexity is minimized. Medium settings average 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 48 FPS, providing a playable but not ideal experience. High settings fall to 30 FPS, and Ultra drops to 24 FPS, making both presets effectively unplayable for sustained gaming sessions.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 38 FPS (101 vs 63), at 1440p it is 32 FPS (85 vs 53), and at 4K it is 25 FPS (67 vs 42). This convergence indicates that the GPU's fixed overhead becomes a larger proportion of total frame time at higher resolutions, further confirming that the RX 9060 is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration.