The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a mid-range desktop combination that ranks 1,379th out of 1,689 tested combos in The Medium. The CPU, an 8-core/16-thread Zen 3 part with a 4.6 GHz boost, sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU, a Turing-based card with 6 GB GDDR6, lands in the 58th percentile. Measured frame rates range from 22.6 FPS at 4K High to 82.4 FPS at 1080p Low, showing a wide spread that depends heavily on resolution and preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1,379 out of 1,689 places it in the lower portion of the database, outperforming only 310 other combinations. That means roughly 18% of tested combos deliver worse results in The Medium, while the vast majority do better. This is surprising given the individual component percentiles: the CPU is above average (83rd percentile) and the GPU is slightly above median (58th percentile). The low combo rank suggests the game is particularly demanding on the GPU, and the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus become limiting factors at higher settings and resolutions.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 26,214 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i9-11900KF scores 26,196 (0.1% higher), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U scores 26,262 (0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500GT scores 26,161 (0.2% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X scores 26,272 (0.2% higher). All four are within a fraction of a percent, so the 5700X is effectively tied with them in raw CPU performance. The GPU’s average score of 16,074 is similarly close to its rivals: the AMD Radeon RX 7600S scores 15,996 (0.5% higher), the Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 both score 16,351 (1.7% higher), and the Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15,786 (1.8% lower). These deltas are small, meaning the RTX 2060 is a typical mid-range GPU, but the game’s heavy load pushes it to the bottom of the combo ranking.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip, 1,920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. It has 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, though the game’s use of these features is not specified in the data. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 6 GB GDDR6 memory sits on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a key constraint: at 4K, the frame rate drops from 56.5 FPS on Low to 22.6 FPS on High, a 60% reduction. At 1080p, the drop is from 82.4 FPS on Low to 40.1 FPS on High, a 51% reduction. The pattern indicates that higher settings increase memory pressure and shading load, and the 6 GB capacity is likely insufficient for Ultra presets at 1440p and above.

The GPU’s compute performance is modest: FP32 throughput is 6.451 TFLOPS, and pixel rate is 80.64 GPixel/s. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 14,111 in Passmark G3D and 1,242 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its percentile of 58 means it beats 58% of all GPUs, but in The Medium it struggles to maintain playable frame rates at high settings. The nearest rival comparisons show the RTX 2060 is within 1.8% of the Radeon Pro W5500, which is a workstation card, and within 1.7% of the Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700. The RX 7600S is 0.5% faster, so the RTX 2060 is not far off from modern mid-range options, but the game’s demands push it to its limits.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on Zen 3 (Vermeer) on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3. Memory support is DDR4 dual-channel with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU’s benchmark results are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 22,620 and single-core 3,193; Geekbench multicore is 9,720 and single-core 2,148; Passmark multithread is 26,612 and single-thread 3,385. These numbers place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 83% of tested processors.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU’s. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 82.4 FPS, which is high enough to suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck at that setting. At 4K Low, the frame rate drops to 56.5 FPS, a 31% reduction from 1080p Low, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU’s 16 threads provide ample headroom for the game’s logic, and its single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single 3,193) is sufficient for most titles. The nearest rivals are all within 0.2% in average score, so the 5700X is effectively a peer of the i9-11900KF, Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, Ryzen 5 5500GT, and Ryzen 5 7600X. The CPU’s launch MSRP was $299, and it supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes, though the RTX 2060 uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for The Medium are as follows:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 22.6 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 56.5 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 32.1 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 22.7 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 33.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 70.8 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 42.6 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 23.5 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 40.1 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 82.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 54.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 28.1 |

At 1080p, the spread is wide: Low delivers 82.4 FPS, Medium 54.2, High 40.1, and Ultra 28.1. Ultra is only 34% of Low’s frame rate, showing a steep cost for the highest preset. At 1440p, Low hits 70.8 FPS, Medium 42.6, High 33.7, and Ultra 23.5. The drop from Low to Ultra is 66%. At 4K, Low is 56.5 FPS, Medium 32.1, High 22.6, and Ultra 22.7. Notably, High and Ultra are nearly identical at 4K (22.6 vs 22.7), suggesting the GPU is completely saturated and the extra settings in Ultra do not change the frame rate. Only 1080p Low and 1440p Low exceed 60 FPS; 1080p Medium is close at 54.2, but all other settings fall below 60.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for 60 FPS in The Medium with this combo?

A: The data shows that only 1920x1080 Low (82.4 FPS) and 2560x1440 Low (70.8 FPS) achieve 60 FPS or higher. No other setting reaches 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060’s VRAM affect performance?

A: The GPU has 6 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, the frame rate drops from 56.5 FPS on Low to 22.6 FPS on High, a 60% reduction, indicating that higher settings exceed the memory capacity or bandwidth.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700X a bottleneck in this game?

A: The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, are sufficient for The Medium. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 82.4 FPS, and the CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking suggests it is not the limiting factor; the GPU is.

Q: How does this combo compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-11900KF, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, Ryzen 5 5500GT, and Ryzen 5 7600X in average score. The GPU is within 1.8% of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 and within 1.7% of the Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank?

A: It ranks 1,379th out of 1,689 tested combos, meaning it outperforms 310 combinations and is in the lower 18% of the database.

Q: Does Ultra provide any benefit over High at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High averages 22.6 FPS and Ultra averages 22.7 FPS, a difference of 0.1 FPS. The data shows no meaningful improvement, so Ultra is effectively identical to High at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the best experience depends on the target frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS, only Low at 1080p (82.4 FPS) and Low at 1440p (70.8 FPS) are viable. If 30 FPS is acceptable, more options open: at 1080p, Medium (54.2 FPS) and High (40.1 FPS) both exceed 30; at 1440p, Medium (42.6 FPS) and High (33.7 FPS) also exceed 30; at 4K, Low (56.5 FPS) and Medium (32.1 FPS) are above 30. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields 28.1 FPS at 1080p, 23.5 FPS at 1440p, and 22.7 FPS at 4K, all below 30. For a balance of visual quality and playability, Medium at 1080p (54.2 FPS) or Medium at 1440p (42.6 FPS) are the highest presets that stay above 30 FPS. At 4K, Low is the only preset that approaches 60 FPS (56.5), while Medium drops to 32.1 FPS. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming with Medium or lower settings, and 4K should be reserved for Low presets if frame rate is a priority.