The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti pairing in The Medium produces a performance profile that is heavily dictated by settings, with the CPU providing ample headroom while the GPU struggles under maximum load. The data shows a system that can deliver smooth frame rates at lower presets but falls below playable thresholds at Ultra settings across all resolutions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. This desktop chip, released in April 2022, features a 32 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth. The processor’s benchmark results place it in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26214.

In the context of The Medium, this CPU is never the primary bottleneck. The benchmark results show that even at 1080p Low, where CPU load is typically highest relative to GPU load, the system achieves 91.8 FPS. This suggests the 5700X can feed the RTX 3060 Ti adequately. The processor’s multi-threaded capabilities are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22620 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 26612. Single-thread performance is also solid, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2148 and a PassMark single-thread score of 3385.

Comparatively, the 5700X’s nearest rivals in aggregate CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core i9-11900KF with an average score of 26196 (0.1% lower) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X with an average score of 26272 (0.2% higher). These are essentially statistical ties. The data indicates that the 5700X provides consistent performance that does not limit the GPU in this title. The 3DMark scores also reinforce this: 6858 for 16 threads, 5768 for 8 threads, and 921 for single-thread. These figures show a balanced architecture that can handle both the rendering threads and the game logic threads of The Medium without introducing frame pacing issues.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process. It features 4864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card’s FP32 performance is rated at 16.20 TFLOPS, and it has a 200 W TDP. The RTX 3060 Ti sits in the 69th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 25120.

The GPU’s role in The Medium is critical, as the measured FPS drops dramatically with increased settings. At 1080p, moving from Low (91.8 FPS) to High (44.2 FPS) cuts performance by more than half. This indicates that the game’s rendering load scales heavily with visual fidelity, and the 8 GB VRAM buffer appears to be a limiting factor at higher presets. The RTX 3060 Ti’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700M with an average score of 25180 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 with an average score of 25235 (0.5% higher). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 3060 Ti is performance-competitive with those cards in synthetic tests, but the in-game data shows its specific strengths and weaknesses.

The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is substantial, but the 8 GB capacity likely causes texture thrashing at Ultra settings. This is evident in the 4K Ultra result of 20.7 FPS, which is a severe drop from the 4K Low result of 59.4 FPS. The GPU’s pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are not enough to maintain fluid gameplay when all effects are enabled at high resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the benchmark database for The Medium, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1177 out of 1689 tested combinations. This places the combo in roughly the 70th percentile of all tested systems, which aligns with the GPU’s individual percentile of 69. The rank indicates that while this is not a top-tier setup, it outperforms a significant portion of the tested hardware configurations.

The combo rank of 1177 suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average FPS in this game. Given that the CPU is not a bottleneck, the ranking is almost entirely determined by the RTX 3060 Ti’s performance. The data shows that the GPU’s aggregate score of 25120 is in the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.7% of that score. This means the combo’s rank is not due to any pairing inefficiency but rather the absolute performance ceiling of the 3060 Ti in The Medium.

For context, the combo rank of 1177 out of 1689 means there are 512 tested combinations that perform worse and 1176 that perform better. This places the system in the lower-middle segment of the database. The results are measured data, not estimates, providing a reliable reference point for users considering this hardware pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low produces an average of 91.8 FPS, Medium drops to 56.5 FPS, High yields 44.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31.8 FPS. This shows a clear progression, with Ultra being playable but not smooth by high-refresh standards.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down: Low averages 76.7 FPS, Medium 49.5 FPS, High 32.8 FPS, and Ultra 28.9 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 47.8 FPS, a 62% reduction. At 3840x2160, the results are significantly lower: Low averages 59.4 FPS, Medium 40.0 FPS, High 28.2 FPS, and Ultra 20.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, indicating that this resolution and preset combination is not viable for smooth gameplay.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium is substantial, while the gap between High and Ultra is also large. For example, at 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 35.3 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 12.4 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset offers a reasonable balance, but Ultra is disproportionately demanding. The minimum and maximum FPS values are not recorded in the data, so only average FPS can be analyzed.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling behavior reveals a GPU-bound system. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 91.8 at 1080p to 76.7 at 1440p, a 16.4% decrease, and then to 59.4 at 4K, a 35.3% decrease from 1080p. This is a relatively mild scaling pattern, suggesting that at Low settings, the CPU is still contributing significantly to the frame rate. However, at Ultra settings, the drop is more severe: from 31.8 FPS at 1080p to 28.9 FPS at 1440p (9.1% decrease) and then to 20.7 FPS at 4K (34.9% decrease from 1080p).

The percentage drops across resolutions are telling. At High settings, the FPS goes from 44.2 at 1080p to 32.8 at 1440p (25.8% drop) and then to 28.2 at 4K (36.2% drop from 1080p). This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The RTX 3060 Ti’s memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and its 8 GB capacity are strained at higher resolutions, particularly with the game’s fixed camera angles and detailed environments.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary limiter even at 1080p Ultra, where the FPS is 31.8. If the CPU were limiting, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. The 5700X’s strong multi-threaded scores, such as the 3DMark 16-thread score of 6858, mean it can maintain frame pacing even when the GPU is maxed out.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in The Medium?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 Low achieves 91.8 FPS, while 2560x1440 Low achieves 76.7 FPS. For a balance of quality and performance, 1080p Medium at 56.5 FPS or 1440p Medium at 49.5 FPS are viable options. 4K Low at 59.4 FPS is also playable.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 25120. The AMD Radeon RX 6700M scores 25180 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6600 scores 25235 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon 890M scores 25246 (0.5% higher). These differences are minimal.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X a bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The FPS drop from 4K Low (59.4) to 4K Ultra (20.7) is 38.7 FPS, which is a GPU-driven change. The CPU’s single-thread score of 921 in 3DMark and multi-thread score of 6850 indicate it can handle the game logic, leaving the GPU as the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High averages 44.2 FPS and Ultra averages 31.8 FPS, a difference of 12.4 FPS. This represents a 28% performance drop when moving to Ultra.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in The Medium?*

A: This combo ranks 1177 out of 1689 tested combinations. This places it in the 70th percentile, meaning it outperforms 512 other tested setups.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM of the RTX 3060 Ti impact performance at higher settings?

A: The data suggests yes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 20.7, and at 1440p Ultra it is 28.9. The severe drop from Low to Ultra at 4K (59.4 to 20.7) indicates that the 8 GB buffer is insufficient for the highest presets, causing a significant performance penalty.