The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 occupies the 778th position out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. This places the combo in the upper-middle tier of the database, suggesting a balanced pairing that handles the game’s horror atmosphere without reaching the extremes of performance. The rank implies that while this system is far from the top, it outperforms a significant majority of tested setups, making it a relevant data point for users targeting high refresh rates at lower resolutions or playable frame rates at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The 778th rank out of 1689 combos places this pairing in the 46th percentile of all tested systems for The Medium. This is a position where the hardware is clearly capable, but not dominant, indicating that the game’s demands align with the mid-range nature of both components. The RTX 3070’s benchmark percentile of 72 against all GPUs suggests the graphics card is the stronger half of this duo, yet the combo’s rank is dragged down by the CPU’s 82nd percentile standing. The data implies that in this specific title, the balance tips toward the GPU, but neither component is a bottleneck at the resolutions tested. The rank is a statistical midpoint, meaning users can expect consistent, if not spectacular, performance across the board.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 1500 MHz, boosting to 1725 MHz, which provides the raw throughput for the game’s fixed-camera scenes and heavy post-processing effects. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, effectively 14 Gbps, which is sufficient for the textures and lighting in The Medium’s dual-reality mechanic. The data shows the GPU’s influence clearly: at 1080p Low, the combo hits 120.6 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 31.5 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB frame buffer and 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are adequate for the game’s needs, but the GPU is the primary driver of performance swings across settings. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, sits just 0.9% behind in average benchmark score, yet the measured FPS in this title shows the RTX 3070 holding its own at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth matters.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the drop from 120.6 FPS at 1080p to 104.9 FPS at 1440p is a 13% reduction, but the jump to 4K Low yields 82.1 FPS, a further 21.7% decline. This suggests that at Low settings, the game is less demanding on the GPU, allowing the CPU to maintain higher frame rates. Moving to High settings, the 1080p result of 55.4 FPS falls to 43.3 FPS at 1440p (a 21.8% drop) and then to 33.7 FPS at 4K (a 22.2% drop from 1440p). The scaling is more linear here, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as the pixel count rises. The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute decline: 44 FPS at 1080p, 38.3 FPS at 1440p, and 31.5 FPS at 4K. This pattern suggests that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU has headroom, but at 4K Ultra, the GPU is fully saturated, making the resolution the primary constraint on performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a full grid of average FPS across four resolutions and four settings. At 1080p, the results range from 120.6 FPS at Low to 44 FPS at Ultra, with Medium at 78.1 FPS and High at 55.4 FPS. The 1440p results show a similar spread: Low at 104.9 FPS, Medium at 63.9 FPS, High at 43.3 FPS, and Ultra at 38.3 FPS. At 4K, the figures compress: Low is 82.1 FPS, Medium is 51.6 FPS, High is 33.7 FPS, and Ultra is 31.5 FPS. The differences between High and Ultra are notable: at 1080p, the gap is 11.4 FPS, at 1440p it narrows to 5 FPS, and at 4K it shrinks to just 2.2 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional effects offer diminishing returns at higher resolutions, where the GPU is already struggling. The Low-to-Medium jump is significant at every resolution, suggesting that Medium is a sweet spot for visual quality without a massive FPS penalty.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 96 MB of shared L3 cache is the standout feature, providing a large pool of fast memory for game data. The CPU’s benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded performance: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22366 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 10108. Single-thread performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3157. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 120.6 FPS, which is the highest measured result, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently when the graphical load is light. However, the CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1360P, scores 0.2% higher in average benchmarks, yet the 5700X3D’s larger cache likely helps in this game’s scene transitions. The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title, as even at 4K Low, the FPS remains high at 82.1, showing that the GPU is handling the resolution scaling while the CPU maintains a steady frame delivery.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows point to Medium settings as the optimal balance for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 78.1, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the visual upgrade over Low is substantial. At 1440p Medium, the FPS drops to 63.9, still playable, but closer to the edge. At 4K Medium, the result is 51.6 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror title, but the drop is noticeable. High settings at 1440p produce 43.3 FPS, which is below the ideal range, and at 4K High, the 33.7 FPS result is borderline. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p with 44 FPS, but the marginal visual gains over High do not justify the 11.4 FPS loss. For users prioritizing frame rate, Low settings at 1440p offer 104.9 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual fidelity. The data recommends Medium as the default, with Low reserved for high-refresh-rate monitors and High only for those who accept lower FPS.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p Medium at 78.1 FPS is the sweet spot, while 1440p Medium at 63.9 FPS is also viable. 4K Medium at 51.6 FPS is playable but requires compromises.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, is 0.9% behind in average benchmark score. In The Medium, the RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth handle the game’s textures effectively at all tested resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D’s 8 cores and 96 MB L3 cache push 1080p Low to 120.6 FPS, showing the CPU is not limiting performance at this resolution.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p?

A: High delivers 43.3 FPS, while Ultra delivers 38.3 FPS, a difference of 5 FPS. This gap narrows to 2.2 FPS at 4K, where both settings hover around 33.7 and 31.5 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank against all tested systems?

A: It ranks 778th out of 1689 combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier. The RTX 3070’s 72nd percentile against all GPUs is stronger than the CPU’s 82nd percentile, indicating the GPU drives the ranking.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance at 4K?

A: The data shows 4K Low at 82.1 FPS and 4K Medium at 51.6 FPS, suggesting the VRAM is sufficient for the game’s needs, but Ultra at 31.5 FPS indicates other GPU limits are more significant.