The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that stresses both CPU and GPU depending on the settings and resolution chosen. With the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, the data reveals a system that scales predictably with graphical load, though the pattern of frame rates across the tested configurations shows where the bottleneck shifts. This combination lands at rank 324 out of 1689 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top quintile of systems measured, a strong result for a 2021 release that has proven demanding on hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and steep drop as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title at higher pixel counts. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 80.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 64.9 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 19% when moving to 1440p. The step to 3840x2160 is more punishing, with the average dropping to 50.7 FPS, which is about 22% lower than the 1440p result and 37% lower than the 1080p figure. This trajectory indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is the primary limiting factor at 4K, as the render load outpaces what the GPU can deliver even with a capable processor.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts noticeably. The average at 1920x1080 is 127.1 FPS, and at 2560x1440 it remains high at 119.5 FPS, a mere 6% drop that suggests the CPU is holding the frame rate relatively steady. The jump to 3840x2160 brings the average down to 110.1 FPS, which is still a 14% reduction from the 1440p figure. The smaller relative declines at lower settings indicate that the Ryzen 7 5700X3D’s eight cores and 16 threads are sufficient to keep feeding the GPU at these lighter loads, and the bottleneck only becomes fully GPU-bound when pixel count rises dramatically.

Across all settings, the gap between 1080p and 4K narrows as quality increases. For Ultra settings, the 1080p average is 62.5 FPS, and the 4K average is 38.4 FPS, a 39% drop that is more severe than the High setting drop. This suggests that the most demanding preset amplifies the GPU’s workload disproportionately, making the RTX 4070 Ti’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus the critical component. The data shows that at 1440p, the system delivers playable results across all settings, but at 4K, only Medium and Low settings exceed 60 FPS, with High at 50.7 FPS and Ultra at 38.4 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium, particularly at higher resolutions and quality levels. Its Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, provides a boost clock of 2610 MHz and a base clock of 2310 MHz, which are the figures that drive the measured performance. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at 1313 MHz with an effective data rate of 21 Gbps, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s over a 192-bit bus. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game’s asset streaming, but the frame rate data indicates that the GPU’s compute capacity, rated at 40.09 TFLOPS FP32, is what governs the highest settings.

The GPU’s 7680 shading units and 80 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s, which are the raw throughput numbers that explain why 4K Ultra proves challenging. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 38.4, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, and the gap between Low and Ultra at that resolution is 71.7 FPS (from 110.1 to 38.4). This spread highlights how much headroom the GPU has at lower settings, where the 110.1 FPS average shows it is not fully saturated, but at Ultra it is clearly maxed out.

In terms of rival comparisons, the RTX 4070 Ti’s average benchmark score of 44900 places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile with an average score of 45152, a delta of -0.6%, meaning the desktop card is slightly behind that mobile part. Against the Intel Arc A730M, which scores 45592, the RTX 4070 Ti trails by 1.5%, while it leads the AMD Radeon Pro 580 by 1.6% (44195) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT by 1.6% (45642, which is a negative delta of -1.6% for the 4070 Ti). These small deltas suggest that in raw compute benchmarks, the RTX 4070 Ti is closely matched with those parts, but in The Medium, its real-world performance is strong enough to hold 4K Medium at 72 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 324 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 19% of all systems measured. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where the processor’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache and Zen 3 architecture support the GPU without becoming a limiting factor in most scenarios. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 24673, which puts it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1360P with a score of 24627, a delta of 0.2% in favor of the AMD part. The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D scores 24605, trailing by 0.3%, while the Intel Core i5-11600 scores 24559, a 0.5% gap. The AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 leads with 24811, a delta of -0.6% for the 5700X3D.

These CPU benchmark scores are close, but in The Medium, the 5700X3D’s performance is adequate to push the GPU to its limits at 1080p and 1440p. The combo rank of 324 suggests that many other pairings with faster GPUs or newer CPUs outperform it, but the data shows that this specific pairing is well above the median. The rank is particularly notable because the GPU’s percentile rank is 85, while the CPU’s is 82, indicating that the GPU is relatively stronger in the broader benchmark pool. In practice, the measured FPS at 2560x1440 High (64.9 FPS) and 1920x1080 High (80.2 FPS) are solid figures for a horror title that relies on atmosphere over twitch gameplay, and the 4K Medium result of 72 FPS shows the combo can handle high-resolution gaming with some quality compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest averages across all settings. Low settings produce 127.1 FPS, which is the peak measured frame rate for this combo. Medium settings follow at 101.7 FPS, High at 80.2 FPS, and Ultra at 62.5 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 64.6 FPS, a 51% reduction, indicating that the GPU’s workload scales significantly with quality presets. At this resolution, even Ultra remains above 60 FPS, making it a viable option for high-refresh displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease across the board. Low settings yield 119.5 FPS, which is only 7.6 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result, showing minimal penalty for the resolution increase. Medium settings average 92.5 FPS, a 9.2 FPS drop from 1080p Medium. High settings average 64.9 FPS, which is 15.3 FPS lower than 1080p High, and Ultra drops to 53.7 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold. The scaling at 1440p is more pronounced at higher settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra reaching 65.8 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully engaged. Low settings still manage 110.1 FPS, which is a strong result and shows that the RTX 4070 Ti has enough headroom at lower quality. Medium settings drop to 72 FPS, a 38.1 FPS reduction from Low. High settings average 50.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 71.7 FPS, the largest spread in the dataset, confirming that the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors at this resolution. The data shows that for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, Medium settings are the highest that can be used, while High and Ultra require a tolerance for lower frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, all settings including Ultra (62.5 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (119.5 FPS) and Medium (92.5 FPS) are above 60 FPS, while High (64.9 FPS) is also above, but Ultra (53.7 FPS) falls short. At 3840x2160, only Low (110.1 FPS) and Medium (72 FPS) reach that threshold.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D has an average benchmark score of 24673, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-1360P (24627) and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D (24605). It trails the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (24811) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, which scores 45152, a delta of -0.6% for the 4070 Ti.

Q: At what settings does the 4K resolution become unplayable?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings average 50.7 FPS and Ultra settings average 38.4 FPS, both below 60 FPS. Medium settings at 72 FPS and Low at 110.1 FPS are the only playable options above that threshold.

Q: How does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average drops from 80.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 64.9 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 50.7 FPS at 3840x2160. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 29.5 FPS, or 37%.

Q: What is the combo’s rank out of all tested systems?

A: This specific CPU and GPU pairing ranks 324 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 19% of all systems measured.