The Medium

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in The Medium?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 807th out of 1689 tested combos for this game. This places it in the middle of the pack, indicating a balanced but not top-tier setup for this title.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5700X3D has an average benchmark score of 24673, placing it 0.2% above the Intel Core i7-1360P and 0.3% above the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D. It trails the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 by 0.6%, making these four processors effectively neck-and-neck.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109, which is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (0% delta). It is 0.2% ahead of the Radeon RX 570 and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60, while sitting 0.6% above the RTX 5070 Mobile.

Q: What is the best playable settings preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 116.1, while Medium achieves 73.4 FPS and High reaches 53.3 FPS. Ultra drops to 40.1 FPS, which is still technically playable but noticeably less fluid.

Q: Is 4K gaming feasible with this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, hitting 74 FPS. Medium manages 47.1 FPS, High falls to 34.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 28.5 FPS. For smooth 4K gameplay, Low settings are required.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 73.4 at 1920x1080 to 59.5 at 2560x1440, then to 47.1 at 3840x2160. That represents a 35.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. The chip features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a defining characteristic of the X3D line, alongside 64 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core.

Synthetic benchmarks show this CPU is well-rounded for multi-threaded workloads. It scores 22366 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3157 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 10108. The PassMark multi-thread score of 26318 and single-thread score of 2970 reinforce its capability. The 3DMark results show scaling from 804 single-thread to 6764 at 16 threads, indicating efficient use of its core count.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU, as the game's fixed-camera horror presentation relies more on rendering load than complex physics or AI. However, the 8-core/16-thread configuration ensures that background tasks and game logic do not bottleneck the frame delivery. The processor's percentile ranking of 82 among all CPUs means it outperforms most installed processors, but its nearest rivals in the database—all within 0.6% of its average score—demonstrate that the 5700X3D is not a performance outlier.

The data shows that at lower resolutions like 1080p, where the GPU has more headroom, the CPU's 16 threads can help maintain consistent frame pacing. At 4K, the CPU influence diminishes as the GPU becomes the primary constraint, evidenced by the FPS scaling pattern across resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. Clock speeds are 2280 MHz base and 2497 MHz boost, producing 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a strong directX 11 result of 200 and a PassMark G3D score of 20891, with a GPU compute score of 10899. Its percentile ranking of 73 places it above most GPUs, but the nearest rivals show it is tightly clustered with the RX 7700 XT, RX 570, and Tesla M60—all within 0.6% of each other.

In The Medium, the GPU is the dominant factor across all measured settings. The game's horror atmosphere relies on heavy post-processing, volumetric effects, and detailed textures, which stress the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for this title at 1080p and 1440p, but the 128-bit bus limits bandwidth at higher resolutions.

The FPS data confirms the GPU bottleneck: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 116.1 FPS, but dropping to 4K Low reduces this to 74 FPS—a 36.3% decrease. At Ultra settings, the GPU struggles more, with 1080p at 40.1 FPS and 4K at 28.5 FPS. The RTX 5060's 48 ROPs and 119.9 GPixel/s pixel rate become limiting factors at 4K Ultra, where the fill rate is insufficient for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Ryzen 7 5700X3D and RTX 5060 ranks 807th out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This percentile position of roughly 47.8% means the setup sits just below the median of all tested systems. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component severely limits the other, but neither excels enough to push the combo into the upper quartile.

The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all processors is notably higher than the GPU's 73rd percentile among all GPUs. This disparity suggests the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing for this specific game. The CPU's nearest rivals—all within 0.6% of its score—confirm that processor choice has minimal impact on the final ranking. Meanwhile, the GPU's nearest rivals are also tightly grouped, with the RX 7700 XT essentially tied at 0% delta.

Given that The Medium is a GPU-intensive title, the combo's mid-pack ranking is primarily attributable to the RTX 5060's performance ceiling rather than any CPU deficiency. The 8-core, 16-thread processor provides ample headroom, but the game's rendering demands exceed what the GPU can deliver at higher settings. This is evident in the FPS scaling, where the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point at 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 73.4 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings reduce this to 53.3 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror, but Medium offers a safer margin.

At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 59.5 FPS, nearly hitting the 60 FPS target. High drops to 44.8 FPS, which is playable but less fluid. For 1440p gamers who prioritize frame rate, Medium is the clear choice, while those who accept occasional dips can opt for High.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only viable option for 60+ FPS gameplay, delivering 74 FPS. Medium drops to 47.1 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold but still playable for a horror game. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution, as even at 1080p it only reaches 40.1 FPS.

The data indicates that the Medium preset provides the best compromise across all resolutions, offering a 55.8% FPS improvement over Ultra at 1080p and a 65.3% improvement at 4K, while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 116.1, Medium at 73.4, High at 53.3, and Ultra at 40.1. The gap between Low and Ultra is 76 FPS, representing a 65.4% reduction in frame rate. This wide spread indicates the game's settings have a substantial impact on GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 99.1, Medium at 59.5, High at 44.8, and Ultra at 35.8. The drop from Low to Ultra is 63.3 FPS, or 63.9%. Compared to 1080p, each settings tier loses roughly 15-17% of its frame rate, showing a consistent resolution penalty.

At 3840x2160, the values are: Low at 74, Medium at 47.1, High at 34.9, and Ultra at 28.5. The Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 45.5 FPS, or 61.5%, because even the Low preset becomes GPU-bound at this resolution. The absolute numbers show that 4K gaming requires significant settings compromises.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced experience, with FPS values of 73.4, 59.5, and 47.1 at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The High preset is playable at 1080p and 1440p but falls below 35 FPS at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 73.4 at 1080p to 59.5 at 1440p (a 18.9% reduction) and then to 47.1 at 4K (a further 20.8% reduction from 1440p). The total 1080p-to-4K drop is 35.8%.

At Low settings, the scaling is steeper: 116.1 at 1080p, 99.1 at 1440p (14.6% drop), and 74 at 4K (25.3% drop from 1440p). The total reduction is 36.3%. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more saturated as resolution increases.

The High preset shows: 53.3 at 1080p, 44.8 at 1440p (15.9% drop), and 34.9 at 4K (22.1% drop). The Ultra preset drops from 40.1 to 35.8 (10.7% drop) to 28.5 (20.4% drop). Interestingly, the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p decreases at higher settings, suggesting that at Ultra, the GPU is already near its limit at 1080p.

These scaling patterns point to the GPU as the primary limiting factor. The CPU's 16 threads provide consistent performance across resolutions, but the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus cannot maintain frame rates as pixel count increases. The RTX 5060's 48 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s, which is insufficient for 4K Ultra in this game. The data confirms that for The Medium, the RTX 5060 is the bottleneck, and the Ryzen 7 5700X3D provides ample computational headroom.