The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the pairing of an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 produces a severely GPU-limited experience. The data shows a system that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at nearly every resolution and settings combination, making it a configuration best suited for low-resolution, low-detail play.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 44.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that figure to 35.9 FPS, a reduction of roughly 19%. The jump to 4K Low yields 29.7 FPS, another 17% decline from 1440p. This scaling pattern is consistent with a graphics card hitting its fill-rate and memory bandwidth limits, rather than a CPU bottleneck.

The gap widens dramatically as settings increase. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 21 FPS at 1080p to 14.6 FPS at 1440p, and then to 13.1 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 4K at High is about 38%, which is less severe in percentage terms than at Low, but the absolute numbers are already so low that the difference is academic. The Ultra preset is essentially unplayable across the board, with 4K Ultra producing just 9.5 FPS and 1440p Ultra barely better at 12.6 FPS.

The data indicates that the GTX 1650’s 128-bit memory bus and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are the primary limiting factors. The resolution scaling is not linear, suggesting that the card’s pixel fill rate (53.28 GPixel/s) is overwhelmed as the number of pixels increases. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the constraint here; the frame rate collapses with resolution regardless of the Ryzen 7 5800X’s capability.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 1652 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. That places it in the bottom 2% of all tested systems, a reflection of the GTX 1650’s age and position in the GPU hierarchy. The CPU’s strong benchmark scores do not translate into in-game performance because the graphics card cannot keep up with the render load.

The Ryzen 7 5800X itself is a high-performing processor, sitting at the 84th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (0.3% faster in average benchmark score) and the Intel Core i5-12600KF (0.8% faster). However, these CPU-level differences are irrelevant in The Medium, where the frame rate is dictated almost entirely by the GPU. The combo’s rank is a direct result of the graphics card’s percentile ranking, which sits at just 43rd among all GPUs.

In practical terms, this means the system is closer in performance to entry-level or older hardware than to modern gaming rigs. The GTX 1650’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (0.5% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (0.5% slower), all of which are professional or low-tier cards. None of these would be considered gaming powerhouses, and the data confirms that this combo is fundamentally mismatched for a game as visually intensive as The Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The card’s base clock is 1485 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. These specifications are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect that.

The GPU’s passmark G3D score is 7880, with a passmark DirectX 12 score of just 35. The latter is particularly telling for a game like The Medium, which likely uses modern DirectX 12 features. The card’s FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, which is low for the resolution and settings demanded by the game. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is also a potential issue, as The Medium’s high-resolution textures could easily exceed this limit, causing stuttering or texture thrashing.

The clock speeds show no sign of thermal throttling concerns given the 75 W TDP and dual-slot design, but the raw compute power is insufficient. The data shows that the GPU’s average benchmark score of 8713 places it just below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (0.4% slower) and just above the AMD Radeon 550X (0.4% faster). None of these cards are designed for high-refresh or high-fidelity gaming, and The Medium’s measured FPS confirms this.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the best-case scenario is the Low preset, which yields an average of 44.5 FPS. This is the only settings/resolution combination that approaches a playable frame rate. The Medium preset drops to 25.3 FPS, which is borderline. High and Ultra presets fall to 21 and 18 FPS respectively, making them difficult to play without significant graphical compromises.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 35.9 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Medium drops to 20.6 FPS, High to 14.6 FPS, and Ultra to 12.6 FPS. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 20% of the frame rate at Low settings, but the absolute numbers are already marginal.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. Low settings yield 29.7 FPS, which is technically above 30 FPS but will feel inconsistent. Medium produces 16.9 FPS, High 13.1 FPS, and Ultra 9.5 FPS. None of these are viable for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing, as the frame rate will cause noticeable judder.

The data shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1650 cannot handle the game’s visual complexity at higher resolutions. The difference between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is significant, but even the lowest settings do not provide a comfortable margin at 1440p or above.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the only reasonable configuration is 1080p with the Low preset, which delivers an average of 44.5 FPS. This should provide a mostly smooth experience, though there may be dips in intense scenes. The Medium preset at 1080p (25.3 FPS) is a trade-off that sacrifices smoothness for visual fidelity, but the resulting frame rate is likely too low for a game that requires precise timing.

At 1440p, the Low preset’s 35.9 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced exploration, but the game’s horror elements may suffer from the lower frame rate. The Medium preset at 1440p (20.6 FPS) is not recommended. At 4K, no preset is viable; even Low at 29.7 FPS is too inconsistent for a game where reaction times matter.

The data suggests that players should prioritize frame rate over visual quality. The GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM and limited bandwidth make the High and Ultra presets impractical, as they likely load textures that exceed the memory capacity. Sticking to Low settings at 1080p is the only way to achieve a playable experience. For those willing to accept lower frame rates, 1440p Low is the second-best option, but the 35.9 FPS average is not ideal.

The Ultra preset is effectively a slideshow at any resolution and should be avoided entirely. The game’s minimum FPS was not recorded in the data, but the averages alone are low enough to suggest significant frame-time spikes. This combination is not suited for The Medium, and the benchmark results indicate that users will need to make substantial sacrifices to play it.