The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D represents a high-end desktop combination for analyzing the performance profile of The Medium, a horror title released in 2021. The measured data covers four graphics presets across three resolutions, providing a clear view of how this specific CPU-GPU pairing handles the game’s fixed-camera environments and volumetric effects. The combo ranks 108th out of 2911 tested combinations in this title, placing it in the top 4% of all recorded configurations.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 144 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that hits the 144 FPS mark, with the next closest being 136 FPS at 2560x1440 Low.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 D compared to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, while the RX 6850M XT scores 78940. The data shows the RTX 5090 D is 1.6% slower than that rival, despite carrying a much larger 32 GB memory buffer.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo produces an average of 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This 81-110 FPS range indicates a 29 FPS spread between the recorded lows and highs.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p resolution?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 144, which is identical to the 144 FPS cap seen at that resolution. The RTX 5090 D’s 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth are not fully utilized at this setting, suggesting the Ryzen 7 5800X’s single-thread performance (943 in 3dmark_single_thread) limits the frame rate.

Q: What is the performance difference between Ultra and Low settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra settings yield an average of 69 FPS, while Low settings produce 136 FPS. This represents a 67 FPS difference, meaning Ultra settings are roughly 49% slower than Low at the same resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800X compare to the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 5800X has an average benchmark score of 29123, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H’s 29093. This makes them statistically identical in multi-threaded workloads despite the Intel chip being a mobile processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using the GB202 chip, fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors. Its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory operates across a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for The Medium’s high-resolution texture streaming and dual-reality rendering sequences. The GPU’s base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective).

In this title, the GPU’s raw compute resources are substantial: 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate strong fill-rate capabilities for the game’s heavy post-processing effects. The RTX 5090 D also includes 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, though the measured FPS data does not isolate ray-tracing performance specifically.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and a passmark G3D score of 44065. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, scores 76904, putting the RTX 5090 D 1.1% ahead. However, the RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB VRAM is far larger than typical rivals, which matters for a game like The Medium that loads entire levels into memory for its parallel-world mechanic.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU scales predictably with settings. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 126 at Low to 54 at Ultra, a 72 FPS reduction that highlights how the game’s shadow quality and volumetric lighting taxes the GPU. The 68 FPS average at 4K High suggests the RTX 5090 D can handle the game’s maximum fidelity without dropping below playable rates, though the 54 FPS at Ultra shows the ceiling of even this flagship GPU.

The GPU’s 575 W TDP and 1x 16-pin power connector are notable physical characteristics, but the benchmark data does not include power consumption measurements during gameplay. The 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that the RTX 5090 D sits well above the median, yet the nearestRivals list shows it trading blows with mobile GPUs like the RX 6850M XT, which suggests The Medium may not fully utilize the RTX 5090 D’s compute headroom at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinct scaling patterns across the three resolutions. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops are consistent across all settings: Low goes from 144 to 136 (down 8 FPS), Medium from 120 to 114 (down 6 FPS), High from 103 to 87 (down 16 FPS), and Ultra from 82 to 69 (down 13 FPS). These modest 6-16 FPS reductions indicate the GPU has substantial headroom at lower resolutions, and the game’s CPU-bound nature at 1080p is evident from the 144 FPS cap on Low settings.

The transition from 1440p to 4K shows much steeper drops, revealing where the GPU becomes the limiting component. Low settings drop from 136 to 126 FPS (down 10 FPS), Medium from 114 to 95 (down 19 FPS), High from 87 to 68 (down 19 FPS), and Ultra from 69 to 54 (down 15 FPS). The percentage reductions are significant: Medium loses 16.7% of its 1440p performance at 4K, while High loses 21.8% and Ultra loses 21.7%.

The gap between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is only 18 FPS (144 to 126), representing a 12.5% drop despite a 4x increase in pixel count. This confirms the CPU limits performance at 1080p Low, as the Ryzen 7 5800X’s 3.80 GHz base clock and 4.70 GHz boost clock cannot feed the RTX 5090 D fast enough at that resolution. Conversely, the 4K Ultra average of 54 FPS is exactly half of the 1080p Low average, showing that the game’s Ultra preset at 4K demands roughly double the GPU work per frame.

The frame time data for Medium settings shows the spread widens with resolution: at 1080p the range is 102-138 FPS (36 FPS spread), at 1440p it’s 97-131 FPS (34 FPS spread), and at 4K it’s 81-110 FPS (29 FPS spread). This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, reducing CPU-induced frame hitches. The 4K Medium minimum of 81 FPS ensures the game remains smooth even in heavy scenes, while the 1080p Medium minimum of 102 FPS shows occasional CPU stalls.

The data indicates that for this combo, 1440p is the sweet spot where the CPU and GPU are balanced. At 1440p High, the 87 FPS average is 84% of the 4K High score but 84% of the 1080p High score, showing a linear scaling that suggests neither component is overwhelmingly dominant at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. The 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay in The Medium’s cinematic horror sequences, while the 131 FPS maximum provides headroom for less demanding scenes. This configuration also maintains frame times above 60 FPS at all times, which is critical for a game that relies on atmosphere and timing.

For users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the High preset at 4K is the highest quality option that remains playable. The 68 FPS average at 3840x2160 High is above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays, though the lack of a recorded minimum FPS means the lowest dips are unknown. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS standard and may introduce perceptible stutter in fast-moving scenes.

At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 120 FPS average with a 102 FPS minimum, making it the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset hits 144 FPS but sacrifices significant visual quality, and the jump from Low to Medium costs only 24 FPS while providing substantially better shadows and textures. The High preset at 1080p (103 FPS) is also viable but offers diminishing returns over Medium.

The data suggests avoiding the Ultra preset at all resolutions unless the user accepts sub-60 FPS performance at 4K or sub-70 FPS at 1440p. The 1440p Ultra average of 69 FPS is playable but provides only a 15 FPS improvement over 4K High, making the resolution trade-off questionable. The 1080p Ultra average of 82 FPS is the weakest value proposition, as the 120 FPS Medium preset at the same resolution offers a 38 FPS advantage.

For the best experience, the 1440p Medium setting (114 FPS average) is the recommendation, as it balances the 8-core CPU’s capabilities with the GPU’s 32 GB memory buffer. The 97 FPS minimum ensures that even the game’s worst-case scenes remain fluid, and the 131 FPS maximum allows for V-sync at 120 Hz without tearing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 144 FPS, which appears to be a cap given the identical score at this resolution. Medium settings yield 120 FPS average with a minimum of 102 FPS and maximum of 138 FPS. High settings drop to 103 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 82 FPS average. The 62 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p shows the performance cost of the game’s highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU’s workload. Low settings average 136 FPS, a modest 8 FPS drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS. High settings drop to 87 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 69 FPS average. The 67 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is slightly larger than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more involved.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully exercised. Low settings average 126 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K. Medium settings average 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and maximum of 110 FPS. High settings drop to 68 FPS average, and Ultra settings produce 54 FPS average. The 72 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the largest across all resolutions, confirming that the game’s Ultra preset at 4K is a GPU-bound scenario.

The Medium settings data provides the only full frame time measurements. At 1080p, the 102-138 FPS range shows a 36 FPS spread, while at 1440p the range is 97-131 FPS (34 FPS spread), and at 4K the range narrows to 81-110 FPS (29 FPS spread). This narrowing suggests that higher resolutions smooth out CPU-related frame pacing issues.

Across all resolutions, the Low-to-Medium transition costs 24 FPS at 1080p, 22 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. The Medium-to-High transition costs 17 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. The High-to-Ultra transition costs 21 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K, showing that Ultra’s incremental cost shrinks as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer), fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 32 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU’s 3dmark scores show strong scaling: 943 single-thread, 1846 for 2 threads, 3543 for 4 threads, 6035 for 8 threads, and 7578 for max threads, indicating near-linear scaling up to 8 cores.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the average FPS is capped at 144. This cap suggests the game’s main thread, which handles the camera and entity logic, cannot process frames faster than 144 FPS on this CPU. The Ryzen 7 5800X’s single-thread score of 943 in 3dmark and 1574.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core indicate strong per-core performance, but the fixed-camera design of The Medium may introduce serialized workloads that limit parallelism.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is excellent, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15476 and a passmark multithread score of 27732. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration handles the game’s background streaming and audio processing without issue, as evidenced by the consistent frame times at Medium settings. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 7586 is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 7578, confirming that all 16 threads are utilized efficiently in synthetic workloads.

The CPU’s 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs places it above average, with an average benchmark score of 29123. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, scores 29093 (0.1% slower), while the Intel Core i5-13500HX scores 29270 (0.5% faster). These close margins indicate the Ryzen 7 5800X remains competitive with newer mobile and desktop chips despite its 2020 release date.

In the context of this combo, the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at 4K settings, as evidenced by the 54 FPS average at Ultra. However, at 1080p Low, the 144 FPS cap shows the CPU limits absolute frame rates. The 4K Medium minimum of 81 FPS versus the 1080p Medium minimum of 102 FPS further suggests the CPU has less impact on frame dips at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s 105 W TDP and AM4 socket compatibility are notable, but the benchmark data shows the 8-core design is sufficient for The Medium’s requirements. The 32 MB L3 cache helps with the game’s level streaming, and the 4.70 GHz boost clock provides responsive single-thread performance when needed. The 3dmark 2-thread score of 1846 indicates the game’s lightly-threaded sections still benefit from the CPU’s high clocks.