The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination delivers a playable experience at lower settings in The Medium, but the data indicates a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher presets. The pairing, ranking 1242nd out of 1689 tested combos, sits in the lower third of the database, reflecting a CPU that is far more capable than the GPU in this specific horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 88.9 FPS, which is a solidly playable frame rate. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 75.9 FPS, a reduction of 13 FPS, while 4K Low yields 59.6 FPS, representing a further decline of 16.3 FPS. This steady degradation with each resolution step suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary limiting factor, with the CPU having enough headroom to feed frames even at the highest pixel counts.

The scaling behavior becomes more dramatic when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 40.7 FPS. This falls to 36.4 FPS at 1440p, a modest 4.3 FPS drop, but then plummets to 24.8 FPS at 4K, a decline of 11.6 FPS from the 1440p result. The severe drop between 1440p and 4K indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are being saturated, as the 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth struggle with the higher pixel throughput.

Ultra settings amplify this trend. The 1080p Ultra average of 31.4 FPS drops to 29.8 FPS at 1440p, a small 1.6 FPS difference, but then falls to 18.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable, and the data shows that the GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient for this workload. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 41.2 FPS (59.6 vs. 18.4), which is a wider absolute spread than at 1080p, where the difference is 57.5 FPS (88.9 vs. 31.4). This suggests that while the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions, the relative cost of higher settings grows with resolution.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D provides ample processing power for this title, based on its benchmark profile. With 8 cores and 16 threads, the CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 24063 and a single-core score of 3397. The processor’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a defining feature, and the 3.40 GHz base clock with a 4.50 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is reflected in the 3dmark single-thread score of 884. These figures indicate that the CPU is unlikely to be the cause of low frame rates in The Medium, a game that does not heavily tax multi-threaded workloads.

The game’s measured FPS data supports this conclusion. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 88.9 FPS, and the fact that this number does not approach the CPU’s theoretical limits suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the binding constraint. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 16462 places it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU’s average benchmark score of 26574 puts it at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs. This percentile gap of 20 points strongly implies that the processor has significant headroom left on the table.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the AMD EPYC 8024P and Intel Core i9-11900K, with deltaPct values of 0.1% and 0.1% respectively, meaning performance is nearly identical. The Ryzen 5 7600 trails by -0.2% and the Core i9-12900HK by -0.4%, all within a negligible margin. This tight clustering shows that the 5800X3D is not a performance outlier in either direction, but its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded scores relative to the GPU’s modest percentile rank confirm that the processor is not the limiting component in this pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 88.9 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, but the Medium preset at 56.6 FPS is also comfortably playable and likely offers a better visual experience. The High preset at 40.7 FPS dips into a range that may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror title, but it is noticeably less fluid. The Ultra preset at 31.4 FPS is borderline, and the data suggests that the transition from Medium to High costs 15.9 FPS, while High to Ultra costs 9.3 FPS, making Medium the most efficient choice at this resolution.

At 1440p, the situation tightens. The Low preset at 75.9 FPS is smooth, and Medium at 49.8 FPS remains playable. However, High at 36.4 FPS falls below the 40 FPS mark, and Ultra at 29.8 FPS is approaching unplayable territory. The data indicates that Medium is the optimal preset at 1440p, as it maintains a reasonable frame rate while providing a significant visual upgrade over Low. The 4K resolution is less forgiving, with only the Low preset at 59.6 FPS achieving a fluid frame rate. Medium at 39.6 FPS is marginal, and High at 24.8 FPS and Ultra at 18.4 FPS are not recommended for consistent gameplay.

Looking at the scaling between Medium and Low, the FPS penalty is consistent across resolutions: 32.3 FPS at 1080p, 26.1 FPS at 1440p, and 20.0 FPS at 4K. This diminishing penalty at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is less able to leverage the reduced settings at 4K, likely due to memory bandwidth constraints. For the best experience, the data points to Medium at 1080p or 1440p as the sweet spot, with Low serving as the only viable option at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1242 out of 1689 tested configurations places it in the bottom 26.5% of all pairings in the database. This is a low position, but the context of the individual components explains why. The GPU’s percentile rank of 63rd among all GPUs is respectable for a mid-range card from the previous generation, but the CPU’s 83rd percentile rank is much higher. The mismatch between these two percentiles is the defining characteristic of this combo.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-11900K, show deltaPct values of just 0.1%, meaning the 5800X3D’s processing power is essentially interchangeable with other high-end chips from its era. However, the GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (0.3% delta) and the RTX 2070 (0.5% delta), which are all older or lower-tier cards. This indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is performing at the expected level for its class, but that class is simply not capable of driving The Medium at high settings in 4K.

The rank of 1242 suggests that the vast majority of tested combos outperform this pairing. This is not surprising given that the GPU is from the 20-series generation and is now end-of-life, while the CPU is a strong enthusiast part. The data shows that pairing this CPU with a more powerful GPU would likely yield significantly better results, as the CPU’s benchmark scores indicate it can handle far more demanding workloads. The combo’s position in the rankings is primarily a reflection of the GPU’s limitations in this specific game, rather than any deficiency in the processor.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest playable frame rate achievable with this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 88.9, achieved at 1080p with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest competitor in the database?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 19774, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN and 0.5% higher than the RTX 2070.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU sits at the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, and frame rates drop sharply with resolution increases.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K on Ultra settings?

A: The 1080p Ultra average is 31.4 FPS, while the 4K Ultra average is 18.4 FPS, a difference of 13.0 FPS.

Q: How many cores and threads does the Ryzen 7 5800X3D have?

A: The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz.

Q: What is the combo’s exact ranking among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1242nd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium.