The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 pairing delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance that hinges heavily on both resolution and the chosen quality preset. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that will require careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic and consistent drop in frame rates across all settings, clearly indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. At the High preset, performance falls from 73.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and then further to 47.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a steep 36% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, demonstrating that the RTX 5070 is heavily taxed by the higher resolution’s rendering load.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at the Ultra setting, where the frame rate drops from 57.2 FPS at 1080p to 47.0 FPS at 1440p, and finally to a marginal 35.4 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is a 38% loss in performance, reinforcing that this preset is reserved for lower resolutions. Conversely, the Low setting shows the least relative impact from resolution scaling, with 134.6 FPS at 1080p dropping to 105.2 FPS at 4K — a 22% decline. This smaller percentage drop suggests that at Low settings, the CPU’s capability becomes more relevant, although the GPU still governs the final output.

The scaling data indicates that the 5800X3D’s 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the RTX 5070’s 12 GB of VRAM and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are stretched at 4K, especially with higher quality textures. The gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is typical for a game like The Medium that relies on fixed camera angles and detailed environments. For a smooth experience, users should target 1440p as the practical ceiling for high fidelity, as the jump to 4K incurs a disproportionate performance penalty.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 1080p, High delivers 73.6 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. Moving to 1440p, High still maintains a playable 60.9 FPS, making it the sweet spot for this resolution. At 4K, High drops to 47.3 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness target but still playable for a slower-paced horror title.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for those prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity. It yields 103.7 FPS at 1080p and 85.3 FPS at 1440p, providing a significant margin over High for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Medium produces 65.9 FPS, which is actually more fluid than High at the same resolution, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays if the visual downgrade is acceptable.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p. It achieves only 57.2 FPS at 1080p, which is suboptimal, and falls to an unplayable 35.4 FPS at 4K. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (134.6 FPS at 1080p), likely compromises too much visual detail for a game that relies on atmosphere and lighting. The data suggests that High at 1440p is the most balanced configuration, delivering near-60 FPS with presumably strong graphical fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the decisive component in determining this game’s performance. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory is a key factor, as The Medium’s high-resolution textures and detailed scenes appear to be memory-sensitive. The benchmark results show a clear correlation between the GPU’s workload and frame rate: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 35.4, suggesting that the GPU is fully saturated. The GPU’s boost clock of 2512 MHz and its 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are substantial, but they are not enough to overcome the demands of 4K rendering in this title.

The RTX 5070’s memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is a crucial spec for this game. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p, which points to the GPU’s memory subsystem being a limiting factor at higher resolutions. With 192 TMUs and 80 ROPs, the card is well-equipped for texture-heavy scenes, but the data implies that the sheer pixel throughput at 4K overwhelms its capabilities at higher settings. The card’s 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it is a high-end part, yet The Medium still exposes its limitations at 4K Ultra. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 with a 0.6% higher average score, show that this is a top-tier performer, but the measured FPS in this game confirms that even top-tier hardware must yield to the game’s demanding engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5070 and 5800X3D provide a wide range of performance depending on settings. The Low preset achieves 134.6 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium produces 103.7 FPS, offering a smooth experience with likely better visuals. High yields 73.6 FPS, which is still solid for most monitors. Ultra drops to 57.2 FPS, showing that even at 1080p, the highest preset cannot maintain a consistent 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low delivers 129.8 FPS, which is excellent for this resolution. Medium provides 85.3 FPS, a strong result for competitive or fast-paced play. High gives 60.9 FPS, which is exactly on the edge of smoothness. Ultra falls to 47.0 FPS, making it a poor choice for this resolution unless the user prioritizes absolute visual quality over frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low produces 105.2 FPS, which is surprisingly playable. Medium yields 65.9 FPS, making it the only preset that offers a fluid 4K experience. High drops to 47.3 FPS, which is borderline. Ultra is effectively unplayable at 35.4 FPS. These numbers show that 4K gaming is possible, but only with significant settings compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 362nd out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 21% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a high-performing pairing overall. The data confirms that this setup is far above average, but not at the absolute top tier, which is consistent with the measured FPS showing it cannot max out the game at 4K.

The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The 5800X3D, with its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, is a strong gaming processor, but its overall benchmark average of 26574 is only 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900K and 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 7600. This suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor in most scenarios. The RTX 5070’s average benchmark score of 41687 is 0.6% higher than the RTX 3090, but 0.5% lower than the Tesla M40, showing it is a consistent performer in the top echelon. The 362nd rank out of 1689 combos is a strong result, but it also signals that users with higher-end GPUs or more recent CPUs will achieve better absolute results in this specific title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D plays a supporting but stable role in this game’s performance. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture, provide ample processing power for The Medium’s logical tasks. The CPU’s base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz are modest by current standards, but the 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a significant advantage for gaming, as it reduces memory latency and improves data access for the game’s engine.

The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 134.6 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would require a capable CPU to maintain. The CPU’s 3dmark single-thread score of 884 and its cinebench r23 single-core score of 3397 suggest solid per-core performance. However, the data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor as resolution increases. The difference in FPS between Low and Ultra at 4K is 69.8 FPS, which is entirely attributable to the GPU’s rendering load.

The 5800X3D’s performance relative to its rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-11900K with a 0.1% higher average score, confirms that it is a competitive gaming CPU. Its passmark multithread score of 28309 and geekbench multicore score of 11061 indicate strong overall processing power. In this game, the CPU’s role is to ensure that the GPU is fed with data efficiently, and the consistent FPS numbers across resolutions show that it does so without introducing stutter or limiting the frame rate. The CPU’s 105 W TDP is also a practical consideration for system cooling, but it does not appear to impact the measured gaming performance.