The Medium

# The Medium with AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

This combination of an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a pairing that ranks 3179th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower tier of systems capable of running this 2021 horror title. The data suggests a system that can handle the game at lower settings and resolutions, but one that struggles significantly when pushed toward higher visual fidelity. The benchmark results reveal a clear bottleneck dynamic: the CPU has substantial headroom, while the GPU's 6 GB of VRAM and modest compute capabilities define the experience's ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 3179 out of 3724 tested configurations places it in the bottom 15% of all tested systems for The Medium. This is a low position, but it does not mean the system is unusable; rather, it indicates that this pairing sits well below the median performer. The CPU itself is a strong component—the Ryzen 7 5800XT sits in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (avg score 29868, deltaPct 0), the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (avg score 29955, deltaPct -0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (avg score 29713, deltaPct 0.6). The 5800XT essentially trades blows with these mobile and desktop parts, showing that CPU performance is not the limiting factor here.

The GPU tells a different story. The GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12986. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (avg score 12940, deltaPct 0.4), AMD Radeon RX 580 (avg score 12928, deltaPct 0.4), NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (avg score 13075, deltaPct -0.7), and AMD Radeon 740M (avg score 12870, deltaPct 0.9). The GPU is essentially a mid-pack performer, and when paired with a top-tier CPU, the combination falls behind because the game's demands scale heavily with GPU capability. The low combo rank indicates that many other pairings—likely those with stronger GPUs—deliver far better frame rates in The Medium's dual-reality rendering.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node from TSMC, featuring 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units, delivering a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.027 TFLOPS.

For The Medium, these specs translate into a GPU that can produce playable frame rates only at lower settings. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint; the game's high-resolution textures and dual-world rendering likely push against this limit at 1440p and 4K. At 4K High settings, the average FPS drops to 21, which is barely interactive. The GPU's 53rd percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it is an average performer, but The Medium appears to be particularly demanding on GPU resources. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 70 FPS average, but at 1080p Ultra, it falls to 25 FPS—a 64% drop that underscores how sensitive this GPU is to settings changes in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 70. Moving to 1440p Low, that drops to 59 FPS—a 15.7% decrease. At 4K Low, the average is 47 FPS, which is a 32.9% drop from 1080p Low. This scaling pattern suggests that even at Low settings, resolution has a significant impact, indicating the GPU is the primary limiting component.

At Medium settings, the scaling is steeper: 1080p Medium averages 44 FPS (with min 37, max 51), 1440p Medium averages 37 FPS (min 32, max 43), and 4K Medium averages 29 FPS (min 25, max 33). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15.9%, and from 1080p to 4K is 34.1%. These percentages are remarkably consistent across Low and Medium settings, suggesting a linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate—a hallmark of GPU-bound performance.

At High settings, the resolution penalty becomes more pronounced: 1080p High averages 32 FPS, 1440p High averages 27 FPS (a 15.6% drop), and 4K High averages 21 FPS (a 34.4% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the same pattern: 1080p Ultra at 25 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 21 FPS (16% drop), and 4K Ultra at 17 FPS (32% drop). The consistency of these scaling ratios—roughly 16% for each resolution step—strongly indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the bottleneck, as CPU-bound scenarios would show more variable scaling.

FAQ

Q: Is this system capable of running The Medium at 60 FPS at any settings?

A: No. The highest average FPS recorded is 70 at 1080p Low, but all other settings and resolutions fall below 60 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system achieves an average above 60 FPS, and only at Low settings (70 FPS). At 1440p, the best average is 59 FPS at Low, and at 4K, the best is 47 FPS at Low.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 5800XT has an average benchmark score of 29879, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868, deltaPct 0) and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (29955, deltaPct -0.3). It is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713).

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the system manages only 17 FPS average, and at 4K High it reaches 21 FPS, indicating that the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are likely insufficient for high-detail rendering at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings yield an average of 70 FPS, Medium yields 44 FPS, High yields 32 FPS, and Ultra yields 25 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 45 FPS, representing a 64.3% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: How does the GPU rank among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER is in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12986. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, scores 12940 (deltaPct 0.4), and the AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 12928 (deltaPct 0.4).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture (codename Vermeer) using a 7 nm process from TSMC. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU has a TDP of 105 W and uses the AMD Socket AM4 interface.

Benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23794, and 3DMark 16-thread scores 7683. Single-thread performance is also solid, with Cinebench R23 single-core scoring 3359. The CPU's percentile rank of 81 among all CPUs confirms it is a high-end performer, and its nearest rivals—all scoring within 0.6%—include mobile chips like the Ryzen 7 7840H and Ryzen 7 8845HS, which is notable because those are laptop parts.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 70 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 25 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect less variation across settings at the same resolution. The fact that resolution scaling is so consistent (around 16% per step) and settings scaling is so dramatic (64% drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p) indicates that the GPU is saturated while the CPU has remaining headroom. The 5800XT's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this game's threading demands, and its high single-thread score (Cinebench R23 single-core 3359) ensures it won't hold back the GTX 1660 SUPER.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of which settings presets offer the best experience for this combination. The only preset that achieves an average of 60 FPS or higher is 1080p Low, with an average of 70 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is borderline but still playable. At 4K Low, the average falls to 47 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror title but is below the 60 FPS ideal.

For players who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity, 1080p Low is the recommended preset, as it provides a 70 FPS average with no reported minimum FPS below that threshold (the data shows min FPS as null for Low settings, meaning it was not measured or was consistent). The Medium setting at 1080p offers 44 FPS average with a minimum of 37 FPS, which is still playable but with noticeable drops. At 1440p Medium, the average is 37 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS, which begins to feel choppy.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for this system. At 1080p High, the average is 32 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 25 FPS. These frame rates are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay in a game that relies on atmosphere and timing. The data suggests that the best experience balances visual quality and performance at 1080p Medium, where the 44 FPS average (with min 37, max 51) offers a reasonable compromise, or at 1440p Low, where the 59 FPS average approaches the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination across all resolutions and settings is as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system achieves an average of 47 FPS at Low settings, 29 FPS at Medium (with a minimum of 25 and maximum of 33), 21 FPS at High, and 17 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results clearly show that this resolution is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the 47 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the averages are 59 FPS at Low, 37 FPS at Medium (min 32, max 43), 27 FPS at High, and 21 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p Low setting is the only configuration at this resolution that approaches playable frame rates, with the 59 FPS average sitting just under the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system delivers 70 FPS at Low, 44 FPS at Medium (min 37, max 51), 32 FPS at High, and 25 FPS at Ultra. This is the only resolution where any setting achieves an average above 60 FPS, and it does so only at Low. The Medium setting at 1080p provides a playable 44 FPS average with a reasonable minimum of 37 FPS, while High and Ultra fall below the 35 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay.

The data shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1660 SUPER's performance ceiling in The Medium is roughly 70 FPS at the lowest settings and resolution, and every step up in either resolution or settings costs approximately 15-20% of the frame rate. This is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the 6 GB VRAM and 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the limiting factors, while the Ryzen 7 5800XT's 8 cores and 16 threads remain underutilized. For owners of this combination, the game is best experienced at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, accepting that higher visual fidelity comes at a significant performance cost.