The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that leverages fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments to build tension, placing a unique load on hardware. For the combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, the measured data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, yet capable of delivering smooth performance when settings and resolution are dialed in. This analysis explores the specific benchmark results for this pairing, focusing on the interplay between the CPU's substantial processing power and the GPU's older architecture.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a playable frame rate?

A: The only resolution where the average frame rate exceeds 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, hitting 83 FPS. At 2560x1440, the best average is 70 FPS on Low, and at 3840x2160, the best average drops to 55 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the RTX 2060's performance in this game compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 15290, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15283) and the AMD Radeon 680M (15270). It is slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 by 0.8% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM by 0.6%.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800XT a bottleneck for the RTX 2060 in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. For example, at 1920x1080, dropping from High (37 FPS) to Low (83 FPS) more than doubles performance, indicating a strong dependence on GPU load rather than CPU limits. The CPU's 8-core, 16-thread design is likely sufficient for the game's demands.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 2560x1440?

A: The Low preset averages 70 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 25 FPS. This represents a significant 45 FPS drop, highlighting the massive performance cost of the Ultra preset at this resolution.

Q: How does this specific combo rank among all tested system configurations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination holds the rank of 2948 out of 3724 tested combos. This places it in the lower portion of the database for this specific game.

Q: Does the RTX 2060 have enough video memory for The Medium at maximum settings?

A: The data shows that the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of only 20 FPS, while the High preset at the same resolution yields 25 FPS. While the 6 GB of VRAM is not directly measured in the FPS tests, the very low frame rates at 4K indicate the GPU is overwhelmed, which is consistent with memory capacity or bandwidth limitations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the primary driver of the visual experience in The Medium, and its specifications show a card that is being pushed hard by this title. Its memory configuration includes 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. These specs are from the Turing architecture, which was designed for the previous generation of games.

The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 2060 is the performance ceiling for this combo. The percentileVsAllGpus score of 58 shows it is a mid-range performer. Its average benchmark score of 15290 puts it in a tight cluster with several other GPUs, including the AMD Radeon RX 7600 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, all within a 0.8% performance margin. This suggests that in a game like The Medium, the RTX 2060's performance is not exceptional but is on par with its direct competitors from its era.

The game's reliance on GPU power is evident in the frame rates. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves an average of 55 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets fall to 25 and 20 FPS, respectively. This steep drop-off as settings increase points to the GPU's limited shading units (1920) and raw compute power (6.451 TFLOPS FP32) being insufficient for the game's higher-fidelity effects. The presence of 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores does not translate into high performance here, as the game's implementation likely doesn't leverage them to offload the main rendering load effectively.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, revealing the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 manages playable frame rates on lower presets. Moving to 2560x1440 introduces a noticeable performance hit, and 3840x2160 becomes largely unplayable except on the Low preset.

The data points for the Medium preset illustrate this well. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 52. This drops to 44 FPS at 2560x1440, a decrease of 15%. Moving further up to 3840x2160, the average falls to 34 FPS, a 35% drop from the 1440p result. This pattern shows that the performance cost of rendering more pixels is not linear; the jump to 4K is especially taxing. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

The gap between resolutions also widens with higher settings. For the Low preset, the FPS goes from 83 at 1080p to 70 at 1440p to 55 at 4K. For the High preset, the numbers are 37, 31, and 25 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, starting at 30 FPS at 1080p and falling to 20 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K confirms that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component, as a more powerful CPU would not be able to improve these numbers. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU, and the data suggests it is doing so adequately, leaving the GPU to struggle with the rendering load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

This section details the exact average frame rates measured for this configuration across different resolutions and settings. The data shows a wide range of performance, from highly playable to nearly static.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: The average FPS is 83, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo.
• Medium: The average FPS is 52, with a reported minimum of 44 and a maximum of 60 FPS.
• High: The average FPS drops to 37.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 30, which is just at the edge of playability.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: The average FPS is 70, a solid result for this resolution.
• Medium: The average FPS is 44, with a minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50 FPS.
• High: The average FPS is 31.
• Ultra: The average FPS falls to 25.

At 3840x2160:

• Low: The average FPS is 55, which is playable but not smooth.
• Medium: The average FPS is 34, with a minimum of 29 and a maximum of 40 FPS.
• High: The average FPS is 25.
• Ultra: The average FPS is 20, which is effectively unplayable for a smooth experience.

The FPS ranges for the Medium preset provide insight into frame pacing. At 1080p, the range is 44-60 FPS, suggesting some stuttering. At 1440p, the range is 37-50 FPS, and at 4K it is 29-40 FPS. These ranges show that the game can have significant frame time spikes, which could be more noticeable in a slow-paced horror title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a high-end desktop processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. Its substantial cache hierarchy, including a 32 MB shared L3 cache, and its 7 nm process node make it a powerful processor for gaming.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU does not appear to be the performance limiter. The benchmark results show that the 5800XT is a very capable processor, with a percentileVsAllCpus of 81. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 23794 and its single-core score is 3359, both of which are strong. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of 0% and 0.6%, respectively.

The FPS data supports the conclusion that the GPU is the bottleneck. When the resolution is lowered from 2560x1440 to 1920x1080, the frame rates increase substantially (e.g., from 44 to 52 FPS on Medium settings). This is a GPU-bound scenario because the CPU's workload does not change significantly with resolution; it's the GPU that has to render more pixels. The fact that the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough to achieve 83 FPS at 1080p Low shows it has ample headroom. The game likely uses a few threads for its main logic, and the 5800XT's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359) ensures it is not holding back the RTX 2060.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience is achieved by balancing visual quality with a stable frame rate. The goal is to avoid the sub-30 FPS territory that makes a horror game feel sluggish.

For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the only option is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which averages 83 FPS. This preset prioritizes performance over visual fidelity, but it is the only way to fully utilize a 60 Hz monitor.

If a 60 FPS target is not strict, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is a strong choice, averaging 52 FPS. The visual upgrade from Low to Medium is typically significant, and the 52 FPS average is close enough to 60 to be generally smooth, though the minimum of 44 FPS might be noticeable in some scenes.

For users with a 1440p monitor, the Low preset at 2560x1440 is the most viable option, averaging 70 FPS. This provides a high-resolution image with a playable frame rate. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 44 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that relies on atmosphere and smooth camera movement.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for this configuration. At 1080p, they average 37 and 30 FPS respectively, and at 1440p, they fall to 31 and 25 FPS. These settings are too demanding for the RTX 2060 to provide a consistent experience. The Ultra preset at any resolution is best avoided, as the performance cost is high and the visual gains over High are often minimal.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is ranked 2948 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 21st percentile of all tested systems, indicating that most other configurations perform better in this specific game.

This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance. The RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 15290 puts it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, but its performance in this game is clearly below average for the database. The CPU, on the other hand, is a strong performer, ranking in the 81st percentile. The pairing of a high-end CPU with a mid-range, older GPU creates an imbalance where the GPU is the definitive limiting factor.

The fact that this combo ranks poorly is not a reflection of the CPU, but rather the GPU's inability to handle the game's demands at higher settings. The data shows that the RTX 2060 is outperformed by its nearest rivals, like the AMD Radeon RX 7600, by a small margin in synthetic benchmarks, but in real-world gaming, the gap can widen depending on the title. For The Medium, the RTX 2060 simply does not have enough power to compete with the more modern GPUs in the database, resulting in a low overall ranking.