The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in The Medium, with performance that scales predictably and heavily on the graphics card. The data indicates this combo is a solid 1080p and 1440p performer, but it struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K Ultra settings. The benchmark results place this pairing at rank 2162 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, clearly identifying the GPU as the primary limiting component in this configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 45 FPS at 1920x1080 to 38 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 7 FPS, and then plummets to 30 FPS at 3840x2160. This scaling pattern shows that the RTX 2070 SUPER is being pushed to its limits as pixel count increases, with the 4K resolution proving particularly demanding.

The scaling behavior is even more pronounced at the highest preset. At Ultra settings, the combo manages 36 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 30 FPS at 1440pwf and further to 24 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the game's Ultra preset at 4K resolution is simply too much for the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 24 FPS result at 4K Ultra is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay, suggesting that users should avoid this configuration entirely.

At Low settings, the story changes significantly, with the combo showing much better scaling headroom. The 1920x1080 Low preset achieves 101 FPS, dropping to 85 FPS at 1440p and 67 FPS at 4K. This demonstrates that even at 4K, the frame rate remains respectable when graphical load is reduced, showing the CPU has enough headroom to support high frame rates if the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 4K Low result of 67 FPS is 2.2 times higher than the 4K High result, underscoring how much of the performance cost is tied to the graphical settings rather than resolution alone.

The data suggests that between 1440p and 4K, the performance penalty is roughly 20-25% for most settings, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p carries a similar penalty. This indicates a nearly linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate for this title, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but the 4K Ultra preset likely exceeds the memory capacity and bandwidth available, causing the severe drop to 24 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this combination. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 63 FPS, which is 40% higher than the High preset's 45 FPS, while still providing a meaningful visual upgrade over Low settings. The 1440p Medium result of 53 FPS is also acceptable for most players, though it sits at the lower edge of smooth gameplay.

The Low preset is the only setting that provides a truly high-refresh-rate experience, with 101 FPS at 1080p and 85 FPS at 1440p. For competitive players or those with 144 Hz monitors, this preset is the clear choice, as it is the only one that consistently exceeds 60 FPS at both resolutions. At 4K, even Low settings only reach 67 FPS, which is playable but not high-refresh-rate territory.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions for this combo. The 1080p Ultra result of 36 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, and the 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS is effectively unplayable. The High preset, while better than Ultra, still falls short of 60 FPS at every resolution, making it a secondary choice for users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate smoothness.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p is the recommended configuration, offering 53 FPS with the only measured frame time data showing a range of 45 to 61 FPS. This preset provides a good compromise between the visual quality of High and the performance of Low, and the 1440p resolution takes better advantage of the GPU's capabilities than 1080p without the punishing demands of 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, based on the TU104 chip using the Turing architecture, is the decisive factor in this combo's performance. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for most settings but appears strained at 4K Ultra. The card's 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs contribute to its 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which translates directly to the frame rates observed in the benchmarks.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective. These clocks are mid-range for the Turing generation, and the benchmark results indicate that the card operates near its limits in this game. The 65th percentile ranking against all GPUs places it above average, but the nearest rivals show it is closely matched with the Intel Arc B570, which has a deltaPct of -1.3, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at -1.2 deltaPct.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but do not appear to provide a significant advantage in The Medium, as the frame rates at all settings are typical of a Turing-generation mid-range card. The 12 nm process node and 13,600 million transistors result in a 545 mm² die, which is large for the performance level delivered, but the card's 215 W TDP is consistent with its performance class.

The GPU's memory configuration is the most likely bottleneck at higher resolutions. The 8 GB capacity is exactly at the threshold where modern games begin to struggle at 4K with high-quality textures. The measured 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS suggests the game is exceeding the available VRAM or bandwidth, causing severe performance degradation. At 1440p and below, the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient to maintain playable frame rates across all presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results across all presets. The Low preset achieves 101 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 63 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 72 FPS, the High preset drops to 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 36 FPS. This shows a clear step-down pattern, with each preset tier costing approximately 15-20 FPS.

The 2560x1440 results show a consistent reduction from 1080p. Low settings produce 85 FPS, Medium produces 53 FPS with a range of 45 to 61 FPS, High produces 38 FPS, and Ultra produces 30 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p is the only one that maintains a minimum above 45 FPS, making it the most stable option at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings still manage 67 FPS, Medium drops to 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 48 FPS, High falls to 30 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 24 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only preset that maintains a minimum above 30 FPS, but even this is marginal for smooth gameplay.

The frame time data, available only for the Medium preset, shows interesting behavior across resolutions. At 1080p, the frame time range is 54 to 72 FPS, indicating some variance but generally stable performance. At 1440p, the range tightens to 45 to 61 FPS, suggesting better frame pacing. At 4K, the range is 35 to 48 FPS, which shows the GPU struggling to maintain consistent output under heavy load.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks at position 2162 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 42nd percentile of all systems tested. This ranking indicates that while the combo is not among the top performers, it is also not in the bottom tier, with a majority of tested systems producing better results.

The ranking is likely held back by the GPU's age and memory capacity, as the RTX 2070 SUPER's 65th percentile ranking against all GPUs is respectable but not exceptional. The CPU, ranking in the 81st percentile against all CPUs, is the stronger component in this pairing, suggesting that a more powerful GPU would significantly improve the combo's overall ranking in this game.

The nearest rival GPUs show that the RTX 2070 SUPER is closely matched with several other cards. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M has a deltaPct of -1, the RTX 3070 Mobile is -1.2 deltaPct, and the Intel Arc A750 is -1.5 deltaPct, all of which are within statistical noise of each other. This indicates that upgrading to any of these cards would provide negligible performance improvements in this title.

The combo's rank of 2162 out of 3724 suggests that it falls in the lower half of tested systems, which is consistent with the GPU's 65th percentile standing. For a game like The Medium that is heavily GPU-bound, the CPU's strong performance cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, with 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 Vermeer architecture, provides ample processing power for this game. The CPU's boost clock of 4.80 GHz and base clock of 3.80 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and multi-thread score of 7680 indicate that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this title.

The CPU's 81st percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms its strong position, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H at a deltaPct of 0 and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X at 0.6 deltaPct. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23794 and single-core score of 3359 further demonstrate the CPU's capability to handle the game's processing demands without limiting frame rates.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns. The fact that performance drops consistently across all settings when resolution increases indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at all tested resolutions. The 8 cores and 16 threads are more than adequate for this game, which likely uses fewer threads, and the high boost clock ensures responsive frame delivery.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support provide sufficient data throughput for the game's assets, and the PCIe Gen 4 interface with 20 lanes ensures no bandwidth bottleneck with the GPU. The CPU's 105 W TDP and 7 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, though these factors have minimal direct impact on game performance. Overall, the data shows that the Ryzen 7 5800XT is not the limiting factor in this combo, and any performance issues are attributable to the RTX 2070 SUPER's capabilities in this GPU-intensive title.