The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile in The Medium, with the data showing that the RTX 4090 is the dominant force at every resolution. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound, particularly at 1440p and 4K, while the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 5800XT provides more than enough headroom to avoid becoming a limiting factor. This combo ranks in the 95th percentile of all tested configurations, placing it 173rd out of 3724, a position that underscores its high-end status for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is the clearest indicator of where this system’s bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 95 FPS, which drops to 80 FPS at 1440p and further to 63 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.7% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, a relatively modest drop that is characteristic of a system where the GPU is already working near its full capacity even at lower resolutions.

The pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. Here, the average frame rate moves from 148 FPS at 1080p to 140 FPS at 1440p, a negligible 5.4% decline. However, the jump to 4K brings a more significant dip to 129 FPS, an 8.4% reduction from 1440p. This behavior suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution begins to tax the RTX 4090’s raw pixel throughput, indicating a shift toward GPU limitation.

Ultra settings tell a different story. The Ultra preset yields 75 FPS at 1080p, falling to 63 FPS at 1440p and 50 FPS at 4K. The 33.3% drop from 1080p to 4K here mirrors the High preset’s scaling, reinforcing the conclusion that the RTX 4090 is the primary constraint. The data consistently shows that the 5800XT’s 8 cores and 16 threads are not the limiting factor; the GPU’s rendering load scales predictably with resolution, and the CPU maintains its ability to keep up even as the pixel count quadruples.

FAQ

*Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT bottlenecking the RTX 4090 in The Medium?*

A: No. The data shows that the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K track the GPU’s rendering workload, not a CPU limitation. For example, at High settings the average FPS falls from 95 at 1080p to 63 at 4K, a scaling pattern consistent with GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60+ FPS?

A: At 4K, the High preset delivers 63 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. For more headroom, the Medium preset at 4K offers 87 FPS, while dropping to 1440p on High yields 80 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, averaging 50 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800XT’s multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The 5800XT’s average benchmark score of 29879 places it within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (29713) and essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (29868). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS and 7840HS by 0.3%, which score 29955.

*Q: Does the RTX 4090’s performance in The Medium reflect its overall benchmark standing?*

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347 and sits in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc Pro A60, scores 60326 with a deltaPct of 0, indicating they are statistically tied in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: What is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 140 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 63 FPS. This represents a 55% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings, showing the significant cost of the Ultra preset’s visual effects.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a Zen 3 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, featuring a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are key characteristics for gaming workloads. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to prepare frames for the RTX 4090, and the data indicates it performs this task without introducing a bottleneck.

The benchmark results for the 5800XT show strong multi-threaded capabilities. It scores 23794 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 9993 in Cinebench R20 multicore, with a 3DMark max-thread score of 7680. Single-thread performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 959. These figures place the CPU in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879.

When considering the game’s frame rates, the CPU’s competence is evident. At 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 148 FPS, and at 4K Low it still manages 129 FPS. The fact that the performance delta between these resolutions is only 12.8% suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as a CPU-bound scenario would show near-identical frame rates regardless of resolution. The 5800XT’s 16 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 4090’s immense processing power, even at lower resolutions where the CPU has less time to prepare each frame.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 173rd out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 4.6% of all configurations. This ranking is a strong indicator of the system’s overall capability for this game, as it outperforms the vast majority of tested setups.

The ranking is particularly notable given the CPU’s mid-range positioning. The 5800XT’s percentile vs all CPUs is 81, and its performance is closely matched by mobile processors like the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and 8845HS, which have an avgScore of 29955. Despite this, the combo achieves a top-tier rank in the game, demonstrating that the RTX 4090’s dominance (88th percentile, avgBenchmarkScore of 60347) is the primary driver of the system’s high position. The data suggests that for The Medium, the GPU selection has a far greater impact on the final ranking than the CPU, as long as the CPU can keep up.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a smooth experience, the data points to the Medium preset as the optimal balance between visual quality and performance. At 4K, Medium delivers 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, Medium provides 111 FPS (min 95, max 128), and at 1080p it reaches 123 FPS (min 105, max 142). This preset offers a significant upgrade over Low settings without the steep performance cost of High or Ultra.

The High preset is a viable alternative for those prioritizing visual fidelity, especially at 4K where it still averages 63 FPS. However, the 1440p High result of 80 FPS is notably lower than Medium’s 111 FPS, indicating that the jump from Medium to High is not trivial. The Ultra preset should be avoided for demanding resolutions, as it drops to 50 FPS at 4K and 63 FPS at 1440p, which may introduce noticeable stutter on displays with high refresh rates. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (148 FPS at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, 129 FPS at 4K), sacrifices too much visual detail for the incremental gains over Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in The Medium are as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 148 FPS average
• Medium: 123 FPS average (min 105, max 142)
• High: 95 FPS average
• Ultra: 75 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 140 FPS average
• Medium: 111 FPS average (min 95, max 128)
• High: 80 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 129 FPS average
• Medium: 87 FPS average (min 74, max 101)
• High: 63 FPS average
• Ultra: 50 FPS average

The data reveals a clear hierarchy: Low settings consistently deliver the highest frame rates, with the 1080p result of 148 FPS being the peak performance across all configurations. The Medium preset shows consistent frame times, as evidenced by the narrow min-max ranges at each resolution. For example, at 1440p Medium, the range is 95 to 128 FPS, a 33 FPS spread, while at 4K Medium it is 74 to 101 FPS, a 27 FPS spread. This consistency makes Medium the most predictable preset for maintaining smooth gameplay.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the steepest performance cost, with the 4K average of 50 FPS being the lowest recorded value in the entire dataset. This 59.5% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score of 75 FPS highlights how the game’s most demanding visual effects scale with resolution. The High preset offers a middle ground, with 4K performance (63 FPS) matching the 1440p Ultra performance (63 FPS), which is an interesting crossover point that suggests High at 4K is equivalent in cost to Ultra at 1440p for this hardware combination.