The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination delivers a playable but constrained experience in The Medium, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that the sweet spot is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, where the combo produces 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS, offering the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset drops to 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS, which remains acceptable for a horror title where atmosphere matters more than twitch reflexes. The Ultra preset is not viable at any resolution, with scores ranging from 22 FPS at 3840x2160 to 33 FPS at 1920x1080, all of which fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that users should avoid High settings at 4K, where the average falls to 27 FPS, and instead prioritize the Medium preset for consistent performance across all tested resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results clearly identify the Medium preset as the optimal configuration for this hardware combination in The Medium. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, providing a stable frame rate that suits the game’s deliberate pacing and fixed-camera horror sequences. This represents a 16 FPS improvement over the High preset at the same resolution, which only manages 41 FPS average. The jump from High to Medium costs visual quality but delivers a substantial framerate benefit, and the minimum frame rate of 49 FPS ensures that the game avoids noticeable stutter during scene transitions or when the camera pans across detailed environments.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. This is the highest resolution at which the combo maintains an average above 45 FPS, making it a viable choice for users with 1440p monitors. The High preset at this resolution drops to 35 FPS average, which introduces perceptible judder in a game that relies on slow, atmospheric movement. The Low preset at 1440p produces 77 FPS average, but the visual degradation in The Medium is severe, as the game’s dual-reality rendering technique relies on detailed textures and lighting to maintain its eerie atmosphere. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 27 FPS average, which is unplayable for most users.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 38 FPS average with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS. This is borderline playable, and the minimum frame rate of 32 FPS indicates occasional dips below the 30 FPS threshold, which can be noticeable during intense moments. The Low preset at 4K achieves 61 FPS average, but the visual compromise is significant. The data suggests that users with 4K displays should either accept the Medium preset’s occasional dips or drop to Low for a smoother experience. The High preset at 4K produces only 27 FPS average, and Ultra produces 22 FPS, both of which are unsuitable for gameplay.

The verdict is clear: the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best experience, with 1440p Medium as the secondary option for users with higher-resolution displays. The measured minimum frame rates support this recommendation, as the 1080p Medium configuration maintains a floor of 49 FPS, while the 1440p Medium configuration stays above 40 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU’s clock speeds include a base clock of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2250 MHz, and a boost clock of 2655 MHz. These specifications place the RX 7600 in the 57th percentile of all GPUs according to the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 15171. The nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which scores 15199 with a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, which scores 15082 with a deltaPct of 0.6. This indicates that the RX 7600 sits in a tightly contested performance tier, where small differences separate it from competitors.

In The Medium, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor. The game’s high-resolution textures and dual-world rendering require substantial memory, and the measured results show that the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 drops to 22 FPS average, while the Low preset at the same resolution achieves 61 FPS average. This 39 FPS gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K highlights the VRAM and bandwidth limitations of the RX 7600 when pushed to extreme settings. The 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but they become bottlenecks at 4K with higher presets. The GPU’s boost clock of 2655 MHz provides adequate computational power for the Medium preset, but the data shows that the card cannot sustain high frame rates when texture quality and shadow details are increased.

The RX 7600’s RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 6 nm process at TSMC with 13,300 million transistors, delivers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This raw compute capability translates to the 57 FPS average seen at 1080p Medium, but the card’s memory subsystem limits its ability to handle the game’s larger data sets at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are adequate for the Medium preset, but the Ultra preset’s additional texture filtering and post-processing effects overwhelm the GPU, resulting in the 33 FPS average at 1080p Ultra. Users should understand that the RX 7600 is a capable 1080p performer, but its 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus place hard limits on its 4K potential.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable scaling pattern from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, with the GPU becoming more dominant as the resolution increases. At the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 57 at 1080p to 48 at 1440p, a decrease of 9 FPS, and then to 38 at 4K, a further decrease of 10 FPS. This translates to a 33% drop from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RX 7600’s compute and memory resources are increasingly strained as pixel count rises. The Low preset shows a similar pattern: 92 FPS at 1080p, 77 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K, representing a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops suggests that the GPU is the limiting component across all settings, with the CPU providing sufficient headroom.

The High preset exhibits a steeper decline: 41 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K, a 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: 33 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, a 33% drop. This uniform scaling across presets indicates that the resolution is the primary factor driving performance, and the RX 7600’s memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s becomes the limiting resource at 4K. The 128-bit memory bus is insufficient for the data demands of 3840x2160, particularly when the game’s dual-reality rendering requires loading two perspectives simultaneously.

The data also reveals that the gap between Low and Medium settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (92 FPS) and Medium (57 FPS) is 35 FPS, while at 4K, the difference between Low (61 FPS) and Medium (38 FPS) is 23 FPS. This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU’s computational limits overshadow the settings’ impact, and users gain less from lowering settings. The minimum frame rates for the Medium preset also highlight this trend: 49 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The 4K minimum of 32 FPS is dangerously close to the 30 FPS playability threshold, reinforcing that 1080p Medium is the most stable configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on settings. The Low preset achieves 92 FPS average, which is smooth and responsive, but the visual quality suffers. The Medium preset produces 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, offering a solid balance. The High preset drops to 41 FPS average, which is playable but with noticeable frame pacing issues in slower scenes. The Ultra preset falls to 33 FPS average, which is below the 40 FPS threshold for comfortable horror gameplay. The 1080p results indicate that the RX 7600 has sufficient compute power for the Medium preset, but the Ultra preset’s additional effects overwhelm the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM.

At 2560x1440, the performance profile shifts downward. The Low preset yields 77 FPS average, which is good for 1440p gaming, but the Medium preset produces 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. The High preset drops to 35 FPS average, and the Ultra preset falls to 27 FPS average. The 1440p Medium configuration is the most viable option, as the minimum frame rate of 41 FPS ensures that the game remains responsive during exploration. The 1440p High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as their averages fall below 40 FPS, which can cause motion sickness in a game with frequent camera cuts.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal. The Low preset achieves 61 FPS average, which is playable, but the Medium preset produces 38 FPS average with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS. The High preset drops to 27 FPS average, and the Ultra preset falls to 22 FPS average. The 4K Medium configuration is borderline, with the minimum frame rate of 32 FPS indicating occasional dips below 30 FPS. The 4K Low preset is the only setting that maintains a consistent 60 FPS average, but it requires significant visual compromises. The 4K High and Ultra presets are unplayable, with averages well below the 30 FPS threshold.

The measured data includes minimum and maximum FPS only for the Medium preset across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 49 to 66 FPS, a spread of 17 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 41 to 56 FPS, a spread of 15 FPS. At 4K, the range is 32 to 44 FPS, a spread of 12 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU’s performance becomes more consistent as it approaches its limits, but the overall averages remain too low for comfortable play at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 with AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination ranks 2571 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower third of the database. This rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning, as the RX 7600 sits in the 57th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 15171. The combo’s performance is limited by the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus, which constrain its ability to handle the game’s high-resolution textures. The rank of 2571 out of 3724 means that roughly 31% of tested combos perform worse, while 69% perform better, indicating that this pairing is suitable for 1080p gaming but struggles at higher resolutions.

The CPU component of this combo, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700, ranks in the 87th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 40081. This suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in The Medium, as its 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game’s logic and rendering calls. The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 with a score of 40048 and a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Core 5 221E with a score of 40144 and a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Ryzen 9 270 with a score of 40246 and a deltaPct of -0.4. These small deltaPct values indicate that the Ryzen 7 7700 is tightly clustered with other mid-range and high-end CPUs, and its performance is not a differentiator in this game.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM with a score of 15199 and a deltaPct of -0.2, the AMD Radeon Pro 560X with a score of 15082 and a deltaPct of 0.6, and the AMD Radeon 680M with a score of 15270 and a deltaPct of -0.7. These rival scores are all within 1% of the RX 7600’s average benchmark score, indicating that the GPU’s performance is comparable to these alternatives. However, the measured FPS in The Medium shows that the RX 7600’s 8 GB VRAM is a limiting factor, as the 4K Ultra preset produces only 22 FPS average. The combo’s rank of 2571 out of 3724 reflects this GPU-bound performance, and users should expect this pairing to deliver solid 1080p results but not compete with higher-tier GPU combinations in the database.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Zen 4 architecture CPU, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 6,570 million transistors, delivers strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The CPU’s benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930, as well as a Geekbench multi-core score of 15371 and a single-core score of 2525. The 3DMark scores show 8484 for 16 threads, 6933 for 8 threads, and 1049 for single-thread, indicating that the CPU scales well with additional threads.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS data shows consistent scaling patterns that point to GPU limitations. The Ryzen 7 7700’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game’s CPU-side tasks. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node allow for sustained boost clocks, but the game’s performance is not CPU-bound, as evidenced by the uniform FPS drops across resolutions. The 3DMark max threads score of 8479 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18760 indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for the game’s AI, physics, and rendering thread management.

The Ryzen 7 7700’s percentile ranking of 87 places it among the higher-performing CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 40081. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 with a deltaPct of 0.1 and the Intel Core 5 221E with a deltaPct of -0.2, showing that the CPU is competitive with other modern processors. However, the combo’s rank of 2571 out of 3724 in The Medium is driven by the GPU’s performance, not the CPU. The data shows that the CPU maintains its performance across all settings, and the FPS differences between presets are attributable to GPU load. Users with this CPU can expect consistent frame delivery, but they should pair it with a more powerful GPU for higher resolutions and settings.

The CPU’s 16 threads are more than sufficient for The Medium’s requirements, and the boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks, such as game logic and camera control, are handled efficiently. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (92 FPS average) demonstrates that the CPU does not bottleneck even at high frame rates, and the 1440p Low result of 77 FPS average further confirms this. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is adequate for the game’s data streaming, and the 32 MB L3 cache reduces latency for frequently accessed data. In summary, the Ryzen 7 7700 is a strong partner for the RX 7600, but the GPU remains the definitive limiting factor in The Medium, as evidenced by the 22 FPS average at 4K Ultra and the 27 FPS average at 1440p Ultra.