The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, places unusual demands on hardware due to its dual-reality rendering technique. In this analysis, the combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 7700 processor with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card produces a dataset that reveals a system heavily constrained by its GPU, particularly at higher resolutions. The measured frames per second (FPS) across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions tell a clear story of a processor with ample headroom and a graphics card operating at its absolute limits. The data indicates that this pairing ranks 1428th out of 1689 tested combos in this specific game, placing it in the lower percentile of systems, a position that is directly reflected in the performance metrics below.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is the most telling indicator of where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 77.1 FPS. Scaling up to 2560x1440 with the same Low settings reduces that figure to 60.4 FPS, a 21.7% decrease. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields 47.2 FPS, which is a 38.8% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The processor is not the limiting factor here; the GTX 1070 is.

The scaling becomes even more severe when higher graphical presets are applied. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (34.8 FPS) to 1440p (26.4 FPS) represents a 24.1% performance hit, and then to 4K (20.3 FPS) a further 23.1% drop. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic collapse, with 28.7 FPS at 1080p falling to 23.0 FPS at 1440p and eventually to a nearly unplayable 15.9 FPS at 4K. This steep decline at the highest settings suggests that the game’s visual effects, which likely include heavy use of volumetric lighting and high-resolution textures, are saturating the GTX 1070’s capabilities. The data implies that the 8 GB of VRAM and the 256-bit memory bus of the GTX 1070, while capable, are simply insufficient to handle the data throughput required at 4K with high fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a Zen 4 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29302 and a single-core score of 4136. This places the CPU in the 91st percentile of all processors, indicating substantial compute capability that far exceeds the demands of most games, including The Medium. The processor’s role in this specific game appears to be entirely subservient to the GPU, as the FPS at 1080p Low (77.1 FPS) is likely near the maximum the GTX 1070 can output, regardless of CPU speed.

The data suggests that the CPU is never the primary constraint. Even in the most demanding scenarios, such as 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 15.9, the processor is likely idle waiting for the GPU to complete its frame rendering. The Ryzen 7 7700’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory provide a robust platform, but these advantages are muted when paired with a GPU that has a Passmark G3D score of 13498, which places it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H and Intel Core i9-13905H, show a negligible average benchmark score difference of 0.1% and -0.6%, respectively, which reinforces that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this configuration's gaming performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, based on the Pascal architecture and GP104 chip, is the clear limiting component. With a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, it offers a theoretical FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. While these specifications were competitive in 2016, the data from The Medium shows they are inadequate for high-fidelity gaming in 2021. The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 13498, place it in the 51st percentile, and its nearest rivals in that benchmark include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER, which is only 1.4% faster, and the NVIDIA Quadro K4200, which is 0.7% slower.

The GPU’s VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth are likely the primary factors behind the poor performance at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the game demands a massive amount of texture data and memory throughput, which the GTX 1070 cannot provide, resulting in an average FPS of 15.9. The scaling from Medium to High settings at 4K shows a drop from 34.2 FPS to 20.3 FPS, a 40.6% reduction, which is a far larger percentage drop than the transition from Low to Medium (47.2 FPS to 34.2 FPS, a 27.5% reduction). This non-linear degradation suggests that the GPU’s resources are being exhausted, likely hitting a VRAM capacity or bandwidth wall. The data implies that the GPU is not just slow; it is overwhelmed by the game’s memory footprint at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of all tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 7 7700 and GTX 1070 ranks 1428th out of 1689 combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 15.5% of all systems tested, which is a poor result for a CPU that is otherwise in the top 9% of processors. This massive discrepancy between CPU rank and overall combo rank underscores the severe bottleneck created by the GPU. The system is effectively a high-end CPU shackled to a mid-range, end-of-life graphics card.

The ranking suggests that the majority of other tested systems, even those with much weaker processors, achieve better performance in this game because they are paired with more capable GPUs. The data shows that the combo’s performance is almost entirely dictated by the GPU, as the CPU’s compute power is left largely unused. For a game like The Medium, which appears to be heavily reliant on GPU shading and memory bandwidth, the GTX 1070’s limitations outweigh the Ryzen 7 7700’s strengths. This results in a lopsided system where a component's high potential is wasted, and the overall user experience is defined by the weakest link.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 77.1 FPS on Low, 48.0 FPS on Medium, 34.8 FPS on High, and 28.7 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that 1080p is the only resolution where the system can approach a smooth experience, and only at the Low preset. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 60.4 FPS on Low, 37.5 FPS on Medium, 26.4 FPS on High, and 23.0 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p Low setting is the only configuration at this resolution that remains above the 60 FPS threshold, but just barely.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable framerates. The Low preset yields 47.2 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced horror game, but the Medium preset drops to 34.2 FPS, High to 20.3 FPS, and Ultra to a slideshow-like 15.9 FPS. The data reveals a consistent pattern: for every preset, the performance penalty for moving from 1080p to 1440p is significant, and the penalty for moving from 1440p to 4K is even more severe. This indicates that the GTX 1070’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are exhausted as pixel count increases, making high-resolution gaming impractical.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured data, the optimal experience for this hardware combination is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which is the only configuration that consistently delivers an average FPS above 77. This setting provides a fluid, responsive framerate that is suitable for the game's tense, atmospheric gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 48.0 FPS, is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity over absolute smoothness, as it likely adds more detailed textures and lighting effects without a catastrophic performance hit.

For users with 2560x1440 monitors, the Low preset is the only viable option, offering an average of 60.4 FPS. Any higher preset at this resolution results in framerates below 40 FPS, which could be considered too choppy for a horror game where smooth camera movement is crucial. Gaming at 3840x2160 is not recommended with this setup for any preset other than Low, which averages 47.2 FPS. The data suggests that the visual upgrade from Low to Medium at 4K is not worth the 27.5% performance drop, and the High and Ultra presets are effectively unplayable. The verdict is clear: to get a playable experience, the user must sacrifice graphical detail, and the system is best suited for 1080p gaming.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: Technically yes, but with significant compromises. At 3840x2160 with the Low preset, the system achieves an average of 47.2 FPS. However, the Medium preset drops to 34.2 FPS, and High and Ultra presets fall to 20.3 and 15.9 FPS, respectively, making them largely unplayable.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a smooth experience at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that averages above 60 FPS, delivering 77.1 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 48.0 FPS, which is still playable but may feel less smooth.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor in this benchmark?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 7700, ranks in the 91st percentile of all processors, while the GPU, a GTX 1070, ranks in the 51st percentile. The severe FPS drops at higher resolutions are characteristic of a GPU limited by its memory bandwidth and processing power.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This specific combination ranks 1428th out of 1689 total tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 15.5% of all systems. This poor ranking is directly attributable to the graphics card, despite the processor's high individual ranking.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this system can achieve?

A: The highest recorded average FPS in the data is 77.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. No other configuration exceeds this value.

Q: Is the GTX 1070’s 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The benchmark data suggests it is insufficient at higher settings. The massive performance drop from Medium to High, and again to Ultra, at 4K resolution (34.2 to 20.3 to 15.9 FPS) implies the GPU is hitting a memory capacity or bandwidth limit, as the framerate plummets faster than would be expected from pure compute limitations.