The Medium

# The Medium: AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title that stresses both CPU and GPU depending on resolution. At 1080p, the combination averages 160 FPS on Low settings, dropping to 57 FPS on Ultra—a clear sign that the game's heavier visual features impose a significant load on the graphics card. Across the board, this combo ranks 675th out of 3,724 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18% of all tested systems for this title. The data reveals a system that can handle the game comfortably at lower settings but will require compromises for smooth 4K Ultra play.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K shows a predictable but steep decline, driven primarily by the GPU's workload. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 160 FPS at 1920x1080 to 135 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 106 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33.75% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is substantial but not catastrophic—the RTX 5070 still delivers well above 100 FPS at 4K Low, indicating that the game's lower preset is not heavily taxing the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory or its 672.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Moving to Medium settings, the curve steepens noticeably. The average FPS drops from 100 at 1080p to 84 at 1440p and then to 66 at 4K. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 56, while the maximum reaches 76, showing that even at this mid-tier preset, the game can dip below 60 FPS on the high-resolution end. At High settings, the scaling becomes more aggressive: 72 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K delta here is 34.7%, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as quality increases.

Ultra settings produce the steepest drops, with average FPS falling from 57 at 1080p to 48 at 1440p and finally to 38 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 38 FPS is below the generally accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and even the 1440p Ultra result of 48 FPS is marginal. This scaling pattern indicates that The Medium's Ultra preset includes effects—likely related to the game's dual-reality rendering mechanic—that heavily tax the GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 48 RT cores, regardless of resolution.

The resolution scaling data also reveals that at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom, with the Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads able to feed the GPU efficiently. At 4K, the GPU's workload dominates, and the frame rate is almost entirely dictated by the RTX 5070's performance. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution widens as resolution increases: at 1080p, the spread is 103 FPS (160 to 57), while at 4K, it narrows to 68 FPS (106 to 38). This suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU can still push higher frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU saturates sooner, compressing the performance envelope.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 675 out of 3,724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 81.9th percentile of all tested systems. This is a strong result, indicating that the pairing is well-balanced for this title, though not at the very top tier of performance. The rank reflects the GPU's 82nd percentile among all GPUs and the CPU's 87th percentile among all CPUs, suggesting that the processor slightly outpaces the graphics card in raw capability, but the game's demands keep the GPU as the limiting factor.

The combo's ranking is particularly noteworthy given that the RTX 5070's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% higher average score), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% higher), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (2% higher). These are all professional or mobile workstation parts, which do not directly translate to gaming performance in The Medium. The RTX 5070's raw G3D score of 29,137 places it well above the 1080p Ultra requirement, but the game's specific rendering paths—especially the dual-world mechanic—may not fully utilize the GPU's architecture.

On the CPU side, the Ryzen 7 7700's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.1% higher average score), Intel Core 5 221E (0.2% lower), and AMD Ryzen 9 270 (0.4% lower). These small deltas indicate that the 7700 sits in a tightly contested performance band, and its 87th percentile ranking reflects strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities. In The Medium, this translates to solid frame pacing at 1080p, where the CPU has more influence on minimum FPS, and consistent performance at higher resolutions where the GPU takes over.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's texture streaming at 4K, though the 47 FPS average at 4K High suggests the memory subsystem is not the bottleneck—rather, the GPU's compute throughput is. The card's base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz are relatively high, and with 6,144 shading units and 192 TMUs, the RTX 5070 delivers 482.3 GTexel/s of texture rate and 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In The Medium, the GPU's 48 RT cores are likely engaged for the game's lighting and reflection effects, though the game is not a ray-tracing showcase. The performance drop from High to Ultra at 4K (from 47 to 38 FPS, a 19% reduction) indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU's pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and its 80 ROPs. The game's fixed-camera angles may actually reduce the GPU's workload compared to open-world titles, but the data shows that Ultra settings still push the RTX 5070 to its limits.

The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,377, positions it as a high-midrange part. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are older or professional cards, which do not reflect its gaming performance in The Medium. At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 160 FPS, which is well above any refresh rate requirement, while at 4K Ultra, the 38 FPS result is below 60 FPS. This suggests that for the most demanding settings, users would need to enable upscaling or reduce quality, though the data does not include any upscaling results.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1440p Medium provides a good balance, averaging 84 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS. For 60 FPS gameplay, 1080p High (72 FPS) or 1440p Medium (84 FPS) are the safest choices, while 4K Medium (66 FPS) is playable but can dip to 56 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 106, which is smooth. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 66 FPS with a minimum of 56 FPS, which is borderline. 4K High and Ultra average 47 and 38 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold for ideal smoothness.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for The Medium. The FPS drops from 1440p to 4K are more consistent with compute limitations than memory bandwidth constraints, as the 4K Low result of 106 FPS shows the memory can handle high resolution without stuttering.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700 a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads with a 5.30 GHz boost clock can push frame rates to 160 FPS on Low, suggesting minimal bottleneck. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary limiter, as shown by the 38 FPS Ultra result, so the CPU is not a constraint at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 135 FPS, while Ultra averages 48 FPS. This is a 64.4% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset's visual features.

Q: How does this combo's in-game rank compare to its synthetic benchmark scores?

A: The combo ranks 675th out of 3,724 tested (top 18%), while the CPU sits in the 87th percentile and the GPU in the 82nd percentile of their respective categories. The in-game rank is slightly lower than the CPU's percentile but higher than the GPU's, suggesting the game's workload favors the CPU more than synthetic tests indicate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + RTX 5070 combo delivers its highest performance. Low settings produce an average of 160 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth and suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium settings average 100 FPS, with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High settings average 72 FPS, which is still playable but with less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra settings average 57 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target and indicating that the game's maximum quality preset is too demanding for consistent smoothness at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 135 FPS, maintaining excellent smoothness with a 15.6% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 84 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS, making this the sweet spot for 1440p gaming on this hardware. High settings average 60 FPS, hitting the 60 FPS target exactly but with no margin for drops. Ultra settings average 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and only suitable for gamers willing to tolerate occasional stutter in intense scenes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings average 106 FPS, which is impressive for 4K and indicates the game is well-optimized at lower presets. Medium settings average 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and maximum of 76 FPS, providing borderline playability with occasional dips below 60. High settings average 47 FPS, which is noticeably below the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings average 38 FPS, which is only suitable for gamers who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, as the experience will be noticeably stuttery.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 4 architecture, plays a supporting role in The Medium, primarily ensuring the GPU is fed with data. The CPU's base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, combined with 32 MB of L3 cache, provide strong single-thread performance for the game's main thread. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1,049 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,930 indicate robust per-core performance, which is critical for a game that may not fully utilize all 16 threads.

The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,081, shows it is a high-end part. Its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.1% higher), Intel Core 5 221E (0.2% lower), and AMD Ryzen 9 270 (0.4% lower)—are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the 7700 is in a tight performance cluster. In The Medium, the CPU's multi-thread capability (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,760) likely helps with the game's background loading and asset streaming, but the measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the CPU can push frame rates to 160 FPS on Low, which is well above typical display refresh rates.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes as the GPU's workload increases. The 4K Ultra result of 38 FPS is almost entirely GPU-bound, as the RTX 5070's 38 FPS at that setting is far below what the CPU could theoretically support. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient part, but in this game, its role is to avoid becoming a bottleneck, which it does effectively at all tested settings. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 8,484 and max-thread score of 8,479 show consistent scaling across cores, which benefits the game's background tasks without causing thermal or power constraints.