The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination delivers a highly playable experience in The Medium, though the data reveals a significant performance ceiling that shifts based on resolution and settings. The most striking finding is the enormous delta between Low and Ultra presets, which highlights a GPU-bound scenario at higher fidelity levels.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that The Medium is heavily reliant on the graphics card. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 168.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 120.8 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 47.5 FPS. This 28.2% decline indicates that even at the lowest fidelity, the GPU is still the primary limiting factor.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher presets. At Medium, the average drops from 112.5 FPS at 1080p to 77.4 FPS at 4K, while at High it goes from 80.7 FPS to 55.1 FPS. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling: 66.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 45.2 FPS at 4K, a 31.7% reduction. This pattern suggests that the RTX 5070 Ti's rendering workload scales almost linearly with pixel count, and the CPU is not introducing a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

The data implies that 4K gaming is viable only at Low or Medium settings, where the average stays above 77 FPS. At 1440p, the situation improves substantially, with High settings delivering 70.3 FPS and Ultra achieving 53.5 FPS. For 1080p, the combination handles every preset comfortably, with even Ultra maintaining 66.2 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is substantial for a horror title like The Medium, which often uses high-resolution textures to create atmosphere. The 896.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and memory-intensive effects do not become a limiting factor at any tested setting.

The GPU's clock speeds are relatively modest, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2452 MHz. However, the architecture compensates with sheer throughput: 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 43.94 TFLOPS is what drives the high frame rates observed at lower resolutions.

In benchmark terms, the RTX 5070 Ti scores 32974 in Passmark G3D and 231226 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which has a nearly identical average benchmark score with a deltaPct of 0. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is 0.8% ahead, while the NVIDIA RTX A1000 trails by 2.5%. These benchmark results align with the in-game data, which shows the GPU capable of exceeding 120 FPS at 4K Low but dropping below 50 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides a solid foundation with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boosting to 5.30 GHz. This Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, is built on a 5 nm process and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus delivering 83.2 GB/s. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is ample for game logic and scene management.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate strong multi-threaded capability: 29302 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 12306 in R20 multi-core. Single-thread performance is also robust, with 4136 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 1049 in 3DMark single-thread. The Passmark multithread score of 34470 and average benchmark score of 40468 place the 7700 in the 91st percentile of all CPUs.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 7700 is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, which is 0.1% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, which leads by 0.5%. The Intel Core i9-13905H is 0.6% ahead, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T trails by 1.2%. In The Medium, the CPU's role is secondary, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling across resolutions. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration prevents any CPU-bound stutter, allowing the GPU to dictate performance entirely.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that the Ultra preset is overly demanding for this combination. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 45.2, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even at 1440p Ultra, the average is only 53.5 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it reaches 66.2 FPS. The Ultra preset appears to introduce rendering effects that disproportionately tax the GPU without delivering proportional visual benefits in this title.

The High preset offers the best balance for most users. At 1080p High, the average is 80.7 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. At 1440p High, the average drops to 70.3 FPS, still maintaining smooth performance. For 4K, High yields 55.1 FPS, which is borderline but playable for a slower-paced horror game.

For users prioritizing frame rate, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It delivers 112.5 FPS at 1080p, 97.9 FPS at 1440p, and 77.4 FPS at 4K, all of which are excellent for a horror title where responsiveness enhances immersion. The Low preset, while achieving 168.3 FPS at 1080p and 120.8 FPS at 4K, likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that relies on atmosphere.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run The Medium at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average at 3840x2160 with High settings is 55.1 FPS, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. For a more comfortable margin, Medium settings at 4K provide 77.4 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High?

A: The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 66.2 FPS versus 80.7 FPS for High, representing a 17.9% performance loss. At 4K, Ultra drops to 45.2 FPS compared to 55.1 FPS for High, a 17.9% reduction.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. Evidence shows that FPS scales nearly linearly with resolution, from 80.7 FPS at 1080p High to 55.1 FPS at 4K High. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to avoid any processor-related frame drops.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 FPS experience?

A: For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1440p with Medium settings delivers 97.9 FPS, which provides a large buffer. At 1440p High, the average is 70.3 FPS, still above 60. For 4K, Medium settings at 77.4 FPS are the safest bet.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to the RTX 4080 in this context?

A: The two GPUs are essentially identical in benchmark performance, with a deltaPct of 0. This suggests that in-game performance for The Medium would be nearly indistinguishable between the two cards.

Q: Does the Low preset provide a significant advantage over Medium?

A: Yes, the Low preset offers a substantial FPS boost. At 1080p, Low achieves 168.3 FPS versus 112.5 FPS for Medium, a 49.6% increase. At 4K, Low delivers 120.8 FPS versus 77.4 FPS for Medium, a 56.1% increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured results shows a consistent pattern. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 168.3 on Low to 66.2 on Ultra, with Medium at 112.5 and High at 80.7. This represents a 102.1 FPS spread between the lowest and highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the spread narrows slightly. Low delivers 156.8 FPS, Medium achieves 97.9 FPS, High reaches 70.3 FPS, and Ultra drops to 53.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 103.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU's workload scales similarly at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the absolute numbers are lower but the relative scaling remains. Low produces 120.8 FPS, Medium 77.4 FPS, High 55.1 FPS, and Ultra 45.2 FPS. The spread here is 75.6 FPS, showing that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a diminishing impact on frame rate at higher resolutions.

The data also shows that the transition from Medium to High incurs a larger performance penalty than from Low to Medium. At 1080p, Medium to High drops from 112.5 to 80.7 FPS, a 28.3% loss, while Low to Medium drops from 168.3 to 112.5 FPS, a 33.2% loss. This suggests that the High preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking for The Medium, this combination of AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti holds position 114 out of 1689 tested combinations. This places it in the top 6.8% of all systems, which is a strong result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU.

The ranking reflects the GPU's dominant role in this game. The RTX 5070 Ti's 87th percentile standing among all GPUs, combined with the Ryzen 7 7700's 91st percentile among CPUs, creates a balanced system where neither component significantly drags down the other. The 16 GB of VRAM and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth ensure that memory is never a constraint, and the CPU's 5.30 GHz boost clock provides ample single-thread performance for game logic.

The position at 114 out of 1689 suggests that while there are faster combinations, this pairing is well above average. The data indicates that the primary upgrade path for better performance in The Medium would be a faster GPU, as the CPU has headroom to support higher frame rates. Conversely, the current setup is likely to be limited by the GPU's 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 compute when pushing for Ultra settings at high resolutions.