The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance heavily dictated by the graphics preset. The data indicates a clear pattern: this combo’s 12 GB VRAM and RDNA 3.0 architecture are the primary drivers of frame rates, while the 8-core CPU provides ample headroom. The most significant takeaway is the drastic performance cost of the Ultra preset, which pushes the GPU to its limits across all resolutions, making High and Medium the only sensible choices for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, revealing that the Radeon RX 7700 XT is the limiting component in this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 126.6 at 1920x1080 to 80.6 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 36%. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count directly taxes the rasterization and shading units. The 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus are sufficient at lower resolutions but become a bottleneck as the pixel workload expands.

The pattern intensifies at higher presets. At Medium, the drop from 80.3 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 4K represents a 33% loss, while at High, the decline from 56.2 FPS to 36.8 FPS is a similar 35% reduction. However, the Ultra preset shows the most brutal scaling: from 42.2 FPS at 1080p down to 31.7 FPS at 4K, a 25% loss. This smaller percentage drop at Ultra indicates that the GPU is already saturated even at 1080p, so the additional resolution stress has a less proportional impact—the card is simply running out of headroom everywhere.

The data suggests that 2560x1440 is the practical ceiling for this combo. At 1440p High, the average of 47.8 FPS is borderline, while 1440p Medium achieves a more comfortable 63.6 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 31.7 FPS is the worst-case scenario, confirming that this resolution and preset combination is not viable for a consistent experience. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is also telling: at High, the drop is from 56.2 to 47.8 FPS (15% loss), which is much gentler than the subsequent jump to 4K, reinforcing that the card has some reserve at 1440p but is firmly capped at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows point decisively to Medium as the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate for this hardware. At 1080p, Medium delivers 80.3 FPS, which is 30% higher than High’s 56.2 FPS and only 37% lower than Low’s 126.6 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 24.1 FPS at 1080p, a significant loss for what is typically a marginal visual upgrade in The Medium’s horror atmosphere. At 1440p, Medium’s 63.6 FPS is the only preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, making it the definitive choice for that resolution.

High is only recommended for players who prioritize visual detail over smoothness and are willing to accept frame rates in the upper 40s. At 1440p High (47.8 FPS) and 1080p High (56.2 FPS), the experience is playable but not fluid. Ultra should be avoided entirely; even at 1080p, it only reaches 42.2 FPS, which is 26% slower than High at the same resolution. The 4K results reinforce this: Ultra at 4K (31.7 FPS) is a slideshow, while Medium at 4K (54 FPS) is the only 4K preset that approaches playability.

Low settings are viable for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, with 126.6 FPS at 1080p and 104.9 FPS at 1440p. However, given the game’s horror genre and emphasis on atmosphere, the visual degradation may not be worth the frame rate gain. The data’s verdict is clear: Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing a 60+ FPS experience at 1080p and 1440p, while High is a compromise for visual purists and Ultra is a performance trap.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings. The measured data shows 80.6 FPS at 4K Low and 54 FPS at 4K Medium. High (36.8 FPS) and Ultra (31.7 FPS) fall below playable thresholds.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS at 2560x1440, achieving 63.6 FPS. High (47.8 FPS) and Low (104.9 FPS) are alternatives, but Medium provides the best balance of quality and performance.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: The loss varies by preset. At Low, the drop is from 126.6 FPS to 80.6 FPS (36% loss). At Medium, it falls from 80.3 FPS to 54 FPS (33% loss). At High, it declines from 56.2 FPS to 36.8 FPS (35% loss).

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using with this hardware?

A: No. The Ultra preset delivers 42.2 FPS at 1080p, 38.9 FPS at 1440p, and 31.7 FPS at 4K. These are all below the 60 FPS target, and the performance penalty versus High is over 20% at every resolution.

Q: Does the GPU or CPU limit performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Radeon RX 7700 XT has a 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 7 7700X ranks in the 89th percentile among CPUs. The frame rate scaling across resolutions is consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 56.2 FPS. This is playable but not smooth, and dropping to Medium raises the average to 80.3 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 126.6 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. Medium follows at 80.3 FPS, High at 56.2 FPS, and Ultra at 42.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 46.3 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 24.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 14 FPS. This shows diminishing returns as settings increase, with each step costing less absolute performance but also delivering less visual improvement.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute values. Low scores 104.9 FPS, Medium 63.6 FPS, High 47.8 FPS, and Ultra 38.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 41.3 FPS, between Medium and High is 15.8 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 8.9 FPS. The 1440p results are roughly 17-21% lower than their 1080p counterparts, depending on the preset.

At 3840x2160, performance drops significantly. Low achieves 80.6 FPS, Medium 54 FPS, High 36.8 FPS, and Ultra 31.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 26.6 FPS, between Medium and High is 17.2 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 5.1 FPS. Notably, the 4K Low result (80.6 FPS) is higher than the 1440p High result (47.8 FPS) and 1080p Ultra result (42.2 FPS), demonstrating that resolution scaling is less punishing than preset scaling for this card.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7700 XT is the defining component in this combo, and its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth is the key resource for The Medium. The game’s horror environments with complex lighting and shadows place heavy demands on the memory subsystem. The card’s 96 ROPs and 3456 shading units are responsible for the pixel throughput, and the data shows they are saturated at Ultra settings even at 1080p.

The GPU’s clock behavior is also relevant. The base clock is 1435 MHz, with a game clock of 2171 MHz and a boost clock of 2544 MHz. The boost clock is 15% higher than the game clock, which indicates the card can dynamically increase performance when thermal and power headroom allow. In The Medium, the measured results suggest the card is operating near its boost clock at lower settings but throttling back under the heavy load of Ultra, as evidenced by the disproportionate frame rate drops.

The GPU’s 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-to-high tier, and its average benchmark score of 30097 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 570 (30158, -0.2% delta). This places it in a competitive bracket, but the game-specific results show that The Medium is more demanding than these synthetic averages suggest. The card’s 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is ample, but the memory bandwidth becomes the limiting factor at high resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X provides a robust foundation for this gaming combo, but its role in The Medium is secondary to the GPU. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, the CPU has a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. The single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4281, which is crucial for the game’s main thread logic.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capability is equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30325 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 15538. These numbers indicate that the 7700X can handle any background tasks and the game’s streaming requirements without bottlenecking the GPU. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache ensure low-latency access to frequently used data, which is beneficial for the game’s level streaming.

The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it well above the GPU’s 73rd percentile, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13500, has an average score of 34175 versus the 7700X’s 34313, a 0.4% delta. The data shows that even with a slower CPU, frame rates in The Medium would likely remain similar, as the GPU is the bottleneck. The 7700X’s 105 W TDP and 5 nm process node ensure it can maintain boost clocks without excessive heat, supporting sustained gaming performance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this combination of the Ryzen 7 7700X and Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 721st out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 43rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly 57% of combinations but is outpaced by a significant portion of higher-end setups. The ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status, as the CPU is high-tier, and the game’s heavy GPU dependence pulls the overall ranking down.

The 721st rank out of 1689 combos indicates that while this system can run The Medium, it is not a top-tier performer. The GPU’s 73rd percentile and CPU’s 89th percentile suggest the combo is limited by the graphics card. The measured FPS data aligns with this, as the system struggles with Ultra settings and 4K resolution. In the context of all tested combos, this setup is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Medium settings, where it provides a solid experience.

Compared to other combos with similar GPUs, the 7700 XT’s performance is consistent with its peers. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the RTX 5060 (0% delta) and RX 570 (-0.2% delta), indicating that systems with these GPUs will likely achieve similar ranks. However, the game-specific ranking of 721st suggests that The Medium is more demanding than average, and systems with higher-end GPUs will comfortably outperform this combo. For players targeting high-refresh-rate or 4K gaming, this combo will require significant settings compromises, as the data clearly shows.