The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, securing the 1941st position out of 3724 tested combos. This places the configuration in the lower-middle tier of the database, indicating that while it can run the game, it will not excel at maximum settings or high resolutions. The benchmark data shows a configuration that is heavily constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance provides a solid foundation at lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1941 out of 3724 indicates a mid-pack standing, meaning roughly 52% of tested configurations perform better. This is a sobering result for a pairing that includes a high-end 9000-series CPU. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU; the RX 6700 XT, while competent, is positioned in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 27425 puts it in direct competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (0% delta) and just 0.5% behind the RTX 3090. However, in a title like The Medium, which is known for its heavy rendering load, this level of GPU performance is the limiting factor.

The CPU, conversely, is a powerhouse. The Ryzen 7 9700F sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 69996. This places it in a tight cluster with the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% behind), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% ahead). The data suggests that in this combo, the CPU is rarely the constraint. The measured FPS drops are far more drastic across resolution changes than across CPU-bound scenarios, confirming that the GPU is the primary arbiter of performance. In essence, the ranking reflects a high-end CPU being held back by a mid-range GPU in a graphically intensive game.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 4K with High settings, the average FPS is 32, which is playable but not smooth. Dropping to Low settings at 4K yields a much more comfortable 73 FPS average. Ultra settings at 4K are not recommended, as the average drops to 26 FPS.

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

A: The data shows that 60 FPS is achievable at 1440p with Medium settings (58 FPS average) and at 1080p with Medium settings (69 FPS average). For a more consistent 60+ FPS experience, 1080p with High settings averages 49 FPS, so Medium settings at 1080p is the safest bet.

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

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9700F ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, while the RX 6700 XT ranks in the 72nd. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a significant drop in FPS, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 27425 is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (0% delta). It is also 0.5% behind the RTX 3090 and 1.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20, showing it performs in a similar class to these cards.

*Q: Does the CPU's strong Passmark score translate to better performance in The Medium?*

A: Not directly. While the CPU's multi-threaded score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 are strong, the game's performance in the measured rows is far more sensitive to resolution and settings changes. This indicates that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the deciding factor.

Q: What is the FPS range on Medium settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p with Medium settings, the average FPS is 69, with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 79. This provides a stable frame time window, suggesting good consistency.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. Moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings produces dramatic performance drops. For instance, on High settings, the average FPS falls from 49 at 1080p to 41 at 1440p and finally to 32 at 4K. This represents a 17% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35% drop from 1080p to 4K. The trend is consistent across all settings, indicating that the RX 6700 XT's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases.

The scaling on Low settings is particularly telling. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 110, which drops to 92 at 1440p and 73 at 4K. This shows that even when the rendering load is reduced, the GPU still cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K. The 4K Low result is only 66% of the 1080p Low result. This suggests that the GPU's raw fillrate and memory bandwidth (384.0 GB/s) are the limiting factors, rather than shader complexity alone. The CPU, with its 5.50 GHz boost clock, is unlikely to be the cause of these scaling drops, as its performance headroom remains constant across resolutions.

The fact that the gap between Medium and Ultra settings narrows at higher resolutions further confirms this. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (69 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) is 30 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Medium (45 FPS) and Ultra (26 FPS) is only 19 FPS. This compression of performance at higher resolutions is a hallmark of a GPU that is running out of processing headroom, forcing the frame rate to converge regardless of the visual fidelity settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration shows a wide range of performance depending on the preset. Low settings yield a high average of 110 FPS, ensuring a very smooth experience. Medium settings drop to a 69 FPS average with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 79, providing a solid balance. High settings reduce the average to 49 FPS, while Ultra settings bring it down to 39 FPS. This shows that 1080p is the most flexible resolution for this combo, offering a playable frame rate even on High.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance hits a more noticeable wall. Low settings still provide a good 92 FPS average. Medium settings produce a 58 FPS average, with a minimum of 49 and a maximum of 66, which is borderline for a 60 Hz display. High settings drop to 41 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 33 FPS. At this resolution, the GPU's limitations become apparent, and users should target Medium settings for a playable experience.

At 3840x2160, the configuration struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings are the only viable option for smooth gameplay, producing a 73 FPS average. Medium settings drop to a 45 FPS average, with a minimum of 39 and a maximum of 52. High settings yield only 32 FPS, and Ultra settings produce an unplayable 26 FPS average. The data clearly shows that 4K is only suitable for Low or Medium settings with this GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide substantial computational power. The CPU's benchmark results are exceptional, with a single-thread score of 4691 and a multi-thread score of 36470. This places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is more than capable of handling the game's logic and physics calculations.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that performance scales primarily with resolution and settings, not with CPU workload. The strong single-thread performance ensures that the game's main thread is never a bottleneck, allowing the GPU to be the sole limiting factor. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support also provide ample bandwidth for feeding the GPU with data.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the Intel Core i7-14700KF (0.2% delta), show that the 9700F is competitive with other high-end desktop processors. However, this raw CPU power does not translate into higher FPS in this game because the RX 6700 XT cannot keep up with the rendering demands. The data suggests that if this CPU were paired with a more powerful GPU, the frame rates would be significantly higher, but as configured, the CPU is effectively waiting on the GPU to finish each frame.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's target resolution and frame rate preference. For a 60 FPS target, the best experience is found at 1080p with Medium settings, which yields a 69 FPS average. This setting provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, with a minimum of 58 FPS that should not cause noticeable stutter. At 1440p, Medium settings drop to a 58 FPS average, which is acceptable but may dip below 60 FPS during intense scenes, as the 49 FPS minimum indicates.

For users with a 144 Hz display at 1080p, Low settings are the only way to approach high refresh rates, with a 110 FPS average. This sacrifices visual fidelity but provides the smoothest experience. At 4K, the recommendation is to use Low settings for a 73 FPS average, as Medium settings at 45 FPS may feel sluggish. High and Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as the average FPS falls below 50, which is not ideal for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and smooth camera movement.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo. It offers a significant visual improvement over Low while maintaining playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The Ultra preset provides diminishing returns, with a 30 FPS drop from Medium at 1080p, making it a poor trade-off for the visual fidelity gained. Users should prioritize Medium settings to get the best balance of performance and image quality.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2581 MHz and game clock of 2424 MHz allow for a peak FP32 performance of 13.21 TFLOPS. The GPU's average benchmark score of 27425 places it in the 72nd percentile, showing it is a capable mid-range card but not a top-tier performer.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at 4K, but the compute power is not. The 40 ray tracing cores and 64 ROPs are taxed heavily by the game's rendering engine. The data shows that the GPU's limitations are most apparent at 4K Ultra, where the 26 FPS average indicates a complete inability to handle the load.

The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, has a near-identical average score (0% delta), suggesting similar performance in this title. The 0.5% gap to the RTX 3090 is interesting, as it implies the RX 6700 XT is not far behind a much more expensive card in synthetic tests, but the real-world FPS data shows that The Medium is demanding enough to expose the 6700 XT's weaknesses. The GPU's 230 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a power-hungry card, but its performance ceiling is clearly defined by the 13.21 TFLOPS compute rate, which is the primary constraint on frame rates in this game.