The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in The Medium, with performance heavily dictated by resolution and the game's demanding visual presets. The data reveals a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multithreaded capabilities ensure frame rates remain consistent when graphical load is reduced.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and predictable performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At the "High" preset, the average frame rate falls from 51 FPS at 1920x1080 to 43 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 34 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, indicating that pixel count is a significant factor. The scaling pattern strongly suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the limiting component at 4K, as the sheer number of pixels overwhelms the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth capabilities.

The trend is even more pronounced at the "Ultra" preset, where the average FPS plummets from 41 at 1080p to 34 at 1440p and 27 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 34% reduction, showing that the highest settings exacerbate the resolution penalty. Interestingly, the "Low" preset shows the least relative degradation, going from 115 FPS at 1080p to 97 FPS at 1440p and 76 FPS at 4K. This is a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K, but the absolute frame rates remain high enough to suggest that at lower settings, the system is less constrained by the GPU and more capable of maintaining fluid motion.

The data implies a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p, the RX 7700 has enough headroom to push higher frame rates, but as resolution climbs, the fill rate and memory bandwidth become the deciding factors. The fact that the "Medium" preset at 4K (48 FPS) is only slightly higher than the "High" preset at 1440p (43 FPS) indicates that the GPU is struggling with the combination of high resolution and moderate-to-high graphical fidelity. This points to a system where 1080p and 1440p are the sweet spots for high-refresh-rate monitors, while 4K requires significant setting compromises to achieve playable frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, is the primary driver of the performance differences seen across resolutions. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a substantial 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for a game like The Medium that features detailed, fixed-camera scenes with high-resolution textures. However, the data shows that even this bandwidth is insufficient for 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 27. This suggests that the GPU's compute throughput, rated at 25.18 TFLOPS, is the limiting factor at the highest settings, rather than memory capacity.

The GPU's clock speeds—a base of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost of 2459 MHz—provide a consistent performance baseline. The boost clock is particularly relevant because it determines the sustained performance under load. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 115 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the bottleneck at this setting. Instead, it is likely that the CPU and the game's engine are able to feed frames fast enough to keep the GPU busy. As settings are increased to Medium, the average FPS at 1080p drops to 72, a 37% reduction, which is a clear sign of the GPU taking on more work with increased shading, lighting, and post-processing effects.

The GPU's role becomes dominant at 4K. The difference between Low (76 FPS) and High (34 FPS) at 3840x2160 is a massive 55% performance loss, highlighting how the GPU's shader units and ROPs are saturated by the higher resolution and more complex pixel shaders. The "Ultra" preset at 4K, with an average of 27 FPS, is barely playable, suggesting that the GPU is completely maxed out. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is unlikely to be the issue here, as The Medium's requirements are likely met by the available memory, but the compute load is what cripples the frame rate. The data suggests that the RX 7700 is a solid 1080p and capable 1440p card for this title, but it lacks the raw power for a smooth 4K experience at high or ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the "Medium" preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. This provides a smooth, stutter-free experience that is well-suited for the game's cinematic pacing. The 61 FPS minimum is particularly important, as it indicates that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate does not drop below a playable threshold. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, which is still acceptable for a horror game where immersion is key, though the lower minimum is noticeable.

For users with 4K displays, the "Low" preset is the only viable option for a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 76 FPS. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The "High" preset at 4K (34 FPS) is too demanding, and the "Ultra" preset (27 FPS) is unplayable. The data suggests that for the best visual quality without sacrificing playability, the "High" preset at 1080p (51 FPS) is a reasonable choice, but it does not offer the headroom of Medium. The "Ultra" preset, while visually impressive, is only recommended for users who prioritize graphics over frame rate and can tolerate sub-30 FPS gameplay at 4K or sub-45 FPS at 1440p.

The sweet spot is clearly the Medium preset. It provides a 50% performance increase over High at 1080p (72 vs 51 FPS) and a 27% increase over High at 1440p (61 vs 43 FPS). The trade-off in visual quality is minimal compared to the gain in smoothness. For the best experience, the data recommends using the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p, and the Low preset at 4K. The High preset is a compromise for 1080p, but it does not offer the stability of Medium, and the Ultra preset should be avoided unless the user has a very high tolerance for low frame rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 115, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the "Low" preset.

*Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in The Medium?*

A: Yes, but only at the "Low" preset, where it achieves an average of 76 FPS. At the "Medium" preset, it drops to 48 FPS, and at "High" and "Ultra", it falls to 34 FPS and 27 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the "Medium" preset at 1440p compare to the "High" preset at 1080p?

A: The "Medium" preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 61 FPS, which is 20% higher than the "High" preset at 1920x1080, which averages 51 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset provides a better balance of resolution and smoothness.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the "Medium" preset across all resolutions?

A: The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset are 61 at 1080p, 51 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. This shows that the frame rate drops are more pronounced at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the bottleneck at 1080p with the "Low" preset?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 115 FPS. Given that the GPU is rated at the 58th percentile, it is likely not the limiting factor at this setting; the CPU's strong multithreaded performance is sufficient to feed the GPU, but the bottleneck may shift to the game's engine or draw call overhead.

Q: How does the performance at "Ultra" 1080p compare to "Ultra" 1440p?

A: At "Ultra" 1080p, the average FPS is 41, while at "Ultra" 1440p, it is 34. This is a 17% drop in performance, indicating that the GPU is under significant load even at 1080p with the highest settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, plays a supporting role in this game's performance. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Passmark multithread score of 36470 and a single-thread score of 4691, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This indicates that the processor has ample headroom to handle the game's logic, AI, and asset streaming. In The Medium, which features a fixed-camera perspective and a narrative-driven design, the CPU is unlikely to be the primary bottleneck, as the game's visual effects are more GPU-intensive.

The data supports this by showing that at 1080p Low, the frame rate is 115 FPS, which is high enough to suggest that the CPU is not holding back the GPU. However, the CPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing the scaling from 1080p to 1440p at the "Low" preset. The average FPS drops from 115 to 97, a 16% reduction, which is less than the 33% drop seen at the "High" preset. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU is able to maintain a higher frame rate, but the GPU still becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game's data requirements. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is important for games that rely on a few main threads. The data shows that the CPU does not cause any significant frame rate dips, as evidenced by the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset (61 at 1080p, 51 at 1440p), which are respectable. The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this game, and the measured results indicate that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining the final frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset delivers the highest average FPS at 115. The "Medium" preset follows with an average of 72 FPS, a minimum of 61 FPS, and a maximum of 83 FPS. The "High" preset averages 51 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 41 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each step up in settings costs roughly 20-30 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 97 FPS. The "Medium" preset averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 70. The "High" preset drops to 43 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset falls to 34 FPS. The relative performance gap between Low and Medium is larger than at 1080p, showing the GPU's increasing struggle.

At 3840x2160, the "Low" preset is the only one that remains above 60 FPS, with an average of 76 FPS. The "Medium" preset drops to 48 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 55. The "High" preset averages 34 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages just 27 FPS. This resolution is clearly the most demanding, and the data shows that only the lowest settings are playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1738 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 47th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it performs above average but is not at the top tier. Given that the GPU is rated in the 58th percentile and the CPU in the 94th percentile, the combo's ranking is likely dragged down by the GPU's performance in this specific title. The data suggests that the CPU is more than capable, but the GPU limits the overall experience, especially at higher resolutions.

The ranking implies that there are many other combinations that can achieve higher frame rates, likely those with more powerful GPUs. However, the combo still offers a solid experience at 1080p and 1440p on Medium settings, which is where it performs best. The fact that it ranks in the middle of the pack suggests that it is a balanced mid-range system, but for The Medium, users may need to adjust their expectations for 4K gaming. The high CPU percentile does not translate into a top-tier gaming rank, confirming that this game is heavily GPU-bound.