The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination presents a mixed picture in The Medium, with performance that is heavily dictated by the graphics settings you choose. The data reveals that this pairing is capable of delivering smooth frame rates at lower presets, but it struggles to maintain playability at the highest visual quality tiers, particularly at higher resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the RX 9060 acts as the primary bottleneck at 4K, while the Ryzen 7 9700F provides sufficient headroom to keep up at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant and highlights the GPU's limitations. At the Medium preset, which is the only setting with complete min/max data across all resolutions, the average frame rate falls from 63 FPS at 1920x1080 to 53 FPS at 2560x1440, and then plummets to 42 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, with the most substantial hit occurring between 1440p and 4K, suggesting that the Radeon RX 9060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width are stressed by the higher pixel count.

At the Low preset, the frame rate scaling is more forgiving. The average FPS goes from 101 at 1080p, to 85 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K. This is a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is a similar percentage but from a much higher starting point, meaning the experience remains fluid even at 4K. The 4K Low result of 67 FPS is actually higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 36 FPS, which clearly demonstrates that the game's settings have a more profound impact on performance than the resolution itself.

When looking at the High and Ultra presets, the trend becomes more problematic. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 24, which is below the threshold for a playable experience. The 4K High preset only manages 30 FPS, while the 1440p High preset yields 38 FPS. The 1080p High preset produces 45 FPS. These numbers indicate that as the visual fidelity increases, the demand on the GPU outpaces its capabilities, and the resolution scaling becomes less relevant than the sheer graphical load. The limiting component here is clearly the graphics card, as the CPU is not the constraining factor at these settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 60 FPS is achievable at 1080p with the Medium preset, which produces an average of 63 FPS. For 1440p, the Low preset delivers 85 FPS, which is well above 60, but the Medium preset drops to 53 FPS, just below the target. At 4K, only the Low preset with 67 FPS can maintain a 60 FPS average.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only with significant compromises. The 4K Low preset yields an average of 67 FPS, which is smooth. However, stepping up to the Medium preset drops the average to 42 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets fall to 30 FPS and 24 FPS respectively, indicating that high-fidelity 4K gaming is not a viable option with this hardware.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996. This places it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700K. It is also within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70163.

Q: Is the Radeon RX 9060 a strong performer compared to other GPUs?

A: The Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, placing it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which has an average score of 16129. It is 1% ahead of both the AMD Radeon R9 370X and the AMD Radeon RX 7700.

Q: What is the minimum FPS like on the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data. At 1080p, the minimum FPS is 53, with a maximum of 72. At 1440p, the minimum drops to 45 and the maximum to 61. At 4K, the minimum is 35 and the maximum is 48. These figures suggest that the game remains stable without major stutters, but the overall frame rate is low at 4K.

Q: Does the CPU have enough cores and threads for this game?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has 8 cores and 16 threads. The benchmark results show that it is not a limiting factor, as the FPS varies more with GPU load than CPU load. Its high single-thread score of 4691 on Passmark indicates strong per-core performance, which is beneficial for game logic.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data suggests that the optimal experience is found at the Medium preset. This setting provides the best balance between visual quality and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers an average of 63 FPS, which is comfortably playable, and even at 1440p, the 53 FPS average is acceptable for a horror title where atmosphere is more important than competitive frame rates. The Medium preset also provides the only complete min/max data, showing a stable frame time window from 35 to 72 FPS depending on resolution.

While the Low preset offers the highest frame rates—101 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K—it likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity, such as shadow quality and texture detail, which are crucial for the game's horror atmosphere. The High and Ultra presets should be avoided. The High preset at 1080p yields 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and the Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 36 FPS. At 4K, these presets are effectively unplayable, with frame rates ranging from 24 to 30 FPS.

For users targeting 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option. However, for those willing to accept a lower resolution or a slightly lower frame rate, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for a more visually rich experience. The data shows that the performance gap between Low and Medium is only 38 FPS at 1080p (from 101 to 63), which is a significant trade-off, but the Medium preset offers a more stable and coherent visual presentation that is better suited to the game's design.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination ranks 1648th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the middle of the pack, indicating that it is neither a top-tier performer nor a low-end setup. The rank reflects the GPU's limitations at higher settings, as the combo's performance is dragged down by the RX 9060's inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra.

This rank is consistent with the GPU's individual percentile ranking of 59, which suggests that the combo performs as expected for its hardware. The CPU's strong performance, evidenced by its 94th percentile ranking, does not boost the combo's overall position because the game is clearly GPU-bound at the tested settings. The rank of 1648 is a result of the GPU's mid-range capabilities, which are sufficient for 1080p gaming but fall short at higher resolutions.

Compared to other combos, this setup offers a balanced experience for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but users with 4K displays will need to significantly lower settings to achieve playable frame rates. The combo's position in the database suggests that it is a capable pairing for mainstream gaming, but it is not optimized for high-refresh-rate or high-resolution gaming. The data indicates that the performance bottleneck is the GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom to handle the game's processing demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, based on the Zen 5 architecture and codenamed Granite Ridge, is a powerful processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The processor has a 65W TDP and is built on a 4nm process node by TSMC. Its Passmark single-thread score is 4691, and its multithread score is 36470, which indicates strong performance for both gaming and productivity tasks.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data and handle game logic. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a way that is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, the 1080p Low preset achieves 101 FPS, which is a high frame rate that the CPU can easily support. The fact that the frame rate drops to 24 FPS at 4K Ultra is solely attributable to the GPU's workload, not the CPU.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, Intel Core i7-14700KF, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and Intel Core i7-14700K. The performance deltas are minimal, ranging from -0.2% to 0.9%, which means that the 9700F is on par with these high-end processors. This suggests that any differences in The Medium's performance would be negligible when swapping between these CPUs. The data confirms that the Ryzen 7 9700F provides a solid foundation for this game, ensuring that the GPU is the primary determinant of the final frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for The Medium provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across different settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 101 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 72. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 36 FPS. This shows a clear progression of decreasing performance as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 85 for Low, 53 for Medium (with min/max of 45/61), 38 for High, and 30 for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 32 FPS, which is significant, but the drop from High to Ultra is only 8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is not much more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 67 FPS, the Medium preset averages 42 FPS (with min/max of 35/48), the High preset averages 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 24 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 25 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 12 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one that dips below 30 FPS, making it the least viable option.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only setting that provides a consistent frame rate window across all resolutions, with the minimum FPS never dropping below 35. The Low preset is the only way to achieve 60+ FPS at 4K. The High and Ultra presets are only suitable for 1080p gaming, and even then, they fall short of the 60 FPS target. Overall, the measured results highlight a system that is best suited for 1080p gaming at Medium to High settings, or 1440p gaming at Low to Medium settings.