The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti pairing in The Medium delivers a distinctive performance profile that shifts dramatically across resolutions and presets. The data places this combo at rank 663 out of 2911 tested configurations, positioning it in the upper quartile of all tested systems. The measured FPS reveals a system that is capable of high refresh-rate play at 1080p but becomes increasingly constrained as resolution climbs, with the 4K Ultra preset dipping below playable thresholds.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using TSMC’s 4 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, supported by a 32 MB shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core. The memory interface is dual-channel DDR5 with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and the CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. With a TDP of 65 W and a PassMark multithread score of 36470, this is a high-throughput part that ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In the context of The Medium, a horror title that relies on dual-reality rendering (showing two worlds simultaneously), the CPU’s thread management is critical. The 16 threads allow the game engine to handle physics, AI, and streaming of the parallel world without bottlenecking the GPU. The PassMark single-thread score of 4691 indicates strong per-core performance, which matters for the game’s main-thread logic. The data shows that at 1080p, where GPU load is lower, the CPU can feed the RTX 3080 Ti adequately — the jump from Low (149 FPS) to Medium (93 FPS) is a 56 FPS drop, suggesting the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower settings; the GPU’s rasterization load is what scales.

However, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent when comparing to nearest rivals. The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875) and 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515). It trails the Intel Core i7-14700KF by 0.2% (70163) and beats the Intel Core i7-14700K by 0.9% (69355). These deltas are within noise, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game’s measured FPS — the GPU is the dominant factor. The PassMark data compression score of 421988 and integer math score of 120788 indicate strong compute throughput, which helps with the game’s background asset decompression and logic, but the measured FPS deltas across presets are primarily GPU-driven.

The 65 W TDP is notable because it suggests thermal headroom, allowing the boost clock of 5.50 GHz to be sustained under load. The data shows that at 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 78 FPS (min 67, max 90), which is a 16 FPS drop from 1080p Medium (93 FPS). This scaling is consistent with a CPU that has enough headroom to keep up with the GPU’s output at mid-range resolutions, but the Ultra preset at 1440p (45 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (53 FPS) shows an 8 FPS drop, indicating that the CPU is not the bottleneck — the GPU’s shader complexity is.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 78, with a minimum of 67 and a maximum of 90.

Q: How does the 1080p Low preset compare to 4K Low in terms of average FPS?

A: 1080p Low averages 149 FPS, while 4K Low averages 98 FPS, representing a 51 FPS drop (34% reduction).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 35 FPS, while the 4K Medium averages 61 FPS. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score of 36470 (94th percentile) suggests it can feed frames, but the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for Ultra settings at this resolution, making the GPU the primary limiter.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 663 out of 2911 tested configurations, placing it in the top 22.8% of all systems.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to the RTX 5070 in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187, which is 2% higher than the RTX 5070’s score of 40377.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS is 67, with an average of 78 and a maximum of 90.

Q: Does the CPU’s 8-core, 16-thread configuration benefit this game?

A: Yes, the PassMark multithread score of 36470 and the 16 threads allow the game to handle dual-reality rendering without stalls, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 1440p (93 to 78 FPS at Medium) compared to the larger drop from 1440p to 4K (78 to 61 FPS).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is an Ampere-architecture GPU (GA102 chip) built on Samsung’s 8 nm process. It has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, with 80 RT cores and 320 Tensor cores. The memory subsystem is 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The boost clock is 1665 MHz, and the FP32 performance is 34.10 TFLOPS. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score is 26896, placing it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is paramount because the game renders two simultaneous camera perspectives during certain sequences. This doubles the pixel shading workload. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU can handle this: the Low preset averages 149 FPS, and the High preset averages 67 FPS. The 82 FPS drop from Low to High indicates that the GPU’s shader units are being saturated by the dual-reality effect. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all presets, as evidenced by the 4K Medium average of 61 FPS — but at 4K Ultra, the VRAM and bandwidth become insufficient, resulting in 35 FPS.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the RTX 3080 Ti’s average benchmark score of 41187 is 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870) and 2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (40377). It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB by 1.2% (41707) and the Tesla M40 by 1.7% (41897). These deltas are small, but in The Medium, the RTX 3080 Ti’s 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the key differentiator — the game’s dual-reality rendering is compute-heavy, not memory-heavy. The 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 532.8 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1440p High (56 FPS) but collapse at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s 350 W TDP and 750 W suggested PSU indicate it is a power-hungry part, but the data shows it delivers consistent performance across presets — the 4K Medium min FPS of 52 and max of 71 shows a 19 FPS variance, which is acceptable for a horror title where frame pacing matters less than in competitive shooters. The 1x 12-pin power connector is a design consideration, but it does not affect measured FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 663 out of 2911 tested configurations in The Medium, placing it in the top 22.8% of all systems. This is a strong showing, but not elite — the rank reflects the GPU’s 83rd percentile standing and the CPU’s 94th percentile, suggesting that the system is balanced but not optimized for this specific game’s peculiar rendering demands. The rank is likely dragged down by the 4K Ultra preset’s 35 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that many higher-ranked combos achieve.

The data shows that the combo’s strength is in the 1080p and 1440p ranges. At 1080p Medium, the 93 FPS average is smooth, and at 1440p Medium, the 78 FPS average remains playable. The rank of 663 out of 2911 means that 2248 combos performed worse, but 662 performed better — the better-performing systems likely have newer GPUs (e.g., RTX 40-series or AMD equivalents) that handle the dual-reality rendering more efficiently. The CPU’s nearest rivals — the Ryzen 9 7940HX, i7-14700KF, Ryzen 9 7950X, and i7-14700K — all have similar average scores (within 0.9%), so the rank is not CPU-limited; it is GPU-limited at higher resolutions.

The combo’s percentileVsAllGpus of 83 indicates that only 17% of GPUs are faster, but in The Medium, the RTX 3080 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM is a constraint at 4K Ultra. The data confirms this: the 4K Ultra average of 35 FPS is the lowest measured value, and it is 26 FPS below the 4K Medium average of 61 FPS. This suggests that the rank would improve if the game’s Ultra preset did not require more than 12 GB of VRAM — the memory bus width of 384 bits and bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s cannot compensate for the capacity shortfall.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component clearly. At Medium settings, the averages are 93 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15 FPS (16.1%), and from 1440p to 4K is 17 FPS (21.8%). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter — as resolution increases, the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS does not drop proportionally because the game’s dual-reality effect is shader-bound, not purely pixel-bound.

At Low settings, the scaling is steeper: 149 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 24 FPS (16.1%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 27 FPS (21.6%). These percentages are nearly identical to the Medium preset, confirming that the GPU’s fixed-function units (ROPs, TMUs) are the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory bandwidth. At High settings, the averages are 67 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 44 FPS at 4K — the 1080p to 1440p drop is 11 FPS (16.4%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 12 FPS (21.4%). The consistency of the percentage drops across presets (around 16% for 1080p to 1440p and 21-22% for 1440p to 4K) indicates that the game engine scales predictably with resolution, and the CPU’s 16 threads are never starved.

The 4K Ultra preset is the outlier: 35 FPS average, which is a 26 FPS drop from 4K Medium (61 FPS) — a 42.6% reduction. This is not a linear scaling artifact; it is a VRAM capacity issue. The Ultra preset likely uses higher-resolution textures that exceed the 12 GB VRAM, causing the GPU to fall back to system memory via PCIe Gen 5, which is slower. The data shows that the Ultra preset at 1440p (45 FPS) is only 8 FPS lower than 1080p Ultra (53 FPS), but the 4K Ultra (35 FPS) is 10 FPS lower than 1440p Ultra — the VRAM limit is hit between 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following averages: Low 149 FPS, Medium 93 FPS (min 79, max 107), High 67 FPS, and Ultra 53 FPS. The Medium preset’s min and max range of 28 FPS indicates some frame pacing variance, but the average is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The High preset at 67 FPS is playable, but the Ultra preset at 53 FPS is borderline — it will be noticeable in fast-paced sequences.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 125 FPS, Medium 78 FPS (min 67, max 90), High 56 FPS, and Ultra 45 FPS. The Medium preset’s min of 67 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but the High preset at 56 FPS dips below it, meaning there will be occasional stutters. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 98 FPS, Medium 61 FPS (min 52, max 71), High 44 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, and the Medium preset’s min of 52 FPS indicates that the GPU is struggling to maintain frame pacing. The High and Ultra presets are below 45 FPS, which is not suitable for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and smooth camera movement.

The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 3080 Ti can handle 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings with headroom, but 4K requires dropping to Low settings for a playable experience. The 12 GB VRAM is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, as evidenced by the disproportionate FPS drop from 4K Medium to 4K Ultra (26 FPS) compared to the drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (10 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience is a trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1080p, the Medium preset (93 FPS average, min 79) provides the best balance — it is 26 FPS faster than High (67 FPS) and 40 FPS faster than Ultra (53 FPS), while the visual difference between Medium and High is less noticeable in a horror title with dark scenes. The Low preset at 149 FPS is unnecessary for this genre, as the game is not competitive.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (78 FPS average, min 67) is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS with a minimum above 60 FPS. The High preset (56 FPS) and Ultra preset (45 FPS) both dip below the playable threshold, so they are not recommended. The Low preset (125 FPS) is acceptable but sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that relies on environmental storytelling.

At 4K, the Low preset (98 FPS) is the only playable option, but it defeats the purpose of 4K resolution. The Medium preset (61 FPS average, min 52) is borderline — the average is above 60 FPS, but the minimum dips below, which could cause noticeable hitches during intense scenes. The High (44 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) presets are not playable.

The data suggests that the best experience is at 1440p Medium, where the game maintains an average of 78 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. This provides smooth gameplay while retaining sufficient visual detail for the horror atmosphere. At 1080p, the Medium preset is also excellent, offering 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS. For users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, the 1080p Low preset at 149 FPS is the smoothest option, but it is overkill for this genre. The 4K resolution is not recommended with this combo unless the user is willing to accept the Low preset, which undermines the resolution’s benefit.