The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a unique stress profile. The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a dataset that reveals a system heavily influenced by resolution and graphics presets, with the GPU acting as the primary scaling factor. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three tested resolutions and four quality settings indicate that while the CPU provides a robust foundation, the RTX 5080 is the component that defines the experience at higher visual demands.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable decline in average FPS as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the system delivers 197 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 167 FPS at 1440p, and further to 131 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.5% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, a scaling pattern that suggests the CPU is still able to feed frames efficiently even at the highest resolution, with the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 124 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 82 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 21.2%, which is less severe than the Low preset’s 21.6% drop over the same range, indicating that the increased graphical workload is being absorbed by the RTX 5080’s processing power. At High settings, the scaling is steeper: 89 FPS at 1080p falls to 75 FPS at 1440p and then to 59 FPS at 4K, a 33.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

The Ultra preset presents the most demanding scenario, with 70 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is the only measured average below 60 FPS, suggesting that this combo is pushed to its limits only at the absolute maximum settings and resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 32.9%, which aligns closely with the Low preset’s scaling, implying that the bottleneck shifts uniformly as resolution increases, with the GPU’s rendering load being the dominant factor across all presets.

The data indicates that the RTX 5080 is the primary scaling component. The CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, appears to provide sufficient headroom at lower resolutions, as demonstrated by the 197 FPS result at 1080p Low. However, as resolution increases, the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become the constraints, leading to the observed FPS declines. The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS specifically highlights that even a high-end GPU like the RTX 5080 cannot maintain a smooth 60 FPS experience in this title at maximum settings, a fact that informs the settings recommendations later in this analysis.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant hardware component in this pairing, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured FPS. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This substantial bandwidth is critical for The Medium, a game that often loads detailed textures in its dual-world mechanic, where two scenes are rendered simultaneously. The 16 GB capacity ensures that texture data does not spill into system memory at 4K Ultra, preventing potential stutters, though the 47 FPS average at that setting shows that raw compute power is still the limiting factor.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also relevant. The base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2617 MHz allow the RTX 5080 to maintain high throughput during intense scenes. The 10752 shading units and 336 texture mapping units provide the raw arithmetic capability to process the game’s lighting and post-processing effects. The benchmark results support this: the GPU’s PassMark G3D score is 36565, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 8637, placing it in the 87th percentile among all GPUs. These scores indicate a high level of compute performance, which translates to the observed frame rates in The Medium.

The RTX 5080’s performance relative to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks is noteworthy. It is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, but 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE. In the context of The Medium, this suggests that the RTX 5080’s performance is competitive with other high-end cards, though the specific game engine’s optimization will determine real-world deltas. The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p, where the 197 FPS Low result is likely CPU-limited, but becomes the sole limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 47 FPS average is purely a function of the GPU’s rendering capability.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 197, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the combo averages 59 FPS on High settings and 82 FPS on Medium settings, but drops to 47 FPS on Ultra. Only the Low preset at 4K exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 131 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69996, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, but 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration and bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a total memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 99th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded for the 1440p Medium preset?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 89 and the maximum FPS is 120, with an average of 104 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance. The Low preset averages 197 FPS, which is a strong indicator of the CPU’s ability to handle the game’s logic without GPU interference. The Medium preset averages 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 and maximum of 143, showing a stable frame time distribution. High settings reduce the average to 89 FPS, while Ultra drops to 70 FPS. The 1080p results show a 64.3% difference between Low and Ultra, demonstrating that the GPU’s workload scaling is consistent at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 167 FPS, a 15.2% decrease from 1080p. Medium averages 104 FPS, with a minimum of 89 and maximum of 120. High settings average 75 FPS, and Ultra averages 59 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is notably below the 1080p Medium result, showing that resolution has a more significant impact than preset level in this range. At 4K (3840x2160), the Low preset averages 131 FPS, Medium averages 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 94, High averages 59 FPS, and Ultra averages 47 FPS.

The data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset provides a balanced experience with recorded minimum and maximum values, while Low, High, and Ultra presets only have average values listed. The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is the only average below 50 FPS, and the 1080p Low result of 197 FPS is the only average above 190 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest presets at each resolution is 127 FPS at 1080p, 108 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K, indicating that the GPU’s scaling efficiency decreases as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination ranks 99th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the top 3.4% of all tested configurations, a strong result that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The CPU’s percentile versus all CPUs is 94, and the GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 87, suggesting that the pairing is well-matched, with the CPU slightly outperforming the GPU in relative standing.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its contribution. The Ryzen 7 9700F scores 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, but 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF. These small deltas indicate that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in the combo’s rank, as its performance is on par with other high-end processors. The GPU, however, has a more varied competitive landscape. The RTX 5080 is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, but 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE. This 2.2% deficit to the RX 9070 GRE is the largest gap among the listed rivals, suggesting that the RTX 5080 might be slightly outperformed by that specific AMD card in some workloads.

Given the rank of 99, the combo is positioned in the upper echelon of systems tested for The Medium. The 4K Ultra result of 47 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS measurement, which is a common limitation for even the most powerful hardware in demanding titles. The overall ranking reflects a system that can handle the game at high settings across most resolutions, with only the most extreme configuration proving too demanding.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a desktop processor from the 9000 series, based on the Zen 5 architecture and codenamed Granite Ridge. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU’s thermal design power is 65 watts, which is notably low for a high-performance desktop chip, but the benchmark results show that it does not compromise performance. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score is 36470, and its single-thread score is 4691, placing it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s logic, AI, and scene management. The fixed-camera perspective reduces the need for complex geometry processing, which shifts more of the load to the GPU. The 1080p Low result of 197 FPS suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding frames well above 144 Hz, indicating that it is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is marginal, with deltas of 0.2% to 0.9% compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, Intel Core i7-14700KF, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and Intel Core i7-14700K.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy, with 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3, provides sufficient data locality for the game’s assets. The memory support for DDR5 at dual-channel configuration, with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, is adequate for feeding the GPU’s 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, though the GPU’s own memory is the primary data path for textures. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.50 GHz is a key factor in maintaining high frame rates at 1080p, as the game’s single-threaded aspects benefit from high clock speeds. However, as resolution increases, the CPU’s influence diminishes, and the GPU becomes the sole determinant of performance, as seen in the 4K results where the FPS is consistent with the GPU’s capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user’s resolution and performance targets. For 4K displays, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 82 FPS and a minimum of 70 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains an average above 80 FPS while staying above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K averages 59 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay, and the Ultra preset at 47 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for a consistent experience.

At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 75 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset provides a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 59 FPS, which is playable but does not offer the headroom of Medium. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS, making it the best choice for competitive play or high refresh rates. The High preset at 89 FPS is also acceptable, but the Ultra preset at 70 FPS, while playable, does not utilize the full capability of the RTX 5080 and CPU.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot across all resolutions. It provides the highest average FPS above 60 at 4K and 1440p, and the highest average FPS above 120 at 1080p. The Low preset offers higher frame rates but sacrifices visual fidelity, which may not be desirable in a horror game that relies on atmosphere. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, results in sub-60 FPS at 4K and only marginal improvements over Medium at lower resolutions. Therefore, the Medium preset is recommended for the best overall experience, as it balances performance and visual quality without dropping below the 60 FPS threshold at any tested resolution.