The Medium

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame data for The Medium on this platform reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS. This represents the most balanced experience: the frame rate is comfortably above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh displays, while the minimum frame rate of 123 FPS indicates no significant dips into stutter territory.

The High preset at 1080p produces an average of 103 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 28% reduction from the Medium preset's average. The Ultra preset drops further to 82 FPS average, a 43% reduction from Medium. The Low preset reaches 197 FPS average, but this comes at a substantial visual fidelity cost that is unnecessary given the headroom available at Medium.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains an average of 122 FPS with minimum and maximum values of 103 and 140 FPS respectively. This is the only preset at this resolution that stays above the 100 FPS average mark. The High preset averages 87 FPS, while Ultra falls to 69 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p produces 186 FPS average, again sacrificing too much visual quality for minimal practical benefit.

The 3840x2160 resolution tells a different story. The Medium preset averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that remains above the 60 FPS minimum threshold for consistent smoothness. The High preset averages 68 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K averages only 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS standard that most users consider the baseline for acceptable performance in a horror title.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the optimal choice across all three resolutions. It consistently provides the best balance between visual quality and frame rate stability. The minimum frame rate data, available only for the Medium preset, shows that this configuration maintains a floor that is high enough to prevent perceptible stuttering. For users with 120Hz displays, the Medium preset at 1080p and 1440p delivers frame rates that fully utilize the display's capabilities. At 4K, the Medium preset's 95 FPS average is well-suited for 90Hz or 100Hz displays, and the 81 FPS minimum ensures that even the most demanding scenes remain fluid.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 5 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the system in the top 0.2% of all tested configurations, indicating that this hardware pairing is exceptionally well-suited for this title. The rank reflects the combined performance of both components working together, and the top-5 placement suggests that only a handful of other configurations in the entire test database deliver higher average frame rates in this game.

The combination's rank is particularly notable given the game's release date of 2021-01-27. The Medium is a horror title that places significant demands on both the CPU and GPU, and this latest-generation hardware pairing excels at meeting those demands. The data indicates that the system is not bottlenecked in a way that would limit its performance, as the rank of 5 suggests near-optimal utilization of both components.

Relative to the broader database of 2911 combinations, a rank of 5 means this system outperforms 99.8% of all tested configurations in The Medium. This is a remarkable result that positions this hardware as a top-tier choice for this specific game. The small number of configurations ranked above this system likely consist of the most extreme enthusiast setups with the highest-end CPUs and GPUs available. For users considering this combination, the data confirms that it delivers near-elite performance in The Medium, with only a tiny fraction of possible configurations offering higher frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant performance contributor in this configuration, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This substantial memory subsystem is essential for The Medium's rendering requirements, which include high-resolution textures and complex lighting effects typical of the horror genre.

The GPU's clock speeds are specified as a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. These clocks, combined with the architecture's 21760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, provide the raw compute throughput necessary for this game's visual effects. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate that the GPU can process the high-resolution frame buffers and texture-heavy scenes that The Medium presents.

The RTX 5090 D's ray tracing capabilities, with 170 RT cores, are relevant for The Medium's use of ray-traced effects. The game's horror atmosphere relies heavily on dynamic lighting and shadows, and the GPU's RT core count ensures that these effects can be rendered without excessive performance penalties. The tensor cores, 680 in total, provide additional compute capacity that may be utilized for various rendering features.

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its high performance ceiling. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and the Passmark G3D score of 44065 place the RTX 5090 D in the 92nd percentile among all GPUs. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 310674 and Vulkan score of 376915 further demonstrate the GPU's compute capabilities. The GPU's average benchmark score of 77712 places it close to rivals such as the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher score) and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower score), though these comparisons are from synthetic benchmarks rather than in-game performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz display at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS, making it the ideal choice for fully utilizing a 144Hz display. The High preset at 103 FPS average would not fully saturate the refresh rate, while the Ultra preset at 82 FPS leaves significant headroom unused.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The measured data shows that the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of only 54 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 95 FPS average and 81 FPS minimum, is the highest quality setting that maintains smooth performance at this resolution.

Q: How does this system rank compared to other tested configurations in The Medium?

A: This combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 5th out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 0.2% of all tested systems, indicating exceptional performance for this specific game.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 186 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 69 FPS. This represents a 117 FPS difference, with the Low preset delivering 2.7 times the frame rate of Ultra. The Medium preset at 122 FPS provides a middle ground with much higher visual quality than Low.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The measured data shows that the GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for this game. Even at the Ultra preset at 4K, the game runs without memory-related performance issues, as evidenced by the stable average of 54 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals 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's 69875, 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-14700KF's 70163, 0.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X's 69515, and 0.9% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700K's 69355.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Medium preset, the average frame rate drops from 144 FPS at 1080p to 122 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 15.3%. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average drops from 122 FPS to 95 FPS, a further reduction of 22.1%. The total scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is a 34.0% reduction in average frame rate.

The High preset shows a similar scaling pattern. At 1080p, the average is 103 FPS, dropping to 87 FPS at 1440p (a 15.5% reduction) and then to 68 FPS at 4K (a 21.8% reduction from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 34.0%, nearly identical to the Medium preset's scaling.

The Low preset exhibits a slightly different scaling curve. At 1080p, it averages 197 FPS, dropping to 186 FPS at 1440p (a 5.6% reduction) and then to 153 FPS at 4K (a 17.7% reduction from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 22.3%, which is less severe than the scaling seen at higher quality presets.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p, it averages 82 FPS, dropping to 69 FPS at 1440p (a 15.9% reduction) and then to 54 FPS at 4K (a 21.7% reduction from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 34.1%.

The pattern of scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The consistent 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K across the Medium, High, and Ultra presets shows that the GPU's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count. The Low preset's smaller reduction suggests that at lower quality settings, the GPU has more headroom and other factors begin to play a larger role in determining frame rates. The minimum frame rate data for the Medium preset, showing drops from 123 FPS at 1080p to 103 FPS at 1440p to 81 FPS at 4K, confirms that the GPU's performance scaling directly impacts the frame rate floor. This analysis indicates that users seeking consistent frame rates at 4K should prioritize the Medium preset, while those at 1080p or 1440p can afford to use higher quality settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F serves as the processing foundation for this configuration. This CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The processor is built on the Zen 5 architecture using TSMC's 4 nm process node, with a die size of 70.6 mm² containing 8,315 million transistors. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's benchmark results indicate strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The Passmark single-thread score of 4691 places it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. The multi-thread score of 36470 demonstrates substantial parallel processing capability, which is relevant for games that utilize multiple cores for physics, AI, and streaming. The CPU's floating-point math score of 77955 and integer math score of 120788 further confirm its computational strength.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, handle game logic, and manage the horror game's environmental interactions. The game's release in 2021 means it was designed for CPUs of that era, and the Ryzen 7 9700F's modern architecture provides significant headroom. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this title, as evidenced by the system's 5th-place ranking among 2911 tested combinations.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 support ensures that data can flow quickly between the processor and system memory. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes provides high-bandwidth connectivity to the GPU and other peripherals. The CPU's 65 W TDP indicates efficient power consumption, which is notable for a high-performance desktop processor.

The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show that the Ryzen 7 9700F is closely matched with several other high-end CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 69996 is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875), Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515), and Intel Core i7-14700K (69355). This indicates that the CPU's performance is competitive with the best processors available, though the differences are marginal in synthetic tests. In The Medium specifically, the CPU's contribution to the system's top-5 ranking suggests that it provides sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 D.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data for this configuration covers three resolutions and four quality settings, providing a comprehensive picture of performance in The Medium.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate at 197 FPS. The Medium preset follows with 144 FPS average, with measured minimum and maximum values of 123 FPS and 166 FPS respectively. The High preset averages 103 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 82 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 115 FPS, demonstrating the significant impact of quality settings on performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 186 FPS, representing a 5.6% reduction from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 122 FPS with a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 140 FPS. The High preset averages 87 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 69 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 117 FPS, similar to the 1080p spread but with lower absolute values across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 153 FPS, which is a 17.7% reduction from the 1440p Low result. The Medium preset averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS. The High preset averages 68 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 54 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 99 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions due to the GPU becoming the limiting factor.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings reveals consistent scaling patterns. At Medium settings, the 1440p average of 122 FPS is 15.3% lower than the 1080p average of 144 FPS, and the 4K average of 95 FPS is 22.1% lower than the 1440p average. At High settings, the 1440p average of 87 FPS is 15.5% lower than the 1080p average of 103 FPS, and the 4K average of 68 FPS is 21.8% lower than the 1440p average. At Ultra settings, the 1440p average of 69 FPS is 15.9% lower than the 1080p average of 82 FPS, and the 4K average of 54 FPS is 21.7% lower than the 1440p average. At Low settings, the 1440p average of 186 FPS is 5.6% lower than the 1080p average of 197 FPS, and the 4K average of 153 FPS is 17.7% lower than the 1440p average.

The minimum frame rate data, available only for the Medium preset, shows that the frame rate floor scales from 123 FPS at 1080p to 103 FPS at 1440p to 81 FPS at 4K. The maximum frame rate similarly scales from 166 FPS at 1080p to 140 FPS at 1440p to 110 FPS at 4K. This data indicates that even the lowest recorded frame rates remain playable across all resolutions at Medium settings, making this preset the most reliable choice for consistent performance.