The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on a heavily GPU-bound rendering engine, presents a challenging workload for the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination. The measured data reveals a system where the graphics card is the definitive bottleneck at higher settings, while the processor’s strong single-thread performance keeps frame rates playable at lower presets. This pairing ranks 1211th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the bottom third of the database, a position driven almost entirely by the GPU's limitations in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly indicates a GPU-limited scenario. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 37.8 at 1920x1080 to 34.3 at 2560x1440, a modest 9% decrease, but then plummets to 28.4 at 3840x2160. This pattern is consistent across all settings, with the gap between 1440p and 4K always being significantly larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p. For instance, at Medium settings, the transition from 1080p (58.7 FPS) to 1440p (45.0 FPS) is a 23% loss, while moving from 1440p to 4K (34.9 FPS) results in a further 22% loss. This non-linear scaling is the signature of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution increases.

The data suggests that the RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p but become increasingly strained at higher resolutions. The most telling evidence is the Low preset, where the CPU has more headroom. Here, the 1080p score of 90.9 FPS drops to 77.7 FPS at 1440p (a 15% loss), and then to 61.8 FPS at 4K (a 20% loss from 1440p). Even when the graphical load is reduced, the resolution scaling remains steep, confirming that the GPU’s raw rendering capabilities, not the CPU, are the primary constraint. The 4K Ultra result of 23.7 FPS is practically unplayable, while 4K High at 28.4 FPS is only marginally better.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, based on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a Navi 10 chip, is the deciding factor in this combo’s performance. Its boost clock of 1905 MHz and game clock of 1755 MHz are respectable, but the architecture’s 9.754 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is simply not enough for The Medium’s demanding effects at high resolutions. The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM, while standard for its generation, appears to be a limiting factor at 4K, where texture data exceeds the available memory, causing significant frame rate drops. The card sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731, placing it just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile in synthetic tests.

In practice, the GPU’s performance is the reason the Ultra preset is unusable. At 1080p Ultra, the combo manages only 32.7 FPS, which is lower than the 1080p High score of 37.8 FPS. This indicates that the jump from High to Ultra adds a significant computational load that the RX 5700 XT cannot handle smoothly. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 16277 and DirectX 12 score of 64 further corroborate its mid-range standing. The pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but become bottlenecks as the pixel count increases, leading to the sharp performance cliff observed at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is not the limiting factor in this pairing. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, its multi-threaded performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588. More importantly for gaming, its single-thread performance is exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4459 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 1280. This is why the Low preset at 1080p achieves 90.9 FPS; the CPU is feeding the GPU frames faster than the GPU can render them at lower settings.

The CPU’s high boost clock of 5.50 GHz and 32 MB of shared L3 cache help maintain stable frame pacing. However, the data shows that the CPU’s potential is wasted in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 90.9 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 32.7 FPS. This 64% performance reduction is entirely attributable to the GPU, not the CPU. The processor’s percentile rank of 89th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36029, places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845. In this game, the CPU has ample headroom, and the frame rate ceiling is determined by the RX 5700 XT’s ability to process the scene.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this combo?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where playable frame rates are achievable across most settings. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (77.7 FPS) offers a consistently smooth experience, while 3840x2160 is generally not recommended for action-heavy sequences.

Q: Why is the 4K performance so poor?

A: The 4K results, ranging from 23.7 FPS on Ultra to 61.8 FPS on Low, show a severe drop-off. This is due to the RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth being overwhelmed by the pixel and texture data required at 3840x2160, causing the GPU to become the primary bottleneck.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X holding back the RX 5700 XT?

A: No. The benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 90.9 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate to suggest the CPU can handle the game’s logic. The frame rate drops at higher settings are directly correlated with increased GPU load, not CPU load.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 1211th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the lower 30% of all systems tested, a ranking that is consistent with the GPU’s 68th percentile standing among all GPUs.

Q: What is the difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 34.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 30.0 FPS. The 4.3 FPS difference is small, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not worth the performance cost on this hardware.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause issues at 1440p?

A: The data suggests it might. The 1440p High score of 34.3 FPS is only 4.9 FPS higher than the 4K High score of 28.4 FPS, which is a smaller gap than expected. This could indicate that VRAM capacity is already being taxed at 1440p, limiting performance gains compared to 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 90.9 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. The Medium preset drops to 58.7 FPS, High falls to 37.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32.7 FPS. The step from Medium to High (a 20.9 FPS loss) is much larger than the step from High to Ultra (a 5.1 FPS loss), indicating a non-linear scaling of GPU load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still delivers a playable 77.7 FPS. Medium drops to 45.0 FPS, High to 34.3 FPS, and Ultra to 30.0 FPS. The pattern is identical to 1080p, but with a consistent 13-15% reduction in performance across all settings. At 3840x2160, performance collapses. Low is the only playable option at 61.8 FPS. Medium falls to 34.9 FPS, High to 28.4 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 23.7 FPS. The 4K results are all below the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that this resolution is out of reach for this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the Low preset at 2560x1440 is the best choice, delivering 77.7 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate while still offering a higher resolution than 1080p. If 1080p is preferred, the Medium preset at 58.7 FPS offers a good balance between visual quality and performance, though it is not a locked 60 FPS. For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, 1080p Low at 90.9 FPS is the smoothest option.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for this GPU. At 1080p High, the 37.8 FPS average is below the 40 FPS threshold needed for a consistently responsive experience, and Ultra at 32.7 FPS is worse. The data suggests that the visual uplift from High to Ultra is minimal relative to the performance cost, and neither preset provides a satisfactory experience. Sticking with Low or Medium is the only way to maintain playable frame rates, and the 1440p Low preset offers the best compromise of resolution and speed.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is ranked 1211th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 28% of all systems in the database. The ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s performance ceiling, as the CPU is clearly capable of driving much higher frame rates. The RX 5700 XT’s average benchmark score of 24731 puts it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, but its performance in this specific title is hampered by the demanding rendering techniques used.

The CPU’s strong performance, ranked in the 89th percentile, does not translate to a high combo rank because the game is not CPU-bound. The data shows that even with a top-tier processor, the GPU cannot push beyond its limits. This mismatch is a classic example of a CPU that is several generations ahead of the GPU in terms of capabilities. The 1211th rank is a clear signal that this pairing is not optimized for The Medium, and users should expect to lower settings significantly to achieve a playable experience. The combo’s performance is more in line with the GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, which is just 0.1% faster in synthetic benchmarks, rather than the CPU’s high-end peers.