The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 pairing presents a curious case for The Medium, a horror title that clearly stresses the GPU. The benchmark data shows a combination that can handle the game at lower settings but struggles under maximum graphical loads, particularly at higher resolutions. The measured performance places this combo at rank 1335 out of 1689 tested combinations, indicating that while it is not at the bottom, it is firmly in the lower half of the performance bracket. This analysis breaks down the specific data points to understand where this pairing excels and where it falls short.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?*

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 86.9 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 68.5 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it reaches 58 FPS.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is only 22.8, which is below the typical threshold for smooth, playable performance. High settings at the same resolution are only marginally better at 23.1 FPS.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802). It is 0.4% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165) and 0.8% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (36328).

Q: How does the GPU’s synthetic benchmark score compare to its closest competitors?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 25235. It is perfectly matched with the AMD Radeon 890M (25246), showing a 0% delta. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (25120), while being 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (25287).

Q: What is the most significant performance drop between settings at 1080p?

A: The largest jump in performance comes from reducing settings from High to Low. At 1920x1080, High yields 40.1 FPS, while Low yields 86.9 FPS, a difference of 46.8 FPS. Moving from Ultra to High is a smaller, but still substantial, 9.6 FPS difference.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU is a high-end 8-core processor with a 89th percentile ranking, while the GPU is lower-tier with a 69th percentile ranking. The massive FPS swings between Low and Ultra settings (e.g., from 86.9 to 30.5 FPS at 1080p) are characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a formidable processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, and it can boost up to 5.50 GHz, which should provide ample headroom for any game's logic and physics calculations. With a 65 W TDP, it is also power-efficient, but that efficiency does not come at the cost of synthetic performance, as it scores in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary. The benchmark results show that the frame rate is highly sensitive to graphical settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. For instance, at 2560x1440, the frame rate scales almost linearly with the graphical preset, from 25 FPS on Ultra to 68.5 FPS on Low. If the CPU were the limiting factor, these changes in graphics settings would have a much smaller impact on the final frame rate. The CPU is simply providing the data fast enough; the RX 6600 is what determines the final output.

The Ryzen 7 9700X’s synthetic scores reinforce this. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and single-core score of 4459 are strong indicators that it is not a weak link. Its performance relative to rivals like the Intel Core i5-14500HX, which it edges out by 0.2%, shows it is a top-tier part. This means that in The Medium, the CPU is likely sitting idle for significant portions of each frame, waiting for the GPU to finish its rendering work. The data implies that upgrading the graphics card would yield a far greater performance boost in this specific title than any CPU change.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the clear performance bottleneck in this pairing. It is an RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is listed at 2491 MHz, and it has a 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which places it in the mid-range tier. The synthetic benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 15096, show it is a capable, but not high-end, part.

The GPU's limitations are exposed by the measured FPS data. At 1920x1080 Ultra, it manages 30.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a smooth experience. However, at 3840x2160 Ultra, it falls to 22.8 FPS, which is a significant struggle. The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory interface are likely contributing factors to this performance cliff at higher resolutions and settings, where memory bandwidth and capacity become more critical.

Interestingly, the RX 6600's performance is very closely matched with the AMD Radeon 890M integrated graphics in the synthetic average, but it is 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in the same metric. This is a peculiar data point, as the RTX 3060 Ti is generally considered a faster card in most real-world scenarios, but the synthetic average here shows them as near-peers. In The Medium, the measured FPS confirms that the GPU is the determining factor, and its performance dictates whether the game is playable or not across the various settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RX 6600 ranks 1335 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This ranking places it in the bottom 21% of all systems tested, which is a direct result of the GPU's limitations. While the CPU is a high performer, its contribution to the final frame rate is negligible when the GPU is struggling to keep up.

The ranking indicates that this is not a combo designed for high-refresh-rate gaming at maximum settings. The data shows that while the CPU is in the 89th percentile for all CPUs, the GPU is only in the 69th percentile for all GPUs. This mismatch means the system's overall gaming performance is dragged down to the level of the weaker component. The rank of 1335 suggests that users with this combo will need to make significant compromises in graphical fidelity to achieve acceptable performance, a conclusion that is fully supported by the measured FPS data. The system is clearly more capable than many, but in this specific title, it is placed firmly in the lower-middle of the pack.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the performance across three resolutions and four settings levels.

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best results. Low settings produce an average of 86.9 FPS, which is very smooth. Medium settings drop to 54.5 FPS, offering a good balance. High settings yield 40.1 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 30.5 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance takes a hit across the board. Low settings average 68.5 FPS, which is still playable. Medium settings drop to 44.8 FPS. High settings fall to 29.8 FPS, and Ultra settings are nearly unplayable at 25 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is severely challenged. Low settings are the only viable option, producing 58 FPS. Medium settings drop to 37.6 FPS. High settings average only 23.1 FPS, and Ultra settings are the worst, at 22.8 FPS.

This data shows a clear pattern: the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, highlighting the GPU's struggle with the increased pixel count and memory pressure.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

For a 60 FPS target, the best experience is found at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which hits 86.9 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 68.5 FPS, also above the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, Low settings are the only option that approaches 60 FPS, with an average of 58 FPS.

For a 30 FPS target, the options expand. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings can achieve 30.5 FPS, though it is right at the edge. Medium settings at 2560x1440 provide a more comfortable 44.8 FPS, and High settings at the same resolution hit 29.8 FPS, which is borderline. At 3840x2160, Medium settings offer 37.6 FPS, which is the best balance for that resolution.

The data suggests that for a consistent experience, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 (54.5 FPS) is a strong choice, offering a significant jump from High (40.1 FPS) with a minimal visual penalty in most games. For those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, High settings at 1920x1080 provides a playable 40.1 FPS. The Low preset is the only way to achieve high refresh rates, but it does so at the cost of all graphical bells and whistles.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this system. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 86.9. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 68.5 FPS, a 21% decrease. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 58 FPS, a 33% decrease from 1440p and a 33% decrease from 1080p. This scaling is not linear, but it shows a steady decline as the pixel count increases.

The scaling is even more dramatic at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 30.5. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 25 FPS (an 18% decrease), and at 4K Ultra, it plummets to 22.8 FPS (a 9% decrease from 1440p, but a 25% decrease from 1080p). This pattern indicates that while the resolution is a major factor, the GPU's compute and memory resources are exhausted much more quickly when both resolution and graphical complexity are high.

The fact that the FPS does not halve when going from 1080p to 4K (which has 4 times the pixels) suggests that the game is not purely pixel-bound. The CPU is likely able to maintain a baseline frame rate, but the GPU struggles to fill the extra pixels. The diminishing returns between 1440p and 4K at Ultra settings (25 to 22.8 FPS) suggest that the GPU has hit a hard performance wall, likely due to VRAM capacity or bandwidth limitations, making the 4K Ultra experience a non-starter for this combination.