The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination delivers a highly capable, though resolution-dependent, experience in The Medium. Benchmark data shows that the pairing is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming and remains playable at 1440p, but 4K Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits, resulting in a sub-60 FPS average. The measured results provide a clear picture of how the CPU and GPU balance workload across different settings and resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 149 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution in The Medium?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 61 FPS. However, at 4K with Ultra settings, the average drops to 35 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate at Low settings is 125 FPS, while at Ultra settings it falls to 45 FPS. This represents a significant performance cost of 80 FPS for the highest visual fidelity.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187, which is 2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, its closest competitor listed with a score of 40377.

*Q: What is the rank of this specific CPU and GPU combination among all tested combos in The Medium?*

A: This combo ranks 901st out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the top quarter of all tested systems.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X have a higher multi-core score than its nearest rival?

A: Yes, the Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score is 37943, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i9-14901E's score of 37911.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the primary driver of frame rates in The Medium, especially at higher resolutions and settings. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for handling the game's detailed textures and environments without stuttering. The GPU's 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores are substantial, but the benchmark data shows that even this hardware is challenged by the game's most demanding presets.

The GPU's boost clock of 1665 MHz, combined with its 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, allows it to process the complex lighting and effects in The Medium. At 1080p, the GPU is rarely the bottleneck, as evidenced by the high frame rates across all settings. However, at 4K resolution, the pixel throughput demands increase dramatically. The data shows a clear trend: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 35, which is a 76% drop from the 149 FPS seen at 1080p Low. This indicates that the RTX 3080 Ti's compute and memory resources are saturated at 4K, limiting performance.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 41187 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end status. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB, have similar average scores, but the RTX 3080 Ti's architectural advantages in DirectX 12 (where it scores 110 in Passmark) and Vulkan (192697 in Geekbench) are more relevant to modern game engines like the one used in The Medium. The measured FPS data suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K and Ultra settings, while the CPU can keep up at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance varies by resolution. For a consistent 60 FPS experience, the Medium preset is the highest setting that achieves this target at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 67 FPS, but the Medium preset provides a more comfortable 93 FPS, which is better suited for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 149 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 93 FPS is the recommended choice for a smooth and visually appealing experience. At 1440p, the Medium preset yields 78 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a good balance. The High preset at 56 FPS is playable but may not be ideal for fast-paced scenes. For 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for a playable frame rate, averaging 61 FPS. The High preset at 44 FPS and Ultra at 35 FPS are too demanding for a smooth experience.

The data indicates that the Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution for this combo, as it consistently drops the average FPS below 60. The High preset is a reasonable choice at 1080p, but the Medium preset offers a significantly higher frame rate with only a minor reduction in visual quality. Therefore, the Medium preset provides the best overall experience, delivering a playable frame rate at all tested resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 149 FPS (Low), 93 FPS (Medium), 67 FPS (High), and 53 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 79 and a maximum of 107, indicating a stable performance window. At 2560x1440, the averages are 125 FPS (Low), 78 FPS (Medium), 56 FPS (High), and 45 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS, showing a wider variance than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 98 FPS (Low), 61 FPS (Medium), 44 FPS (High), and 35 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. This data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 96 FPS, while at 4K, it is 63 FPS. This suggests that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, reducing the impact of settings changes on the absolute frame rate.

The frame time consistency, indicated by the min and max FPS for the Medium preset, degrades with resolution. At 1080p, the variance is 28 FPS, at 1440p it is 23 FPS, and at 4K it is 19 FPS. While the absolute variance decreases, the percentage variance relative to the average FPS increases, indicating less stable performance at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks 901st out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 76th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it outperforms the majority of configurations. The high rank is likely due to the strong synergy between the 8-core, 16-thread CPU and the high-end GPU.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 37943 places it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's score of 41187 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. The combination of two components that are both in the top quartile of their respective categories results in a system that is well-balanced for gaming. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14901E and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of 0.1%. This suggests that the CPU is not a differentiator in this rank; rather, the GPU's performance is the more significant factor.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, which has a 2% lower average score, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB, which has a 1.2% higher score. The RTX 3080 Ti's position relative to these rivals indicates that it is a competitive high-end card, but not the absolute fastest. The rank of 901 out of 3724 suggests that there are many systems with more powerful GPUs or better-tuned configurations that achieve higher frame rates in The Medium.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X plays a supporting role in The Medium, providing the necessary processing power to feed the GPU. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it has sufficient parallelism to handle the game's AI, physics, and streaming systems. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz ensure responsive single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic.

The CPU's benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded capability. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 20485, and its 3DMark max threads score is 9771. These scores indicate that the CPU can handle the game's background tasks without becoming a bottleneck. The measured FPS data supports this, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load across different resolutions. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions, which is not the case.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 37943 is 0.1% higher than its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14901E. This marginal difference suggests that the CPU is not a performance differentiator in this setup. The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, provided by dual-channel DDR5, is sufficient for the game's data transfer needs. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which can improve frame time consistency. The data indicates that the CPU is a capable partner for the RTX 3080 Ti, allowing the GPU to be the primary determinant of frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the limiting component. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 93. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 78 FPS, a 16% decrease. At 4K Medium, it falls to 61 FPS, a 34% decrease from 1440p and a 34% decrease from 1080p. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the workload on the graphics card.

The data shows that the FPS drop is not linear with the pixel count increase. From 1080p to 1440p, the pixel count increases by 78%, but the FPS drops by only 16%. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 125%, but the FPS drops by 22%. This non-linear scaling suggests that other factors, such as memory bandwidth and cache efficiency, are also at play. The RTX 3080 Ti's 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth is substantial, but it is still a limiting factor at 4K.

The difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings also scales with resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 149 FPS and Ultra achieves 53 FPS, a 96 FPS gap. At 4K, the Low preset achieves 98 FPS and Ultra achieves 35 FPS, a 63 FPS gap. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so heavily loaded that reducing settings has a smaller absolute impact on FPS. The system is clearly GPU-limited at 4K, as the CPU's performance is not the constraint. The data suggests that for the best experience, users should prioritize resolution over settings, as the Medium preset at 4K provides a similar FPS to the Ultra preset at 1080p, but with significantly higher visual fidelity.