The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a distinctive performance profile in The Medium, one defined by a strong CPU foundation and a GPU that scales predictably with resolution. The data, drawn from measured FPS across four resolutions and four settings presets, shows a pairing where the processor’s headroom becomes increasingly apparent as graphical load intensifies.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, boosting to 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This configuration provides a substantial amount of parallel processing capability, which is relevant for a game like The Medium that relies on simultaneous rendering of two perspectives. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this: it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459, alongside a Geekbench multicore result of 17002 and a single-core score of 3353. These figures place the processor in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is not a bottleneck in most scenarios.

The data suggests that the CPU’s role in this game’s results is primarily to ensure consistent frame delivery rather than to push maximum FPS. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 151.4 FPS, which is likely near the upper bound of what the engine can produce with this GPU. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 1280, helps maintain frame pacing even when the GPU is under less stress. Compared to its nearest rivals, the 9700X sits in a tight cluster: it is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, while trailing the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%. These deltas are negligible in real-world terms, meaning the CPU’s contribution to the combo’s performance is consistent with other high-end desktop parts. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth) further ensure that data feeding the GPU is not a limiting factor.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture (AD104 chip) using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU’s boost clock is 2475 MHz, with a base clock of 1920 MHz and memory clock set to 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This hardware configuration is well-suited to The Medium, a horror title that emphasizes detailed environments and lighting effects. The GPU’s 5888 shading units and 46 ray tracing cores provide the raw compute necessary for the game’s dual-world rendering technique.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling. At 1080p Medium, the combo produces 91.7 FPS, which is 60% higher than the 4K Medium result of 60.5 FPS. This scaling indicates that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game’s textures at all tested settings, as there is no sudden drop-off that would suggest memory capacity issues. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 26927 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 place it in the 81st percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals show a mixed comparison: the RTX 4070 is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5300M, but it trails the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A by 1.9% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile by 2.2%. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4070 performs as expected for its class, with no anomalous behavior in this title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At Low settings, the combo delivers 151.4 FPS at 1080p, 123.3 FPS at 1440p, and 101.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 19% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 17% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This relatively mild decline indicates that the GPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions, and the CPU is capable of feeding it adequately.

At Ultra settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The combo produces 53.8 FPS at 1080p, 44.4 FPS at 1440p, and 33.6 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K here is 38%, which is steeper than at Low settings. This suggests that at higher graphical fidelity, the RTX 4070’s compute resources are being taxed more heavily, and the GPU becomes the definitive limiting component. The Medium settings show an intermediate pattern: 91.7 FPS at 1080p, 81.4 FPS at 1440p, and 60.5 FPS at 4K, with a 34% total reduction. High settings follow a similar trend with 68 FPS at 1080p, 53.7 FPS at 1440p, and 45.8 FPS at 4K, a 33% drop. These consistent reductions across settings confirm that the limiting component shifts from a balanced CPU-GPU load at 1080p to a purely GPU-bound scenario at 4K, where the 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient but the shader throughput is maxed out.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the benchmark database, this combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 4070 holds a rank of 409 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 24% of all tested pairings, which is a strong showing given the GPU’s position in the market. The rank reflects that while the CPU is near the top of its class (89th percentile), the GPU, while capable (81st percentile), holds the combo back from the very top tier. The delta between the CPU’s percentile and the combo’s overall rank illustrates that the RTX 4070 is the constraining factor for achieving higher frame rates in this title.

Compared to other combos with similar GPUs, this pairing performs as expected. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14500HX (0.2% behind in CPU score) or the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (0.4% ahead), would likely produce nearly identical results when paired with the same RTX 4070, as the CPU is not the bottleneck at most settings. Conversely, pairing the 9700X with a faster GPU, such as the RTX 4080 Mobile (which is 2.2% ahead in GPU score), would likely boost the combo’s rank significantly, as the CPU has headroom to push higher frame rates. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the combo’s 151.4 FPS is likely close to the engine’s practical limit, but at 4K Ultra, the 33.6 FPS result leaves room for a more powerful GPU to improve performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The following table summarizes the measured average FPS for each resolution and settings preset:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 151.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 91.7 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 68.0 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 53.8 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 123.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 81.4 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 53.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 44.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 101.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 60.5 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 45.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 33.6 |

At 1080p, the combo shows a wide spread from 151.4 FPS at Low to 53.8 FPS at Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium is 59.7 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 23.7 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 14.2 FPS. This diminishing return pattern suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a significant cost for marginal visual gains, likely due to advanced lighting and shadow effects. At 1440p, the spread narrows slightly: Low produces 123.3 FPS, Medium 81.4 FPS, High 53.7 FPS, and Ultra 44.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 78.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s performance is more evenly distributed across settings. At 4K, the combo delivers 101.8 FPS at Low, 60.5 FPS at Medium, 45.8 FPS at High, and 33.6 FPS at Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 68.2 FPS, and notably, the Medium setting at 4K (60.5 FPS) is only slightly lower than the High setting at 1440p (53.7 FPS), suggesting that users prioritizing frame rate should consider resolution over settings at this tier.

The data also reveals that the 4K Low result (101.8 FPS) is higher than the 1080p Ultra result (53.8 FPS), which underscores the GPU’s ability to handle lower graphical settings at high resolutions without a proportional performance penalty. Conversely, the 1080p Low result (151.4 FPS) is the only metric approaching refresh rates above 144 Hz, while all other configurations remain below 130 FPS. For a horror game that relies on atmosphere, the 4K Medium result of 60.5 FPS provides a playable balance, while the 1440p High result of 53.7 FPS may be preferable for those seeking higher visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. Overall, the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM proves sufficient across all tested configurations, with no evidence of memory-related stuttering or frame drops, allowing the combo to maintain consistent performance within each preset.