The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience, and the benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 reveal a clear performance hierarchy dictated by resolution and preset. The data indicates that this combination is capable of delivering a smooth experience, but only when settings are carefully managed to alleviate the load on the graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 124.9 FPS, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate displays. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, the average FPS falls to 101.5, a reduction of 23.4 frames. At 4K Low, the average further drops to 81.2 FPS, showing a cumulative 43.7 FPS loss from the 1080p baseline.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced at higher graphical presets. At High settings, the average FPS declines from 57.5 at 1080p to 44.4 at 1440p, and then to 38.9 at 4K. This pattern demonstrates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the resolution increase. The most demanding scenario, Ultra at 4K, yields an average of just 29.1 FPS, which is below the threshold for a consistently playable experience. The frame rate deltas between resolutions suggest that the game's visual fidelity, particularly at Ultra, places an immense burden on the RTX 3070's 8 GB of VRAM and its processing capabilities, making high-resolution gaming a challenge regardless of the CPU's strength.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, does not appear to be a bottleneck in these tests. The consistent frame rate drops when increasing resolution point directly to the GPU being the limiting component, as the CPU's workload remains relatively constant while the GPU's pixel-pushing duties escalate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the decisive factor in this pairing's gaming performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is substantial but can be strained by The Medium's high-resolution textures. The GPU's boost clock of 1725 MHz and its 5888 shading units are responsible for the raw compute power that drives the frame rates observed. The data shows that at 1440p, the card can handle Medium settings at an average of 66.2 FPS, but at Ultra, the average drops to 39.8 FPS, illustrating a 26.4 FPS penalty for the highest visual quality.

The RTX 3070's performance relative to its peers is also telling. Its average benchmark score of 28238 places it just 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1.0% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. This suggests that while the card is competent, it is not at the top of the performance heap, and its age (it is marked as end-of-life) means it struggles with the most demanding titles at high resolutions. The GPU's percentile ranking of 72 versus all GPUs further confirms that it is a mid-to-high-tier part, not a flagship, and its performance in The Medium at 4K Ultra (29.1 FPS) reflects this positioning.

The card's compute capabilities, listed as 20.31 TFLOPS for FP32, are significant, but the game's reliance on memory bandwidth and fill rate at 4K appears to overwhelm it. The measured results suggest that the RTX 3070 is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium or High settings, where it can maintain frame rates above 57 FPS, rather than at 4K where it falls below 40 FPS on all presets except Low.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 736 out of 1689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, indicating that it is a capable but not exceptional setup for this specific game. The combo's rank is influenced by the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a high-end part with a 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 72nd percentile.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse, with its nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon 6353P and Intel Core Ultra 5 225, both of which have average scores within 0.1% of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's average benchmark score of 37780. This shows that the CPU is not holding the system back. However, the GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, have average scores that are very close to the RTX 3070's 28238, with deltas of only 0.9% and 1.0% respectively. This tight clustering means that swapping the GPU for any of these near-equal cards would likely yield similar frame rates in The Medium.

The rank of 736 out of 1689 suggests that while many systems are slower, a significant number are also faster. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as a more powerful graphics card paired with the same CPU would undoubtedly push this combo much higher in the rankings. The data implies that for gamers targeting 4K in The Medium, this combo is not ideal, but for 1080p or 1440p gaming, it offers a solid, mid-pack performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience for this combo balances visual quality with playability, favoring 1080p or 1440p resolutions. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 57.5 FPS, which is smooth enough for most players. For those seeking higher frame rates, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 79.7 FPS, a significant 22.2 FPS improvement over High while still providing a substantial visual upgrade over Low. The Low preset at 1080p, at 124.9 FPS, is the only option that fully leverages high-refresh-rate monitors, but it comes at the cost of reduced graphical fidelity.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides an average of 66.2 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution. The High preset at 1440p drops to 44.4 FPS, which is playable but may feel less smooth in action-heavy scenes. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended, as it produces average frame rates of 45.5 FPS at 1080p, 39.8 FPS at 1440p, and a sub-30 FPS 29.1 at 4K, all of which compromise the experience.

For 4K gaming, the data shows that only the Low preset, with an average of 81.2 FPS, is viable. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 52 FPS, and High falls to 38.9 FPS, making these settings less desirable for a horror game where smooth camera movement is crucial. In summary, the best measured experience is either 1080p High for a balance of quality and speed, or 1440p Medium for a higher resolution with still-strong performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and preset for the smoothest gameplay with this combo?

A: The data shows the highest frame rates are achieved at 1080p Low with an average of 124.9 FPS. For a balance of quality and speed, 1080p High at 57.5 FPS or 1440p Medium at 66.2 FPS are strong choices.

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

A: Yes, but only at the Low preset, which yields an average of 81.2 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 52 FPS, and at High or Ultra, it falls to 38.9 FPS and 29.1 FPS, respectively, which is not ideal.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D the main performance bottleneck?

A: No. The data indicates the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the limiting factor, as frame rates decrease significantly with resolution increases, which stresses the GPU, not the CPU.

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

A: This pairing ranks 736 out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its closest performance rivals?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 28238 is just 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1.0% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, indicating they perform very similarly.

Q: What is the impact of moving from 1080p to 4K on performance?

A: The performance drop is substantial. For example, at High settings, the average frame rate falls from 57.5 FPS at 1080p to 38.9 FPS at 4K, a decrease of 18.6 FPS, highlighting the GPU's struggle with higher resolutions.