The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for The Medium across this AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination reveals a consistent and steep performance drop as resolution climbs, which points directly at the GPU as the primary limiter in this pairing. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 174.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 145.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a decline of roughly 16.5%, and then to 118.5 FPS at 3840x2160, another 18.6% drop from the 1440p figure. The shape of this curve is telling: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which is characteristic of a system that is increasingly bound by pixel throughput rather than CPU logic.

Moving to Medium settings, the same pattern emerges with amplified severity. The 112.1 FPS average at 1080p falls to 95.1 FPS at 1440p (a 15.2% reduction) and then to 70.1 FPS at 4K (a 26.3% reduction from 1440p). At High settings, the trend becomes even more pronounced: 80.9 FPS at 1080p, 64.9 FPS at 1440p, and 53.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage losses here are 19.8% and 17.1% respectively, showing that the rendering load scales nearly linearly with the pixel count. Ultra settings deliver the lowest baseline, starting at 59.7 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 50.7 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 38.6 FPS at 4K.

What does this imply about the limiting component? The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its 8 cores, 16 threads, and 96 MB of shared L3 cache, is a processor designed to feed frames quickly; its benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 34004 and a single-core score of 4800 — suggest ample headroom for this horror title. The data shows that when the resolution increases, the FPS drops in a manner consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The RTX 4070 Ti, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is the component that must fill those extra pixels, and the measured averages reflect that struggle. The 4K Ultra result of 38.6 FPS is a clear signal that the graphics card cannot maintain playable rates at the highest fidelity, while the 1080p Low result of 174.3 FPS indicates the CPU is not the bottleneck in that scenario — the GPU is still the ceiling, just a much higher one.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 64.9 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and suggests a smooth experience for most players.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset yields an average of 59.7 FPS, while High settings produce 80.9 FPS. The data indicates a 21.2 FPS difference, meaning High offers a substantial performance headroom over Ultra at the same resolution.

Q: Is the 4K Low setting playable?

A: Yes, the 3840x2160 Low preset achieves an average of 118.5 FPS. This is a high frame rate, indicating that even at 4K, the combination can produce a very fluid experience when graphical fidelity is reduced.

Q: What is the worst-performing configuration in the data?

A: The 3840x2160 Ultra preset delivers the lowest average FPS at 38.6. This is the only measured configuration that falls below the 40 FPS mark, making it the most demanding and least performant option.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score relate to gaming performance here?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has a PassMark multithread score of 40009 and a single-thread score of 4430. These scores indicate high processing capability, and the FPS data shows that the CPU is not the primary limiter in this game, as performance scales heavily with resolution and settings rather than remaining flat.

Q: What is the rank of this specific combo among tested systems?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 165 out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 10% of all tested systems, based on the data provided.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti plays the decisive role in shaping the measured FPS in The Medium, and the data reveals a clear relationship between its memory configuration, clock speeds, and the observed results. The GPU operates with a 12 GB GDDR6X memory pool on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory subsystem is likely a key factor in the performance differences between settings, as higher presets typically demand more memory bandwidth and capacity for textures and shaders. The measured averages show that moving from Low to Medium at 4K improves FPS from 118.5 to 70.1, a 48.4 FPS drop, which is a massive penalty for the increased visual workload.

The clock speeds — a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2610 MHz — are the engine that drives the 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw throughput translates into the pixel and texture rates of 208.8 GPixel/s and 626.4 GTexel/s respectively. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU can push 174.3 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it only manages 59.7 FPS. This 114.6 FPS difference is not due to clock speed changes; it is the result of the increased shading, ray tracing (60 RT cores), and tensor core workloads that the Ultra preset imposes. The GPU's 285 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU indicate a power-hungry part, but the benchmark results are what matter: the card is the bottleneck in this pairing, as evidenced by the resolution scaling.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024 and the PassMark G3D score of 31624 provide synthetic context, but the in-game numbers are more telling. The RTX 4070 Ti's percentile rank of 85 versus all GPUs shows it is a high-tier part, yet the 4K Ultra result of 38.6 FPS demonstrates that even a strong GPU can be overwhelmed by this game's highest settings. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is sufficient for 1440p, but the 4K data suggests that the 12 GB capacity and 192-bit bus are limiting factors when textures are maxed out. The result is a clear case where the GPU's architecture, not the CPU, dictates the playable envelope.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this combination in The Medium is the High preset at 2560x1440. The 64.9 FPS average at High/1440p is smooth and only 14.2 FPS below the Medium preset's 95.1 FPS at the same resolution. Given that the game is a horror title where atmospheric detail matters, the jump from Medium to High is worth the performance cost, as the data shows the system can handle it without dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, High settings yield 80.9 FPS, which is excellent, and this is the recommended resolution for players who want a high frame rate with good fidelity.

For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, the Low preset at 1440p delivers 145.5 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show. However, this sacrifices the visual immersion that horror games rely on. The Medium preset at 1080p (112.1 FPS) is a solid middle ground for competitive or twitchy play, but the data suggests that High is the sweet spot. At 4K, the situation is more nuanced: High/4K achieves 53.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, while Medium/4K hits 70.1 FPS. The recommendation is to avoid Ultra entirely at any resolution, as the 1080p Ultra result of 59.7 FPS is worse than the 1440p High result of 64.9 FPS, indicating that Ultra's visual gains do not justify its performance cost. The data clearly shows that High settings provide the best experience per the measured rows, balancing the GPU's workload with acceptable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a wide performance spread. Low settings produce an average of 174.3 FPS, which is the highest measured value for this system. Medium settings reduce this to 112.1 FPS, a drop of 62.2 FPS. High settings further lower the average to 80.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 59.7 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 114.6 FPS swing, illustrating the massive cost of the higher presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are lower across the board. Low settings deliver 145.5 FPS, which is still very high. Medium settings achieve 95.1 FPS, High settings hit 64.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 50.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 94.8 FPS. Compared to 1080p, each setting loses roughly 16-20% of its frame rate, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low settings still manage a respectable 118.5 FPS, but Medium drops to 70.1 FPS. High settings yield 53.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers only 38.6 FPS. The Ultra result at 4K is the only configuration below 40 FPS in the entire dataset. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 79.9 FPS, which is smaller than at lower resolutions because the GPU is already heavily loaded even at Low. The data shows that 4K Low is the only way to achieve a high refresh rate experience at this resolution, while 4K Medium offers a playable 70.1 FPS for those willing to compromise.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a powerful processor, but the data in The Medium suggests its role is largely to stay out of the way of the GPU. With 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 4.70 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, this CPU has the single-thread and multi-thread capability to handle game logic and scene management. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a notable feature, likely helping with data locality in complex scenes. The benchmark scores support this: a Cinebench R20 single-core score of 2016 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3341 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is critical for games that rely on a main thread.

The FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across different resolutions, but instead we see a clear decline from 1080p to 4K. For example, at High settings, the FPS goes from 80.9 at 1080p to 53.8 at 4K, a 27.1 FPS drop that is entirely attributable to GPU load. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10081 and the max-thread score of 10067 show that the CPU can handle high thread counts, and the PassMark physics score of 4083 suggests adequate physics processing power. The CPU's TDP of 120 W is modest compared to the GPU's 285 W, further indicating that the GPU is the dominant power and performance component in this system.

The X3D branding typically implies a focus on gaming cache, and the 96 MB L3 is likely beneficial in this horror title, which may have large texture streaming needs. However, the measured FPS does not show any signs of CPU stalls; the frame rates are consistently high at lower resolutions and settings, which would not be the case if the CPU were struggling. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's percentile rank of 90 versus all CPUs confirms it is a top-tier part, but in The Medium, it is the supporting actor to the RTX 4070 Ti.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 165 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 10% of all systems tested. This is a strong result, but the ranking context reveals that there is still a significant performance ceiling above it. The CPU itself benchmarks at a 90th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (average score 37811, delta of -0.1%), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831, -0.1%), the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38020, -0.6%), and the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028, -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1% of the Ryzen's score, indicating that the CPU is in a tightly contested performance tier, but its gaming cache likely gives it an edge in this specific title.

The GPU ranks at an 85th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152, -0.6%), the Intel Arc A730M (45592, -1.5%), the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (44195, +1.6%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45642, -1.6%). The RTX 4070 Ti's score is slightly below some of these rivals, but the in-game results show it is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The rank of 165 out of 1689 means that there are 164 other combos that achieve higher average FPS in The Medium, likely featuring higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or newer generations. However, for this pairing, the data shows that it is a high-performing combination that excels at 1080p and 1440p, with acceptable 4K performance at lower settings. The ranking confirms the balance between the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's substantial compute power, even if it does not top the charts for this demanding title.