The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in The Medium. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy across the three tested resolutions, with the combo ranking in the 55th percentile of all tested combinations. The system is capable of smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but 4K Ultra is beyond its reach.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 115 FPS at 1920x1080 to 97 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 16%. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the Low preset average drops further to 76 FPS, a 22% decline from the 1440p result and a 34% decline from the 1080p baseline.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher quality settings. With the Medium preset, the average frame rate descends from 72 FPS at 1080p to 61 FPS at 1440p, then to 48 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows a similar trajectory: 51 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with averages of 41 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K.

These numbers indicate that the RX 7700 becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The frame rate reductions between 1080p and 1440p are moderate, suggesting the CPU still has headroom at lower resolutions. However, the larger proportional drops between 1440p and 4K — roughly 21% for Low, 21% for Medium, 21% for High, and 21% for Ultra — point to the GPU's rendering throughput being saturated at higher pixel counts. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is particularly telling: it falls below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered the minimum for playability, confirming that the combination is not suited for maximum settings at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1307 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the top 45% of all configurations. The percentile position indicates that the system outperforms more than half of the tested combos, but it is not among the high-end performers. This mid-pack ranking aligns with the measured frame rates, which show the system handling 1080p and 1440p well while struggling at 4K.

The ranking reflects the balance between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the RX 7700. The CPU is a high-end part with an average benchmark score of 58386 and a percentile of 92 against all CPUs, while the GPU's average benchmark score is 15852 with a percentile of 58 against all GPUs. The combination's in-game rank suggests that the GPU's performance tier is the constraining factor in this title, as the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions but the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K.

Compared to other tested combos, this pairing sits in a position where it competes with systems using mid-range GPUs. The data shows that the CPU's strength does not translate into top-tier gaming performance when paired with the RX 7700 in this particular game. The 4K results, in particular, pull the overall ranking down, as the system cannot achieve the frame rates that higher-end GPU pairings would deliver.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The memory operates at 2438 MHz, effective 19.5 Gbps.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for The Medium at all tested settings, as the game's requirements do not appear to exceed this amount. The measured frame rates show no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or texture pop-in, even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 27. The bottleneck at 4K is the GPU's raw compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 96 ROPs are the primary drivers of the pixel fill rate, which is listed at 236.1 GPixel/s. The texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s, supported by 160 TMUs, handles the game's texture-heavy environments. The FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS provides the compute headroom needed for the game's fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, which are less demanding than fully dynamic 3D scenes.

The RX 7700's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon R9 370X with a delta of -0.1%, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at -1%, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 1.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at -1.7%. These deltas are all within 2% of the RX 7700's average score, indicating that the GPU performs in a tight band around these competitors. The game's results reflect this mid-range positioning: the GPU delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but cannot sustain high performance at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 7700 provides a wide range of performance depending on the preset. The Low preset achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is more than enough for smooth gameplay. Medium reduces the average to 72 FPS, with measured minimum and maximum values of 61 and 83 FPS, respectively. High drops the average to 51 FPS, and Ultra brings it down to 41 FPS. The 1080p results show that the system can handle all presets above 40 FPS, making the resolution viable for any settings preference.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still delivers an average of 97 FPS, keeping the experience fluid. Medium averages 61 FPS with a range of 51 to 70 FPS, which remains playable. High averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The 1440p data indicates that Medium is the highest preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra dip into lower territory.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low averages 76 FPS, which is still smooth. Medium averages 48 FPS with a range of 40 to 55 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The 4K results show that only the Low preset provides a consistently high frame rate, while Medium is borderline playable and High/Ultra are not recommended for a smooth experience.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions, showing a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the range is 61 to 83 FPS; at 1440p, it is 51 to 70 FPS; and at 4K, it is 40 to 55 FPS. The minimum frame rates remain above 40 FPS even at 4K, which suggests that the game does not experience severe frame time spikes, but the overall averages are too low for a consistently smooth experience at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a 9000 series processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The CPU includes 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads. The processor uses the AMD Socket AM5 and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel configuration, providing a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its strength. In Cinebench R23, it scores 22807 in multicore and 2228 in single-core. The Passmark multithread score is 41318, and the single-thread score is 4704. The CPU's percentile of 92 against all CPUs places it in the top 8% of processors, and its average benchmark score of 58386 is closely matched by rivals such as the Intel Core i9-14900 with a delta of 0.5% and the Intel Xeon w5-2545 at -0.2%.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frame data and handle game logic. The measured frame rates show that the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 115 FPS, which indicates that the CPU can drive the GPU to high frame rates. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a moderate drop, suggesting the CPU still has headroom. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the frame rates drop disproportionately compared to the resolution increase.

The Zen 5 architecture's 4 nm process node and 8,315 million transistors provide the computational muscle for the game's AI and physics. The 96 MB L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming, as it reduces memory latency and improves data access. The CPU's 16 threads handle the game's multi-threaded workloads effectively, as evidenced by the strong multicore scores. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures that single-threaded tasks, which are common in game logic, are processed quickly.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the best experience at 1080p is achieved with the High preset, which averages 51 FPS. While Medium offers a higher average of 72 FPS, High provides better visual quality at a frame rate that is still playable. For players prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity, the Medium preset at 72 FPS is the optimal choice, as it maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS standard.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, providing a good balance between visual quality and performance. The High preset at 43 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive, while the Low preset at 97 FPS sacrifices too much visual detail. The Medium preset's frame rate range of 51 to 70 FPS indicates that it can handle demanding scenes without dropping below playable levels.

At 4K, the options are more limited. The Low preset averages 76 FPS and is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience at this resolution. The Medium preset at 48 FPS is borderline, with minimums of 40 FPS that may cause noticeable stuttering in action sequences. The High and Ultra presets at 34 and 27 FPS, respectively, are not recommended for a playable experience.

For the best overall experience across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most balanced performance. It maintains an average above 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, and it remains playable at 4K with an average of 48 FPS. Players who prioritize visual quality should use the High preset at 1080p or 1440p, but they should be prepared for lower frame rates. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 41 FPS, and should be avoided at higher resolutions.