The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title, presents a demanding workload that clearly separates CPU capabilities from GPU limitations. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, using the benchmark data to determine optimal settings and identify the primary bottleneck at each resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 83 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure for this combo at any resolution or setting. The Medium preset produces 52 FPS, while High drops to 37 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30 FPS. This progression shows a consistent and substantial performance cost as visual fidelity increases.

For a horror game where atmosphere and smoothness are critical, the Medium preset at 1080p appears to be the most balanced choice. It provides 52 FPS on average, which is exactly 30 FPS higher than Ultra and 15 FPS higher than High, while still maintaining a playable experience. The minimum FPS recorded for Medium at 1080p is 44, which keeps the frame pacing above common stutter thresholds. While Low offers 83 FPS, the visual degradation is significant, and the data suggests that the step from Low to Medium costs 31 FPS but likely provides a much richer visual presentation.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. Low delivers 70 FPS, but Medium drops to 44 FPS, and High falls to 31 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p is the only non-Low option that maintains an average above 40 FPS, with a minimum of 37 FPS. This makes Medium the recommended preset for 1440p, accepting a lower frame rate than at 1080p but retaining a playable experience. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a 60 FPS target. Low reaches 55 FPS, Medium 34 FPS, High 25 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable choice if aiming for a consistent high refresh rate, but the 55 FPS average suggests that even this setting is pushing the hardware to its limits.

The data shows that the Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, providing only 30 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K. This preset should be avoided entirely for this combo, as the performance penalty is severe across all resolutions. Ultimately, the best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 1080p, offering a solid balance of frame rate and visual quality. If resolution is prioritized over settings, then Medium at 1440p is the recommended fallback.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a high-end desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture on a 4 nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it features a large 96 MB shared L3 cache. The processor's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. Its PassMark single-thread score is 4704, and its multithread score is 41318.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, but its capabilities set a high ceiling. The processor's 92nd percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a very fast part, easily capable of feeding frames to the RTX 2060. The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark data include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, which scores 58323 (0.1% higher), and the Intel Core i9-14900, which scores 58115 (0.5% lower). These deltas show that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is benchmarked in a tight cluster at the top of the performance stack.

The large L3 cache and high boost clock are relevant to gaming performance. The data suggests that this CPU will not be the limiting factor in The Medium, as even at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 83 FPS, a figure that is likely constrained by the GPU rather than the processor. The fact that the CPU has a high single-thread score (2228 in Cinebench R23) is important because The Medium, like many games, relies heavily on a few threads for game logic and rendering commands. The processor's 120 W TDP and 8-core/16-thread configuration provide ample headroom for background tasks without impacting game performance.

The benchmark data for the CPU shows a strong PassMark data compression score of 474501 and a floating point math score of 81998, indicating robust general compute performance. However, these figures do not directly translate to gaming FPS. The key takeaway is that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a top-tier gaming CPU that will not bottleneck the RTX 2060 in this title. The measured FPS variations across resolutions are much more indicative of GPU load than CPU load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. It has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. The GPU's benchmark scores are moderate, with a PassMark G3D score of 14111 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 65846. The GPU's percentile ranking is 58, placing it in the mid-range of all GPUs.

The nearest rivals for the RTX 2060 in the GPU benchmark data are revealing. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15283 (0.0% delta), the AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 (0.1% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 (0.6% higher). These rivals are all within 0.8% of the RTX 2060's average score of 15290, indicating that the RTX 2060 is performance-wise equivalent to a modern integrated GPU and an older high-end card, but significantly behind modern discrete GPUs.

This mid-range position is the primary reason for the measured FPS numbers. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor in The Medium, which is a game known for high-resolution textures. At 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are heavily taxed, leading to low average FPS. The data shows a clear progression: 83 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 55 FPS at 4K Low, a 28 FPS decrease. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU has ample headroom.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, and the 48 ROPs are few for high-resolution rendering. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are also limiting factors at higher resolutions. The data strongly suggests that the RTX 2060 is the bottleneck in this combo, especially at 1440p and 4K. The CPU is more than capable of delivering high frame rates, but the GPU cannot keep up with the rendering demands of The Medium at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2287 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 21.4% of all combos tested, which is a surprisingly low ranking given the high-end CPU. The reason for this is clear: the RTX 2060 is a mid-range GPU that significantly drags down the overall performance potential of the system.

Despite having a top-tier CPU, the combo's rank is determined by the weakest link, which is the GPU. The data shows that the CPU's performance is almost irrelevant in this pairing, as the GPU is the primary constraint. A combo with a slower CPU but a faster GPU would likely rank much higher in this game. The rank of 2287 indicates that this system is not well-suited for The Medium at high settings or high resolutions, but it can handle the game at lower settings.

The fact that the combo ranks so low confirms the demanding nature of The Medium. The game appears to be very GPU-intensive, and a 6 GB VRAM card is insufficient for higher presets. The measured FPS data confirms this, with the Ultra preset failing to reach 30 FPS at any resolution. The combo's rank is a holistic measure that accounts for all settings and resolutions, and the poor performance at 4K and Ultra settings pulls the rank down.

The data indicates that users with this combo should focus on the Low or Medium presets to achieve playable frame rates. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU's quality, but rather a statement that the system as a whole is not competitive for this specific title. In comparison to the other 2911 combos tested, this pairing is in the lower quartile, meaning that most other systems will perform better in The Medium.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 83 at 1920x1080 to 70 at 2560x1440 and then to 55 at 3840x2160. This is a 28 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, representing a 33.7% decrease. The scaling is not linear, with a larger drop from 1440p to 4K (15 FPS) compared to from 1080p to 1440p (13 FPS).

At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 52 at 1080p to 44 at 1440p and then to 34 at 4K. This is an 18 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, a 34.6% decrease. The High settings show a similar trend: 37 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K, a 12 FPS drop (32.4%). The Ultra settings show the smallest absolute drop: 30 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K, a 10 FPS drop (33.3%).

The consistent percentage drop across all settings (around 33%) strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain more consistent as resolution increases, since the CPU workload would not change significantly. The fact that FPS scales inversely with the number of pixels rendered points directly to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth as the primary constraints.

The data suggests that the RTX 2060 is simply not capable of maintaining high frame rates at 4K, regardless of the settings. Even the Low preset, which reduces the GPU load significantly, only achieves 55 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The step from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing, but still results in a noticeable FPS loss. For this combo, 1080p is the only resolution where a consistent 60+ FPS is achievable, and only on the Low preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS values is as follows. At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 25 FPS, Low averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 and a maximum of 40, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. At 2560x1440, High averages 31 FPS, Low averages 70 FPS, Medium averages 44 FPS with a minimum of 37 and a maximum of 50, and Ultra averages 25 FPS. At 1920x1080, High averages 37 FPS, Low averages 83 FPS, Medium averages 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 60, and Ultra averages 30 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one that provides minimum and maximum FPS data, which is useful for understanding frame pacing. At 1080p, the Medium preset has a 16 FPS range (44 to 60), which is a relatively tight window and indicates reasonably stable performance. At 1440p, the range is 13 FPS (37 to 50), also fairly stable. At 4K, the range is 11 FPS (29 to 40), showing that while the average is low, the frame times are consistent.

The data shows that the Low preset is the only one that achieves an average FPS above 60 at any resolution, specifically 83 FPS at 1080p and 70 FPS at 1440p. The Medium preset peaks at 52 FPS at 1080p, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. The High and Ultra presets never reach 40 FPS at any resolution. This breakdown confirms that the combo is best suited for Low to Medium settings, with 1080p being the only resolution where a 60 FPS target is within reach on the Medium preset (the maximum is 60 FPS).

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use with this combo at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset is recommended, as it provides an average of 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS, balancing playability with visual quality. The Low preset is faster at 83 FPS, but Medium offers a significant visual upgrade for a 31 FPS cost.

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

A: The data shows that 4K is challenging. The Low preset achieves 55 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 34 FPS, and High/Ultra fall to 25 and 20 FPS respectively. Only the Low preset approaches a playable frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The RTX 2060's benchmark scores are only 0.8% higher than its nearest rival, and the FPS scales significantly with resolution, indicating a GPU-bound workload. The CPU is a top-tier part with a 92nd percentile ranking, leaving ample headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of raw performance?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283, which is a 0.0% delta. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 (0.1% higher), and the RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 (0.6% higher). All are within 0.8% of each other.

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 83, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The next highest is 70 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo rank well compared to other systems tested in this game?

A: No, the combo ranks 2287 out of 2911 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 21.4% of all systems, primarily due to the mid-range GPU's limitations in this demanding title.