The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a highly variable experience in The Medium, a 2021 horror title. Across the twelve measured configurations—spanning four settings presets at three resolutions—the data reveals a system that is strictly bound by its graphics card at higher resolutions, yet shows surprising headroom at 1080p. The combination ranks 2026th out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which aligns with the RTX 2060 SUPER’s 62nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU’s strong 92nd percentile among all processors.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and clearly demonstrates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary limiting component in this pairing. At Medium settings, which is the only preset with full min/max data across all resolutions, the average FPS falls from 57 at 1920x1080 to 48 at 2560x1440, and then plummets to 38 at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, a scaling pattern typical of a GPU that is saturated at higher pixel counts.

The Low preset shows even more dramatic scaling, though from a higher starting point. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 92 FPS, which drops to 77 FPS at 1440p and further to 61 FPS at 4K. Notably, the 4K Low result of 61 FPS is higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 33 FPS, indicating that the game’s quality settings have a larger impact on performance than the resolution itself when the GPU is this constrained. The gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution widens substantially as resolution decreases: at 4K, Ultra runs at 21 FPS versus Low’s 61 FPS (a 40 FPS gap), while at 1080p, the gap is 59 FPS (33 vs 92). This suggests that pixel count and quality settings interact multiplicatively, with the GPU struggling to maintain both high resolution and high fidelity simultaneously.

Looking at the High preset, the scaling is more modest in absolute terms but still significant: 41 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result of 27 FPS is borderline unplayable, while the 1080p High result of 41 FPS sits at the edge of acceptable smoothness. The data indicates that the CPU, with its 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, is not the bottleneck here—even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed, the system only reaches 92 FPS, which is well within the CPU’s capability given its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and single-core score of 2228.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, is the decisive factor in this system’s The Medium performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes stressed at 4K with higher presets. The GPU’s base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz are modest by modern standards, and its FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS explains why Ultra settings at any resolution yield sub-35 FPS averages.

The GPU’s benchmark profile reinforces this assessment. Its Passmark G3D score of 16462 places it at the 62nd percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 18093 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, delta -0.4%), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, delta -0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373, delta -1.5%). This clustering suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is a mid-tier performer, and the The Medium results confirm this—it handles Low settings well, Medium settings acceptably at 1080p, but struggles with High and Ultra presets.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant for The Medium, a game known for its dual-reality rendering that can demand significant VRAM. At 4K Ultra, the system averages only 21 FPS, and even at 1440p Ultra it manages just 27 FPS. These results indicate that the 8 GB VRAM capacity combined with the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for the highest quality settings at higher resolutions. The 175 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with a mid-range card, and the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface does not appear to be a limiting factor given the overall GPU-bound nature of the performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the most balanced experience, delivering an average of 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS. This is the only configuration where the system maintains a consistent frame rate above 45 FPS at all times, making it the recommended choice for smooth gameplay. The 1080p High preset at 41 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, while 1080p Low at 92 FPS is smooth but sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily given the CPU’s headroom.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset drops to 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less consistent than the 1080p Medium result. For users prioritizing resolution over settings, the 1440p Low preset at 77 FPS is a viable alternative, though it eliminates many of the game’s visual effects. The 4K resolution is only viable with the Low preset, which achieves 61 FPS, as the Medium preset at 4K drops to 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS—too variable for a horror game where timing matters.

The data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra settings entirely on this hardware. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 33 FPS, which drops to 27 FPS at 1440p and 21 FPS at 4K. These results are uniformly below the threshold for comfortable gameplay. Similarly, the High preset is only marginally better than Ultra at 1080p (41 vs 33 FPS) and fails to reach 30 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset is clearly the sweet spot, offering a 38% improvement over High at 1080p (57 vs 41 FPS) and a 71% improvement over Ultra at the same resolution (57 vs 33 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance. The Low preset achieves 92 FPS average, while Medium drops to 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS. High settles at 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 59 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution but is quickly overwhelmed by higher quality settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, all results decrease but the relative ordering remains consistent. Low runs at 77 FPS, a 16% drop from 1080p. Medium averages 48 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 55 FPS, representing a 16% drop from its 1080p counterpart. High falls to 35 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 27 FPS. The 1440p results show that the GPU is still capable of maintaining playable frame rates at Low and Medium, but High and Ultra fall below 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become stark. Low is the only playable preset at 61 FPS, though this is a 34% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium averages 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS and maximum of 43 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that benefits from consistent frame pacing. High drops to 27 FPS, and Ultra manages only 21 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this combination is not suited for high-fidelity 4K gaming, as even the Medium preset fails to maintain 40 FPS on average.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in The Medium?*

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset provides the best experience, with an average of 57 FPS, a minimum of 49 FPS, and a maximum of 66 FPS. This is the only configuration that maintains a minimum frame rate above 45 FPS.

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

A: Only at Low settings, where it averages 61 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 38 FPS average with a 32 FPS minimum, while High and Ultra average 27 FPS and 21 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, placing it at the 62nd percentile. It is nearly tied with the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159, delta -0.4%) and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189, delta -0.5%), while the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores slightly higher at 18373 with a delta of -1.5%.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system for The Medium?*

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The CPU, with 8 cores and 16 threads, boosts to 5.60 GHz and has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807. At 1080p Low, the system only reaches 92 FPS, which is well below what the CPU could deliver, confirming the GPU limits performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 77 FPS while Ultra averages 27 FPS, a difference of 50 FPS. This 185% improvement from Ultra to Low shows that quality settings have a massive impact on this GPU at this resolution.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D with RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2026th out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-tier status (62nd percentile) rather than the CPU’s high performance (92nd percentile).

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a high-end processor that is not the limiting factor in The Medium. With 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 4.70 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, it provides ample compute power for this game. The CPU’s 96 MB of shared L3 cache and Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm TSMC process contribute to its strong benchmark scores: Cinebench R23 multi-core reaches 22807 and single-core reaches 2228, while Passmark single-thread scores 4704.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 92 among all CPUs confirms its high-end status, and its average benchmark score of 58386 places it just 0.1% above the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323) and 0.5% above the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115). This performance headroom means that the CPU is never the bottleneck in this pairing, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (92 FPS) is likely limited by the GPU’s maximum throughput rather than the CPU’s ability to feed frames.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s with dual-channel DDR5 support is more than sufficient for The Medium’s requirements. The 120 W TDP and AM5 socket indicate a modern, power-efficient design, though these characteristics do not directly translate to gaming performance in this title. The data shows that the CPU’s role is to provide a stable platform for the GPU to operate at its full potential, which it does effectively—the performance envelope is entirely defined by the RTX 2060 SUPER’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2026th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This ranking places the system in the 30th percentile of all tested configurations, which is notably lower than the individual component percentiles would suggest. The CPU’s 92nd percentile ranking is offset by the GPU’s 62nd percentile, and in a game like The Medium that is heavily GPU-dependent, the weaker component dominates the overall experience.

This ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. The system achieves playable frame rates only at 1080p Medium (57 FPS) and below, while struggling at higher resolutions and settings. The 2026th rank out of 2911 indicates that a significant majority of tested combinations outperform this setup, likely due to more capable GPUs paired with similar or lesser CPUs. However, the ranking also shows that the CPU choice provides no advantage in this title, as the GPU is the sole performance determinant.

The delta between the CPU and GPU performance levels is stark: the CPU sits within 0.7% of its nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 at 58826, delta -0.7%), while the GPU is within 1.6% of its nearest rivals (Intel Arc A770M at 18383, delta -1.6%). This mismatch means that upgrading the GPU would yield substantial improvements in The Medium, while upgrading the CPU would provide negligible gains. The data suggests that this combination is unbalanced for this specific game, with the GPU holding back a capable processor across all measured configurations.