The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a solid but not flawless 4K experience in The Medium, with the data showing a clear need to balance visual fidelity against frame rate targets depending on your display. The benchmark results indicate that this combination is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong single-thread performance provides ample headroom at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how dramatically performance scales across the three tested resolutions. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 75 FPS at 1920x1080 to 63 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 12 FPS (roughly 16%). Moving up to 3840x2160, the average falls further to 49 FPS, which is 26 FPS below the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER’s rendering pipeline is the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern but with different magnitudes. At 1080p, the average is 104 FPS, dropping to 88 FPS at 1440p (a 16 FPS loss), and then to 69 FPS at 4K (a 35 FPS loss from 1080p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly harsh, suggesting that memory bandwidth and fill rate constraints become more pronounced at the highest resolution. The Low preset tells a different story: 167 FPS at 1080p, 140 FPS at 1440p, and 110 FPS at 4K. While still a drop, the percentage loss from 1080p to 4K is smaller (about 34%) compared to the High preset’s 35% drop, indicating that at Low settings, the CPU and GPU are better balanced.

At Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is the most punishing. The average frame rate starts at 59 FPS at 1080p, falls to 50 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 39 FPS at 4K. This represents a 20 FPS loss from 1080p to 4K, which is a 34% reduction. The fact that 1080p Ultra only manages 59 FPS suggests that even at lower resolutions, the Ultra preset’s visual effects are extremely demanding on the GPU’s compute units. The data strongly suggests that for 4K gaming, you are firmly in GPU-bound territory, while the Ryzen 7 9850X3D’s capabilities are only fully utilized at 1080p with lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for most users. At 1920x1080, it delivers 104 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS and maximum of 120 FPS, providing a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, which is still comfortable for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 3840x2160, Medium manages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS, making it the only preset that comes close to a playable 4K experience without dipping below 60 FPS in the measured data.

The High preset is a viable alternative for those prioritizing visual quality over raw frame rates. At 1440p, it hits 63 FPS average, which is acceptable for slower-paced horror games. However, at 4K, High drops to 49 FPS, which may feel less responsive. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates—167 FPS at 1080p and 140 FPS at 1440p—but it likely sacrifices significant visual fidelity in a game that relies heavily on atmosphere and lighting. For 4K, Low is the only preset that breaks the 110 FPS mark, making it the only option for high-refresh 4K displays. The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combo, as it fails to hit 60 FPS even at 1080p, averaging 59 FPS and dropping to 39 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests a practical approach: use Medium for 4K if you can tolerate occasional dips to 59 FPS, or step down to 1440p with High for a more consistent experience. For 1080p users, Medium offers excellent performance, while High is perfectly playable at 75 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant factor in this game’s performance. Its specifications—12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth—are directly reflected in the 4K results. The game’s memory usage appears to scale heavily with resolution and settings, and the measured FPS drops at 4K Ultra (39 FPS) suggest that the GPU’s 80 ROPs and 224 TMUs are being pushed to their limits. The boost clock of 2475 MHz helps maintain performance, but the data shows that even with this clock speed, the GPU cannot sustain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

The RTX 4070 SUPER’s 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are relevant for a horror title like The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and pre-rendered effects. However, the measured FPS data does not break out ray tracing performance, so the impact of these cores is indirect. The GPU’s 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is a raw indicator of its shader throughput, and the scaling from 1080p to 4K shows that this compute power is insufficient to maintain 60 FPS at 4K High or Ultra settings. The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is likely sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the bandwidth becomes a limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger FPS drops from 1440p to 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p.

The GPU’s overall benchmark percentile of 83 versus all GPUs places it in the upper tier, but its nearest rivals in aggregate score include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB and the GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which shows that the 4070 SUPER is competitive but not top-tier. In The Medium specifically, the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a wide spread. The Low preset averages 167 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo. The Medium preset averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 59 FPS. This progression shows a clear linear relationship between settings and performance at 1080p, with a 108 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still delivers a high 140 FPS average. The Medium preset averages 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and maximum of 101 FPS. The High preset drops to 63 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 90 FPS, but the relative percentage drop is similar. At this resolution, the RTX 4070 SUPER still provides playable frame rates on Medium and High, but Ultra becomes marginal.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, averaging 110 FPS. The Medium preset averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS and maximum of 79 FPS, making it the only preset with a measured minimum above 60 FPS. The High preset averages 49 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 39 FPS. The data shows a 71 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K, which is the largest absolute spread across all resolutions. This indicates that the GPU’s performance headroom is exhausted at 4K when settings are maximized.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 380 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the top 13% of all tested systems. This is a strong showing, given that the RTX 4070 SUPER is not the most powerful GPU on the market. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D’s contribution to this ranking is likely significant, as its single-thread performance (evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2228 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4704) ensures that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at lower resolutions. The CPU’s multi-thread capabilities, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807, also help in a game that may use multiple threads for streaming assets.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores are all within 1% of the RTX 4070 SUPER, including the Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct -0.1), the RTX 5050 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1), and the RTX 4090 Mobile (deltaPct -1). This suggests that in general compute tasks, the 4070 SUPER is evenly matched with these cards, but in The Medium, the desktop GPU’s power and thermal headroom likely give it an edge. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900 (deltaPct 0.5) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (deltaPct -0.7), show that the 9850X3D is competitive with high-end alternatives, and its 92nd percentile ranking versus all CPUs supports its role in achieving this combo’s position.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K with a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, but only on the Medium preset, which averages 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS at 3840x2160. The Low preset runs at 110 FPS, while High and Ultra average 49 FPS and 39 FPS, respectively.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The Medium preset is recommended, as it averages 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS. The High preset is also playable at 63 FPS average, but Ultra drops to 50 FPS.

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

A: At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, as seen in the large FPS drops from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with the Low preset, the CPU’s performance (single-thread score of 4704 in Passmark) ensures high frame rates, indicating a balanced workload.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 12 GB memory capacity is paired with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The data shows significant FPS losses at 4K, especially on Ultra, suggesting that memory bandwidth and capacity are stressed at that resolution.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average is 167 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The highest minimum FPS recorded is 88 FPS, which occurs at 1080p Medium.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 380 out of 2911 combos, placing it in the top 13%. The GPU’s aggregate score is within 1% of rivals like the RTX 4090 Mobile, but in The Medium, the desktop GPU’s performance is strong.