The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but the data reveals a distinct performance ceiling tied to the graphics card. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 41 FPS, which is below the smooth threshold for a horror title. The benchmark results show that this pairing is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates across most settings, while 1080p provides headroom for maximum settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the primary limiting factor in this configuration. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 79 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces the average to 66 FPS, a 16% drop. At 4K High, the average falls to 52 FPS, which is a 34% decline compared to the 1440p result and a 34% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that the CPU has ample headroom, as the frame rate is consistently dictated by the graphics workload.

The trend is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The system produces 62 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 52 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and 41 FPS at 4K Ultra. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 21%, while the difference between 1080p and 1440p is 16%. This non-linear drop-off suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and its 192-bit bus are being saturated at the higher resolution, causing a more significant performance hit than the raw pixel count increase would suggest.

The Low settings data provides a useful contrast. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 175 FPS, which drops to 148 FPS at 1440p Low and 116 FPS at 4K Low. Even at the lowest settings, the 4K resolution still incurs a heavy penalty, showing that the memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is a hard ceiling for this title at 2160p. The data indicates that the game is highly sensitive to resolution changes, and the RTX 4070 Ti is the component that determines the playable envelope.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that Medium settings offer the best balance between visual fidelity and performance for this hardware. At 1440p Medium, the system delivers an average of 92 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is a very smooth experience that remains well above the 60 FPS threshold even in the worst-case frame times. The 1080p Medium result is also strong, with an average of 110 FPS and a minimum of 93 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays.

For 4K gaming, Medium settings are the only viable option that maintains a playable frame rate. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. While the average is acceptable, the minimum frame rate of 62 FPS is close to the edge of smoothness, indicating that there may be occasional stutters in demanding scenes. The High settings at 4K drop to 52 FPS, which is a significant compromise, and Ultra at 4K falls to 41 FPS, which is not recommended for a game that relies on atmosphere and tension.

The data suggests that players should prioritize Medium settings when targeting 4K, as it provides a 40% improvement over High settings (73 FPS vs 52 FPS). At 1440p, High settings at 66 FPS are playable, but Medium at 92 FPS offers a much more comfortable margin. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play at 1080p, Low settings at 175 FPS provide the maximum frame rate, but the visual sacrifice is significant. The optimal experience for this configuration is 1440p Medium, which provides a high frame rate without compromising too much on visual quality.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium. The GPU's performance is defined by its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is a critical factor in the game's resolution scaling. The data shows that the frame rate drops disproportionately as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of memory bandwidth saturation. The 175 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 116 FPS at 4K Low, a 34% reduction, which cannot be attributed to pixel fill rate alone, as the game's effects are relatively light at Low settings.

The GPU's clock speeds also play a role. With a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, the RTX 4070 Ti has the raw compute power to handle the game's rendering. However, the benchmark results indicate that the memory subsystem is the bottleneck. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 240 TMUs are sufficient for the game's visuals, but the 192-bit bus limits the amount of data that can be transferred per cycle. This is particularly evident in the Ultra settings, where the 4K result of 41 FPS is only 66% of the 1080p result of 62 FPS, showing a much steeper decline than the theoretical pixel count increase.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its mid-to-high-end positioning. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5024. Its percentile rank of 84 among all GPUs places it above the RTX A6000, which has an average score of 44075 compared to the 4070 Ti's 44795, a delta of 1.6%. This data confirms that the RTX 4070 Ti is a capable card, but the The Medium results show that its 12 GB memory buffer is a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the game likely requires more VRAM than is available, causing the frame rate to plummet.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: No. The data shows a 4K Ultra average of 41 FPS, which is below the standard for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium setting provides an average of 73 FPS, which is the highest playable setting at that resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combination?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 1440p is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the system achieves 92 FPS average with a 79 FPS minimum, providing a smooth and responsive experience. At 1080p, the system can reach 175 FPS at Low settings, but the visual quality is significantly reduced.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its closest rivals based on benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44795. It is 0.8% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45152) and 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45384). It is 1.6% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (44075) and 1.7% ahead of the Intel Arc A730M (45592).

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The resolution scaling data shows that frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has sufficient headroom, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low (175 FPS), where the CPU workload is relatively higher compared to the GPU.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates for the Medium settings?

A: The data provides minimum FPS values for Medium settings at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 93 FPS. At 1440p, the minimum is 79 FPS. At 4K, the minimum is 62 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth affect the game's performance?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth on a 192-bit bus. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant, suggesting that the memory bandwidth is a key constraint. For example, at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 175 FPS at 1080p to 116 FPS at 4K, a 34% reduction that highlights the memory bottleneck.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is not the bottleneck in The Medium based on the measured data. Its role is to feed the GPU with enough data to sustain high frame rates, and it does so effectively. The CPU's strength is evident in the benchmark results. It scores 22807 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2228 in single-core, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900, which has an average score of 58115, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, with an average score of 58826. The 9850X3D's average score of 58386 shows it is competitive with these top-tier processors.

The CPU's specifications support the gaming performance. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, it has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The large 96 MB shared L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads, as it reduces latency and improves data access. The Passmark multi-thread score of 41318 and single-thread score of 4704 demonstrate that the CPU can handle both highly threaded and single-threaded tasks with ease. The game is not heavily CPU-bound, as evidenced by the fact that reducing resolution from 1440p to 1080p at High settings only increases the frame rate from 66 FPS to 79 FPS, a 20% improvement, while the GPU workload is significantly reduced.

The data indicates that the CPU's performance is more than adequate for this title. The game is primarily GPU-limited, and the 9850X3D provides enough headroom to avoid any CPU-induced frame rate caps. The high minimum frame rates at Medium settings, such as 79 FPS at 1440p and 93 FPS at 1080p, show that the CPU is capable of maintaining consistent frame pacing without dips. The CPU's 4 nm process node and 8,315 million transistors contribute to its efficiency, but the raw performance is what matters here, and it is sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 Ti fully utilized. The CPU's high benchmark scores and ample cache ensure that it will not hold back the GPU in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 175 FPS average
• Medium: 110 FPS average (minimum 93 FPS, maximum 126 FPS)
• High: 79 FPS average
• Ultra: 62 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 148 FPS average
• Medium: 92 FPS average (minimum 79 FPS, maximum 106 FPS)
• High: 66 FPS average
• Ultra: 52 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 116 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average (minimum 62 FPS, maximum 83 FPS)
• High: 52 FPS average
• Ultra: 41 FPS average

The data shows a clear progression. At 1080p, the system is capable of very high frame rates, even reaching 175 FPS at Low settings. Medium settings at 1080p provide a strong 110 FPS average, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. High and Ultra settings are also playable, with 79 FPS and 62 FPS averages respectively. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop by roughly 15-20%, but the experience remains smooth. The 1440p Medium result of 92 FPS is the standout, offering a great balance of visual quality and performance. The 1440p Ultra result of 52 FPS is still playable, but it is close to the edge of what is considered smooth.

At 4K, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings achieve 116 FPS, which is still very playable, but the higher settings suffer. Medium settings at 4K average 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal. High settings drop to 52 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 41 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB memory buffer is stretched at this resolution, and players will need to compromise on settings to maintain a consistent frame rate. The overall performance profile indicates that this hardware is best suited for 1440p gaming, with 1080p providing maximum headroom and 4K requiring settings reductions.