The Medium

# The Medium with AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

This configuration pairs AMD's 8-core Ryzen 7 9850X3D with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080, and the measured frame rates in The Medium reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions while showing surprising CPU headroom at 1080p. The benchmark data covers four settings presets across three resolutions, providing a complete picture of how this hardware combination scales with graphical load.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename), manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it carries 96 MB of shared L3 cache along with 1 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The processor sits on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with dual-channel DDR5 memory support and a 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth figure.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. Its PassMark multi-thread score is 41318, with a single-thread score of 4704. The CPU's average benchmark score of 58386 places it in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs tested. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (avg score 58323, 0.1% slower), the Intel Core i9-14900 (avg score 58115, 0.5% slower), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (avg score 58826, 0.7% faster).

Looking at The Medium's measured results, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 191 FPS. That is the highest frame rate recorded in this data set, and it suggests the processor is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond the point where graphical settings become the limiting factor. At 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 68 FPS, which indicates that even with this strong CPU, the game's higher presets shift the bottleneck decisively toward the graphics card.

The data shows a consistent pattern: moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution produces a frame rate drop that far exceeds what CPU performance alone would explain. For instance, at 1440p the Low preset runs at 161 FPS while Ultra runs at 57 FPS — a 104 FPS gap that cannot be attributed to processor limitations given the CPU's strong multi-threaded and single-threaded scores. The 9850X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for The Medium's workload, as evidenced by the fact that even the most demanding preset at 1080p still yields 68 FPS.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, 112 ROPs, 76 ray tracing cores, and 304 tensor cores. The GPU has a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory sits on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth.

In synthetic performance, the RTX 4080 scores 6567 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 214739 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 263779 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its PassMark G3D score is 34457, with a GPU compute score of 20671. The GPU's average benchmark score of 54247 places it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (avg score 54209, 0.1% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (avg score 54828, 1.1% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (avg score 55698, 2.6% faster).

The RTX 4080's role in The Medium becomes clear when examining the resolution scaling data. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 45 FPS, while at 4K High it reaches 57 FPS, and at 4K Medium it hits 79 FPS. The 4K Low preset jumps to 127 FPS. This wide spread — from 45 to 127 FPS across presets at the same resolution — demonstrates that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's demands, as there are no signs of memory-related stuttering in the measured minimum FPS values (the Medium preset at 4K shows a 67 FPS minimum versus a 91 FPS maximum).

The GPU's 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth and 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute are the specifications that most directly influence these results. The game's horror atmosphere relies on detailed textures and lighting, which place heavy demands on both memory bandwidth and shading throughput. At 1440p Ultra, the 57 FPS result is nearly identical to 4K High's 57 FPS, suggesting that beyond a certain point, the GPU's compute resources are saturated regardless of resolution.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data reveals a clear scaling pattern across the three resolutions. Using the Medium preset as the reference point, the system achieves 120 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. This represents a 15.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 21.8% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 34.2% of the original frame rate.

The Low preset shows a similar but steeper curve: 191 FPS at 1080p, 161 FPS at 1440p, and 127 FPS at 4K. This is a 33.5% total reduction, which is slightly less severe than the Medium preset's scaling. The High preset follows with 86 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K — a 33.7% total reduction. The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute numbers but a similar relative pattern: 68 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K, representing a 33.8% total reduction.

These scaling figures indicate that the RTX 4080 is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops are roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count — going from 1080p to 4K quadruples the pixel workload, yet the frame rate does not quarter, which means the CPU is providing enough headroom to mitigate some of the GPU load. However, the fact that even at 1080p Ultra the system only reaches 68 FPS — versus 191 FPS at 1080p Low — shows that graphical settings have a larger impact on performance than resolution alone.

The data also shows that the gap between 1440p and 4K is smaller than the gap between 1080p and 1440p for all presets. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are being utilized more efficiently at higher resolutions, where the overhead of draw calls and CPU-side processing becomes less significant relative to the pixel shader workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: The Medium preset achieves 101 FPS at 1440p and 120 FPS at 1080p, while 4K Medium drops to 79 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, all three resolutions work with Medium settings, but 4K Ultra falls to 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54247, which is 0.1% faster than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) and 1.1% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828). The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% faster with a score of 55698.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game's performance?

A: At 1080p Low, the system hits 191 FPS, indicating CPU headroom. However, at 4K Ultra the frame rate drops to 45 FPS, showing that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution and settings increase. The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking supports its capability to keep up.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: The Low preset runs at 127 FPS at 4K, while Ultra runs at 45 FPS — a difference of 82 FPS. This represents a 64.6% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset at 4K resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9850X3D's multi-core performance compare to its rivals?

A: The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 22807. Its average benchmark score of 58386 is 0.1% higher than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900, but 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS for the Medium preset?

A: At 1080p Medium, the measured range is 102 to 138 FPS with an average of 120. At 1440p Medium, the range is 86 to 116 FPS with an average of 101. At 4K Medium, the range is 67 to 91 FPS with an average of 79.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 173rd out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the top 4.6% of all configurations in the database for this game. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing — the CPU's 92nd percentile standing and the GPU's 86th percentile standing combine to produce a system that handles the game's requirements well across most settings.

The ranking is particularly notable given that the RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (54209 versus 54247, a 0.1% difference). This suggests that the combo rank is driven primarily by the CPU-GPU pairing rather than by any single component's outlier performance. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D's 8-core, 16-thread configuration with 96 MB of L3 cache provides strong gaming performance, as evidenced by the system's ability to reach 191 FPS at 1080p Low.

The data indicates that this combo performs best when the GPU's resources are not fully saturated, such as at 1080p and 1440p with Medium or High presets. At these settings, the frame rates range from 72 to 120 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. The rank of 173 out of 3724 combos reflects this versatility — the system does not excel in any single extreme (like 4K Ultra at 45 FPS) but rather provides solid performance across a wide range of configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 1440p delivers the most balanced experience. At 101 FPS average with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS, this configuration provides smooth gameplay with enough visual fidelity for the horror atmosphere. The 1440p Medium setting avoids the frame rate dips seen at 4K while offering better image quality than 1080p.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the 1080p Low preset achieves 191 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. However, this comes at the cost of visual quality in a game where atmosphere and lighting are central to the experience. The 1080p Medium preset at 120 FPS (102 minimum, 138 maximum) provides a better balance for competitive play or fast-paced sections.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 79 FPS (67 minimum, 91 maximum) is the only viable option for maintaining a playable frame rate. The High preset at 57 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay, while Ultra at 45 FPS may introduce noticeable stuttering in action sequences. The Low preset at 127 FPS is playable but sacrifices too much visual quality for a horror game that relies on environmental detail.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at all resolutions — even at 1080p it only reaches 68 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 45 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra settings is disproportionate to the visual benefits, given that High at 4K (57 FPS) and Medium at 4K (79 FPS) offer much better frame rates with modest visual compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average frame rates across presets: Low runs at 191 FPS, Medium at 120 FPS (with a minimum of 102 and maximum of 138), High at 86 FPS, and Ultra at 68 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 123 FPS, indicating that graphical settings have a massive impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the measured averages are: Low at 161 FPS, Medium at 101 FPS (minimum 86, maximum 116), High at 72 FPS, and Ultra at 57 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 104 FPS, but the relative performance drop from 1080p remains consistent across presets — roughly 15-17% reduction for each preset.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 127 FPS, Medium at 79 FPS (minimum 67, maximum 91), High at 57 FPS, and Ultra at 45 FPS. The resolution scaling from 1440p shows a 21-24% reduction per preset, which is more pronounced than the 1080p to 1440p transition. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire data set, while 4K Low at 127 FPS demonstrates that the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for high frame rates even at the highest resolution, provided settings are reduced.

The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum is 102 FPS; at 1440p, it is 86 FPS; and at 4K, it is 67 FPS. These minimum values indicate that the Medium preset maintains reasonably stable frame pacing, with the 4K minimum staying above 60 FPS. The maximum FPS values (138 at 1080p, 116 at 1440p, 91 at 4K) show that the system has headroom for less demanding scenes, making the Medium preset a safe choice for consistent performance across varying gameplay intensity.