The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that leans heavily on fixed camera angles and pre-rendered transitions, which can mask performance issues, but the measured data for this combo of an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and an AMD Radeon RX 570 reveals a system that is severely constrained by its graphics card. The CPU, a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 3 part based on the Vermeer architecture, is a top-tier processor from 2020, while the GPU, a Polaris 20 chip from 2017, is clearly the bottleneck in this pairing. The benchmark results show a consistent pattern where the processor’s immense headroom is wasted, as frame rates are dictated almost entirely by the graphics card’s limits.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a powerhouse on paper, built on the 7 nm process with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. Its 12 cores and 24 threads, backed by 64 MB of L3 cache, place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39453. The data shows it sits within 1% of rivals like the AMD EPYC 4245P and Intel Core i7-13700, meaning its raw compute capability is not the limiting factor in this game. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game’s physics and AI, but at the resolutions tested, the workload is not heavy enough to strain this processor.

The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is never the bottleneck. For instance, the 3DMark multi-threaded score of 10075 and the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33150 suggest that even in heavily threaded scenarios, this chip has ample reserve. The game’s fixed camera perspectives reduce the complexity of the scene rendering, which further diminishes the CPU load. Consequently, the measured FPS is not a reflection of the CPU’s performance but rather a direct measure of the GPU’s ability to keep up. The processor’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2202 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4680, is more than adequate for the game’s logic, meaning any frame rate drops are attributable to the graphics subsystem, not the processor.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the clear limiting component in this configuration. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest by modern standards. The GPU’s GCN 4.0 architecture, running at a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, delivers 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p gaming at lower presets, but the data shows that The Medium’s demands quickly overwhelm it. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 30158 places it in the 74th percentile, but its nearest rivals in the data are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which are vastly different in capability, highlighting that the RX 570 is being compared against much newer hardware.

The VRAM capacity is a critical issue. At 4K, the game likely exceeds the 4 GB frame buffer, causing severe performance degradation. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is a mere 11.1 FPS, and even at Low settings, it only reaches 30.6 FPS. The memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s is insufficient for the high-resolution textures and effects that The Medium uses, leading to stuttering and low frame rates. The GPU’s pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s are simply not enough to handle the game’s visual fidelity at higher resolutions, making it the primary reason for the poor performance observed across all settings.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the broader database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Ryzen 9 5900X and RX 570 ranks 1643 out of 1689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 3% of all systems tested, which is a stark indication of how poorly the GPU holds back the CPU. The rank is not a measure of the CPU’s capability but rather the overall system’s performance in this specific game. The data shows that despite having a top-tier processor, the system’s frame rates are comparable to what one might expect from a much weaker CPU paired with a similar GPU, because the bottleneck is so pronounced.

The ranking suggests that this combo is fundamentally unbalanced for this title. While the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all processors, the GPU is in the 74th percentile, but the game’s engine is clearly sensitive to GPU throughput. The measured FPS across all resolutions and settings is consistently low, indicating that the system is not leveraging the CPU’s strengths. This rank is a cautionary tale that a powerful CPU cannot compensate for an underpowered GPU in a graphically intensive horror game like The Medium. The data implies that any upgrade to the GPU would yield massive improvements, while upgrading the CPU would have negligible impact on the game’s performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system’s limitations. At 1920x1080, the game is barely playable at the lowest settings, with an average of 44.8 FPS on Low. This drops to 28.6 FPS on Medium, 19.2 FPS on High, and a dismal 14.7 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at 1080p, the RX 570 cannot maintain a smooth experience above Low settings. At 2560x1440, the situation worsens: Low settings yield 37.9 FPS, Medium drops to 22.7 FPS, High falls to 15.1 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 10.4 FPS. The 4K resolution is essentially unplayable, with Low settings at 30.6 FPS, Medium at 17.0 FPS, High at 11.1 FPS, and Ultra at 13.1 FPS.

The data reveals an anomaly at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 13.1 is slightly higher than the High preset’s 11.1 FPS. This is unusual and suggests that the game’s settings at Ultra might be applying a different rendering path or that the GPU is hitting a memory bandwidth limit that affects both presets similarly. The step from Low to Medium at all resolutions results in a significant FPS drop, indicating that the Medium preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU’s resources. For instance, at 1080p, the drop from Low to Medium is 16.2 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 9.4 FPS, showing diminishing returns in performance cost as settings increase.

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

The scaling of FPS from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates that the GPU is the limiting component. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 44.8 FPS at 1080p to 37.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 15.4%, and then to 30.6 FPS at 4K, a further 19.3% reduction from 1440p. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where increasing the resolution increases the pixel fill rate demand. The GPU’s ROP count of 32 and pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s are clearly insufficient for 4K, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS does not drop by a proportional amount, suggesting other bottlenecks like memory bandwidth are also at play.

At High settings, the FPS drops from 19.2 at 1080p to 15.1 at 1440p, a 21.4% decrease, and then to 11.1 at 4K, a 26.5% decrease. This steeper decline at higher settings indicates that the GPU’s texture units and shading units are overwhelmed. The data implies that the CPU is not contributing to the performance degradation, as the frame rates scale with resolution in a manner consistent with GPU limitations. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions, which is not the case. The system is unequivocally GPU-bound, and the CPU’s 12 cores are idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured data, the only playable configuration is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which yields an average of 44.8 FPS. This is the only preset that approaches a playable frame rate, though it is still below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, even Low settings drop to 37.9 FPS, which is borderline, but the visual fidelity loss may not be worth the resolution increase. For a more stable experience, the data suggests that 1080p Low is the best option, as it offers the highest average FPS of any tested configuration. The Medium preset at 1080p, with 28.6 FPS, is playable but will feel sluggish, and the High and Ultra presets are not recommended due to sub-20 FPS averages.

The data shows that the step from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 16.2 FPS, which is a significant drop, but the visual improvement may be necessary for some players. However, the benchmark results indicate that the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM is likely causing texture thrashing at Medium and above, leading to inconsistent frame times. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the 1080p Low preset is the only configuration that provides a playable experience without severe stuttering. At 4K, all settings are unplayable, and even Low settings at 30.6 FPS are not smooth enough for a horror game that requires precise timing. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p Low to get the most out of this hardware.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution and settings to play The Medium with this combo?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings offers the highest average FPS at 44.8. This is the only configuration that provides a playable frame rate, as all other settings at this resolution drop below 30 FPS.

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

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component. The FPS scales significantly with resolution, dropping from 44.8 at 1080p Low to 30.6 at 4K Low, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s high scores, such as a 3DMark multi-threaded score of 10075, suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems in The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 1643 out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 3% of all systems. This low ranking is directly attributable to the GPU’s performance, as the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all processors.

Q: What is the average FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 19.2 at 1920x1080 to 11.1 at 3840x2160. This represents a 42.2% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the RX 570’s 4 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The data shows a sharp performance drop when moving from Low to Medium settings at all resolutions. For example, at 1080p, the FPS drops from 44.8 on Low to 28.6 on Medium, suggesting that the Medium preset likely exceeds the 4 GB VRAM capacity, causing a significant performance penalty.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components in this combo?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X has a launch MSRP of $549, and the AMD Radeon RX 570 has a launch MSRP of 169 USD. These prices reflect their respective release dates, with the CPU launching in 2020 and the GPU in 2017.