The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 presents a striking contrast in The Medium. The CPU is a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 3 part with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs tested. In contrast, the GPU, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 1792 shading units, sits in the 69th percentile. This disparity suggests the system is heavily leaning on the graphics card to deliver frames, a hypothesis the measured data supports.

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

The Ryzen 9 5900X is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, a configuration that provides substantial headroom for multi-threaded workloads. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33150 and a single-core score of 4680, indicate strong processing capability. The CPU’s 3.70 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost clocks, combined with a 64 MB L3 cache, are designed to handle demanding tasks. However, in The Medium, the data suggests that the CPU is not the primary constraint on performance.

Across all measured resolutions and settings, the FPS figures are moderate, with the best result being 82.3 FPS at 1920x1080 Low. The game appears to be heavily reliant on the GPU, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when moving from Low to High settings at the same resolution. For instance, at 1920x1080, the average FPS falls from 82.3 at Low to 37.2 at High. This pattern indicates that the CPU is likely delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them, making the RX 6600 the limiting factor. The CPU’s percentile ranking (90th) versus the GPU’s (69th) further corroborates that the processor is not the bottleneck in this pairing.

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

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 82.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5900X compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 39453. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4245P, scores 39383, a delta of 0.2%. The Intel Core i7-13700F scores 39095, which is 0.9% lower.

Q: What is the lowest FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 19.3, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the RX 6600 outperform the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti in average GPU benchmark score?

A: No, the RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 25235, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 25120, meaning the RTX 3060 Ti is 0.5% lower. The RX 6600 is slightly ahead.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s.

Q: At which resolution does the combo achieve over 60 FPS?

A: The combo exceeds 60 FPS only at 1920x1080 with Low settings, hitting 82.3 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it reaches 67.9 FPS, also above 60.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The data places this specific combination at rank 1366 out of 1689 total tested combos within The Medium. This rank of 1366 puts it in the lower 19% of all configurations, which is a surprisingly weak showing given the individual component strengths. The Ryzen 9 5900X is a top-tier CPU, and the RX 6600 is a competent mid-range GPU, yet their combined performance in this title is underwhelming relative to other systems.

This ranking suggests that The Medium is highly demanding on the GPU, and the RX 6600’s 8 GB VRAM and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth may be insufficient for higher settings. The combo’s low rank is likely due to the GPU struggling to maintain playable frame rates at higher presets, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 19.3 FPS. The data implies that users hoping for a smooth experience at high resolutions or settings will need to make significant compromises.

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

At 1920x1080, the combo starts at 82.3 FPS with Low settings. Medium drops to 54.0 FPS, a significant 34% reduction. High settings yield 37.2 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 31.5 FPS. This shows a steep curve where each quality increase costs a substantial amount of performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues. Low settings produce 67.9 FPS, which is still playable. Medium falls to 44.9 FPS, and High drops to 35.0 FPS. Ultra settings yield only 23.4 FPS, making the game nearly unplayable at that preset.

At 3840x2160, the results are poor across the board. Low settings achieve 56.6 FPS, which is borderline. Medium drops to 32.9 FPS, High falls to 25.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19.3 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: the RX 6600 cannot handle 4K gaming in The Medium beyond the lowest settings.

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

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals the bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 82.3 at 1920x1080 to 56.6 at 3840x2160, a 31% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 54.0 to 32.9, a 39% reduction. For High settings, the drop is from 37.2 to 25.8, a 31% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 31.5 to 19.3, a 39% reduction.

These consistent percentage drops indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. As resolution increases, the pixel count grows, and the GPU must work harder. The CPU’s performance remains relatively constant, so the FPS decline is directly proportional to the GPU’s workload. The 4K Ultra result of 19.3 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows the GPU is completely overwhelmed. The data suggests that the RX 6600’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are insufficient for the high-resolution textures and effects in The Medium.

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

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, delivering 82.3 FPS. This is the only configuration that exceeds 80 FPS and provides a smooth, responsive experience. At 2560x1440 Low, the combo achieves 67.9 FPS, which is also playable and offers a higher resolution.

For users seeking a balance between visual quality and performance, 1920x1080 Medium at 54.0 FPS is a reasonable choice. The drop from Low to Medium is significant, but the visual improvements may be worth it for some. At 3840x2160, only Low settings (56.6 FPS) are viable; Medium at 32.9 FPS and High at 25.8 FPS are too choppy for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and tension. The data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra settings at any resolution, as the lowest result is 31.5 FPS at 1080p and 19.3 FPS at 4K, which would detract from the experience.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip. It has a base clock of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. The GPU includes 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. With 1792 shading units and 64 ROPs, the card is designed for 1080p gaming.

In The Medium, the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM appears to be a limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The game’s horror environments likely use high-resolution textures that exceed the memory capacity, causing performance to plummet. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 19.3, a clear sign of VRAM pressure. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 69th places it in the lower half of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 25235 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 890M, which scores 25246 (a delta of 0%). This suggests the RX 6600 is a modest performer, and its 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for the demands of The Medium at high settings. The results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this combo, consistently dragging down the system’s overall performance.