The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination presents a fascinating case study in The Medium, a horror title known for its dual-reality rendering mechanics. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the clear performance limiter, yet the CPU’s robust multi-threading capabilities ensure the game never stutters due to processing bottlenecks. This analysis dissects the measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers mean for the balance of this specific hardware pairing.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates on a 7 nm process and features a base clock of 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. For a game like The Medium, which relies on streaming two simultaneous worlds, the 64 MB of L3 cache and high thread count are theoretically advantageous for managing asset streaming and background tasks. The CPU’s raw compute headroom is substantial—its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33150 and single-core score of 4680 place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is far more powerful than what most games require.

Despite this, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 142.3 FPS, which is a high frame rate but not exceptionally so for a flagship-tier processor. The data implies that while the 5900X can feed the GPU effectively, the performance ceiling in The Medium is dictated by the graphics card. The CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score of 39002 and its 3DMark max-thread score of 10075 confirm it has ample reserve processing power. Compared to its nearest rivals—like the AMD EPYC 4245P (0.2% higher average score) or the Intel Core i7-13700 (1% lower)—the 5900X is performance-competitive, but these differences are negligible in gaming scenarios where the GPU is the bottleneck. The processor’s role here is to ensure consistent frame delivery without introducing CPU-bound dips, which the data supports.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the star of this show, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 48 chip on a 4 nm process. It comes equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are high, but the key specification for The Medium is the 16 GB VRAM buffer, which is crucial for the game’s high-resolution textures and dual-world rendering. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 25381 puts it in the 79th percentile, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290 reflects solid raw performance.

The data shows a clear GPU-bound scenario. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 31, while at 1080p Low, it jumps to 142.3 FPS—a four-fold increase. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is fully utilized, as the frame rate responds directly to pixel count and graphical load. The GPU’s 128 ROPs and 3584 shading units are tasked heavily by The Medium’s visual effects. Notably, the GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—like the NVIDIA A2 (0.2% higher) or the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (0.7% higher)—are not relevant for gaming, highlighting that synthetic scores do not always translate to real-world gaming performance. In this game, the RX 9070’s 16 GB memory capacity prevents texture swapping at high settings, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential.

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

The measured FPS data across resolutions provides a textbook example of GPU-limited scaling. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 142.3 at 1080p, to 117 at 1440p, and down to 92.5 at 4K. This represents a 35% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is a modest decrease compared to higher settings. At Ultra settings, the FPS falls from 51.7 at 1080p, to 43.4 at 1440p, and finally to 31 at 4K—a 40% reduction. This pattern indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become the primary constraints.

What is revealing is the delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 90.6 FPS (142.3 vs 51.7), whereas at 4K, the difference is only 61.5 FPS (92.5 vs 31). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming saturated even at Low settings in 4K, meaning the CPU is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows a consistent decline. The 5900X’s high thread count and clock speeds are sufficient to keep up with the RX 9070’s demands, even at 1080p where CPU overhead is typically highest. The data strongly implies that The Medium is heavily graphics-bound, and the CPU has headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the grand database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 achieves a rank of 522 out of 1689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 31% of all systems tested, which is a respectable position but not a top-tier one. The rank reflects the GPU’s 79th percentile performance against all GPUs, but the game’s heavy graphics load means the combination is not able to reach the upper echelons of the rankings.

The fact that this combo ranks in the middle of the pack suggests that while the hardware is capable, The Medium is a demanding title that pushes the RX 9070 to its limits. The CPU’s 90th percentile ranking does not boost the combo’s position, because the game is not CPU-sensitive. Compared to other combos with faster GPUs, this system would likely fall behind, but compared to those with weaker CPUs, it would have no advantage. The rank of 522 out of 1689 indicates a balanced system that performs admirably in most scenarios but is held back by the GPU’s inability to maintain high frame rates at maximum settings. This is an investigative point: the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a far greater performance boost than upgrading the CPU.

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

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual fidelity and smoothness varies by resolution. At 1080p, the Medium preset yields 89.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High drops to 62.6 FPS. For a 60 Hz monitor, Medium is the best choice, as it offers a 43% higher frame rate than High with likely minimal visual sacrifice. At 1440p, Medium produces 74.1 FPS, making it the only preset besides Low that exceeds 60 FPS. High at 53.5 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced horror sequences. The data suggests Medium is the sweet spot at 1440p.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. Medium produces 57.9 FPS, which is close to but below 60 FPS, while High drops to 44 FPS and Ultra to a stutter-prone 31 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 92.5 FPS is the only way to achieve a truly smooth experience, but it sacrifices visual quality. Given the game’s horror genre, where atmosphere is key, the Medium preset at 4K (57.9 FPS) is the best compromise, as it maintains playable frame rates while preserving enough detail. The data does not include min FPS values, so it is unclear if there are stutters, but the average FPS figures are the primary guide. In summary, Medium is the recommended preset for 1080p and 1440p, while at 4K, users must choose between Low for smoothness and Medium for fidelity.

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

*Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware for a 60 FPS experience?*

A: The data shows that at 1440p with Medium settings, the combo achieves 74.1 FPS, which is above 60 FPS. At 4K, even Medium settings only reach 57.9 FPS, so 1440p is the highest resolution that can reliably maintain a 60 FPS average with Medium settings.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset averages 142.3 FPS, while Ultra averages 51.7 FPS. This means Low is approximately 2.75 times faster than Ultra, a significant difference of 90.6 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The data shows that FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, from 142.3 FPS at 1080p Low to 31 FPS at 4K Ultra. This pattern is indicative of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU’s high benchmark scores (e.g., 33150 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) suggest it has ample headroom.

Q: What is the performance difference between the 5900X and its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700?

A: The nearest rival data shows that the Intel Core i7-13700 has an average benchmark score that is 1% lower than the Ryzen 9 5900X. In real-world gaming, this difference is negligible and does not affect the measured FPS in The Medium.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K?

A: The data indicates that the RX 9070 with 16 GB of VRAM can run the game at 4K, achieving 92.5 FPS on Low settings. The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in the measured rows, as the GPU’s performance scales predictably with other factors like pixel count.

Q: How does this combo’s performance rank against all other tested systems?

A: This combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 522nd out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 31% of all systems, indicating solid performance but not top-tier status.

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

The following table lists the exact average FPS measurements for this hardware configuration across all tested resolutions and settings:

• 1080p (1920x1080):
• Low: 142.3 FPS
• Medium: 89.3 FPS
• High: 62.6 FPS
• Ultra: 51.7 FPS

• 1440p (2560x1440):
• Low: 117 FPS
• Medium: 74.1 FPS
• High: 53.5 FPS
• Ultra: 43.4 FPS

• 4K (3840x2160):
• Low: 92.5 FPS
• Medium: 57.9 FPS
• High: 44 FPS
• Ultra: 31 FPS

These numbers reveal a consistent hierarchy: Low is always the fastest, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra. The largest absolute gap between settings is at 1080p (90.6 FPS between Low and Ultra), while the smallest is at 4K (61.5 FPS between Low and Ultra). The data also shows that moving from 1080p to 4K at the same setting reduces FPS by 35% at Low, 35% at Medium, 30% at High, and 40% at Ultra. This variance suggests that higher settings increase the GPU’s workload disproportionately, making resolution scaling more punishing at Ultra. The lack of min or max FPS values means these averages are the only frame rate indicators, but they are sufficient to establish the GPU-bound nature of this pairing.