The Medium

The Medium is a demanding title, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER produces a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions and settings. Benchmark results indicate that this combo ranks in the 30th percentile (2606 out of 3724 tested combinations), placing it below the median for this game. The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 2060 SUPER struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K, while the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X provides ample headroom, making the GPU the definitive bottleneck in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a dramatic shift in performance as resolution increases, clearly identifying the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 92 FPS, which drops to 77 FPS at 1440p and further to 61 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern—a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 21% drop from 1440p to 4K—indicates that while the GPU is working harder at higher resolutions, the CPU is still capable of feeding it frames at the lower settings.

However, the picture changes drastically when settings are increased. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 33 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 1440p and 21 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is a 36% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score, showing that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and its 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical fidelity. The GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 64 ROPs are simply insufficient for this workload.

The scaling from Medium to High settings at 4K shows a 29% performance penalty (38 to 27 FPS), while the jump from High to Ultra at the same resolution costs an additional 22% (27 to 21 FPS). This non-linear degradation suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER hits a memory bandwidth or fill-rate wall at 4K, particularly with the game's fixed camera angles and complex lighting effects that The Medium is known for. The data strongly suggests that the Ryzen 9 5900X, with its 64 MB of L3 cache and 24 threads, is never the limiting factor in this configuration—the GPU reaches its ceiling well before the CPU does.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo consistently delivers playable frame rates across all settings. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 92 on Low to 33 on Ultra, with Medium at 57 FPS being the sweet spot for a balance of quality and performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Barely, and only at Low settings. The measured 4K Low average is 61 FPS, which is playable, but 4K Medium drops to 38 FPS, and 4K High falls to 27 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is not a smooth experience for a horror title where timing and immersion matter.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in terms of raw GPU score?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 18093, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It performs 1.5% better than the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373) and 1.6% better than the Intel Arc A770M (18383), though these differences are marginal.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X a good match for the RTX 2060 SUPER?

A: In this game, the CPU is significantly overqualified. The Ryzen 9 5900X's benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16262 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2083, far exceed what The Medium requires. The GPU becomes the bottleneck at every resolution above 1080p Low, meaning the CPU's power is largely untapped.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: The gap is substantial. At 1440p, the Low preset delivers 77 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 27 FPS—a 65% reduction in performance. This shows that the RTX 2060 SUPER can handle the resolution itself, but the game's Ultra effects are too demanding for its 7.181 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the combo's rank in the database reflect its actual gaming performance?

A: The combo ranks 2606 out of 3724 tested combinations, which places it in the 70th percentile (meaning 70% of combos perform better). This is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the GPU struggling at higher settings, pulling the overall rank down despite the CPU's strength.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2606 out of 3724 tested combinations places it in the lower third of all tested systems for The Medium. This is a telling statistic, as the Ryzen 9 5900X is a top-tier CPU with a percentile rank of 87 against all CPUs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile against all GPUs. The discrepancy between these two components' individual strengths and the combo's weak overall ranking underscores a severe imbalance.

The data shows that the CPU's performance ceiling is far above what the GPU can deliver in this title. The Ryzen 9 5900X's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks—the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% lower score) and the Intel Core i7-14650HX (0.5% higher score)—are all modern processors that would pair better with a more powerful GPU. Conversely, the RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest GPU rivals include the RTX 3060 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro 5700, which are similar in raw compute but still would not boost this combo into a higher rank for such a GPU-bound game.

The rank deterioration is most pronounced at 4K, where the combo's 27 FPS High and 21 FPS Ultra results are well below the 60 FPS threshold that most modern combos achieve. Even at 1080p, the Ultra preset's 33 FPS average is below what the 87th-percentile CPU would typically enable with a better-matched GPU. The conclusion is clear: this is a CPU-heavy pairing that fails to utilize its processor's potential, resulting in a rank that reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the system's theoretical capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. The Low preset achieves an average of 92 FPS, with Medium at 57 FPS, High at 41 FPS, and Ultra at 33 FPS. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS, indicating some frame-time variance but generally smooth gameplay. The 16% performance drop from Low to Medium (92 to 57 FPS) and the 28% drop from Medium to High (57 to 41 FPS) show that the GPU's shader and texture units are the primary constraint as settings climb.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall to 77 FPS on Low, 48 FPS on Medium, 35 FPS on High, and 27 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset maintains a playable 48 FPS average with a range of 41 to 55 FPS, but the High and Ultra settings dip below the 40 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for a smooth action-horror experience. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs about 16% performance at Low settings, but at Ultra settings, the penalty is 18%, showing that the GPU's memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) is stretched thin.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unsuitable for serious play. Low settings yield 61 FPS average, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 38 FPS, High falls to 27 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21 FPS. The Medium setting's range of 32 to 43 FPS shows significant instability, which could be problematic in a game that relies on atmospheric tension. The 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is 77% lower than the 1080p Low result, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle the pixel count and effects simultaneously.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p but becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock of 1470 MHz and boost clock of 1650 MHz, combined with 2176 shading units, deliver 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is modest by modern standards.

The data shows that the GPU's 64 ROPs and 136 TMUs are the likely culprits for the steep performance drops at 4K Ultra. The game's fixed-camera perspective and detailed environments require high fill rates, and the RTX 2060 SUPER's pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s are simply not enough for 3840x2160 with maximum effects. The 272 tensor cores and 34 RT cores are present, but The Medium's use of ray tracing is not indicated in the measured data, so their impact is likely minimal.

The GPU's percentile rank of 62 against all GPUs places it in the upper-midrange, but its nearest rivals—the RTX 3060 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro 5700—are within 0.5% of its average score. This suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a competent card for esports and older titles, but for a demanding 2021 horror game like The Medium, its age (released 2019-07-08) shows. The 12 nm process node and 175 W TDP are indicative of an older architecture that lacks the efficiency and raw power of newer GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1080p with the Medium preset, which delivers 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS. This provides a stable, playable frame rate while maintaining a reasonable level of visual quality. The Medium preset at 1440p (48 FPS average) is also viable for players who prefer higher resolution, though the frame rate is less consistent.

For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, the 1080p Low preset offers 92 FPS average, which is excellent for a horror game that benefits from smooth camera movement. However, the visual downgrade is significant, and the data shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 38% performance, suggesting that Low is overly conservative for this hardware.

The High preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it drops to 35 FPS at 1440p and 27 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is only playable at 1080p (33 FPS), and even then, the frame rate is below the 40 FPS threshold that many players find acceptable. The 4K Low preset (61 FPS) is the only 4K option that maintains playability, but it requires sacrificing most graphical features, which undermines the purpose of playing at that resolution.

The sweet spot for this combo is 1080p Medium, as it balances the GPU's 8 GB memory usage and 7.181 TFLOPS compute against the game's demands. The 57 FPS average with a 49 FPS minimum ensures that the experience remains smooth during intense scenes, which is critical for maintaining immersion in a psychological horror title. For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 48 FPS is a reasonable compromise, but players should be prepared for occasional dips below 45 FPS during heavy effects sequences.