The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a playable but heavily settings-dependent experience in The Medium. The data shows a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher presets and resolutions, with the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus becoming significant bottlenecks. While the CPU provides ample headroom, the measured FPS across all 12 tested configurations reveals that only the Low preset guarantees smooth performance at 1440p and 4K, making this combo a capable but constrained option for this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that the GPU is the primary limiting component in this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 110 at 1920x1080 to 91 at 2560x1440, a 17.3% reduction, and then further to 70 at 3840x2160, representing a 36.4% total decline from 1080p. This scaling pattern indicates that even at the lowest graphical preset, the RTX 4060 struggles to maintain frame rates as pixel count increases.

The High preset shows even more severe degradation. The system delivers 51.7 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 41.6 FPS at 1440p and finally to 31 FPS at 4K. The 4K result represents a 40% loss compared to 1080p, highlighting how the GPU’s limited memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s and 8 GB VRAM capacity become increasingly inadequate at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory but starts from a lower baseline: 40.9 FPS at 1080p, 33.7 FPS at 1440p, and 22.5 FPS at 4K.

What is notable is the diminishing returns between Medium and High settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Medium (68.8 FPS) and High (51.7 FPS) is 17.1 FPS, while at 4K the same settings gap narrows to 12.3 FPS (43.3 vs 31). This compression at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is already saturated with pixel shading work, leaving less headroom for additional graphical features. The data indicates that players targeting 4K should expect sub-60 FPS performance regardless of preset, with only Low settings providing a comfortable margin above 30 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the decisive factor in this system’s The Medium performance. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, the card exhibits clear limitations in this game’s high-resolution scenarios. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz provide solid raw compute, but the memory subsystem becomes the bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 22.5.

The GPU’s 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p gaming, as evidenced by the 110 FPS result at Low settings. However, the pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with Medium or higher presets. The 4K Medium result of 43.3 FPS indicates that the card can handle some graphical features at this resolution, but the jump to High (31 FPS) and Ultra (22.5 FPS) shows a rapid falloff as texture quality and effects increase.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 66 against all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7). This competitive positioning is reflected in the benchmark results: the RTX 4060 delivers playable 1080p performance across all presets but requires significant settings reductions for 1440p and 4K. The 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance is respectable, but the memory bandwidth limitation becomes the dominant factor in a game like The Medium that appears to demand high texture throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 961 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all systems. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning rather than any CPU deficiency. The Ryzen 9 5900X is a high-end processor with a 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs, but the RTX 4060’s 66th percentile GPU ranking drags the overall combo down.

The rank suggests that this pairing is not optimized for this particular game. Many lower-ranked combos likely feature weaker CPUs but similar or better GPUs, since The Medium appears to be heavily GPU-bound. The CPU’s 12 cores and 24 threads provide massive headroom that the game does not fully utilize, as evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Low (110 FPS), the system does not appear to be CPU-limited. The 961st rank out of 1689 means that roughly 57% of tested combinations deliver better average performance, which is consistent with the RTX 4060’s mid-tier status.

The combo’s ranking also reflects the diminishing returns of pairing a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU in a graphically demanding title. While the Ryzen 9 5900X excels in synthetic benchmarks like Cinebench R23 multicore (33150) and Passmark multithread (39002), these strengths do not translate to higher FPS in The Medium when the GPU is the bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor, as the FPS scaling between resolutions follows GPU-bound patterns.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Low preset provides the only consistently smooth experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Low delivers 110 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. At 1440p, Low maintains 91 FPS, and even at 4K it achieves 70 FPS, all of which are above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Players prioritizing frame rate should select Low regardless of their resolution.

For 1080p users, Medium at 68.8 FPS is a strong recommendation, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Low while staying comfortably above 60 FPS. High at 51.7 FPS is acceptable for players who prefer visual quality over smoothness, but Ultra at 40.9 FPS is not recommended given the substantial performance cost. At 1440p, Medium at 56.6 FPS is the highest playable preset, though it falls slightly below 60 FPS. High at 41.6 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 33.7 FPS is only suitable for players who tolerate sub-40 FPS.

The 4K resolution presents the most challenging scenario. Only Low at 70 FPS is truly playable. Medium at 43.3 FPS is tolerable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 22.5 FPS are likely to cause noticeable stuttering and discomfort. The data suggests that 4K users should either accept Low settings or consider reducing the resolution to 1440p, where Medium provides a much better visual-to-performance balance.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 60 FPS in 4K?*

A: No. The highest 4K result is 70 FPS at Low settings, but Medium drops to 43.3 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 31 FPS and 22.5 FPS respectively. No preset achieves 60 FPS at 3840x2160.

Q: What is the best settings configuration for 1440p gaming?

A: Low settings at 91 FPS or Medium at 56.6 FPS are the most viable options. High at 41.6 FPS and Ultra at 33.7 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold and not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 23181 is within 0.7% of the Intel Arc B580 (23021) and 0.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321), indicating that all three cards would perform similarly in The Medium.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X limiting performance in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s 90th percentile ranking and strong synthetic scores (e.g., 33150 Cinebench R23 multicore) suggest it has ample capacity. The FPS scaling patterns indicate the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What framerate can be expected at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 51.7 FPS. This is playable but below 60 FPS, and players seeking higher frame rates should use Medium (68.8 FPS) or Low (110 FPS).

Q: Does the game favor NVIDIA or AMD hardware in this pairing?

A: The data shows no platform bias. The GPU’s performance is consistent with its mid-range positioning, and the CPU’s architecture does not appear to confer any specific advantage or disadvantage in this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, is significantly overqualified for The Medium as measured in this combo. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.80 GHz and base clock of 3.70 GHz, combined with 64 MB of L3 cache, provide far more processing power than the game appears to require. The 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms its high-end status, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700F (deltaPct 0.9) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS (deltaPct -0.7).

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark results are impressive, including a 3DMark max threads score of 10075 and a Passmark multithread score of 39002. However, these capabilities do not translate to proportionally higher FPS in The Medium because the GPU becomes the bottleneck at virtually all tested settings and resolutions. The only scenario where the CPU might matter is at 1080p Low (110 FPS), but even here the RTX 4060 is capable of keeping up with the CPU’s output.

The 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this workload, but they are not differentiating factors. The CPU’s 64 MB L3 cache is beneficial for gaming, yet the measured results show that the system’s performance is constrained by the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory interface. In essence, the Ryzen 9 5900X provides a stable, high-performance foundation that never becomes the limiting factor, but its full potential remains untapped in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all presets. Low settings achieve 110 FPS average, Medium reaches 68.8 FPS, High produces 51.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40.9 FPS. The 69.1 FPS difference between Low and Ultra demonstrates the wide performance range available at this resolution, making it the most flexible option for players.

At 2560x1440, the results show a consistent reduction from 1080p. Low settings deliver 91 FPS, Medium achieves 56.6 FPS, High reaches 41.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 33.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 57.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU is beginning to struggle with higher settings at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are most pronounced. Low settings still manage 70 FPS, but Medium falls to 43.3 FPS, High to 31 FPS, and Ultra to 22.5 FPS. The 47.5 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity are the primary constraints. The data shows that 4K gaming on this combo is only viable with the Low preset, while 1440p offers a better balance at Medium settings, and 1080p provides the most headroom for visual fidelity.