The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The recorded data for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 57 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 48 FPS, a reduction of 9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset average falls to 38 FPS, another 10 FPS reduction. This progression indicates that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a horror title that relies on detailed environments and volumetric effects.

The Low preset demonstrates the steepest relative drop when moving from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 Low, the system delivers 91 FPS average. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 77 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 60 FPS. The 31 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K on Low settings represents a 34% performance loss, which suggests that even at the lowest graphical configuration, the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The High preset shows a similar trend, starting at 41 FPS at 1080p, falling to 34 FPS at 1440p, and reaching 27 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 32 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the Radeon RX 6600 XT, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, faces increasing pressure as resolution rises. The 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a more significant constraint at 4K, where texture and geometry data demands exceed what the bus can efficiently feed. The data shows that the gap between Low and Medium settings narrows at higher resolutions, which implies that the additional rendering work from Medium settings is partially offset by the GPU becoming saturated with pixel throughput.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The GPU has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 32 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. The memory configuration is 8 GB of GDDR6 running at 2000 MHz with a 16 Gbps effective data rate, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth across a 128-bit bus.

These specifications explain the measured frame rates in The Medium. The game's horror atmosphere relies on heavy use of lighting, shadows, and particle effects, which tax the shading units and TMUs. At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 91 FPS, showing that the raw compute capacity (10.60 TFLOPS FP32) is sufficient for the game's demands at modest settings. However, the 8 GB VRAM becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions and quality presets. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 21 FPS, which aligns with the GPU struggling to manage both the increased pixel workload and the larger texture set required by Ultra settings.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling in this title is reached well before the CPU becomes a bottleneck. At 4K Low, the system still manages 60 FPS, which indicates that the GPU can handle the resolution when settings are reduced. The difference between 4K Low (60 FPS) and 4K Medium (38 FPS) is 22 FPS, a 37% drop from just one preset level change. This suggests that the Medium preset introduces rendering features that disproportionately impact the GPU, likely including higher resolution shadows or more complex shader work.

The Radeon RX 6600 XT's position in the database, with a percentile rank of 70 among all GPUs, places it as a mid-range performer. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher score), the Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher). These deltas are small in synthetic tests, but the measured game performance shows that the RX 6600 XT is well-suited for 1080p gaming in The Medium, with playable frame rates at Medium and High presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates on the AMD Socket AM4 platform with a 7 nm process from TSMC, containing 8,300 million transistors across a dual-die configuration (2x 74 mm²). The base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and the CPU has a 105 W TDP. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In The Medium, the CPU role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 91 FPS average, which is a solid frame rate that could be limited by either component. However, the fact that 4K Low still achieves 60 FPS suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution tested. The 16-core, 32-thread configuration provides ample headroom for the game's thread utilization, which typically scales well beyond 8 threads in modern titles.

The Ryzen 9 5950X's synthetic benchmarks reinforce its capability. In Cinebench R23, it scores 26,017 in multicore and 1,614 in single-core. The single-thread score of 944 in 3DMark indicates strong per-core performance, which is relevant for games that rely on a main simulation thread. The CPU's percentile rank among all processors is 91, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (0.2% lower aggregate score), AMD EPYC 8124P (0.3% lower), Intel Core i9-13900F (0.4% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700 (0.7% lower). These small deltas show that the 5950X remains competitive with newer processors in general compute tasks.

The measured game data shows no CPU-bound scenario in The Medium. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 32 FPS, which is far below the 91 FPS seen at Low settings, and this difference is attributable to GPU workload rather than CPU limitations. The CPU's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth matches well with the GPU's 256.0 GB/s, and the dual-channel DDR4 support provides sufficient data throughput for the game's asset streaming. The 5950X's 64 MB L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which benefits frame pacing in a game that loads environments across distinct realms.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 91 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: How does the Medium preset perform across different resolutions?

A: The Medium preset delivers 57 FPS at 1920x1080, 48 FPS at 2560x1440, and 38 FPS at 3840x2160. The minimum and maximum frame rates for Medium settings are 49/66 at 1080p, 41/55 at 1440p, and 32/43 at 4K.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate CPU limitation. The performance differences between resolutions and presets align with GPU workload scaling, and the 16-core, 32-thread processor provides substantial headroom above what The Medium requires.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K with High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average frame rate is 27 FPS. This is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playable performance.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset averages 41 FPS while Ultra averages 32 FPS. The 9 FPS difference represents a 22% reduction in frame rate from High to Ultra.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 77 FPS and Medium averages 48 FPS. The 29 FPS gap indicates that the Medium preset adds significant GPU workload over Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience for this combination. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS, which keeps frame times consistent enough for a horror game that requires smooth motion for atmosphere. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 91 FPS, but the visual quality reduction may detract from the game's intended mood.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset produces 48 FPS average with 41 FPS minimum and 55 FPS maximum. This is acceptable for a slower-paced horror title, though the frame rate dips below 45 FPS in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p provides 77 FPS, which is smoother but sacrifices the graphical fidelity that The Medium uses for its dual-reality presentation.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only configuration that maintains a playable average, at 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 38 FPS with a 32 FPS minimum, which may be tolerable for some players but risks noticeable stuttering during camera transitions. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, at 27 FPS and 21 FPS respectively, fall below acceptable thresholds for responsive gameplay.

The data indicates that the Medium preset is the recommended choice for 1080p and 1440p, as it provides the best compromise between visual quality and performance. At 4K, Low is the only viable preset, and players seeking higher quality at that resolution would need a more powerful GPU. The measured frame rates show that the RX 6600 XT is most effective when paired with a 1080p or 1440p display for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded averages are: Low 91 FPS, Medium 57 FPS (min 49, max 66), High 41 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 59 FPS difference between the lowest and highest presets, which is a substantial range that gives players flexibility in balancing visuals against smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 77 FPS, Medium 48 FPS (min 41, max 55), High 34 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. The 1440p results show a 50 FPS spread across presets. The Medium preset at 1440p performs similarly to the High preset at 1080p (48 FPS vs 41 FPS), indicating that resolution scaling and quality settings trade off predictably.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 60 FPS, Medium 38 FPS (min 32, max 43), High 27 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS. The 4K results show a 39 FPS spread across presets. The minimum frame rate of 32 FPS at Medium settings suggests that some scenes in the game are significantly more demanding than the average, which could cause noticeable hitches during intense moments.

The complete dataset shows that the RX 6600 XT maintains its best performance at 1080p Low, where it exceeds 90 FPS. At every resolution, the step from Low to Medium costs more frame rate than the step from Medium to High, which implies that the Medium preset includes substantial visual feature additions. The step from High to Ultra is smaller in absolute FPS terms but still significant relative to the already reduced frame rates at High.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination ranks 2,669 out of 3,724 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the lower half of the database, at approximately the 28th percentile of all tested combos. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range position combined with a high-end CPU, where the GPU becomes the determining factor for game performance.

The GPU's percentile rank of 70 among all GPUs indicates that the RX 6600 XT is above average in the overall database, but The Medium's specific demands lower the effective ranking. The game's reliance on heavy rendering effects, combined with the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity and 128-bit bus, limits performance at higher settings and resolutions. The rank of 2,669 out of 3,724 suggests that many combinations with more powerful GPUs or more balanced CPU-GPU pairings achieve better frame rates.

The CPU's percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs confirms that the Ryzen 9 5950X is not the limiting factor. Its aggregate benchmark score of 51,947 places it near the top of the processor hierarchy, with nearest rivals within 1% in either direction. The combination rank is therefore driven almost entirely by the GPU's capability in this specific title. The data shows that pairing a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU in a GPU-intensive game results in a ranking that reflects the GPU's tier rather than the CPU's strength.

The measured frame rates support this conclusion. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91 FPS, which is within the range of what a mid-range GPU can deliver. At 4K Ultra, the 21 FPS result is consistent with a GPU that lacks the memory bandwidth and compute throughput for extreme settings at high resolution. The combination rank of 2,669 out of 3,724 indicates that for The Medium, this setup is positioned below the median of tested combinations, primarily due to the GPU's limitations in this workload.