The Medium

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 in The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 1570 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all tested configurations.

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 123 FPS average, which is the highest measured result across all tested resolutions and settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 3070 have, and what type is it?

A: The RTX 3070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Q: What is the base and boost clock of the RTX 3070?

A: The GPU has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Q: How many cores and threads does the Ryzen 9 5950X have?

A: The CPU has 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz.

Q: What is the only resolution/settings combination where the combo achieves over 100 FPS?

A: The combo exceeds 100 FPS only at 1920x1080 Low (123 FPS) and 2560x1440 Low (104 FPS), indicating the Low preset is required for high refresh rate play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, with a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The card features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, alongside 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s.

The memory subsystem is critical for The Medium's performance. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the RTX 3070 delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of bandwidth for a game that appears to be sensitive to memory throughput, given the measured FPS scaling. The GPU's FP32 compute capability is rated at 20.31 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 20.31 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicating balanced compute performance for both precision levels.

The measured FPS data reveals how the GPU's capabilities interact with the game's demands. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 123 FPS, but this drops to 44 FPS at Ultra settings — a 64% reduction purely from settings changes. This dramatic scaling suggests that The Medium heavily utilizes the GPU's shading and memory resources as settings increase. The RTX 3070's ray tracing cores and tensor cores are present but the game's performance pattern indicates traditional rasterization is the primary workload.

At 4K resolution, the GPU's limitations become more apparent. The combo manages only 36 FPS at High settings and 29 FPS at Ultra, whereas at 1080p the same settings yield 55 FPS and 44 FPS respectively. This resolution scaling points to the GPU being the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the 8 GB VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth become strained with the increased pixel count and texture detail. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 17208 provide context for its mid-range positioning in the current hardware landscape.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across three resolutions reveals how the combo's balance shifts with pixel count. At 1080p Low, the system produces 123 FPS, which drops to 104 FPS at 1440p Low (-15.4%) and further to 81 FPS at 4K Low (-34.1% from 1080p). This scaling pattern shows that even at Low settings, resolution increases exact a significant toll, suggesting the GPU is already a limiting factor.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more pronounced: 77 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p (-15.6%), and 51 FPS at 4K (-33.8%). The consistent percentage drops across Low and Medium settings indicate that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed similarly regardless of the quality preset. The min FPS values at Medium settings further illustrate this: 65 FPS minimum at 1080p, 55 at 1440p, and 43 at 4K, with corresponding max FPS of 88, 74, and 58.

High settings show a steeper decline: 55 FPS at 1080p, 46 at 1440p (-16.4%), and 36 at 4K (-34.5%). Ultra settings follow suit with 44, 37, and 29 FPS respectively. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K remains remarkably consistent across all settings — between 33% and 35% — which indicates that resolution scaling is dominated by GPU fill rate and memory bandwidth rather than CPU or driver overhead.

The consistent scaling pattern suggests the CPU (Ryzen 9 5950X) is not the limiting component at any resolution in this game. The 16-core processor with 32 threads and a 64 MB L3 cache provides ample headroom, as evidenced by the FPS dropping proportionally with pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p, with a plateau at higher resolutions. Instead, the data shows a linear relationship between pixel count and frame rate, confirming the GPU is the primary constraint at all tested resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1570 out of 3724 tested combinations places this system in the 58th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects the balance between the Ryzen 9 5950X's strong CPU performance and the RTX 3070's mid-range GPU capabilities. The CPU ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 51947, while the GPU ranks in the 61st percentile with an average score of 17208.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (avg score 52073, deltaPct -0.2%), the AMD EPYC 8124P (52121, -0.3%), the Intel Core i9-13900F (51730, +0.4%), and the Intel Core i7-14700 (52301, -0.7%). These deltas of less than 1% indicate that the Ryzen 9 5950X is tightly clustered with several modern high-end processors, meaning CPU choice is unlikely to be the differentiator in The Medium's performance.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping: the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17083, deltaPct +0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037, +1%), the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019, +1.1%), and the NVIDIA Tesla K40c (17468, -1.5%). The narrow deltaPct values suggest that the RTX 3070's performance level is well established, and the measured FPS in The Medium aligns with its mid-range standing.

Given that the CPU is in the top 10% while the GPU is only in the upper 60th percentile, the combo's overall rank of 1570/3724 is dragged down by the GPU's relative weakness. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis showing the GPU as the bottleneck. A system with a more powerful GPU paired with this CPU would likely rank significantly higher, while a less capable CPU would not substantially change the ranking given how GPU-bound The Medium appears to be.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 123 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 77 FPS (min 65, max 88), High settings drop to 55 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 44 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS, representing a 64% decrease in performance when maximizing visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings achieve 104 FPS, Medium produces 65 FPS (min 55, max 74), High settings reach 46 FPS, and Ultra drops to 37 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 67 FPS, a similar percentage drop to 1080p. The 1440p Medium settings provide a playable experience with the min FPS of 55 staying above common 60 FPS thresholds for most of the time.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings achieve 81 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 51 FPS (min 43, max 58), High falls to 36 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 29 FPS. The 4K Medium min FPS of 43 indicates occasional drops below smooth playback thresholds, while High and Ultra settings are largely unsuitable for consistent 60 FPS gameplay.

The progression across resolutions shows a clear pattern: each step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by roughly 15-16% and then another 33-34%. This consistent scaling reinforces that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Medium settings rows provide the only complete min/max data, showing that the frame time variance increases with resolution — the range between min and max FPS at 1080p is 23 FPS, at 1440p it is 19 FPS, and at 4K it is 15 FPS, indicating more consistent (though lower) frame delivery at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium settings preset provides the best balance between visual quality and playability across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 77 FPS average with a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without the significant visual compromises of the Low preset. The 65 FPS minimum stays above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a consistent experience.

At 1440p, Medium settings produce 65 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum. While the average is above 60 FPS, the minimum dips below, suggesting occasional stutters during demanding scenes. However, this is still the most balanced option at this resolution — Low settings at 104 FPS sacrifice too much visual quality, while High at 46 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS fail to maintain smooth frame rates.

At 4K, Medium settings yield 51 FPS average with a 43 FPS minimum. This is borderline playable for a horror game where atmospheric tension matters more than competitive frame rates. Low settings at 81 FPS offer a smoother experience but with noticeably reduced visual fidelity. Given The Medium's genre and pacing, the Medium preset at 4K may be preferable for players prioritizing visual immersion, while Low settings suit those who value frame rate consistency.

The Low preset is the only option that maintains 60+ FPS at all tested resolutions, achieving 123 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. This makes Low the recommended choice for players with high refresh rate monitors or those who prefer maximum smoothness. However, the visual quality loss from Medium to Low is substantial, so players with 1080p or 1440p displays should consider Medium as the default starting point.

Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p where the combo achieves 44 FPS average. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra produces 37 FPS and 29 FPS respectively, which are below comfortable playability for most users. The jump from High to Ultra yields marginal visual improvements but costs 11 FPS at 1080p, 9 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K, making Ultra difficult to recommend except for screenshot purposes or cinematic viewing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X serves as a high-end companion to the RTX 3070, though the benchmark data suggests its full potential is not utilized in The Medium. The CPU features 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It contains 8,300 million transistors across a 2x 74 mm² die arrangement, with a 64 MB L3 cache and 512 KB L2 cache per core.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its multi-threaded prowess: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 26017, while the single-core score is 1614. Geekbench shows 15233 multicore and 2083 single-core scores. The 3DMark results show strong scaling from 944 (single-thread) to 10810 (16-thread) and 11597 (max-thread), indicating excellent thread scaling. PassMark tests reveal particularly strong integer math (185520) and floating point math (100280) performance.

Despite these impressive CPU capabilities, the measured FPS in The Medium points to GPU limitation rather than CPU constraint. The consistent FPS drops across resolutions — roughly 15-16% from 1080p to 1440p and another 33-34% from 1440p to 4K at every settings level — would not occur if the CPU were the bottleneck. A CPU-bound scenario would show diminishing FPS differences at higher resolutions as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its nearest rivals showing deltaPct values under ±1%, indicates that the Ryzen 9 5950X is among the top processors available. Its 3.40 GHz base and 4.90 GHz boost clocks provide strong single-thread performance, which is important for games that rely on a few primary threads. The 32 threads ensure that even heavily multi-threaded game workloads are handled without issue.

The data suggests that the Ryzen 9 5950X provides more CPU headroom than The Medium requires. Players could pair this CPU with a more powerful GPU to achieve higher frame rates, as the current configuration is clearly GPU-bound at all tested settings and resolutions. The CPU's 105 W TDP and DDR4 memory support (dual-channel, 51.2 GB/s bandwidth) round out a platform that is well-suited for gaming but currently constrained by the RTX 3070's mid-range performance level.