The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 570 pairing in The Medium produces a severely bottlenecked experience, with the data showing the GPU as the dominant limiting factor at every measured setting. The combination ranks in the bottom percentile of tested systems, and the benchmark results indicate that the CPU’s substantial processing power is largely wasted in this title, as frame rates collapse under the weight of the RX 570’s 4 GB memory buffer and aging GCN architecture. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, the role of each component, and what the numbers imply for playability.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (83.2 GB/s bandwidth) position it as a high-end desktop part, and its benchmark scores reflect that status. The CPU achieves a 91st percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 53,288, placing it within 0.6% of rivals like the Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD EPYC 7313P. In synthetic tests, the 7900X scores 29,300 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,016.5 in single-core, while Geekbench shows 19,267 multi-core and 2,617 single-core scores.

However, in The Medium, this CPU power translates to almost nothing. The measured FPS data shows that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 44 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all resolutions and settings. The fact that this is the peak performance suggests the game is not CPU-limited; if it were, we would expect to see higher frame rates at lower resolutions, where the GPU has less work to do per frame. Instead, the data indicates that the RX 570 is the bottleneck, as even at 1080p Low, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS threshold that this CPU could easily support in most titles. The 7900X’s single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1,093) is more than adequate for the game’s logic and physics, but the rendering pipeline stalls behind the GPU.

The CPU’s 24 threads and high boost clock are irrelevant to the observed results because the game’s frame rate is dictated by the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth. The benchmark results imply that with a more capable graphics card, the 7900X could deliver far higher FPS in The Medium, but as paired, the CPU sits idle waiting for the RX 570 to complete each frame. The 91st percentile CPU ranking versus the 74th percentile GPU ranking (average benchmark score 28,766) further highlights the mismatch — the CPU is performing near the top of its class while the GPU is mid-pack, and the game’s frame rates reflect the weaker link.

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

*Q: What is the best frame rate this combo achieves in The Medium, and at what settings?*

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 44, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that approaches playability, as all other settings and resolutions produce average frame rates below 30 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 570’s 4 GB memory affect performance at higher resolutions?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 29 on Low, 18 on Medium, 13 on High, and 10 on Ultra. The 4 GB GDDR5 buffer (224.0 GB/s bandwidth) is simply insufficient for 4K textures and geometry, causing severe frame rate collapses as resolution increases.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 7900X scores in the 91st percentile among CPUs, while the RX 570 is in the 74th percentile among GPUs. The frame rates barely improve when lowering settings from Ultra to Low (e.g., 16 to 44 FPS at 1080p), indicating the GPU’s rendering capacity, not CPU processing, caps performance.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 3,557 out of 3,724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 4.5% of systems. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the RX 570, as the CPU’s own percentile ranking is very high.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 28, while at 4K Medium, it drops to 18. This represents a 35.7% reduction in frame rate, with minimum FPS falling from 23 to 15 and maximum FPS from 32 to 21.

Q: Is the RX 570’s performance comparable to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The RX 570’s average benchmark score is 28,766, which is within 1.2% of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (28,421) and 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996). However, in The Medium, these synthetic similarities do not translate to playable frame rates, as the game’s demands exceed what this GPU generation can deliver.

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

The resolution scaling data reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 44 at 1920x1080, to 37 at 2560x1440, to 29 at 3840x2160. This is a 15.9% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 21.6% drop from 1440p to 4K. The frame rate decline is roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU that is saturated at every resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU’s work per frame stays constant while the GPU’s workload grows.

At Medium settings, the same pattern holds: 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. The minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 23, dropping to 15 at 4K, which means there are moments where the game stutters below 20 FPS even at the lowest resolution tested. At High settings, the FPS drops from 20 at 1080p to 17 at 1440p to 13 at 4K — a 35% total reduction from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings show the worst scaling: 16 FPS at 1080p, 13 at 1440p, and 10 at 4K, representing a 37.5% drop.

The fact that even at 1080p Low the combo cannot reach 60 FPS, and at 4K Low it barely hits 29 FPS, strongly indicates that the RX 570’s 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are simply not enough for The Medium’s rendering requirements. The game appears to be heavily dependent on pixel throughput, and the RX 570’s 32 ROPs and 128 TMUs are overwhelmed as resolution increases. The data shows no scenario where the CPU alleviates this bottleneck; the 7900X’s raw power is untapped, and the FPS curves follow the GPU’s limitations exactly.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + AMD Radeon RX 570 combination ranks 3,557 out of 3,724 tested systems in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 4.5% of all combos, which is a striking result given the CPU’s individual performance. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s age and memory constraints — the RX 570 was released in 2017 and is now end-of-life, with a 4 GB buffer that is insufficient for modern game assets.

To contextualize this rank, consider that the CPU alone sits in the 91st percentile, while the GPU sits in the 74th percentile. If the combo’s rank were determined by the average of these percentiles, it would be around the 82nd percentile, but instead it is in the 4th percentile. This massive discrepancy underscores that game performance is not a simple average of component capabilities; rather, the weakest link dominates. The data shows that in The Medium, the RX 570 is not just a weak link — it is a catastrophic one, dragging a top-tier CPU down to bottom-tier performance.

The combo’s rank of 3,557 out of 3,724 means there are only 167 tested systems that perform worse. Given that the 7900X is one of the fastest CPUs available (with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29,300), the only way this combo ranks so low is if the GPU is effectively crippling all frame output. The benchmark results imply that any modern mid-range GPU would dramatically improve this combo’s rank, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed a faster graphics card.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It features 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz. The memory configuration is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 5.095 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 39.81 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s.

In The Medium, these specifications translate to consistently low frame rates. The 4 GB VRAM is the most critical limitation — at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 10, and at 4K High it is 13. Even at 1080p Ultra, the average is only 16 FPS. The game appears to require more than 4 GB of VRAM for its high-resolution textures, and when the buffer is exceeded, the GPU must swap data through the PCIe bus, causing massive frame rate drops. The benchmark results show that lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 1080p improves FPS from 16 to 44, a 175% increase, which suggests that the game’s texture quality settings are the primary VRAM consumer.

The RX 570’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 470 (avg score 28,996, deltaPct -0.8%) and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (avg score 28,421, deltaPct 1.2%). These scores are within 1.2% of each other, indicating that the RX 570 is a mid-range performer in general, but in The Medium, the game’s specific demands on VRAM and fill rate push it below playable thresholds. The GPU’s 74th percentile ranking among all GPUs (avg benchmark score 28,766) is misleading in this context — it suggests the card is above average, but the game’s measured FPS shows it is not fit for this workload.

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

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo in The Medium is as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the average FPS values are: Low = 29, Medium = 18 (min 15, max 21), High = 13, Ultra = 10. The spread from Low to Ultra is 19 FPS, with Ultra delivering only 34.5% of the Low setting’s frame rate.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the average FPS values are: Low = 37, Medium = 23 (min 20, max 27), High = 17, Ultra = 13. The drop from Low to Ultra is 24 FPS, or 64.9% reduction.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the average FPS values are: Low = 44, Medium = 28 (min 23, max 32), High = 20, Ultra = 16. The difference between Low and Ultra is 28 FPS, representing a 63.6% reduction.

The data shows that the only configuration with an average FPS above 30 is 1080p Low (44 FPS). All other configurations average below 30 FPS, with 4K Ultra being the worst at 10 FPS. The minimum FPS values (where recorded) show that even 1080p Medium can drop to 23 FPS, and 4K Medium goes as low as 15 FPS, indicating significant frame pacing issues. The maximum FPS values are also low, with the highest recorded being 32 FPS at 1080p Medium and 21 FPS at 4K Medium, meaning the combo never exceeds 32 FPS in any scenario.

These numbers paint a clear picture: the RX 570 cannot sustain smooth gameplay in The Medium at any resolution or setting. The game’s horror atmosphere and fixed camera angles may mask some stutter, but the average FPS at 4K is below 30 in every setting, and at 1080p only Low settings are marginally playable.

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

Given the measured FPS data, the only viable option for this combo is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 44 FPS. This is the sole configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, though it still falls short of 60 FPS. The next best option is 1440p Low at 37 FPS, but the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 7 FPS (15.9% reduction), which may not be worth the resolution increase given the game’s already low performance.

For players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 28 FPS average with a minimum of 23 FPS. This is a substantial drop from Low (36.4% reduction) and may result in noticeable stutter during action sequences. The High preset at 1080p drops to 20 FPS, and Ultra to 16 FPS — both are essentially unplayable for a game that requires timing and awareness.

At higher resolutions, the data shows that even Low settings cannot maintain playable frame rates. 1440p Low at 37 FPS is borderline, but 4K Low at 29 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for playable. The benchmark results imply that the game’s resolution scaling is aggressive, and the RX 570’s 4 GB VRAM is the primary culprit.

The recommended approach is to use 1080p Low, and if the frame rate is still too low, consider reducing the game’s internal resolution further (though this is not measured in the data). Alternatively, players could accept 30 FPS at 1440p Low, but the minimum FPS is not recorded for that configuration, so stability is unknown. The data strongly suggests that this combo is not suited for The Medium at any setting above 1080p Low, and even then, the 44 FPS average is far from ideal for a game that benefits from smooth motion. The CPU’s power is wasted here, and the GPU is the definitive bottleneck that no in-game setting can fully overcome.