The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around dual-reality rendering, presents an unusually heavy load for both the GPU and CPU. In this combination, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT produce a clear hierarchy of playable settings, with the data showing that 1080p Medium is the most balanced configuration, delivering 72 FPS average with a minimum of 61 FPS. The 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 7900X provides ample processing headroom, but the RX 6750 XT becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and quality presets, particularly at 4K where Ultra settings drop to 27 FPS average. The measured results across twelve configurations reveal that this combo ranks 1707th out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier for this specific game, with the GPU’s 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth proving sufficient for the game’s texture streaming demands at most settings, though the dual-world rendering technique strains the 2560 shading units at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 as the most consistent resolution, with all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) producing playable average frame rates. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum, while even Ultra maintains 41 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS average (97 and 61 respectively), and at 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a smooth 76 FPS average.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT’s VRAM affect performance in The Medium?

A: The GPU comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The benchmark results indicate this is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at Medium and High settings, where the game maintains 61-72 FPS and 43-61 FPS averages respectively. At 4K Ultra, the combination of 27 FPS average suggests the 12 GB capacity and memory bandwidth become limiting factors alongside the 2560 shading units.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck for the RX 6750 XT in this game?

A: The CPU’s benchmark scores show a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29300 and single-core score of 2016.5. Given that The Medium’s frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes (e.g., 1080p Medium at 72 FPS to 4K Medium at 48 FPS), the data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor rather than the CPU, which has 12 cores and 24 threads with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz.

Q: What settings preset provides the smoothest experience at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum and 70 FPS maximum, making it the only preset besides Low (97 FPS average) that exceeds 60 FPS average. High drops to 43 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS average, so Medium is the recommended choice for balanced visual quality and smooth frame pacing.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested combinations in The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 1707th out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the RX 6750 XT’s position as a mid-range GPU (71st percentile among all GPUs) paired with a high-end CPU (91st percentile among all CPUs), suggesting the GPU’s performance ceiling dominates this game’s results.

Q: Does the game benefit from the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X has 12 cores and 24 threads, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 51406 and a 3DMark max threads score of 12536. The game’s dual-reality rendering, which often requires simultaneous scene processing, likely benefits from this threading headroom, but the measured FPS differences between resolutions (e.g., 34 FPS at 4K High vs 52 FPS at 1080p High) indicate that GPU throughput, not CPU threads, determines the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, featuring 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. Its base clock runs at 2150 MHz, with a boost clock of 2600 MHz and a game clock of 2495 MHz. The memory subsystem comprises 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). These specifications place the GPU at the 71st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26011.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is critical because the game renders two simultaneous perspectives—the real world and the spirit world—which effectively doubles the scene complexity. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p, the GPU can handle all presets, with Low at 115 FPS average, Medium at 72 FPS, High at 52 FPS, and Ultra at 41 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity begin to strain, with High dropping to 43 FPS and Ultra to 34 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck: Medium produces 48 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum, High falls to 34 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27 FPS.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for the game’s texture loads at most settings, as the performance degradation from 1080p to 4K follows a consistent pattern rather than showing a sudden cliff that would indicate memory swapping. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth also proves adequate for the game’s streaming requirements, as evidenced by the 76 FPS average at 4K Low settings. However, the 40 ray accelerator cores (RT cores) do not provide a measurable benefit in this title based on the data, as the game relies primarily on traditional rasterization for its dual-reality effect.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1707th out of 3724 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the 54th percentile of all systems tested. This rank reflects a significant disparity between the CPU and GPU tiers: the Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 6750 XT ranks in the 71st percentile among all GPUs. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P (0.2% higher average score), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% lower), Intel Xeon 634 (0.6% higher), and Intel Core i7-14700F (0.6% lower). Meanwhile, the GPU’s nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (0.5% higher), AMD FirePro W7100 (0.6% higher), AMD FirePro D700 (0.7% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (1.1% higher).

The rank of 1707 suggests that this combo sits in a crowded middle ground where many systems with similar GPU performance but weaker CPUs achieve comparable frame rates. The data indicates that the GPU’s 71st percentile ranking is the primary determinant of this combo’s position, as the CPU’s superior performance (91st percentile) cannot compensate for the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions. For example, at 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 72 FPS average, which is 28% below the 4K Low result of 115 FPS—a gap that widens as resolution increases. This rank also implies that users with a lower-tier CPU but the same GPU would see minimal difference in The Medium, as the game’s frame rates are consistently GPU-bound across all measured configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate priorities. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance: 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum and 83 FPS maximum, providing smooth gameplay with moderate visual fidelity. High settings at 1080p drop to 52 FPS average, which is still playable but introduces more frame pacing variation, while Ultra at 41 FPS average may cause noticeable stuttering in a horror title where smooth camera movement is crucial for atmosphere.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the only high-quality option that maintains 60 FPS average (61 FPS), with a 52 FPS minimum. The Low preset achieves 97 FPS average but sacrifices visual quality, while High (43 FPS) and Ultra (34 FPS) fall below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider essential for a responsive experience. For 3840x2160, the Low preset is the sole viable option at 76 FPS average; Medium drops to 48 FPS with a 40 FPS minimum, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but High (34 FPS) and Ultra (27 FPS) are not recommended.

The data supports a clear recommendation: for the best overall experience, use 1080p Medium. This configuration provides the highest minimum frame rate (61 FPS) among all presets that exceed 60 FPS average, ensuring consistent performance during the game’s dual-reality transitions. If 1440p is preferred, Medium settings are acceptable, and if 4K is required, only Low settings deliver smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a consistent scaling across presets. The Low preset delivers 115 FPS average, representing the highest performance ceiling for this combo. Medium settings produce 72 FPS average with a 61 FPS minimum and 83 FPS maximum, providing a stable experience. High settings drop to 52 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 41 FPS average. The 73 FPS difference between Low and Ultra (115 vs 41) indicates that the visual quality settings have a substantial impact on GPU load, with Ultra’s additional effects reducing frame rates by 64% compared to Low.

At 2560x1440, the performance gap widens between presets. Low settings achieve 97 FPS average, a 16% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium produces 61 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum and 70 FPS maximum, representing a 15% drop from 1080p Medium. High settings yield 43 FPS average, a 17% reduction, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS average, a 17% reduction. The consistency of these percentage drops suggests that the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth scale predictably with pixel count, without any unexpected bottlenecks.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations become pronounced. Low settings still achieve 76 FPS average, but Medium drops to 48 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum and 55 FPS maximum. High settings fall to 34 FPS average, and Ultra bottoms out at 27 FPS average. The difference between 4K Low and 4K Ultra is 49 FPS (76 vs 27), representing a 64% reduction. Notably, the 4K Medium minimum of 40 FPS is below the 1080p High average of 52 FPS, highlighting how resolution scaling affects the GPU’s ability to maintain consistent frame delivery.

The complete dataset shows that the RX 6750 XT can handle The Medium at 1080p with any preset, at 1440p with Low or Medium presets, and at 4K only with Low settings. The 4K Medium row (48 FPS average, 40 FPS minimum) sits on the edge of playability, while 4K High and Ultra are not viable for smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Zen 4 architecture with the Raphael codename. It operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.60 GHz, with a 170 W TDP. The CPU features 64 MB of shared L3 cache, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. Its memory support includes DDR5 on a dual-channel bus with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU’s benchmark results place it in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with standout scores including Cinebench R23 multi-core at 29300, Geekbench multi-core at 19267, and PassMark multi-thread at 51406.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is largely preparatory: the game’s fixed-camera angles and dual-reality rendering require significant draw call processing and scene management, but the measured FPS data shows that the CPU does not become a bottleneck at any tested configuration. Evidence for this comes from the consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions—for example, 4K Medium (48 FPS) is 33% lower than 1440p Medium (61 FPS), which is itself 15% lower than 1080p Medium (72 FPS). If the CPU were limiting performance, these percentage differences would compress as resolution increases, but instead they remain consistent, indicating GPU-bound behavior.

The CPU’s high multi-threading performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29300) likely helps maintain frame pacing during the game’s world-switching mechanics, which can momentarily spike CPU usage. However, the single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2016.5, Geekbench single-core 2617) is also strong, ensuring that the game’s main thread can keep up with GPU demands. The 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom even if the game utilizes multiple threads for audio, physics, and streaming, but the measured results confirm that the RX 6750 XT’s rendering throughput determines the final frame rates across all twelve configurations tested.