The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but the data shows that settings management is critical. The sweet spot for this pairing is the Medium preset, which provides a balanced frame rate across all resolutions without the severe performance penalties of Ultra. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 68.5 FPS, which is smooth, while 2560x1440 yields 56.9 FPS, remaining fluid for a horror title. The High preset is also viable, but it drops below 60 FPS at 2560x1440 (39.9 FPS) and becomes marginal at 1920x1080 (52.1 FPS), making Medium the more consistent choice. Low is the only preset that guarantees high refresh rates, hitting 109.7 FPS at 1080p, but it sacrifices visual fidelity that the game’s fixed-camera horror scenes benefit from. Ultra is not recommended for this hardware, as it only reaches 39.7 FPS at 1080p and 25.5 FPS at 4K, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset is the optimal default for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, Medium achieves 68.5 FPS, which is 29.7% higher than High (52.1 FPS) and 72.5% higher than Ultra (39.7 FPS). The gap between Medium and Low (109.7 FPS) is significant, but the visual upgrade is worth the 41.2 FPS difference for a game that relies on atmosphere. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 56.9 FPS, which is still above the 30 FPS console-style target and provides headroom for the game’s slower-paced exploration. For 4K, the situation changes: Medium drops to 44.7 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. If 4K is the target, Low settings at 70.1 FPS are the only preset that delivers a consistently smooth experience, though the visual downgrade is noticeable. The data suggests a two-tier approach: use Medium for 1080p and 1440p, and switch to Low only when prioritizing 4K frame rates.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth proves to be a limiting factor at higher settings. The benchmark results show a steep decline from Low to High/Ultra, which correlates with the GPU’s memory capacity being saturated by the game’s texture and rendering demands at 4K. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields only 25.5 FPS, while Low jumps to 70.1 FPS, a 175% increase. This dramatic scaling indicates that the GPU is not compute-bound but rather memory-bound; the 8 GB frame buffer forces the engine to swap assets, causing the sharp drops. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and 3072 shading units provide sufficient raw power for 1080p, as evidenced by the 109.7 FPS at Low settings. However, the 128-bit bus is a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 4060 sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, is only 0.6% faster in average benchmarks, meaning the card is competitive in its class but not designed for 4K Ultra gaming. For The Medium, the GPU’s role is to handle the visual effects at 1080p/1440p; at 4K, the data shows it can only manage Low settings effectively.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 43695 and a single-core score of 6168. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is largely secondary, as the game’s fixed-camera angles and moderate physics load do not stress the processor heavily. The FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 109.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s frame-generation limit, but the GPU is the primary constraint at higher settings. The 7900X’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (83.2 GB/s bandwidth) ensure that frame pacing remains consistent even when the GPU is saturated. Compared to its nearest rivals, the 7900X is essentially tied with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 (deltaPct -0.1%) and the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT (deltaPct -0.4%), meaning there is no meaningful CPU bottleneck. The data indicates that the 7900X has ample headroom; in fact, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (109.7) is likely limited by the RTX 4060, not the CPU. For a horror game like The Medium, the CPU’s high single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4238) ensures that scene transitions and loading zones do not cause stutters, even at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 56.9 FPS, which is the highest playable frame rate above 30 FPS. The High preset drops to 39.9 FPS, so Medium is the recommended choice for a balance of visuals and fluidity.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which achieve 70.1 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium drops to 44.7 FPS, High to 30.4 FPS, and Ultra to 25.5 FPS, so Low is the only viable 4K preset for consistent playability.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus cause severe FPS drops as settings increase. The CPU’s high benchmark scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multi-core 43695) show it has no trouble keeping up, as evidenced by the 109.7 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its closest rival in this context?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 23181, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23321 (0.6% faster). This suggests the two perform nearly identically, but the RTX 4060’s driver optimizations may affect The Medium specifically.

Q: Why is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra so large?

A: At 1920x1080, Low yields 109.7 FPS and Ultra 39.7 FPS, a 176% difference. This is due to the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity being overwhelmed by Ultra’s texture and lighting demands, not the CPU.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p on High settings?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 averages 52.1 FPS. This is playable but below the 60 FPS target; the Medium preset (68.5 FPS) is better for a smoother experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU’s bottleneck clearly. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 109.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 91.8 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 16.3% decrease) and then to 70.1 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 36.1% decrease from 1080p). This scaling is relatively mild, indicating that Low settings do not fully stress the GPU’s memory. However, at Medium settings, the drop is steeper: 68.5 FPS at 1080p falls to 56.9 FPS at 1440p (a 16.9% decrease) and then to 44.7 FPS at 4K (a 34.7% decrease from 1080p). The High preset shows an even more pronounced decline: 52.1 FPS at 1080p, 39.9 FPS at 1440p (a 23.4% decrease), and 30.4 FPS at 4K (a 41.7% decrease). At Ultra, the drop is severe: 39.7 FPS at 1080p, 31.3 FPS at 1440p (a 21.2% decrease), and 25.5 FPS at 4K (a 35.8% decrease). The pattern suggests that the 8 GB VRAM is the primary constraint; as resolution increases, the memory bandwidth becomes insufficient, causing disproportionate FPS losses at higher presets. The data shows that 1080p is the native resolution for this GPU in The Medium, with 1440p requiring a preset downgrade to maintain 60 FPS, and 4K being viable only on Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination is as follows:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: 109.7 FPS
• Medium: 68.5 FPS
• High: 52.1 FPS
• Ultra: 39.7 FPS

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: 91.8 FPS
• Medium: 56.9 FPS
• High: 39.9 FPS
• Ultra: 31.3 FPS

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: 70.1 FPS
• Medium: 44.7 FPS
• High: 30.4 FPS
• Ultra: 25.5 FPS

At 1080p, the range from Low to Ultra spans 70 FPS, with Low providing a high-refresh experience and Ultra barely maintaining 40 FPS. At 1440p, the same settings span 60.5 FPS, with only Low and Medium exceeding 50 FPS. At 4K, the span narrows to 44.6 FPS, with Low being the only preset above 60 FPS. The data shows that the Medium preset at 1440p (56.9 FPS) is the best compromise for visual quality and performance, while 1080p Medium (68.5 FPS) is the most balanced overall. The combo ranks 963rd out of 1689 tested combinations, indicating that this is a middle-tier setup for The Medium, capable of solid performance but not excelling at high resolutions or maximum settings. The lack of min/max FPS data means the analysis relies on averages, but the consistency across resolutions suggests stable frame pacing, likely due to the CPU’s high single-thread performance.