The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a wide performance envelope in The Medium, ranging from a highly playable 147.6 FPS at 1080p Low to a demanding 36 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, making it suitable for both high-refresh-rate 1080p displays and cinematic 4K experiences, provided the user is willing to adjust quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and clearly indicates a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At the High preset, average frame rates fall from 68.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 56.9 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 44.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35.1% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, demonstrating that the RTX 4070's rendering throughput is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 147.6 FPS at 1080p to 127.5 FPS at 1440p (a 13.6% reduction), and then to 97.3 FPS at 4K (a 34.1% reduction from 1440p). This larger drop between 1440p and 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and rasterization resources are being saturated more aggressively at the highest resolution.

For the Medium preset, the frame rates are 91.2 FPS at 1080p, 79.3 FPS at 1440p, and 63.3 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 13.0% and 20.2% respectively, showing a more gradual degradation curve. The Ultra preset exhibits the steepest absolute decline, falling from 52.7 FPS at 1080p to 43.4 FPS at 1440p and then to 36 FPS at 4K — a 31.7% total reduction from 1080p to 4K.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the Ryzen 9 7900X provides ample headroom, as even the Low preset achieves 147.6 FPS, which is well beyond the 60 FPS threshold. The scaling behavior points to the RTX 4070 as the bottleneck at 4K, where even the Low preset only manages 97.3 FPS, suggesting the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width are being fully utilized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz and boosts to 2475 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is clearly dominant at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra preset produces 36 FPS, which is a demanding scenario that stresses both the 5888 shading units and the 64 ROPs. The card's 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are the key metrics driving the High and Medium preset results at 1440p, where the card delivers 56.9 FPS and 79.3 FPS respectively.

The measured data shows that the RTX 4070's performance is consistent with its position relative to rivals. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, has an average score of 37507, which is 0.6% higher than the RTX 4070's 37283. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A scores 38008 (1.9% higher), while the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135 (2.2% higher). The AMD Radeon RX 5300M trails at 36371, which is 2.5% lower.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB proves sufficient for all tested configurations in this game, as no measurable frame rate anomalies appear at 4K Ultra despite the high memory pressure. The 64 ROPs and 184 texture mapping units work in concert to produce the observed 44.5 FPS at 4K High, indicating that the card's fillrate capabilities are the limiting factor rather than memory capacity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear tiering of playable experiences. For users targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the Medium preset is the highest quality setting that achieves this goal across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 91.2 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. At 1440p, Medium produces 79.3 FPS, still well above the threshold. Even at 4K, Medium maintains 63.3 FPS, making it the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS at the highest resolution.

The High preset presents a different trade-off. At 1080p, it delivers 68.6 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom than Medium. At 1440p, High drops to 56.9 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, High produces 44.5 FPS, which is suitable only for slower-paced horror gameplay where frame rate dips are less noticeable.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, delivering 52.7 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 43.4 FPS at 1440p and 36 FPS at 4K. These results suggest that Ultra is only viable for users with 1080p displays who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate smoothness. The Low preset, while achieving 147.6 FPS at 1080p, sacrifices too much visual quality for most users, though it remains an option for competitive play or very high refresh rate displays.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data supports using Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and either High or Ultra at 1080p depending on whether the user has a 60 Hz or 144 Hz display. The 1440p Medium result of 79.3 FPS is particularly well-suited for 75 Hz monitors, offering smooth motion with moderate quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates span a wide range. Low settings produce 147.6 FPS average, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings achieve 91.2 FPS, High settings reach 68.6 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 52.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 56.4 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 15.9 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 127.5 FPS, Medium settings hit 79.3 FPS, High settings produce 56.9 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 43.4 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium at this resolution is 48.2 FPS, while High to Ultra shows a 13.5 FPS difference.

At 3840x2160, the results compress significantly. Low settings maintain 97.3 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS. Medium settings drop to 63.3 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS threshold. High settings produce 44.5 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 36 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra at 4K is 61.3 FPS, compared to a 94.9 FPS range at 1080p, indicating that the GPU's limits compress the achievable frame rates at higher resolutions.

The data shows consistent proportional relationships between settings. At every resolution, Low is roughly 1.6 to 1.7 times faster than Medium, and Medium is approximately 1.3 times faster than High. The Ultra preset is consistently about 1.2 to 1.3 times slower than High, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds diminishing visual returns relative to its performance cost.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 417th out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 24.7% of all systems tested, indicating a strong overall performance level. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing, where neither component is severely bottlenecking the other.

The CPU's contribution to this rank is noteworthy. The Ryzen 9 7900X sits in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 50556. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, scores 50598, which is just 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT scores 50738 (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core i7-13850HX scores 50827 (0.5% higher). All these deltas are within 1%, indicating that the 7900X is competitive with the latest mobile and desktop parts.

The GPU's rank of 81st percentile among all GPUs is slightly lower than the CPU's percentile, which explains why the combination does not rank higher overall. The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37283 is actually lower than its nearest rivals, with the RX Vega 56, MX570 A, and RTX 4080 Mobile all scoring higher by margins of 0.6% to 2.2%. This suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in determining the overall combo rank, particularly at higher resolutions where the CPU's advantages in multi-threaded performance (evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 43695) cannot compensate for GPU rendering throughput.

FAQ

Q: Does this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only on the Medium preset, which averages 63.3 FPS at 3840x2160. The High preset drops to 44.5 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS, so 60 FPS at 4K requires the Medium preset or lower.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The Medium preset delivers 79.3 FPS at 2560x1440, which is ideal for 75 Hz monitors. For 144 Hz displays, the High preset at 56.9 FPS may be acceptable, but Medium provides smoother motion.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 scores 37283 on average. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507 (0.6% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A scores 38008 (1.9% higher), and the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135 (2.2% higher). Only the AMD Radeon RX 5300M scores lower at 36371 (2.5% lower).

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: The data suggests no significant bottleneck at 1080p, where Low settings achieve 147.6 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as frame rates drop dramatically across all presets regardless of CPU capability.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 52.7 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS threshold, so users seeking smooth 1080p gameplay should consider the High preset at 68.6 FPS instead.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 417th out of 1689 combinations, placing it in the top 24.7% of all tested systems. The CPU's 93rd percentile performance and the GPU's 81st percentile performance combine to produce this strong overall ranking.