The Medium

The Medium, a horror title from 2021, presents a unique rendering load that stresses both the processor and the graphics card. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, using only the recorded data to interpret how this combination behaves across different settings and resolutions. The benchmark results provide a clear picture of where this combo excels and where its limitations become apparent.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates across the four quality presets reveal a consistent hierarchy, with the most significant performance gains occurring at the lower settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 173.3 FPS, which is a substantial 61.3 FPS lead over the Medium preset's 112 FPS. The High preset produces 76.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 60.1 FPS. This pattern holds at 2560x1440, where Low achieves 148.6 FPS, Medium reaches 94.5 FPS, High manages 63.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.1 FPS. The 3840x2160 results show the same ordering: Low at 114.2 FPS, Medium at 73 FPS, High at 51.4 FPS, and Ultra at 40.7 FPS.

For a horror game where atmosphere and smooth motion are critical, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice. At 1080p, it provides 112 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and nearly double the Ultra preset's 60.1 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 35.5 FPS at 1080p, a significant loss for a visual improvement that may be marginal in a game with slower, deliberate pacing. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 94.5 FPS remains excellent, while High's 63.7 FPS is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The data suggests that Medium offers the best balance, providing high frame rates while maintaining a reasonable visual quality level. The Ultra preset, while visually demanding, consistently produces the lowest scores, making it a poor choice for this hardware combination unless the user prioritizes maximum image quality over performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running on the AM5 socket. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This high core count is not typically a primary factor for gaming performance, but the strong single-thread capabilities are. The processor's benchmark scores reflect its strength: it achieves a 3DMark single-thread score of 1093 and a multi-thread score of 12536, indicating a robust ability to handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. In Cinebench R23, it scores 6168 in single-core and 43695 in multi-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile compared to all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's logic. The data shows that even at the lowest settings, where the GPU load is reduced, frame rates remain high. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 173.3 FPS, which suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The processor's high boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures that the game's main thread has ample processing power. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10972 and the 8-thread score of 7798 indicate that the CPU can handle the multi-threaded aspects of the game engine without issue. The average benchmark score of 50556 places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and 0.4% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT, showing that its overall processing power is competitive with these near-identical rivals. For this game, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient, as the frame rate scaling across resolutions points to the GPU as the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its base clock is 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz. This memory configuration is a key specification for The Medium, which is known for rendering two worlds simultaneously, a technique that can be memory-intensive. The GPU's 80 ROPs and 240 TMUs help determine its fill rate, and its measured PassMark G3D score of 31624 places it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in this combo's performance. As resolution increases, the frame rates drop significantly, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering. At 1080p Ultra, the GPU produces 60.1 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, this falls to 40.7 FPS, a 19.4 FPS decrease. The 12 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for the game's demands, but the data cannot confirm a VRAM limit. The GPU's average benchmark score of 44900 is 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A730M, indicating it is a capable performer in its class. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz is crucial for maintaining performance, and the data shows that the card is able to scale its output from 114.2 FPS at 4K Low to 173.3 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrating its ability to deliver high frame rates when the settings are not overly demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination is ranked 169th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 10% of all configurations, a strong result that indicates a high level of overall performance. The ranking reflects the synergy between the two components, where the powerful CPU does not hinder the GPU's output. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and the GPU's 85th percentile ranking suggest that neither component is a weak link. The combo's position in the database confirms its ability to handle the game's requirements, as it outperforms the vast majority of other pairings. While it is not in the top tier, its rank of 169 is a solid achievement, showing that this is a well-balanced setup for a demanding title like The Medium. The data indicates that users with this combo can expect a high-quality experience, with the only compromises coming at the highest settings and resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU's role as the primary limiting factor. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 173.3 FPS at 1080p to 148.6 FPS at 1440p, a 24.7 FPS reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the frame rate falls from 148.6 FPS to 114.2 FPS, a further 34.4 FPS decrease. This shows that even at the least demanding settings, the GPU is still being pushed harder at higher resolutions. The pattern is more pronounced at the Ultra preset, where the frame rate goes from 60.1 FPS at 1080p to 55.1 FPS at 1440p, and then to 40.7 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is notably low, suggesting that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth limits are being reached.

The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is relatively modest for all settings, indicating that the GPU has some headroom. However, the jump to 4K causes a significant performance hit. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate is 76.5 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 63.7 FPS at 1440p, a 12.8 FPS loss. But the loss from 1440p to 4K is also 12.3 FPS, bringing it to 51.4 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to feed it at all resolutions. The data implies that for a 60 FPS target, the user must stay at 1440p or lower for High settings, or use the Medium preset at 4K, which delivers 73 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 Ti in The Medium?

A: The data suggests it is not. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 173.3 FPS, and the CPU's high single-thread score of 1093 in 3DMark indicates it can handle the game's logic. The consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions points to the GPU as the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 FPS experience at 1440p?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 63.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset falls to 55.1 FPS, so High is the recommended choice for this resolution.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset delivers 173.3 FPS, while Ultra delivers 60.1 FPS. This means the Low preset is 113.2 FPS faster, a 188.2% increase in performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but with settings limitations. At 4K Medium, it achieves 73 FPS, which is playable. At 4K High, it drops to 51.4 FPS, and at Ultra, it falls to 40.7 FPS, which may not be ideal for a smooth experience.

Q: How does this combo's overall rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This combo is ranked 169th out of 1689 total combinations. This places it in the top 10% of all configurations, indicating it is a high-performance pairing.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Medium and High presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves 112 FPS, while High achieves 76.5 FPS. The Medium preset is 35.5 FPS faster, making it a substantial performance gain for potentially minor visual differences.