The Medium

The Medium presents a unique challenge for hardware, relying on a fixed-camera perspective with heavy use of pre-rendered backgrounds and real-time 3D rendering. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combo produces a wide range of frame rates depending on how you configure the game. The data shows this pairing ranks 13th out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all systems evaluated. This is a high-end combination that prioritizes maximum performance, but the game's own engine quirks mean that raw power doesn't always translate to perfectly smooth gameplay at every setting.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 13 out of 1,689 tested combos. This is an exceptional result, placing the system firmly in the top tier of hardware configurations for this title. The data indicates that this setup is near the peak of what is possible, with only a handful of other systems outperforming it. The ranking reflects the synergy between a high-core-count CPU and a flagship GPU, ensuring that neither component becomes a significant bottleneck in most scenarios.

The CPU component of this combo, the Ryzen 9 7900X, scores in the 93rd percentile when compared to all other CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 50,556 places it in close competition with CPUs like the Intel Core Ultra 5 235, which scores 50,598, and the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT, which scores 50,738. These differences are minor, with the 7900X trailing by only 0.1% and 0.4% respectively. This suggests that at the CPU level, the system is well-balanced with its immediate rivals, and the performance in The Medium is likely driven more by the GPU.

On the graphics side, the RTX 5090 is in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,306. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, scores 84,241, a mere 0.1% difference. This confirms that the GPU is performing at the very top of its class. The combination of a top-1% GPU and a top-7% CPU results in a system that is overwhelmingly powerful, but as the settings data shows, the game's optimization means that even this hardware has to make concessions to hit certain frame rate targets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate. The most balanced experience for a high-refresh-rate monitor is the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 136.6 FPS, which is a significant jump from the 77.2 FPS seen on Ultra. The difference between Medium and High is also notable, with High producing 99.2 FPS at the same resolution. For most users, the jump from High to Ultra is not worth the performance cost, as Ultra consistently drops frame rates by over 20% across all resolutions.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset again provides the best balance, achieving 114.6 FPS. This is an excellent result for a 1440p monitor, offering smooth gameplay without the visual compromise of the Low preset, which hits 169.3 FPS but likely reduces the quality of the pre-rendered backgrounds. At 4K, the situation changes. The Medium preset drops to 88.6 FPS, which is still playable, but the High preset at 62.9 FPS is the recommended choice for a more visually rich experience if you have a 60Hz display. The Ultra preset at 53.6 FPS is only suitable for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate stability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play this game with this hardware?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on Medium settings provides the best high-performance balance at 114.6 FPS. For higher fidelity, 3840x2160 on High settings yields 62.9 FPS, which is suitable for 60Hz displays.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other systems tested?

A: This pairing ranks 13th out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using with the RTX 5090?

A: No, the performance cost is steep. At 1920x1080, Ultra produces 77.2 FPS, while Medium produces 136.6 FPS. The visual uplift is not justified by the 43.5% frame rate reduction.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. The High preset at 3840x2160 achieves 62.9 FPS, which is smooth on a 60Hz panel. The Medium preset is faster at 88.6 FPS but may show more visual compromises.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The Ryzen 9 7900X has a passmark single-thread score of 4,238 and a multithread score of 51,406. The data indicates the combo is balanced, but the steep frame rate drops from Ultra to High suggest the game is heavily GPU-bound.

Q: What is the most stable frame rate for competitive play?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 yields 179.7 FPS, which is the highest measured. This is the best option if you want to maximize frame time consistency over visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how the hardware scales with settings and resolution. At 1920x1080, the performance ranges from 179.7 FPS on Low to 77.2 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset hits 136.6 FPS, and High produces 99.2 FPS. This pattern shows a clear logarithmic curve where each step up in settings has a diminishing return on visual quality but a consistent cost in frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop across the board, but the relative scaling remains. Low delivers 169.3 FPS, Medium 114.6 FPS, High 80.6 FPS, and Ultra 66.7 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows here, but the gap between Medium and High widens, suggesting that the game's higher settings rely more heavily on GPU compute.

At the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, the numbers become more constrained. Low still manages a very playable 145.8 FPS, which is impressive for a 4K resolution. Medium drops to 88.6 FPS, High to 62.9 FPS, and Ultra to 53.6 FPS. The data shows that the RTX 5090 has enough raw power to push high frame rates at 4K, but the game's Ultra preset appears poorly optimized, as it cuts performance by nearly 40% compared to High. The 4K Low preset is the standout result, proving that the GPU is not the limiting factor until you push the more intensive settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this combo, and its specifications explain the high frame rates seen at lower settings. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This is critical for The Medium, which uses a dual-reality mechanic that requires rendering two separate scenes simultaneously. The high bandwidth and capacity ensure that the pre-rendered backgrounds and real-time geometry are loaded without stutter.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, which are not exceptionally high but are backed by 21,760 shading units. This leads to a 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 compute rate. The data suggests that this compute power allows the GPU to handle the game's complex lighting and post-processing at 4K, but the drop from 88.6 FPS on Medium to 62.9 FPS on High indicates that the shader complexity increases exponentially with the higher presets. The RTX 5090's 170 RT cores are also relevant, as the game uses ray-traced reflections in certain areas; however, the performance data suggests the game is more reliant on traditional rasterization, as the frame rate drops are consistent with fill-rate limitations rather than ray-tracing overhead.

The GPU's passmark G3D score is 39,650, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 14,411. These scores are among the highest recorded, corroborating the in-game results. The GPU is clearly capable of delivering 4K gameplay, but the Ultra preset seems to exceed its practical limits for 60 FPS targets, making High the sensible ceiling for this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provides the foundation for this system, and its 12 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for The Medium. The game is not heavily multithreaded, but the CPU's strong single-thread performance is crucial for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The 7900X has a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a base clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,093 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,168. These scores indicate that the CPU will not hold back the RTX 5090, even at lower resolutions where the CPU load is proportionally higher.

The CPU's 64 MB of shared L3 cache is another asset. The Medium often streams assets as the camera moves, and the large cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency. The passmark data compression score of 632,505 and encryption score of 37,263 show that the CPU is adept at handling the background tasks that the game may offload, but the primary role here is to feed the GPU with draw calls. The 7900X's performance in the game is confirmed by its 93rd percentile ranking; it is not the bottleneck. The deltaPct comparisons to its nearest rivals (0.1% to 0.8% differences) show that swapping the CPU for another high-end model would yield negligible changes in this game's frame rates, which are clearly dictated by the GPU settings. The 170W TDP is a consideration for cooling, but for pure gaming performance, the CPU provides ample headroom.