The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT produces a clear performance hierarchy across its presets. The data shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher quality settings, while the CPU’s substantial 12-core, 24-thread configuration ensures headroom that never becomes the primary bottleneck. This analysis breaks down the measured results to guide settings choices and expectations at each resolution.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. Its base clock is 4.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it carries a 120 W TDP. In the context of The Medium, this CPU provides a substantial amount of processing power that is rarely the limiting factor. Benchmark results place it in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54450, indicating it is a top-tier performer for gaming workloads.

In this specific game, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates, but the measured FPS reveals that the RX 7700 XT is the bottleneck at most settings. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system hits 122.6 FPS, but this is still far from the CPU's theoretical limits. The processor’s single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 3341 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6555, which matters for the game’s main thread logic. However, the game scales with the GPU’s capabilities first, as shown by the dramatic FPS drop when moving from Low to Ultra presets, which is a function of the graphics card’s fill rate and shader work, not the CPU. The 9900X’s 64 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) provide a solid foundation, but the data confirms that this combo’s frame rates are dictated by the Radeon GPU’s 35.17 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 432.0 GB/s memory bandwidth.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides a clear picture for each resolution, and the optimal preset depends heavily on the target refresh rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 122.6 FPS, which is the only setting that crosses the 120 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 80.8 FPS is the best balance for a 60 Hz or 75 Hz monitor, offering a significant jump from the High preset’s 57.7 FPS without the visual collapse of Low. The High preset at 57.7 FPS is playable on a 60 Hz display but leaves little headroom for dips. Ultra at 42.4 FPS is not recommended for smooth play.

At 1440p, the situation shifts. The Low preset achieves 103.3 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh 1440p panels. The Medium preset at 63.7 FPS is the sweet spot for a 60 Hz experience, providing a stable frame rate that is 36% higher than High’s 46.9 FPS. High at 1440p is borderline, while Ultra at 36.1 FPS is too low for comfort. For 4K, the results are less forgiving. The Low preset at 81.7 FPS is the only playable option for smooth motion, while Medium drops to 53.1 FPS and High falls to 38.4 FPS. Ultra at 31.1 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the best general recommendation for 1080p and 1440p, as it provides a large FPS improvement over High with a modest visual penalty, while Low is the only viable choice for 4K to maintain playability.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of a GPU-bound scenario. At the Low preset, the system produces 122.6 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 103.3 FPS at 1440p (a 16% reduction) and then to 81.7 FPS at 4K (a 33% reduction from 1080p). This pattern is consistent with the GPU’s rendering load increasing as pixel count grows, while the CPU remains largely idle, waiting for the GPU to finish each frame. The RX 7700 XT’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus is sufficient for these settings, but the raw compute power is what limits the frame rate.

At the High preset, the scaling is steeper: 57.7 FPS at 1080p, 46.9 FPS at 1440p, and 38.4 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 33%, similar to Low, but the absolute numbers are lower because the GPU is already working harder at each step. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, from 42.4 FPS at 1080p to 36.1 FPS at 1440p and 31.1 FPS at 4K, a 27% reduction overall. This indicates that the GPU’s shader and texture units are saturated, and adding pixels has a diminishing return on frame time. The data strongly suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the limiting component at every resolution and preset combination, as the CPU’s performance headroom is never exhausted, even at 1080p Low where the FPS is highest. The 9900X’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and max-thread score of 13929 confirm it can handle the game’s logic without becoming a constraint.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested configurations for The Medium, this specific combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and Radeon RX 7700 XT ranks 748 out of 1689 combos. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms more than half of the configurations but is not near the top. The ranking reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning rather than the CPU’s high-end status. The CPU alone sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, but the GPU only reaches the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, which drags the overall combo rank down.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 with an average score of 30109 and a deltaPct of 0, indicating they are statistically tied. The AMD Radeon RX 570 also shows a score of 30158 with a -0.2% delta, which is essentially identical. This tells us the RX 7700 XT is performing exactly as expected for its class. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with a -0.4% delta and the Intel Core i7-14700F with a 0.7% delta, show that the 9900X is also right in line with its peers. Therefore, the combo’s 748th rank is directly attributable to the GPU’s mid-range standing, and swapping the CPU for a faster model would not meaningfully change the frame rates in this title, as the GPU is the bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K smoothly?

A: Only at the Low preset, which achieves 81.7 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 53.1 FPS, and the High preset falls to 38.4 FPS, which is not smooth. Ultra at 4K is unplayable at 31.1 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p 60 Hz monitor?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 63.7 FPS, which is slightly above the 60 FPS target. The High preset at 46.9 FPS is below 60 FPS, so Medium is the recommended choice for a stable experience.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 122.6 FPS, but as resolution and settings increase, the FPS drops proportionally to the GPU’s workload. The CPU’s 94th percentile ranking and high multi-thread scores (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore 46438) show it has ample headroom.

Q: How does the RX 7700 XT compare to the RTX 5060 in this context?

A: The two GPUs are statistically tied. The RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 30109, while the RX 7700 XT has a score of 30097, with a deltaPct of 0, meaning there is no measurable performance difference between them in synthetic tests.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1080p with the High preset?

A: The measured average FPS for 1080p High is 57.7 FPS. This is suitable for a 60 Hz display but leaves little margin for frame time spikes, so the Medium preset at 80.8 FPS is a safer choice for consistent smoothness.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9900X overkill for this GPU?

A: For this specific game, yes, the CPU’s power is underutilized. The combo ranks 748th out of 1689 due to the GPU’s limitations. A less powerful CPU would likely produce similar frame rates, as the RX 7700 XT is the primary constraint in all measured scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

Below are the exact average FPS figures for each resolution and settings preset, as measured in the database. No minimum or maximum FPS values were recorded, only the averages.

1920x1080 (Full HD):

• Low: 122.6 FPS
• Medium: 80.8 FPS
• High: 57.7 FPS
• Ultra: 42.4 FPS

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

• Low: 103.3 FPS
• Medium: 63.7 FPS
• High: 46.9 FPS
• Ultra: 36.1 FPS

3840x2160 (4K Ultra HD):

• Low: 81.7 FPS
• Medium: 53.1 FPS
• High: 38.4 FPS
• Ultra: 31.1 FPS

The pattern is consistent: each step up in resolution at the same preset costs roughly 20-30% of the frame rate. The gap between Low and Ultra at any resolution is significant, often more than double the FPS. For example, at 1080p, Low is 122.6 FPS while Ultra is 42.4 FPS, a 65% reduction. This suggests that the RX 7700 XT’s 96 ROPs and 216 TMUs are the limiting resources for the higher presets, while the 12 GB VRAM is not exhausted at these settings. Players should use the Low preset for high-refresh monitors, the Medium preset for standard 60 Hz panels, and avoid Ultra entirely unless visual fidelity is prioritized over playability.