The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing delivers a highly capable, though not flawless, experience in The Medium. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks in the 89th percentile of all tested configurations in this title, placing it at position 394 out of 3,724 total combinations. The system demonstrates a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU's substantial thread count ensures consistent frame delivery at lower settings.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D brings substantial processing power to The Medium, featuring 12 cores and 24 threads from the Zen 5 architecture on the Granite Ridge die. This processor operates at a 4.40 GHz base clock and boosts up to 5.50 GHz, with a 128 MB L3 cache that proves beneficial for the game's asset streaming demands. The CPU's 3DMark scores indicate strong multi-threaded performance, with a max-thread score of 13,795 and a 16-thread score of 12,490, while single-thread performance reaches 1,269 in the same benchmark suite.

In the context of The Medium, which is a horror title that relies on simultaneous rendering of two worlds through its signature split-screen mechanic, the CPU's thread management becomes critical. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 and single-core score of 6,739 suggest it can handle the parallel workloads required by the game's dual-world rendering without becoming a limiting factor at standard resolutions. The Geekbench results reinforce this, with a multi-core score of 22,884 and single-core score of 3,041.

Comparing against nearest rivals in the database, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D posts an average benchmark score of 54,762. This places it marginally behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, which scores 55,093 and leads by 0.6%, but ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053, trailing by 1.3%), Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701, trailing by 2%), and Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620, trailing by 2.1%). These deltas are small enough to consider the CPU performance class as roughly equivalent among these four processors in general compute tasks.

The practical impact on The Medium becomes visible when examining frame rates across settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 175 FPS on average, which represents a scenario where the CPU's headroom allows the GPU to work unconstrained. The PassMark multi-thread score of 56,154 and integer math score of 179,727 indicate the processor can feed the graphics card efficiently even in scenes with multiple AI-driven characters and environmental interactions. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2,512 demonstrates that even lighter thread loads maintain solid performance, which matters for the game's menu systems and loading transitions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti serves as the primary rendering engine in this configuration, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip at a 5 nm process node. This GPU operates with a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, providing 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute throughput. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective 21 Gbps across a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth — a figure that becomes relevant as texture detail increases at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,024 and PassMark G3D score of 31,624 place it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 44,795 positions it close to several rivals: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile leads by 0.8% with 45,152, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT leads by 1.3% with 45,384, the Intel Arc A730M leads by 1.7% with 45,592, while the NVIDIA RTX A6000 trails by 1.6% at 44,075. These tight margins suggest the RTX 4070 Ti delivers performance in a well-established tier, though not at the very top of the range.

In The Medium, the GPU's role becomes clearly visible through the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra settings, the system manages only 41 FPS on average, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory resources are stretched to their limits. The 12 GB VRAM capacity proves sufficient for the game's textures at all tested settings, but the 192-bit memory bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth create a bottleneck when rendering at 4K with Ultra presets. The texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows diminishing returns as pixel count increases.

The GPU's Geekbench OpenCL score of 176,953 and Vulkan score of 213,808 demonstrate robust compute performance, which supports the game's rendering techniques including volumetric fog and dynamic lighting. At 1440p High settings, the system achieves 66 FPS, which represents a playable experience, while 4K Medium delivers 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS — indicating that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates at 4K when settings are moderated.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-limited scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p Low settings, the system delivers 175 FPS, which drops to 148 FPS at 1440p Low (-15.4%) and further to 116 FPS at 4K Low (-33.7% from 1080p). This scaling curve shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes increasingly taxed at higher pixel counts, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the primary constraint.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher settings. With Medium settings, the frame rate moves from 110 FPS at 1080p to 92 FPS at 1440p (-16.4%) and then to 73 FPS at 4K (-33.6% from 1080p). The minimum FPS at Medium settings follows a similar trajectory: 93 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. These minimums show that frame time consistency degrades proportionally with average FPS, suggesting the GPU is the primary limiting component across all resolutions.

At High settings, the progression from 79 FPS at 1080p to 66 FPS at 1440p (-16.5%) and 52 FPS at 4K (-34.2% from 1080p) reinforces the same pattern. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic drop: 62 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p (-16.1%), and 41 FPS at 4K (-33.9% from 1080p). Across all settings, the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p hovers around 15-16%, while the drop from 1080p to 4K approaches 34%, consistent with the GPU being the bottleneck.

This scaling behavior indicates that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides sufficient processing power to avoid limiting performance even at 1080p, where the GPU is less taxed. The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth determine the performance ceiling at each resolution. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 12,490 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47,737 demonstrate that the processor can handle the game's threading demands without becoming a limiting factor, even when the GPU is operating at lower resolutions with higher frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware combination?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium settings provide the best balance, delivering 92 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS. This keeps frame rates well above 60 FPS while maintaining visual quality, whereas 4K Medium drops to 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium settings, the system achieves 73 FPS average, which is playable. However, 4K High drops to 52 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 41 FPS, which may be less acceptable for smooth gameplay. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 4K textures.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in general performance?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 54,762 on average, which is 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55,093) but 1.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54,053), 2% ahead of the Intel Xeon 6505P (53,701), and 2.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F (53,620).

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings produce 175 FPS while Ultra produces 62 FPS, representing a 64.6% reduction in average frame rate. The Medium preset at 110 FPS offers a middle ground, with High at 79 FPS providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting component. Resolution scaling shows consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core 47,737) suggest it has ample headroom for the game's workload.

Q: How does the GPU rank among all graphics cards in the database?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti is in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 44,795 places it within 1.7% of the Intel Arc A730M (45,592) at the top of its nearest rivals, while the NVIDIA RTX A6000 trails by 1.6% with a score of 44,075.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most optimal experience for this hardware combination. At 1080p, Medium delivers 110 FPS average with a minimum of 93 FPS, providing smooth gameplay with a balanced visual presentation. The jump to High settings reduces performance by 28.2% to 79 FPS, which may not justify the visual gains for players prioritizing frame rate consistency.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again emerges as the best choice, achieving 92 FPS average with a 79 FPS minimum. This keeps performance comfortably above 60 FPS while allowing for higher resolution detail. High settings at 1440p drop to 66 FPS, which remains playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra settings at 1440p fall to 52 FPS, which may introduce noticeable stutter in action sequences.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, producing 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum. The Low preset at 4K achieves 116 FPS, which is excessive for this title, while High at 52 FPS and Ultra at 41 FPS fall below the ideal threshold for smooth horror gameplay, where consistent frame pacing is important for atmosphere. Players seeking higher visual fidelity at 4K should accept the trade-off of lower frame rates, but Medium provides the best balance of performance and quality.

The Ultra preset, while visually impressive, reduces frame rates to 62 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. These figures suggest that Ultra is best reserved for screenshot-oriented play or for users with high-refresh-rate displays who prioritize image quality over frame rate. The High preset serves as an intermediate option for users who want improved visuals over Medium but cannot tolerate the frame rate drop to Ultra levels.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low settings: 175 FPS average
• Medium settings: 110 FPS average, 93 FPS minimum, 126 FPS maximum
• High settings: 79 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 62 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low settings: 148 FPS average
• Medium settings: 92 FPS average, 79 FPS minimum, 106 FPS maximum
• High settings: 66 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 52 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low settings: 116 FPS average
• Medium settings: 73 FPS average, 62 FPS minimum, 83 FPS maximum
• High settings: 52 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 41 FPS average

The data shows that the Medium preset at any resolution provides a consistent experience with minimum FPS values that stay within 15% of the average. This consistency is particularly notable at 4K, where the minimum of 62 FPS remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates at each resolution, but the dramatic drop from Low to Medium — 37.1% at 1080p, 37.8% at 1440p, and 37.1% at 4K — indicates that the visual quality improvements from Low to Medium come at a significant performance cost. The step from Medium to High costs an additional 28.2% at 1080p, 28.3% at 1440p, and 28.8% at 4K, while the step from High to Ultra costs 21.5% at 1080p, 21.2% at 1440p, and 21.2% at 4K. These consistent percentage drops across resolutions reinforce the conclusion that the GPU's rendering pipeline scales uniformly with settings, making the Medium preset the clear choice for balanced performance.