The Medium

# Resolution Scaling

The Medium shows pronounced frame rate scaling across the three tested resolutions with this AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 135 FPS at 1920x1080 to 114 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 90 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 16% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 21% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative effect from 1080p to 4K is a 33% performance loss, which is relatively modest for a game of this visual complexity.

The scaling pattern at High settings tells a similar story but with a steeper curve. The average frame rate falls from 97 FPS at 1080p to 82 FPS at 1440p, then to 64 FPS at 4K. This represents a 15% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 22% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 34% reduction across the full resolution range. At Low settings, the frame rates are substantially higher, with 195 FPS at 1080p, 182 FPS at 1440p, and 143 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 27%, indicating that the GPU remains the dominant performance factor even when graphical load is reduced.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 77 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. This is a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another 22% drop from 1440p to 4K, for a total reduction of 34%. Across all settings, the consistent pattern of approximately 15-16% losses between 1080p and 1440p, followed by 21-22% losses between 1440p and 4K, indicates that resolution scaling follows a predictable curve. The frame rate deltas suggest that at 1080p, the CPU begins to exert some influence on performance, particularly at Low and Medium settings where frame rates exceed 135 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, with even the highest-performing preset yielding only 64 FPS at High settings.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D brings substantial processing capability to this pairing. It features 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. The processor operates at a base clock of 4.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and its 128 MB of L3 cache provides a significant memory buffer for game data. The CPU's benchmarks show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739. The Geekbench results are similarly robust at 22884 multi-core and 3041 single-core.

In The Medium, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the combination achieves 195 FPS, and at Medium settings it reaches 135 FPS. These high frame rates indicate that the 12-core processor can feed the RTX 5090 adequately at this resolution. The 3DMark 16-thread test score of 12490 and the max-thread score of 13795 suggest that the CPU handles multi-threaded workloads efficiently, which is relevant for a game that uses multiple threads for rendering and simulation tasks.

The CPU's 91st percentile ranking among all tested processors places it in the upper tier of available hardware. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with an average score of 55093, which is 0.6% higher than the 9900X3D's average benchmark score of 54762. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K trails by 1.3%, and the Intel Xeon 6505P and Intel Core i7-14700F are 2% and 2.1% behind respectively. These narrow margins suggest that the 9900X3D is competitive with other high-end processors, though its advantage in gaming workloads may come from the large L3 cache rather than raw compute throughput.

The 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel DDR5 support provide adequate data throughput for the game's asset streaming. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes ensures that the GPU has sufficient bandwidth for data transfer. At 4K resolution, where the GPU becomes the bottleneck, the CPU's contribution is less visible, but the consistent frame rates above 51 FPS at Ultra settings indicate that the processor does not introduce stuttering or frame pacing issues.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster operation units. The card operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for high-resolution texture streaming.

The GPU's compute capabilities are impressive, with FP32 performance rated at 104.8 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s indicate the card can handle heavy rasterization workloads. The 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for advanced rendering techniques. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 334370, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376728.

In The Medium, the GPU's dominance is clear at 4K resolution. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 51 FPS, which is the lowest tested configuration. The High preset at 4K yields 64 FPS, and Medium settings produce 90 FPS. The Low preset at 4K reaches 143 FPS, showing that the card has significant headroom when graphical effects are reduced. The 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places this card near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with an average score of 79605, which is 0.3% lower than the RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 79842. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB trails by 0.6%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% behind.

The 32 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, the game's textures and geometry data can reside entirely in graphics memory without spillover to system RAM. The 512-bit memory bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide the throughput needed for high-resolution rendering. The card's pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s suggests it can handle the fill rate demands of 4K rendering, though the measured frame rates indicate that other factors, such as shader complexity, limit performance in this title.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 195 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combination. Medium settings produce 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS. High settings yield 97 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 77 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 118 FPS, indicating that the settings menu has a substantial impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all presets. Low settings average 182 FPS, which is a 7% reduction from the 1080p result. Medium settings average 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS, representing a 16% drop. High settings produce 82 FPS, a 15% reduction, and Ultra settings yield 65 FPS, a 16% decrease. The consistency of these reductions suggests that the game scales predictably with resolution at this level.

At 3840x2160, the performance impact is more pronounced. Low settings average 143 FPS, a 21% reduction from 1440p and a 27% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 90 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, representing a 21% drop from 1440p. High settings produce 64 FPS, a 22% reduction, and Ultra settings yield 51 FPS, a 22% decrease from the 1440p result. The minimum frame rate of 76 FPS at 4K Medium indicates that the combination maintains playable performance even under load.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum frame rates across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range spans from 115 to 156 FPS, a 41 FPS spread. At 1440p, the range is 97 to 131 FPS, a 34 FPS spread. At 4K, the range narrows to 76 to 103 FPS, a 27 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame time consistency improves as the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

# FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combination?

A: The highest average frame rate is 195 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Low?

A: The 4K Ultra preset achieves 51 FPS, while 1080p Low achieves 195 FPS. This represents a 74% reduction in frame rate from the lowest to highest graphical load.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in the tested configurations?

A: The minimum recorded frame rate is 76 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. This is the only configuration with a recorded minimum below 97 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset shows the smallest performance gap between 1080p and 4K?

A: The Low preset shows the smallest relative drop, with a 27% reduction from 195 FPS at 1080p to 143 FPS at 4K. All other presets show reductions of 33-34% across the same resolution range.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842, which is 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is 0.6% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% lower.

Q: What is the frame rate spread at Medium settings across all resolutions?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate ranges from 135 FPS at 1080p to 114 FPS at 1440p to 90 FPS at 4K. The minimum and maximum values at 1080p are 115 and 156 FPS, at 1440p are 97 and 131 FPS, and at 4K are 76 and 103 FPS.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 135 FPS average with a minimum of 115 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains 114 FPS average with a minimum of 97 FPS, providing consistent performance for high-refresh-rate displays. At 3840x2160, Medium settings produce 90 FPS average with a minimum of 76 FPS, which is suitable for 60 Hz displays and provides headroom for variable refresh rate monitors.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate. At 1080p, it achieves 97 FPS, at 1440p it reaches 82 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 64 FPS. These frame rates are acceptable for most gaming scenarios, though the 4K result is closer to the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset offers the highest visual quality but imposes significant performance costs, with 77 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra configuration falls below 60 FPS, which may result in noticeable stuttering on standard refresh rate displays.

The Low preset demonstrates the combination's raw capability, achieving 195 FPS at 1080p, 182 FPS at 1440p, and 143 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are far beyond what most displays can show, making Low settings unnecessary for typical use cases. The data indicates that Medium settings provide the best experience per measured frame rate, as it maintains playable performance at all resolutions while offering improved visual quality over Low settings. For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point, with the option to increase to High if the 64 FPS average is acceptable. The minimum frame rate of 76 FPS at 4K Medium ensures that the experience remains fluid even during demanding scenes.

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 34th out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the pairing in the top 1.2% of all configurations tested for this game, indicating exceptional performance relative to the broader hardware landscape. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the 12-core processor and the flagship graphics card, which together deliver the frame rates documented in the measured results.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is supported by its 91st percentile standing among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 54762. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 79842, further reinforces the strength of this pairing. The combination of two top-tier components results in a system that excels in this horror title, particularly at lower resolutions where the CPU's large cache and high clock speeds provide ample headroom.

The rank of 34th out of 2911 combinations suggests that a small number of alternative configurations achieve higher frame rates in The Medium. These likely include combinations with even more powerful processors or graphics cards, though the specific configurations are not detailed in the available data. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium settings, which reach 195 and 135 FPS respectively, demonstrate that this combination can drive high-refresh-rate displays without significant bottlenecks.

Compared to the nearest rival combinations in synthetic benchmarks, this pairing's performance in The Medium is consistent with its hardware capabilities. The CPU's rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF, show average benchmark scores within 2.1% of the 9900X3D, indicating that processor performance differences are minimal at these performance levels. The GPU's rivals, including the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, are within 1.4% of the RTX 5090's average score, suggesting that the graphics card's performance is also closely matched by other high-end options. The combination's rank of 34th out of 2911 reflects the excellent synergy between these components in The Medium, where the balance of CPU and GPU capabilities results in strong frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.