The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around shifting between two simultaneous realities, presents a demanding workload that stresses both the CPU and GPU. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, using the benchmark data provided. The results show a configuration that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, with the CPU's substantial headroom leaving the graphics card as the primary determinant of frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination in The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 1146 out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this specific title.

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

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 93.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti capable of running The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo only reaches an average of 29.7 FPS on High settings and 20.3 FPS on Ultra, indicating that 4K is not a playable target for this GPU in this game.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 71660, which is 1.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X's score of 70420.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all tested CPUs?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D scores in the 96th percentile, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs in the benchmark database.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting factor in this configuration for The Medium. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is a critical resource, as the game's dual-reality rendering technique likely places significant pressure on the framebuffer. The memory operates at 1750 MHz, with an effective data rate of 14 Gbps, and is fed by a 256-bit bus for a total bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's core clocks are set to a base of 1410 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, which are the speeds that determine its raw processing throughput.

The benchmark results show a clear pattern: as resolution and settings increase, the average FPS drops sharply, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is unlikely to be the bottleneck at any of the tested settings. The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached well before the CPU's capabilities are exhausted. For instance, at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 93.9 FPS, but this is the only setting where the frame rate approaches a high refresh rate. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is a likely contributor to the steep performance decline at 4K, where the higher memory demands for textures and geometry can exceed the available capacity, leading to the sub-30 FPS results observed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the only viable option is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 93.9 FPS. This provides significant headroom and is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 75 FPS, which is also playable, but the Medium preset drops to 50.2 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game but is not ideal.

The Medium preset at 1920x1080 produces 57.5 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but not consistently above it. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the High preset at 1920x1080 offers 44.1 FPS, which is a playable, if not perfectly smooth, experience. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it only achieves 34.4 FPS at 1080p and falls to 20.3 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that the best balance for this hardware is the Low preset at 2560x1440, which provides a high frame rate of 75 FPS while still offering a resolution increase over 1080p. The High preset at 1920x1080 is the best choice for those who want improved visuals and can tolerate a frame rate in the mid-40s.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent performance hierarchy across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 93.9 FPS for Low, 57.5 FPS for Medium, 44.1 FPS for High, and 34.4 FPS for Ultra. This shows a clear progression, with the Low preset being nearly 40% faster than the Medium preset. The gap between Medium and High is 13.4 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 9.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are more pronounced. The Low preset averages 75 FPS, which is a 20% decrease from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 50.2 FPS, the High preset averages 34.8 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27.3 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is not linear, with the High preset losing 9.3 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 7.1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. The Low preset is the only one that remains playable, with an average of 62.1 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 35.7 FPS, the High preset to 29.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 20.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 26.4 FPS, which is the largest single-setting gap in the entire dataset. This indicates that the jump to Medium settings at 4K imposes a massive performance cost that the RTX 3060 Ti cannot handle.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1146 out of 1689 tested combinations places it in the 32nd percentile of all tested systems for The Medium. This is a low ranking, reflecting the GPU's limitations in this specific title. The CPU, however, is a top-tier part, scoring in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank highlights the extent to which the GPU is the bottleneck.

The GPU's average benchmark score of 25120 places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within a 0.7% performance delta. The AMD Radeon RX 6700M is 0.2% faster, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is 0.5% faster, and the AMD Radeon 890M is 0.5% faster. This indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is a mid-range GPU, and its performance in The Medium is consistent with its overall standing. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, are within a 2.2% delta, but this has little bearing on the game's performance, as the CPU is not the limiting factor. The data shows that for this game, the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and its raw compute power are the primary determinants of the final frame rate, and the powerful CPU does little to lift the combo's rank.