The Medium

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with the AMD Radeon 8060S delivers a playable but constrained experience in The Medium, with performance heavily dictated by resolution and settings. The data shows a clear pattern: this combo is far more capable at 1080p and 1440p, where it can hit high frame rates, but it struggles to maintain fluid motion at 4K, especially on higher presets. The combination ranks in the 56th percentile of tested configurations, placing it in the middle of the pack, and the measured results indicate that users must make deliberate trade-offs between visual fidelity and frame rate.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and non-linear, revealing that the Radeon 8060S is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 101 FPS at 1920x1080 to 85 FPS at 2560x1440, a 15.8% reduction, and then to 67 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 21.2% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern shows that while the GPU can handle the load at lower resolutions, the transition to 4K demands significantly more pixel throughput, which the integrated graphics cannot fully sustain.

The gap widens dramatically when moving to Medium settings. At 1080p, the average is 63 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 53 FPS (a 15.9% decrease); and at 4K, it plummets to 42 FPS (a 20.8% decrease from 1440p). The trend continues with High settings, where the averages are 45 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The most punishing scenario is Ultra, where the average falls from 36 FPS at 1080p to 30 FPS at 1440p and finally to 24 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in these scenarios. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, provides ample processing power, and the frame rate drops align with the increase in pixel count rather than any CPU-side limitation. The integrated Radeon 8060S, with its 2560 shading units and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, is the component that determines the ceiling. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent degradation, but the most significant relative loss occurs between 1440p and 4K, where the GPU's memory bandwidth and fill rate are strained. Users targeting 4K will need to accept Low settings to achieve a playable 67 FPS, while those on 1440p can enjoy a smoother experience with Medium settings at 53 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is an integrated graphics processor based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its performance profile is defined by a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz, which allows it to reach a peak FP32 throughput of 14.85 TFLOPS. The GPU's memory is designated as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the CPU's LPDDR5X memory, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." This shared memory configuration is a critical factor, as the GPU's performance is tied to the system's memory bandwidth, which is rated at 256.0 GB/s for the CPU.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is evident in the measured frame rates. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 101 FPS, showing that the GPU can handle the game's demands when the pixel count and effects are reduced. However, the frame rate drops to 63 FPS at Medium and 45 FPS at High, indicating that each increase in settings level imposes a significant load on the GPU. The jump from High to Ultra is particularly taxing, with the average falling from 45 FPS to 36 FPS at 1080p, a 20% reduction.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 55757. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which scores 55698 (a delta of 0.1%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, which scores 56083 (a delta of -0.6%). This indicates that the Radeon 8060S is competitive with dedicated mid-range graphics cards in synthetic tests, but the measured game performance suggests that its integrated nature and shared memory limit its real-world capabilities. The 40 RT cores and 64 ROPs are present, but the lack of dedicated VRAM means that the GPU must constantly access system memory, which can cause stuttering or frame drops in memory-intensive scenes, as evidenced by the min FPS values of 35 at 4K Medium and 53 at 1080p Medium.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It features a substantial L3 cache of 64 MB (shared) and supports LPDDR5X memory via a quad-channel interface. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35314 and a single-core score of 2044, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is less prominent than the GPU's, as the game's fixed camera angles and slow-paced horror gameplay are not particularly demanding on processor resources. The data shows that the frame rate scales with resolution and settings, which is a GPU-centric behavior. For example, at Low settings, the average FPS is 101 at 1080p, 85 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K. This consistent scaling suggests that the CPU is delivering frames fast enough to not bottleneck the GPU, even at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX, which has an average score of 76513 (a delta of 1.6%), and the Intel Core i9-14900K, which scores 79097 (a delta of -1.7%). The Ryzen AI Max+ 395's average benchmark score is 77740, indicating that it is a high-end mobile processor. However, its TDP is rated at 55 W, which is relatively low for a 16-core part, suggesting that sustained boost clocks may be limited in a thin-and-light chassis. Despite this, the measured FPS in The Medium shows no signs of CPU throttling, as the game's performance is consistently higher at lower resolutions, which would not be the case if the CPU were the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and the AMD Radeon 8060S ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 56th percentile. This is a mid-pack ranking, indicating that while the combo is not a top-tier performer, it is also not among the worst. The ranking reflects the balance between the high-end CPU and the mid-range integrated GPU. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35314) does not directly translate to higher FPS in this game, as the GPU is the more significant factor.

The GPU's rank among all GPUs is 87th percentile, but the combo's rank is lower, suggesting that other aspects of the system, such as memory bandwidth or thermal constraints, may be holding back the full potential. The nearest GPU rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (delta 0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (delta 2.8%), but these are desktop parts with dedicated VRAM, whereas the Radeon 8060S relies on shared system memory. This difference is likely why the combo's in-game ranking is lower than the GPU's synthetic benchmark percentile.

Compared to other combos, the data shows that this setup is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 45 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. At 1440p Medium, it hits 53 FPS, which is a better experience. The ranking of 1648 suggests that there are many combos that perform better, but also a significant number that perform worse. Users with this setup should not expect to max out the game at 4K, but they can achieve a solid experience at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 101 FPS on Low, 63 FPS on Medium, 45 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 53 and a max FPS of 72, showing a variance of 19 FPS, which indicates some frame pacing inconsistency. The Ultra preset's average of 36 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, making it less desirable for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 85 FPS on Low, 53 FPS on Medium, 38 FPS on High, and 30 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again shows a variance, with a min of 45 and a max of 61 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 32 FPS, which is a substantial hit, indicating that the Medium preset introduces significant graphical effects that strain the GPU. The High and Ultra presets at this resolution are below 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging only 30 FPS, which is borderline unplayable for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and smooth camera movement.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 67 FPS on Low, 42 FPS on Medium, 30 FPS on High, and 24 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a min of 35 and a max of 48 FPS, showing a variance of 13 FPS. The Low preset is the only one that achieves a playable average above 60 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets are well below the threshold for smooth motion. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is only viable with the Low preset, and even then, the 67 FPS average may dip in complex scenes.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 63 FPS and a min of 53 FPS, which is above the 50 FPS threshold for playability. The High preset drops to 45 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for a game that benefits from consistent frame times. The Ultra preset's 36 FPS average is too low for a smooth experience, and the Low preset, while fast at 101 FPS, sacrifices too much visual quality.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, delivering an average of 53 FPS with a min of 45 FPS. This is a compromise, as the frame rate is not locked to 60, but it is playable. The Low preset offers 85 FPS, which is smooth, but the visual fidelity is reduced. The High preset at 38 FPS is below the desired threshold, and the Ultra preset at 30 FPS is not recommended.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that only the Low preset is viable, with an average of 67 FPS. The Medium preset at 42 FPS is borderline, but the min FPS of 35 indicates that it may stutter in demanding scenes. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as their averages of 30 FPS and 24 FPS, respectively, fall below the minimum for an acceptable gaming experience. In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is achieved by using the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p, and the Low preset at 4K.