The Medium

# The Medium: Resolution Scaling Analysis

The Medium presents an interesting case study in how a fixed hardware combination behaves across different resolution targets. This analysis examines the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, using measured FPS data across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution, but the relationship between settings and performance is not always linear.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Medium settings, the system delivers 60 FPS at 1080p, drops to 51 FPS at 1440p, and falls further to 40 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings, indicating that the GPU is becoming increasingly stressed as pixel count grows.

The Low preset tells a more dramatic story. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 97 FPS, which drops to 81 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 64 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 16.5% performance loss, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 21%. This suggests that even at the lowest quality settings, the 4K resolution places significant demands on the RTX 4060.

High settings reveal the most pronounced resolution sensitivity. The system manages 43 FPS at 1080p, but this falls to 36 FPS at 1440p and 29 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K transition at High settings represents a 32.6% drop, while the 1440p to 4K step alone costs 19.4%. Ultra settings follow a similar trajectory, with 34 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K.

What these numbers imply is that the RTX 4060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit memory bus become limiting factors at higher resolutions. The bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s appears insufficient to maintain performance parity when pixel counts increase substantially. The 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings suggests that the GPU's memory subsystem is the primary bottleneck, rather than the CPU.

The scaling pattern also reveals that the gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p across all settings. This non-linear scaling indicates that the 4K resolution pushes the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range, particularly in a game like The Medium which relies on fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments that still demand substantial GPU resources.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 serves as the primary rendering engine in this combination, and its specifications directly influence the measured results. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, built on the AD107 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture. The 5 nm process from TSMC allows for 18,900 million transistors packed into a 159 mm² die, with a transistor density of 118.9M per mm².

Memory configuration plays a critical role in The Medium's performance. The RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's memory runs at 2125 MHz, which translates to 17 Gbps effective. This memory configuration appears adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest that the 8 GB capacity and 128-bit bus width create a bottleneck when texture demands increase.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores provide support for ray tracing and DLSS features, though The Medium does not appear to leverage these heavily based on the measured data. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s provide context for how the GPU handles the game's visual effects.

The RTX 4060's FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS places it in a specific performance tier, and the benchmark results confirm this positioning. The GPU scores 2302 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 95057 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 48643 in Geekbench Vulkan. These synthetic benchmarks align with the measured FPS results, showing a GPU that performs admirably at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with higher quality settings.

The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that it sits in the mid-range segment. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 with an average score of 17666 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (0.5% lower). This tight clustering shows that the RTX 4060 performs as expected for its class, though the comparison to integrated graphics like the Radeon 780M is notable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1751 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the system in the lower half of all tested hardware configurations, specifically at the 60.1 percentile among all combos. This ranking reflects the RTX 4060's mid-range positioning, as the CPU is significantly more powerful than what this GPU pairing typically requires.

The CPU component, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, ranks in the 95th percentile among all CPUs. This processor features 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Strix Halo. The CPU operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. Its benchmark scores include 35314 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 2044 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 20992 in Geekbench multi-core.

The CPU's nearest rivals show its competitive positioning. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX scores 76513 (1.6% higher), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P scores 76492 (1.6% higher), and the Intel Core i9-14900K scores 79097 (1.7% lower). The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 76212 (2% lower). These comparisons show that the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 performs competitively with desktop HEDT and enthusiast processors despite being a mobile part.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance tiers explains the combo's ranking. The CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with data far beyond what the RTX 4060 can render, meaning the system's gaming performance is entirely GPU-limited. This imbalance suggests that the combo ranking in The Medium would improve significantly with a more powerful GPU, though the current configuration still delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware combination in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 at Medium settings delivers 60 FPS average, which is the minimum threshold for smooth gameplay. The 2560x1440 Medium setting provides 51 FPS, while 3840x2160 Medium only achieves 40 FPS.

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 bottleneck the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: The CPU ranks in the 95th percentile among all processors, while the GPU sits in the 61st percentile. The measured FPS data shows consistent scaling with resolution changes, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the CPU.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 17639 on average, placing it 0.2% below the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666), 0.3% above the AMD Radeon 780M (17588), 0.5% above the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551), and 0.7% above the AMD Radeon Pro 460 (17509).

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings deliver 81 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 29 FPS. This represents a 64.2% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to highest quality preset.

Q: Is the RTX 4060's 8 GB memory sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The 4K results show 29 FPS at High and 23 FPS at Ultra, suggesting that the 8 GB memory capacity and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay at higher quality settings.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 1751 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of all configurations tested in The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

For 1920x1080, the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering a 60 FPS average with minimums of 51 FPS and maximums of 69 FPS. This is the only settings combination at 1080p that achieves the 60 FPS target consistently. Low settings at 1080p deliver 97 FPS, which would be beneficial for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the performance gain. High settings at 1080p drop to 43 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 51 FPS average with minimums of 43 FPS and maximums of 59 FPS. This is the recommended preset for 1440p gaming, as Low settings at 81 FPS sacrifice too much visual quality, while High and Ultra drop to 36 FPS and 29 FPS respectively. The Medium preset at 1440p offers a reasonable compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness, though the average FPS falls below the 60 FPS target.

For 3840x2160, only Low settings at 64 FPS achieve playable frame rates. Medium settings at 40 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced horror games, but the 34 FPS minimum suggests potential stuttering during intense scenes. High and Ultra at 29 FPS and 23 FPS respectively are not recommended for comfortable gameplay. The 4K Low preset appears to be the only viable option for this resolution, though players prioritizing visual quality might accept the Medium preset's 40 FPS average.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 provides substantial computational resources that, while not directly measured in the game's FPS results, establish the platform's capabilities. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture, deliver strong multi-threaded performance as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35314. The single-core performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 score of 2044 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2464.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of shared L3 cache. This substantial cache allocation helps maintain low latency access to frequently used data, which can benefit game logic and asset streaming. The quad-channel LPDDR5X memory support with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth provides ample memory throughput for feeding both the CPU and the integrated Radeon 8060S graphics, though the discrete RTX 4060 has its own dedicated memory.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is notable for a mobile processor, and its ECC memory support adds reliability for compute workloads. The PCIe Gen 4 interface with 16 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4060, which uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 connection. This interface configuration should not bottleneck the GPU's performance in The Medium.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77740. Its nearest rivals include desktop processors like the Intel Core i9-14900K, which scores 79097 (1.7% higher), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX at 76513 (1.6% lower). This performance level indicates that the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's processing requirements, making the GPU the clear bottleneck in this system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS dataset for this combination in The Medium shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 97 FPS average, Medium provides 60 FPS with a range of 51-69 FPS, High achieves 43 FPS, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The 1080p results demonstrate that the system can handle the game comfortably at lower quality settings, with Low and Medium both exceeding or meeting the 60 FPS target.

At 2560x1440, the performance hierarchy remains consistent but shifts downward. Low settings produce 81 FPS, Medium averages 51 FPS with a range of 43-59 FPS, High manages 36 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset offers the best compromise between visual quality and playability, though the 51 FPS average falls short of the 60 FPS ideal.

The 3840x2160 results show the most significant performance degradation. Low settings achieve 64 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a range of 34-46 FPS, High drops to 29 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 23 FPS. The 4K resolution clearly stresses the RTX 4060 beyond its optimal operating range, with only Low settings maintaining acceptable frame rates.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution reveals the cost of visual fidelity. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS (97 to 34), representing a 64.9% reduction. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 52 FPS (81 to 29), a 64.2% reduction. At 4K, the spread is 41 FPS (64 to 23), a 64.1% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the settings scaling is proportional, though the absolute performance levels vary significantly.

The Medium settings provide the only measured minimum and maximum FPS values in the dataset. At 1080p, the Medium preset ranges from 51 to 69 FPS, at 1440p from 43 to 59 FPS, and at 4K from 34 to 46 FPS. These ranges suggest that the game's frame pacing is relatively stable, with roughly 18 FPS variation across all resolutions at Medium settings. This stability is positive for gameplay experience, as it indicates fewer sudden frame rate drops during demanding scenes.