The Medium

The Medium, a horror title built around fixed camera angles and a dual-reality mechanic, presents a demanding workload that scales distinctly with resolution on this AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile platform. The measured frame rates show that 1080p and 1440p are largely GPU-bound, while 4K pushes the RTX 5090 Mobile to its limits, creating a clear hierarchy of playability across the four tested quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a pronounced performance cliff as resolution increases, a pattern typical of a game that relies heavily on pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 sees average FPS drop from 157 to 132, a 16% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields a more significant drop, from 132 to 104 FPS, a 21% decrease. This indicates that even at the lowest visual fidelity, the RTX 5090 Mobile’s rendering pipeline is increasingly challenged by the sheer number of pixels at 4K, though the frame rates remain highly playable.

The Medium preset shows a similar but slightly steeper scaling curve. At 1080p, the average is 98 FPS, which falls to 83 FPS at 1440p (a 15% drop) and then to 65 FPS at 4K (a 22% drop from 1440p). The minimum frame rates also scale down proportionally, from 84 FPS at 1080p to 70 FPS at 1440p and finally 55 FPS at 4K. This consistency suggests the game is not hitting a CPU bottleneck at these settings; the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with its 16 cores and 32 threads provides ample headroom, allowing the scaling to be dictated purely by the GPU's output.

The High preset amplifies the resolution penalty. Starting at 70 FPS in 1080p, performance slips to 59 FPS at 1440p, a 16% loss. The jump to 4K is the most punishing, with average FPS plummeting to 47, a 20% decrease from 1440p. This shows that as graphical complexity increases, the cost of each additional pixel grows, pushing the RTX 5090 Mobile closer to its computational ceiling.

The Ultra preset is where the RTX 5090 Mobile begins to struggle at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the average is 56 FPS. This drops to 47 FPS at 1440p, a 16% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 37 FPS, a 21% decline from 1440p. The scaling pattern here is consistent with the other presets, but the absolute numbers are low enough to make 4K Ultra effectively unplayable for a smooth experience. The data strongly suggests that the limiting component at 4K, especially on High and Ultra, is the GPU itself, as the CPU’s performance metrics, such as its 35314 score in Cinebench R23 multi-core, indicate it is not the bottleneck in this scenario.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for playing The Medium with this hardware?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 are the most versatile resolutions. At 1440p Medium, the system delivers 83 FPS average, which is a strong balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 157 FPS, indicating the CPU and GPU combo is exceptionally fast at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile powerful enough for 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: The benchmark results show that 4K is playable only on the Low and Medium presets, with average frame rates of 104 FPS and 65 FPS respectively. On High and Ultra presets, the average frame rates drop to 47 FPS and 37 FPS, which are below the smoothness threshold for a horror title that benefits from fluid camera movement.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 Mobile's performance compare to its direct rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In the Passmark G3D benchmark, the RTX 5090 Mobile scores 30034. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, scores an average of 45384, which is 0.5% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti scores 44795, a 0.8% lower delta. This indicates the RTX 5090 Mobile is positioned very closely to these desktop-class GPUs in raw compute power.

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 bottleneck the RTX 5090 Mobile in The Medium?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system produces 157 FPS, suggesting the CPU is feeding the GPU efficiently. The CPU's strong multi-core score of 35314 in Cinebench R23 and its 95th percentile ranking versus all CPUs support that it has sufficient headroom to handle the game's logic and draw calls, leaving the GPU as the primary performance limiter.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like on the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p, the frame rate varies between 84 and 113 FPS, a range of 29 FPS. At 1440p, it varies between 70 and 95 FPS, a 25 FPS range. At 4K, the range narrows to 20 FPS (55 to 75), showing that while average performance drops, the frame pacing becomes more consistent at higher resolutions.

Q: How does the overall combo rank in the database for this game?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile ranks 734th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 20% of all tested systems, indicating a high-performance configuration for this specific title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is the undisputed driver of performance in The Medium, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. This substantial memory subsystem is crucial for a game like The Medium, which renders two simultaneous worlds and requires large texture buffers. The 4K Low preset achieving 104 FPS suggests that the memory bandwidth is sufficient to feed the GPU's 10496 shading units without stalling.

The GPU's clock speeds are notably conservative for a flagship mobile part, with a base clock of 990 MHz and a boost clock of 1515 MHz. This is likely a thermal and power management decision, as the GPU has a specified TDP of 95 W. Despite these clocks, the GPU's FP32 compute power is rated at 31.80 TFLOPS, which is a high figure for a mobile chip. The benchmark results show that this raw compute translates directly into gaming performance, but the modest clocks contribute to the steep performance drop at 4K Ultra, where the shader units are fully saturated.

The RTX 5090 Mobile's performance relative to its peers further contextualizes its role. In the Passmark G3D benchmark, it scores 30034, which places it just 0.5% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and 0.8% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. This proximity in synthetic scores is reflected in the gaming data, where the RTX 5090 Mobile demonstrates it is a high-end part, but not an outlier. The GPU's 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms it is a top-tier component, yet The Medium's Ultra preset at 4K (37 FPS) shows that even this level of performance has limits when pushing maximum fidelity at the highest resolution.

The 24 GB VRAM capacity is a forward-looking feature. While The Medium may not fully utilize it at 1080p or 1440p, the 4K High and Ultra presets likely consume a significant portion of the frame buffer. The availability of this memory means that texture streaming and high-resolution assets are unlikely to cause stuttering, as the GPU has ample storage to work with. The data shows that the GPU is the primary scaling factor; when the settings are lowered from Ultra to Low, the average FPS at 4K more than doubles from 37 to 104, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory resources are being relieved significantly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a comprehensive grid of average frame rates across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the performance is consistently high. The Low preset yields an average of 157 FPS, which is optimal for high-refresh-rate displays. Medium produces 98 FPS, with a minimum of 84 and a maximum of 113, indicating smooth gameplay. High averages 70 FPS, still a very playable figure. Ultra drops to 56 FPS, which is playable but sacrifices the high refresh rate advantage.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains robust. Low averages 132 FPS, a 16% reduction from 1080p. Medium averages 83 FPS, with a minimum of 70 and a maximum of 95. This is the sweet spot for 1440p gaming, offering a solid balance between fidelity and speed. High averages 59 FPS, which is at the lower edge of smooth gameplay for many users. Ultra averages 47 FPS, which is a significant drop and may feel less fluid during fast-paced scenes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low averages 104 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates the game is well-optimized at lower settings. Medium averages 65 FPS, with a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 75, making it the only 4K preset that maintains a comfortable frame rate above 60 FPS on average. High averages 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Ultra averages 37 FPS, which is not suitable for a smooth experience. The difference between 1080p and 4K at the Ultra preset is 19 FPS (56 to 37), while at Low it is 53 FPS (157 to 104). This demonstrates that lower settings are more scalable across resolutions, whereas higher settings introduce a more severe pixel-cost penalty.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for The Medium, the pairing of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile achieves a rank of 734 out of 3724 total combos. This places the system in the 80th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 80% of all other tested CPU-GPU pairings for this specific game. This is a strong result, confirming the high-end nature of both components.

The rank reflects the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, ranks in the 95th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77740. It sits very close to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX, which is only 1.6% faster, and the Intel Core i9-14900K, which is 1.7% faster. This suggests the CPU provides a solid foundation that does not hinder the GPU. The GPU, while ranking in the 84th percentile, is the more likely point of variation in the combo rank, as its performance in The Medium is what directly dictates frame rates.

The rank of 734 suggests that while this is a top-tier setup, there are 733 other configurations that deliver higher average frame rates in The Medium. This could be due to other CPUs with even higher single-core performance or other GPU variants with more aggressive clock speeds. The delta between the RTX 5090 Mobile and its nearest rival in synthetic tests is small (e.g., 1.8% lower than the RTX 5880 Ada Generation), implying that the combo’s rank is influenced by the CPU’s strong multi-threaded capabilities as well as the GPU’s raw power. The data shows that the system is not a outlier, but rather a very high-performing, well-balanced platform that sits just below the absolute top tier of tested configurations for this game.

Settings Recommendations

For players using this specific hardware configuration, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. The data provides clear guidance for each scenario.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most visually impressive option, delivering an average of 56 FPS. The High preset offers a smoother 70 FPS, making it the better choice for players who prefer consistent motion over maximum graphical fidelity. The Medium preset, at 98 FPS, is ideal for users with high refresh rate monitors, as it provides a significant performance boost while still maintaining a high level of visual detail. The Low preset at 157 FPS is only necessary for competitive play or for users with 144Hz or higher displays who prioritize frame rate above all else.

At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 59 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS target and may be acceptable for some users. The Medium preset, at 83 FPS, is the clear recommendation here. It offers a substantial performance margin over High and Ultra, ensuring a smooth and responsive experience. The Ultra preset at 47 FPS is not recommended, as the visual upgrade over Medium is unlikely to justify the 36 FPS performance loss. The Low preset at 132 FPS is again for high-refresh-rate enthusiasts.

At 3840x2160, the options are more limited. The Medium preset, with an average of 65 FPS and a minimum of 55 FPS, is the only realistic choice for a smooth 4K experience. The High preset at 47 FPS may be playable for some, but the frame rate will dip below 60 FPS frequently. The Ultra preset at 37 FPS is not recommended for a game that relies on atmosphere and smooth camera pans. The Low preset at 104 FPS is viable for players who want to prioritize frame rate over visual quality, but it severely reduces the game's graphical impact. For a balanced 4K experience, the Medium preset is the definitive choice.