Setting up the Medium graphics for a weak PC

How to get at least 30 FPS on GTX 1060 and other "outdated" video cards

Since the release of The Medium, many have declared the most popular graphics card among Steam users, the GeForce GTX 1060, as obsolete. The fact is that it does not keep a stable 30 FPS even at the minimum settings when the world forks in the game. It's about 1080p resolution. And in the same resolution at maximum settings, even… RTX 3080 cannot cope! It is capable of maintaining a stable 30 FPS at maximum settings, but not 60. Recall that the 3080 is positioned as a video card for 4K ...

So The Medium is useless to customize? Not certainly in that way. The game still has settings that can be lowered without noticeable harm to the picture, significantly improving the FPS stability. Next, we will analyze all this in detail.

What computer do you need for The Medium

We studied independent tests of the game on different hardware and came to the conclusion that the official information is close to the truth, but only if we focus on stable 30 FPS at 1080p (1920x1080) and 4K (3840x2160). Therefore, based on the tests we studied, we have added recommendations for playing at 1440p (2560x1440). With a stable 60 FPS, you will be able to play only on the flagship video card, lowering the settings and at 1080p. Therefore, we did not give recommendations for 60 FPS.

IMPORTANT: The game requires 64-bit Windows 10 and does not officially support older versions of the operating system.

Official minimum system requirements (1080p @ 30 FPS, low preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6600 / AMD Ryzen 5 2500X.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon R9 390X.
• RAM: 8 gigabytes.

Official Recommended System Requirements (1080p @ 30 FPS, High Preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-9600 / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Super / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for The Medium at 1440p @ 30 FPS (Low Preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6400 / AMD Ryzen 5 1400.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX 590.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for The Medium at 1440p @ 30 FPS (high preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for The Medium at 4K @ 30 FPS (Low Preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-7400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3400.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Official Recommended System Requirements for 4K @ 30 FPS (High Preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-9600 / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 6800.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Optimization Tips The Medium

There are no ready-made quality presets in the game, so further we will analyze each graphic option separately. Where applicable, we have indicated in parentheses the maximum percentage degradation in current performance.

• "Vertical sync". Better to enable it to stabilize frame times and make the game smoother. This is the case for most third-person singles.
• "Max. number of frames per second ". Few people will be able to get the number of FPS close to 60, so most players are better off setting it to 30 for the same smoothness.
• "Normal quality" (20-30%). This is the main parameter for graphics quality in The Medium. The rest mostly add cosmetic or artistic details. Low "Normal quality" makes the whole picture at once on the level of Resident Evil 5 with the PlayStation 3, so it is better not to go below the average value.
• "Smoothing" (up to 10%). TXAA looks better than the rest, but on Radeon or old GeForce video cards it can noticeably drop performance (much more than 10%). Therefore, for many, FXAA is the ideal option. This method blurs the textures slightly, but this can be corrected with one of the following parameters. You can also enable DLSS here, which helps a lot with FPS, but you need a GeForce RTX video card.
• "DLSS quality" (increases FPS). Only high quality looks good, so the owners of NVIDIA products of the last two generations are better off choosing it.
• "Sharpness FidelityFX". Gently improves picture clarity without sacrificing performance. Set it to 100% or 50% - it depends on the monitor and its settings. This can compensate for blurring of the image from anti-aliasing.
• "Shadow quality" (processor-dependent). In-game shadows are mainly controlled by the Normal Quality setting. And this option is responsible for additional details and quantity. In this case, the calculation of shadows is mainly the responsibility of the processor. Therefore, all owners of CPUs with less than 6 physical cores, frequencies below 4 GHz and older ones will have to reduce this parameter to a minimum.
• "Texture quality" (video memory consumption). The game doesn't consume more than 6 gigabytes of video memory even in 4K. At 1080p, the maximum consumption is 4 gigabytes. Based on this, choose quality. If you have less than 4 gigabytes, you will have to reduce it.
• SSAO (up to 5%). Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, which can be roughly translated as "diffuse shading in screen space". Adds shadows to various depressions, valleys, seams, and near the base of objects. Fortunately, it does not affect FPS much, so you can turn it on, which will greatly add realism to the picture.
• SSR (up to 20%). Screen Space Reflections. There are not many mirrors and other reflective surfaces in the game, but when they are encountered, they can noticeably sink FPS. Better to turn it off.
• "SSS quality" (up to 10%). Subsurface scattering. Forces the skin to absorb light, which gives it a more natural look. There is a noticeable performance impact only in close-up scenes. Better to turn it on.
• "Separate transparency" (up to 5%). Additional image processing behind the window, glass and other transparent surfaces. Increases realism at the cost of a couple of FPS. If every frame counts, turn it off.
• LPV. Multilevel distribution of light (Light Propagation Volumes). Allows lighting to fill a room more realistically by layering light from all sources to simulate indirect lighting. The result is similar to ray tracing and has a much smaller performance impact. True, only modern video cards cope well with such complex effects. On old ones it is better to turn it off.
• "Effects quality" (up to 5%). The number of particles in special effects, such as energy absorption. On modern video cards, it has little effect on performance, even at a high value.
• "Shader quality" (up to 10%). Detailing surfaces. Low quality looks acceptable in long and medium shots. But ideally it's better to set the average.
• Motion Blur. Smoothing motion. A useful feature that slightly compensates for jumps in FPS. Include.

Final optimal settings

IMPORTANT: all recommendations below are for 1920x1080 resolution.

• Optimal settings for a weak PC (GTX 1060 / R9 390X + i3 / AMD FX):
• Vertical sync - incl.
• Max. number of frames per second - 30.
• The usual quality is average.
• Anti - aliasing - FXAA.
• FidelityFX sharpness - 100%.
• The quality of the shadows is high.
• The quality of the textures is high.
• SSAO - incl.
• SSR - off.
• SSS quality is high.
• Separate transparency - off
• LPV - incl.
• The quality of the effects is average.
• The quality of the shaders is average.
• Motion Blur - incl.
• Lens flare is high.

Optimal settings for a mid-range PC (GTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT + i5 / Ryzen 5):

• Vertical sync - incl.
• Max. number of frames per second - 30.
• The usual quality is average.
• Anti - aliasing - DLSS.
• DLSS quality is high.
• FidelityFX sharpness - 100%.
• The quality of the shadows is high.
• The quality of the textures is high.
• SSAO - incl.
• SSR - incl.
• SSS quality is high.
• Separate transparency - incl.
• LPV - incl.
• The quality of the effects is high.
• The quality of the shaders is high.
• Motion Blur - incl.

Optimal Settings for Pre-Top PC (RTX 3070 / RX 6800 + i7 / Ryzen 7):

• Vertical sync - incl.
• Max. number of frames per second - 60.
• The usual quality is high.
• Anti - aliasing - DLSS.
• DLSS quality is high.
• FidelityFX sharpness - 100%.
• The quality of the shadows is high.
• The quality of the textures is high.
• SSAO - incl.
• SSR - incl.
• SSS quality is high.
• Separate transparency - incl.
• LPV - incl.
• The quality of the effects is high.
• The quality of the shaders is high.
• Motion Blur - incl.

The game can still be played on a weak PC. Provided that you have a relatively powerful processor and not too old video card.