The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a capable but uneven experience in The Medium, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and the chosen preset. The data shows a system that can comfortably exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold at lower resolutions, but which struggles to maintain that target when pushed to 4K with maximum quality settings. Across the twelve measured configurations, the average frame rates range from a low of 36.5 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 151 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating a wide performance envelope that rewards users who are willing to adjust settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination performs strongly across most settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 151 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this pairing in the entire test suite. Medium settings still produce a very smooth 93.8 FPS average, and High settings maintain a solid 69 FPS average. The Ultra preset, however, drops to 53.5 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS playability threshold. This pattern shows that at 1080p, the system has ample headroom for medium and high settings, but the most demanding preset demands more than the RTX 4070 can deliver at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the overall performance scales down as expected. The Low preset yields a 126.7 FPS average, which remains excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings produce an 82 FPS average, still comfortably above the 60 FPS target. High settings drop to 55.9 FPS, just under the threshold. The Ultra preset is significantly more demanding, averaging only 46.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is substantial, with the Ultra preset delivering roughly 63% of the frame rate of the Low preset. This indicates that the game's ultra settings impose a heavy rendering load that this GPU can only manage at lower resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become more apparent. The Low preset averages 98.4 FPS, which is respectable for 4K gaming. Medium settings drop to 62.8 FPS, barely clearing the 60 FPS threshold. High settings fall to 46.7 FPS, and Ultra settings produce only 36.5 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a steep decline, with the Ultra preset delivering just over a third of the frame rate of the Low preset. This suggests that the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for lower presets at 4K, but the combination of higher resolution and maximum quality settings overwhelms the GPU.

The data also reveals how the frame rate scales across resolutions. At Medium settings, the system delivers 93.8 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 62.8 FPS at 4K. This represents a 12.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33.1% drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the frame rates are 69 FPS, 55.9 FPS, and 46.7 FPS respectively, showing a 19% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 16.5% drop from 1440p to 4K. These scaling patterns indicate that the game becomes progressively more GPU-bound as resolution increases, which is typical for a horror title with detailed environments and lighting effects.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores provide context for its performance in this pairing. The Intel Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, which places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs tested. Its closest competitor is the Intel Xeon 6505P, which scores 53701, a difference of just 0.2%. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288, putting it 0.6% behind the i7-14700F. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, a 0.3% difference, and the AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53206, which is 0.8% lower. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates when paired with the same GPU in The Medium. The practical takeaway is that the i7-14700F is not a bottleneck in this configuration, and swapping it for any of these near-equivalent processors would not meaningfully change the measured FPS figures.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which scores 37628, a delta of just 0.1%. This is an exceptionally close match, meaning the two cards would deliver nearly identical performance in this game. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507, a 0.4% difference, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is actually 1.3% higher than the RTX 4070. The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157, a 1.3% difference. For users considering alternatives, the RTX 4080 Mobile would offer a small but measurable performance uplift, while the RX Vega 56 would behave almost identically. The practical implication is that this GPU's performance class is well-defined, and the measured FPS in The Medium would be very similar with any of these near-rival cards.

FAQ

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K resolution in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only with lower presets. The data shows the system averages 98.4 FPS at 4K Low and 62.8 FPS at 4K Medium. The High preset drops to 46.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 36.5 FPS. The verdict by resolution confirms that Low and Medium are playable at 4K, with Medium being the best playable setting at 62.8 FPS.

Q: What is the highest quality setting that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Medium settings produce an 82 FPS average at 2560x1440, which is the best playable preset. The High preset averages 55.9 FPS, falling short of the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings deliver 126.7 FPS, but Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and performance according to the verdict data.

Q: How does the system perform at 1080p with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system averages 69 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. This is the best playable preset at 1080p according to the verdict by resolution. The Ultra preset at this resolution averages 53.5 FPS, which is not playable by the 60 FPS standard.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for achieving playable frame rates?

A: The benchmark data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions and presets. The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.8% of its average score, meaning CPU choice has minimal impact on FPS. The GPU's performance, however, varies significantly across settings, with 4K Ultra producing only 36.5 FPS compared to 151 FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combination for The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 781st out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the system's ability to run the game at playable frame rates at lower resolutions, while acknowledging that it cannot handle maximum settings at 4K.

Q: Does the system ever drop below 60 FPS at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 93.8 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 82 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 62.8 FPS. All three Medium configurations clear the 60 FPS threshold, though the 4K result is the closest margin at just 2.8 FPS above the threshold.

The Verdict

This PC configuration can run The Medium at playable frame rates, but the playable envelope is narrower than some users might expect. At 3840x2160, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold on Low and Medium presets, with Medium being the best playable setting at an average of 62.8 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 4K fall short, with averages of 46.7 FPS and 36.5 FPS respectively. At 2560x1440, the playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium achieving 82 FPS as the best playable option. The High preset at 1440p averages 55.9 FPS, which misses the threshold by a small margin. At 1920x1080, the system performs best, with High, Low, and Medium all clearing 60 FPS. The best playable setting at 1080p is High, which averages 69 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 53.5 FPS, so it is not playable by this standard.

The overall picture is that this system excels at 1080p and handles 1440p well on medium settings, but 4K gaming is limited to lower presets. Users prioritizing visual fidelity at 4K would need to accept frame rates below the 60 FPS target, while those willing to use Medium settings can maintain a smooth experience at all three tested resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database for The Medium, this Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 781st out of 3724 tested configurations. This places the system in the top 21% of all tested combinations, which is a strong result given the game's demanding nature. The rank reflects the system's ability to deliver playable performance at lower resolutions and its limitations at higher ones. The ranking also takes into account the full range of settings tested, meaning the 4K Ultra result of 36.5 FPS pulls the overall position down despite the excellent 1080p performance. For context, the system outperforms approximately 79% of tested configurations while being beaten by about 21%, placing it in the upper quartile of systems tested for this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, which produces an average of 62.8 FPS. This is the only playable setting above the Low preset at this resolution, and it provides a modest visual improvement over Low while maintaining a frame rate just above the threshold. At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is also Medium, with an average of 82 FPS. This offers a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target and represents the highest quality option that remains playable at this resolution. At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is High, which averages 69 FPS. This is a significant step up from Medium in visual quality while still providing a frame rate that clears the threshold by 9 FPS. Users who prefer maximum visual fidelity at 1080p would need to accept the 53.5 FPS average of the Ultra preset, which falls below the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data reveals that the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates across all resolutions and presets. This is evident from the fact that the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.8% of its average benchmark score, meaning any of those CPUs would produce nearly identical results. The GPU, by contrast, shows substantial performance variation depending on the workload. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 151 FPS, which is more than four times the 36.5 FPS achieved at 4K Ultra. This dramatic scaling is driven entirely by the GPU's rendering load, as the CPU has ample headroom at all settings.

The scaling between resolutions provides further evidence of the GPU-bound nature of this title. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 93.8 FPS at 1080p to 82 FPS at 1440p, a 12.6% reduction, and then to 62.8 FPS at 4K, a 33.1% reduction from 1440p. This pattern is consistent with a game where the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become increasingly constrained as pixel count rises. At High settings, the drops are 19% from 1080p to 1440p and 16.5% from 1440p to 4K, showing that the setting preset also influences how quickly performance degrades with resolution.

The CPU's role is more prominent at lower resolutions and presets, where the GPU is not fully saturated. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 151 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates. However, even at this setting, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are not a limiting factor, as evidenced by the near-identical scores of its rival processors. The game's horror genre typically relies on detailed environments, lighting effects, and gradual reveal mechanics, which tend to be GPU-intensive rather than CPU-intensive. The data supports this characterization, showing that the RTX 4070's performance ceiling is the primary constraint on this system's ability to run The Medium at higher resolutions and presets.