The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT produces a system that is strictly bound by its graphics card at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong single-thread performance keeps 1080p results competitive. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 1260th out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The measured frames per second (FPS) reveal a clear pattern: the RX 5700 XT is the limiting factor at 4K and 1440p, but the i3-12100F’s architecture prevents the system from falling behind in lower-resolution scenarios. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 24731 places it just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile, while the CPU’s average score of 13516 sits nearly level with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, indicating a balanced pairing on paper but one that struggles with the game’s heavier visual presets.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system achieves consistently playable frame rates across all settings, with the Low preset hitting 88.2 FPS and Medium reaching 54.8 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (79 FPS) remains above 60 FPS, while 3840x2160 results drop below 60 FPS for every setting.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT compare to its closest rivals in raw performance?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 24731 is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647). This places the RX 5700 XT in a tight performance cluster, with a delta of just 0.9% against the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000.

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for this game?

A: CPU benchmark results suggest the i3-12100F is not the primary constraint. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681 indicate strong processing power. In the measured FPS data, the frame rate scales consistently with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario rather than a CPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the most demanding setting for this configuration?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces the lowest average FPS at 23.5, followed closely by Ultra at 2560x1440 with 29.4 FPS. The High preset at 4K also struggles, delivering only 24.3 FPS, which is nearly identical to the Ultra result.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo rank is 1260 out of 1689 total combinations, meaning roughly 75% of tested systems perform better. This is consistent with the hardware’s generation and market segment, as the GPU was released in 2019 and the CPU is a 12th-generation entry-level part.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 88.2. At 2560x1440 with Low settings, it reaches 79 FPS. No other resolution or setting combination in the measured data achieves 60 FPS or higher.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the dominant factor in this configuration’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s textures but becomes strained as pixel count increases. The GPU’s base clock is 1605 MHz with a boost clock of 1905 MHz, and the game clock is listed at 1755 MHz. These clocks are modest by modern standards, and the measured FPS data reflects this: at 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops to 24.3 FPS on High settings and 23.5 FPS on Ultra, indicating the GPU is fully saturated.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, rated at 9.754 TFLOPS FP32, are a key determinant of its performance in The Medium’s fixed-camera scenes, which rely heavily on layered rendering and volumetric effects. The 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the game’s visual complexity, but the data shows diminishing returns as settings increase. For instance, moving from Low to Medium at 1080p reduces average FPS from 88.2 to 54.8, a drop of 33.4 FPS. At 4K, the same settings change only yields a 21 FPS difference (from 59.2 to 38.2), suggesting the GPU is already near its limits. The GPU’s percentile rank of 68 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731, confirms it is a mid-range part that must rely on lower settings for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration holds a combo rank of 1260 out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. That places it in the 74th percentile of all tested systems, meaning a majority of other hardware configurations deliver higher average FPS. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s limitations at high resolutions, as the CPU’s benchmark scores are relatively strong for its class. The i3-12100F achieves an average benchmark score of 13516, which is 1.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280) and 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534). This suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the combo rank suffers because the RX 5700 XT cannot maintain high FPS at 1440p and 4K with demanding presets.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763) and the Intel Arc A350M (24647), both of which score within 0.3% of the RX 5700 XT. This tight clustering implies that swapping the GPU for a comparable alternative would not substantially change the combo rank. Instead, the rank reflects the inherent performance ceiling of this hardware generation, as the game’s release in 2021 demands more from GPUs than the RX 5700 XT can provide at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 88.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay. Medium drops to 54.8 FPS, still playable but below the 60 FPS threshold. High averages 41.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30.2 FPS. This resolution shows the widest spread between presets, with a 58 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating the GPU has headroom only at the lowest settings.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades significantly. Low averages 79 FPS, which is surprising given the resolution increase, but Medium drops to 49 FPS, High to 32.5 FPS, and Ultra to 29.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 30 FPS, showing a sharp cliff in performance when more demanding effects are enabled. At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board: Low averages 59.2 FPS, Medium 38.2 FPS, High 24.3 FPS, and Ultra 23.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 0.8 FPS, indicating the GPU is entirely limited by its compute and memory bandwidth.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent with a GPU-bound workload. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 88.2 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p (a 10.4% decrease) and then to 59.2 at 4K (a 25.1% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is not linear, as the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K is 2.25x, but the FPS drop is only 25%, suggesting the GPU has some spare capacity at 1440p Low that gets consumed at 4K.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more severe. The average FPS drops from 30.2 at 1080p to 29.4 at 1440p (a 2.6% decrease) and then to 23.5 at 4K (a 20.1% decrease). The minimal drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra indicates that the GPU is already bottlenecked at 1080p with this preset, and the additional pixels at 1440p do not significantly change the frame rate. This pattern confirms that the limiting component at Ultra settings is the GPU’s raw processing power, not memory bandwidth or CPU performance. The CPU’s single-thread score of 1681 in Cinebench R23 suggests it could handle more frames if the GPU were faster, but the data shows no such bottleneck exists.

Settings Recommendations

For this configuration, the Low preset is the only setting that consistently delivers frame rates above 60 FPS across all resolutions. At 1080p, Low achieves 88.2 FPS, which is ideal for a horror game where responsiveness matters. At 1440p, Low still manages 79 FPS, making it a viable option for users with higher-resolution monitors. The Medium preset is only recommended at 1080p, where it achieves 54.8 FPS, which is close to but below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, Medium drops to 49 FPS, which may be acceptable for some but is not ideal for a game that relies on atmosphere over fast action.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for this combo. At 1080p, High averages 41.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30.2 FPS, both of which are below the playable threshold for many users. At higher resolutions, these presets produce single-digit to low-20s FPS, which is not viable. The data shows that the performance gap between Medium and High is larger than the gap between High and Ultra, suggesting that the High preset introduces effects that disproportionately tax the GPU. For the best experience, users should prioritize the Low preset at 1440p or the Medium preset at 1080p, as these provide the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate based on the measured results.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting role in this configuration, and the benchmark data indicates it is not the primary constraint. The CPU has 4 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681 are strong for a 4-core part, and its Geekbench single-core score of 2224 further confirms its capability. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 13516 places it at the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable for a budget processor.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the system achieves 88.2 FPS. This frame rate is high enough that a weaker CPU would likely become a bottleneck, but the i3-12100F’s single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 893, ensures it can keep up with the GPU’s output. At higher resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the diminishing FPS returns when moving from High to Ultra at 4K. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide sufficient bandwidth for the game’s data streaming requirements, but the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield larger FPS gains than upgrading the CPU.