The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core i3-12100F + AMD Radeon RX 9060

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in The Medium. Across the measured presets, this combo produces its strongest results at 1080p Low with an average of 101 FPS, while the demanding 4K Ultra preset drops to just 24 FPS. The data indicates a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU's four cores providing sufficient headroom at lower settings where frame rates climb substantially.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate trajectory from 1080p to 4K reveals a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a GPU-limited configuration. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 45 at 1920x1080 to 38 at 2560x1440, then to 30 at 3840x2160 — a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the average drops from 36 FPS at 1080p to 30 FPS at 1440p and finally to 24 FPS at 4K, representing a 33% loss from the lowest to highest resolution tested.

Low settings show the most dramatic resolution scaling. The combo achieves 101 FPS at 1080p Low, which falls to 85 FPS at 1440p Low and 67 FPS at 4K Low. This 34% decrease from 1080p to 4K at Low settings indicates that even when graphical load is minimized, the GPU's rendering capacity becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises. The measured Medium preset data, which includes minimum and maximum frame rates, reinforces this: at 1080p Medium the average is 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 and maximum of 72, while at 1440p Medium the average drops to 53 FPS with a 45–61 range, and at 4K Medium the average falls to 42 FPS with a 35–48 range.

The resolution scaling pattern suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 9060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gameplay but become strained at 4K. The fact that 4K Low (67 FPS) outperforms 1080p Ultra (36 FPS) by 86% demonstrates that preset selection matters more than resolution for this title. Players targeting 60 FPS would need to consider either 1080p Medium (63 FPS) or 1440p Low (85 FPS) as viable options, while 4K gameplay at any preset above Low falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060, built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, provides the computational foundation for this combo's gaming performance. Its 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units work in concert to produce the measured frame rates. The GPU's boost clock of 2990 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz represent significant headroom, with the base clock at 1700 MHz. These clock speeds, combined with 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, explain why the card can handle 1080p Low at 101 FPS but struggles at 4K Ultra with 24 FPS.

The GPU's memory subsystem plays a critical role in The Medium's performance characteristics. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has sufficient capacity for 1080p and 1440p textures but may encounter bandwidth limitations at 4K. The pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s are notable for a card in this class, yet the 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS indicates that the render output units become saturated when processing the higher pixel counts demanded by 3840x2160 resolution.

Benchmark data places the RX 9060 in a competitive position relative to its peers. The GPU's average benchmark score of 16014 puts it in the 59th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, scores 16129, which is 0.7% higher — a negligible difference in real-world terms. The AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700 both score 15852–15862, approximately 1% behind the RX 9060, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 trails by 2.1% with a score of 15679. These margin differences suggest that the RX 9060 is positioned squarely in the mid-range tier, capable of handling The Medium at lower presets but not designed for maximum-quality 4K gameplay.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility indicate modern API readiness, which is relevant for a game like The Medium that leverages contemporary rendering features. The 28 ray tracing cores provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced effects, though the measured FPS data does not isolate this workload. The card's 132 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector suggest it operates within reasonable power envelopes, though specific thermal performance is not captured in the benchmark data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F brings four cores and eight threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides the computational foundation for game logic and physics processing. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache, along with 80 KB of L1 and 1.25 MB of L2 per core, helps maintain responsive frame pacing in The Medium's horror sequences.

Synthetic benchmarks show the i3-12100F performing admirably for its core count. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and single-core score of 1674 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is crucial for games that rely on a few heavily utilized threads. The Geekbench multi-core score of 7252 and single-core score of 1932 further corroborate this profile. In the 3DMark suite, the processor scores 4051 in the 16-thread test and 4026 in the 8-thread test, with the 4-thread test at 2859 and 2-thread at 1659 — the close proximity between 8-thread and 16-thread scores reflects the physical 4-core/8-thread configuration.

The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494, places it near several notable rivals. The Intel Core 3 N355 matches it almost exactly with a score of 13492 (0% delta), while the Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, 0.3% lower. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, 0.7% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U trails slightly at 13351, 1.1% behind. These tight margins indicate that the i3-12100F delivers competitive performance despite its modest core count.

In the context of The Medium's frame rates, the CPU's role becomes apparent when comparing resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has less work, the system achieves 101 FPS — suggesting the CPU can feed frames at this rate. The fact that 4K Low (67 FPS) is only 34% lower than 1080p Low, while 4K Ultra (24 FPS) is 33% lower than 1080p Ultra (36 FPS), indicates that the GPU, not the CPU, is the bottleneck across all tested configurations. The i3-12100F's single-thread performance, evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and PassMark single-thread score of 3444, provides adequate headroom for The Medium's engine at these frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 2911 tested combinations in the benchmark database, this pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1648th in The Medium. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it sits slightly above the median but well below top-tier configurations. Given that the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile and the CPU in the 68th percentile individually, the combined ranking of 1648 out of 2911 reflects a system that is balanced but not exceptional for this title.

The ranking position suggests that while each component is respectable in isolation, the pairing does not boost either component to a higher performance tier. The GPU's 0.7% deficit to the RTX 3060 Ti in average benchmark score, combined with the CPU's mid-pack positioning, results in a combo that handles The Medium at playable frame rates in lower presets but cannot compete with higher-end configurations at maximum quality. The 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS and 1440p Ultra result of 30 FPS are below the generally accepted 60 FPS target, which likely contributes to the mid-pack ranking.

This combo's rank of 1648 out of 2911 means that 1263 tested combinations perform worse, while 1647 perform better. The data suggests that users seeking higher rankings would need to upgrade either the GPU for better high-resolution performance or the CPU for better frame consistency in CPU-bound scenarios, though the measured results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p provides the most consistent experience, with Low settings at 101 FPS, Medium at 63 FPS, High at 45 FPS, and Ultra at 36 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (85 FPS) and Medium (53 FPS) achieve playable frame rates, while 4K is only viable at Low settings with 67 FPS.

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

A: Based on the measured data, 60 FPS is achievable at 1080p Low (101 FPS) and 1080p Medium (63 FPS), as well as 1440p Low (85 FPS). At 1080p High (45 FPS), 1440p Medium (53 FPS), and 4K Low (67 FPS), frame rates fall below or near the 60 FPS threshold depending on the preset.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 is 0.7% lower than the RTX 3060 Ti's 16129. This negligible difference suggests near-identical performance in most workloads, though The Medium-specific results are only available for the RX 9060 configuration.

Q: Is the i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RX 9060 in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 101 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed frames at this rate. The consistent frame rate drops across resolutions with the same preset point to GPU limitation rather than CPU bottlenecking.

Q: What is the lowest playable setting at 4K for this combo?

A: At 4K Low, the combo achieves an average of 67 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay but falls below standard smoothness targets.

Q: How does this combo's ranking compare to the individual component rankings?

A: The combo ranks 1648th out of 2911 tested configurations (57th percentile), while the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile and the CPU in the 68th percentile. The combined ranking is slightly lower than either component's individual standing, indicating the pairing does not maximize either part's potential in this specific game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to 1080p Medium as the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this combo. At 63 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum and 72 FPS maximum, this preset delivers smooth gameplay while maintaining reasonable graphical fidelity. For players prioritizing frame rate above all else, 1080p Low at 101 FPS provides the highest headroom, though 1440p Low at 85 FPS offers a higher resolution with still-excellent performance.

For 1440p displays, Medium settings at 53 FPS represent the best compromise, as the 45 FPS minimum ensures the frame rate rarely dips below playable levels. The 1440p High preset at 38 FPS and Ultra at 30 FPS are less recommended due to their sub-60 FPS averages. At 4K, only Low settings (67 FPS) deliver a consistently smooth experience; Medium (42 FPS) is marginally playable but with a 35 FPS minimum that may cause noticeable stutter, while High (30 FPS) and Ultra (24 FPS) should be avoided for active gameplay.

The data suggests that players should avoid Ultra settings at any resolution, as the performance cost is substantial: 1080p Ultra (36 FPS) is 43% slower than 1080p Medium (63 FPS), and 4K Ultra (24 FPS) is 43% slower than 4K Medium (42 FPS). Given the minimal visual returns typically associated with the Ultra-to-Medium transition, Medium or High settings at 1080p or 1440p provide the best experience per the measured frame rates. For a horror game like The Medium, where atmosphere matters, 1080p High at 45 FPS may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate smoothness, though the 1440p Medium preset at 53 FPS offers both higher resolution and better frame pacing.