The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title released in 2021, presents an extreme challenge for the combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. The measured data shows this pairing ranks 1684 out of 1689 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom percentile of all systems. This is a configuration that struggles to produce playable frame rates at any resolution, with the benchmark results indicating a severe bottleneck primarily attributed to the graphics card's limited capabilities.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a steep and consistent performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 36.3 FPS, which is the only measured configuration to cross the threshold of playability. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset drops performance to 30.1 FPS, a reduction of 6.2 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low setting yields just 21.6 FPS, showing that even the lowest graphical preset cannot maintain a smooth experience at 4K.

The scaling pattern across other settings is equally punishing. At Medium settings, the frame rate falls from 21.3 FPS at 1080p to 16.5 FPS at 1440p, and further down to 12.5 FPS at 4K. The High preset starts at 15.7 FPS at 1080p, drops to 13.1 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 8.6 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with only 13.4 FPS at 1080p, 11.2 FPS at 1440p, and 9.4 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that resolution scaling is not linear, with the largest absolute drops occurring between 1080p and 1440p for the Low and Medium presets. This behavior suggests the GPU is the limiting component, as the pixel count increase from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels overwhelms the 4 GB GDDR5 memory and the GP107 chip's fill rate. The GTX 1050 Ti, with its 32 ROPs and 112.1 GB/s memory bandwidth, cannot sustain the throughput required by this game's rendering techniques. The Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is unlikely to be the primary constraint here, as the frame rates are so low that even a modest CPU could keep up.

FAQ

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 36.3 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration that reaches above 30 FPS, and it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 5316, placing it essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce 930A, which scores 5317 with a 0% delta. It is 0.4% ahead of the GeForce 940M (5297) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 240 (5280), while being 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5361).

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 36.3 FPS, while Ultra drops to 13.4 FPS. This represents a reduction of 22.9 FPS, or approximately 63% lower performance when switching from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Is the Core i3-12100F a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: The CPU sits at the 72nd percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 13516. It is 0.1% slower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, 0.4% slower than the Intel Core i7-1250U, and 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i3-10105, while being 1.8% faster than the Intel Core i7-7700K.

Q: Does the 4 GB VRAM capacity impact performance at higher resolutions?

A: Yes. The data shows a severe drop in frame rates at 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 across all settings. At High settings, performance falls from 15.7 FPS at 1080p to 13.1 FPS at 1440p and 8.6 FPS at 4K, indicating that the 4 GB GDDR5 buffer is likely exhausted, causing the GPU to struggle with memory-intensive workloads.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all graphics cards?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti sits at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 5316. This places it in the lower third of all graphics cards, which is consistent with its observed performance in The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the only viable settings for this combo are at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which provides 36.3 FPS. This is the sole configuration that approaches a playable frame rate, though it remains below the 60 FPS standard. All other settings at 1080p fail to reach 30 FPS, with Medium at 21.3 FPS, High at 15.7 FPS, and Ultra at 13.4 FPS.

At 2560x1440, even the Low preset only manages 30.1 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that relies on atmospheric pacing. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 16.5 FPS, making it unsuitable for any real-time interaction. At 3840x2160, all settings are effectively unplayable, with the highest being Low at 21.6 FPS and the lowest being High at 8.6 FPS.

The benchmark results indicate that users should prioritize resolution over visual fidelity. The difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is 15 FPS, which is significant for gameplay. For a smoother experience, the Low preset at 1080p is the only reasonable choice. If the user can tolerate lower frame rates, Medium at 1440p provides 16.5 FPS, but this is a substantial compromise. The data suggests that any attempt to use High or Ultra settings will result in a slideshow-like experience, regardless of resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1684 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 0.3% of all systems tested, indicating that nearly every other hardware pairing delivers better performance. The rank reflects the GPU's limited capabilities, as the CPU itself is a competent budget part, ranking at the 72nd percentile among all processors.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 is competitive with more powerful parts, but the GPU's 30th percentile ranking drags the overall system performance down. The GTX 1050 Ti's nearest rivals, such as the GeForce 930A and 940M, are also low-end parts, confirming that this GPU is at the entry-level tier. The data shows that the combo is not just underperforming; it is near the absolute bottom of the performance hierarchy for this specific game.

The low rank is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo cannot achieve 30 FPS at any resolution above 1080p Low. The game's fixed-camera angles and high-quality rendering likely impose a heavy load on the GPU, and the 1050 Ti's Pascal architecture, while capable of DirectX 12, lacks the raw compute power needed. Users with this combo should expect a sub-optimal experience, and the data strongly suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield the most significant improvement.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the dominant bottleneck in this configuration. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is insufficient for the texture-heavy environments of The Medium at higher resolutions. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz, with 768 shading units and 32 ROPs, but these specifications are not enough to handle the game's demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its limitations. It scores 6340 in Passmark G3D, 2652 in Passmark GPU Compute, and 19851 in Geekbench Vulkan. These numbers place it at the 30th percentile of all GPUs, showing that it is a low-end part. The 14 nm process node and 3,300 million transistors suggest a modest design, and the 75 W TDP indicates that it is a low-power card, but this comes at the cost of performance.

The measured FPS data confirms the GPU's role as the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 36.3 FPS, but increasing the resolution to 1440p or 4K causes frame rates to plummet, even at the same settings. This is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance, where the memory bandwidth and fill rate cannot keep up with the increasing pixel count. The Core i3-12100F, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and a single-core score of 1681, is unlikely to be the constraint, as the frame rates are far too low for the CPU to matter. The data unequivocally shows that the GPU is the component that needs to be replaced to achieve any meaningful performance improvement in The Medium.