The Medium

The Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 form a pairing that sits squarely in the mid-range of the benchmark database, with the measured results in The Medium reflecting a system that can play the game but requires careful settings management to achieve smooth frame rates. The data shows a combo that ranks 1434 out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the lower half of the field. This analysis breaks down the CPU and GPU contributions, scaling behavior, and the exact frame rates measured across resolutions and presets.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores show a processor that is strong in single-threaded workloads but more modest in multi-threaded scenarios. For instance, the Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1681, while the multi-core score is 11912. In Geekbench, it achieves 2224 single-core and 7413 multi-core. The PassMark multithread score is 14015, with a single-thread score of 3444.

The CPU's percentile ranking against all processors is 72, which is solid for a budget-oriented chip. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (avg score 13534, deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i7-1250U (avg score 13462, deltaPct 0.4), Intel Core i3-10105 (avg score 13430, deltaPct 0.6), and Intel Core i7-7700K (avg score 13280, deltaPct 1.8). The i3-12100F's average benchmark score is 13516, which means it is essentially on par with the Threadripper PRO 3975WX and slightly ahead of the i7-7700K by 1.8 percent. This indicates that for gaming workloads, which often rely on fewer threads, the i3-12100F's single-thread performance is competitive.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS at 1080p with Low settings reaches 74.9, which is well above playable thresholds, suggesting that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower graphical loads. However, the 4-core design with 8 threads may limit performance in scenes with heavy physics or AI calculations, though the game's horror genre typically does not stress CPUs as heavily as strategy or simulation titles. The data does not show a clear CPU bottleneck, as the FPS scales more with resolution and settings changes than with CPU load variations.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. Its base clock is 1506 MHz with a boost of 1683 MHz, and memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU has 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 6.463 TFLOPS. The GTX 1070's percentile ranking against all GPUs is 51, placing it exactly at the median. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (avg score 12241, deltaPct 0.7), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M (avg score 12490, deltaPct -1.3), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (avg score 12504, deltaPct -1.4), and NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm (avg score 12547, deltaPct -1.7). The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331, which is slightly above the Quadro K4200 by 0.7 percent but below the GTX 880M by 1.3 percent.

In The Medium, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor in determining performance. The game's measured FPS shows significant drops as settings increase, which aligns with the GPU's mid-range capabilities. At 1080p, the difference between Low (74.9 FPS) and Ultra (28.8 FPS) is stark, indicating that the GTX 1070's 8 GB VRAM and compute power are sufficient for lower presets but struggle with the higher graphical demands. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with High settings, the average FPS falls to 24.5, suggesting memory bandwidth or capacity limits are being approached. The GPU's 51st percentile ranking reinforces that this is a middle-of-the-road card, and the measured results in The Medium are consistent with that positioning.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions provides a clear picture of scaling behavior. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, the average frame rates decline consistently for each settings preset. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS goes from 31.4 at 1080p to 30.4 at 1440p, then drops to 24.5 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is minimal (about 3 percent), but from 1440p to 4K, the drop is more substantial (about 19 percent). This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the CPU's performance would not degrade with resolution increases in the same manner.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic: 74.9 FPS at 1080p, 60.6 at 1440p, and 47.3 at 4K. The percentage drops are roughly 19 percent from 1080p to 1440p and 22 percent from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is being pushed harder at higher resolutions, and the frame rate reduction is proportional to the pixel count increase. At Medium settings, the numbers are 46.8, 36.4, and 31.0 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively, showing a 22 percent drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 15 percent drop from 1440p to 4K.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe degradation: 28.8 FPS at 1080p, 21.5 at 1440p, and 16.1 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25 percent, and from 1440p to 4K is 25 percent as well. This consistent scaling pattern across all settings confirms that the GTX 1070 is the bottleneck, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. The data indicates that the i3-12100F is capable of feeding the GPU adequately, as the frame rates do not plateau at any resolution, which would suggest a CPU limit.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 achieves a rank of 1434 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the bottom 15 percent of all tested configurations, which is a low position. The rank reflects the overall performance of the pairing, and the measured FPS data corroborates this. At 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 31.4, which is below the 60 FPS target that many games aim for. Even at Low settings, the 74.9 FPS at 1080p is decent, but the rank suggests that many other combos perform better.

The combo's rank is influenced by the GPU's median performance (51st percentile) and the CPU's above-average performance (72nd percentile). However, the GPU's limitations in The Medium, which appears to be a demanding title, drag the overall rank down. The nearest rival GPUs, such as the GTX 1650 SUPER with a deltaPct of -1.4 percent, suggest that the GTX 1070 is only slightly better than newer budget cards, but the game's performance may not reflect those synthetic benchmark differences. The data indicates that to move up in the rankings, a more powerful GPU would be necessary, as the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience for this combo in The Medium is achieved at 1080p with Low settings, which delivers an average of 74.9 FPS. This is the only configuration that exceeds 70 FPS, providing a smooth gameplay experience. At 1440p with Low settings, the average FPS is 60.6, which is also playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. For players who prefer higher visual fidelity, 1080p with Medium settings offers 46.8 FPS, which is playable but may have noticeable stutters in fast-paced scenes.

At 4K, the only playable option is Low settings with 47.3 FPS, but this is marginal. All other 4K presets fall below 31 FPS, with Ultra at 16.1 FPS being unplayable. The High preset at 1080p yields 31.4 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard but could be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game. Given the data, the recommendation is to prioritize 1080p with Low or Medium settings, depending on whether frame rate or visual quality is more important. The 1440p Low setting is a viable alternative for those with higher-resolution monitors, but the 1080p Low setting provides the most headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are as follows: High settings produce 31.4 FPS, Low settings produce 74.9 FPS, Medium settings produce 46.8 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 28.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 46.1 FPS, demonstrating a wide range of performance depending on the preset. At 2560x1440, the results are: High at 30.4 FPS, Low at 60.6 FPS, Medium at 36.4 FPS, and Ultra at 21.5 FPS. The spread here is 39.1 FPS, slightly narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: High at 24.5 FPS, Low at 47.3 FPS, Medium at 31.0 FPS, and Ultra at 16.1 FPS. The spread is 31.2 FPS, indicating that the GPU's limitations are more pronounced at higher resolutions. Across all resolutions, the Low setting is the only preset that achieves an average FPS above 60 at 1080p and 1440p. The Medium setting at 1080p is the next best, with 46.8 FPS. The data shows that the GTX 1070 struggles with the High and Ultra presets at all resolutions, with the 4K Ultra setting being the worst performer at 16.1 FPS. These exact numbers highlight the importance of settings management for this hardware combination.