The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a unique load profile that stresses both CPU and GPU in unusual ways. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, using data across three resolutions and four quality presets. The combination ranks 1164th out of 1689 tested combos in this specific game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. The data reveals a system that behaves predictably at lower resolutions but encounters significant bottlenecks at higher fidelity settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop varies dramatically depending on the quality preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 costs just 13.2 FPS (from 91.6 to 78.4), and moving to 3840x2160 further reduces performance to 63 FPS. This represents a total drop of 31.2% from 1080p to 4K at Low, which is moderate and suggests the system remains reasonably balanced even at high pixel counts.

The Medium preset tells a different story. Starting at 55.8 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 49.8 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 39.4 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is steeper, with the 4K result being 29.4% lower than the 1080p figure. This increasing penalty with resolution indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises, though the CPU still has headroom to push higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

High settings amplify this trend further. The 1080p result of 39.8 FPS drops to 32.3 FPS at 1440p, and then to 25.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K here is 35.2%, larger than at Medium. Ultra settings show the most severe scaling: 33.6 FPS at 1080p falls to 29.5 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 23.6 FPS at 4K. The absolute difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 10 FPS, which represents a 29.8% reduction.

The data indicates that resolution scaling is non-linear and heavily influenced by the quality preset. At Low, the frame rate drops of 14.4% (1080p to 1440p) and 19.6% (1440p to 4K) suggest the GPU is handling the load adequately. At Ultra, the corresponding drops are 12.2% and 20.0%, showing that the GPU is saturated and any additional pixel work translates almost directly into lower FPS. The limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p Low (where 91.6 FPS is likely CPU-bound) to the GPU at 4K Ultra (where 23.6 FPS reflects pure rasterization limits).

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1164 out of 1689 total combinations places this system in the 31st percentile of tested configurations for The Medium. This is a relatively low standing, but the context of the component pairing explains why. The Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, achieves a 72nd percentile ranking against all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores 0.1% higher on average, while the Intel Core i7-1250U is 0.4% behind. This CPU is competitive in synthetic benchmarks but its modest core count becomes a liability in a game that is known for its heavy use of dual-world rendering.

The RTX 3060 Ti, by contrast, sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, is 0.2% faster on average, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is 0.5% ahead. The GPU's average benchmark score of 25120 is respectable, but the measured FPS in The Medium tells a more nuanced story. The combination's low rank relative to its component percentiles suggests that the pairing is not optimal for this specific workload.

The 1689 combo count means that a rank of 1164 puts this system behind 68.9% of all tested pairings. This is not a catastrophic result, but it is below what the individual component scores might suggest. The discrepancy arises because The Medium's engine appears to be particularly sensitive to CPU performance in certain scenes, and the i3-12100F's 4-core design, while strong per-core, lacks the multi-threaded headroom that higher-core CPUs provide. The data shows a system that is capable but not exceptional in this game, with the GPU often waiting on the CPU to deliver draw calls.

FAQ

Q: What is the best quality setting for this combo at 1920x1080?

A: The Medium preset delivers 55.8 FPS at 1080p, which is the highest setting that maintains a playable frame rate above 50 FPS. High settings drop to 39.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 33.6 FPS.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its nearest CPU rival?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, while the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX scores 13534, a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i7-1250U is 0.4% behind at 13462.

Q: At which resolution does this combo become GPU-bound?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the frame rate drops to 39.4 FPS, which is 29.4% lower than 1080p Medium. This indicates the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary bottleneck at 4K, especially at higher settings.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti's performance in The Medium consistent with its overall GPU ranking?

A: The GPU holds a 69th percentile rank among all GPUs, but the combo's 1164th rank out of 1689 suggests the pairing underperforms in this specific game compared to other configurations.

Q: What happens to frame rates when switching from Low to Ultra at 2560x1440?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 78.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 29.5 FPS. This 62.4% reduction shows a heavy performance penalty for the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threaded performance affect gaming results here?

A: The i3-12100F scores 11912 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, but its 4-core design limits parallel work. The data shows frame rates below 60 FPS at 1080p High, suggesting CPU limitations in this engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system shows its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 91.6 FPS, which is a smooth experience for most displays. Medium settings reduce this to 55.8 FPS, a 39.1% drop from Low. High settings yield 39.8 FPS, and Ultra brings the figure down to 33.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 58 FPS, indicating that the quality preset has a massive impact at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts downward. Low settings average 78.4 FPS, which remains playable but is 14.4% lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings drop to 49.8 FPS, a 10.8% reduction from the 1080p Medium result. High settings produce 32.3 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p narrows to 48.9 FPS, showing that the GPU is becoming more of a constraint.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings deliver 63 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but is 31.2% lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings drop to 39.4 FPS, a 29.4% reduction from 1080p Medium. High settings yield 25.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23.6 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread at 4K is 39.4 FPS, the smallest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is fully saturated.

The data reveals that the RTX 3060 Ti can handle 1080p Low with ease, but the game's fixed-camera scenes with dual-world rendering put unusual stress on the system. At 4K Ultra, the 23.6 FPS result is below playable thresholds, while 1080p Medium at 55.8 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. The pattern across all resolutions shows that Low settings consistently double the frame rate compared to Ultra, which is a characteristic of games with heavy post-processing and volumetric effects.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It features 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, along with 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1410 MHz and boosts to 1665 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is central to determining frame rates at higher settings and resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 91.6 FPS, which likely reflects CPU limitations given the i3-12100F's single-thread performance. However, as resolution and settings increase, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 253.1 GTexel/s texture rate are put to work rendering the game's dual-world mechanic, where two perspectives are often rendered simultaneously.

The RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game at the tested settings, as the data shows no anomalies that would indicate memory capacity issues. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, scores 0.2% higher on average, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is 0.5% ahead. The passmark G3D score of 20349 places it in the 69th percentile, but The Medium's specific requirements appear to be more demanding than the average workload.

The GPU's power draw of 200 W and suggested 550 W PSU are not directly reflected in the FPS data, but they contextualize the performance envelope. The pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits that the measured frame rates approach at 4K Ultra. The 23.6 FPS result at 4K Ultra suggests the GPU is operating at its full capacity, with no headroom for higher settings. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is adequate for this game, as the data shows no significant frame time spikes that would indicate bandwidth throttling. Overall, the RTX 3060 Ti is a capable mid-range GPU that performs well at 1080p and 1440p in The Medium, but struggles at 4K with higher quality presets.