The Medium

The Medium is a demanding title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 shows a system that is consistently GPU-limited, with playable frame rates only achievable through significant compromises in visual quality and resolution. The measured results indicate that this combination is positioned near the bottom of the performance hierarchy for this specific game, ranking 1570 out of 1689 tested combos.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a steep, non-linear performance cliff as resolution increases, which points directly at the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 52.2 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low settings drops performance to 40.3 FPS, a reduction of roughly 23%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields only 31.2 FPS, which is about 40% slower than the 1080p result.

This pattern is even more pronounced at higher quality presets. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 32.5 FPS at 1080p to 24.6 FPS at 1440p and then to 17.4 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings represents a 46% reduction in average FPS. The data shows that the scaling between 1080p and 1440p is severe, but the gap between 1440p and 4K narrows relatively, indicating that the GPU has already hit a performance wall where the workload is saturating its capabilities. The Core i5-12600KF, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is not the limiting factor here; the consistent frame rate collapse with resolution scaling is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows paint a clear picture: only the Low preset offers a consistently playable experience, and even then, only at 1080p. The average frame rate of 52.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches a smooth 60 FPS target.

Every other preset at 1080p falls below 33 FPS. Medium settings at 1080p produce an average of 32.5 FPS, while High and Ultra settings drop to 22.1 FPS and 16.1 FPS respectively. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option, yielding 40.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. High and Medium settings at 1440p are effectively unplayable, with averages of 16.1 FPS and 24.6 FPS. The data suggests that for a playable experience, users must prioritize resolution over visual fidelity. The best experience according to the measured rows is 1080p with Low settings, which provides a frame rate more than double that of the next best 1080p option (Medium at 32.5 FPS). For users who can tolerate lower frame rates for better visuals, 1440p Low is the only other practical choice.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the decisive component in this pairing. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, it provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 2304 shading units, 144 texture units, and 32 ROPs are driven at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz. The GPU's benchmark profile places it in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13559.

The data from the game shows that this hardware is simply not sufficient for The Medium at higher settings. The game’s fixed-camera angles and detailed environments appear to place an immense load on the pixel and texture processing units. The difference between Low and Medium settings at 1080p is stark: 52.2 FPS versus 32.5 FPS, a 38% drop. This indicates that the Medium preset likely enables effects that heavily tax the RX 580's fill rate and shader throughput. The GPU's transistor count of 5,700 million on a 14 nm process node confirms its age, and the benchmark results reflect that this Polaris 20 chip is outclassed by modern game engines. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for the textures at 1080p, but the core compute power is the limiting factor, not memory capacity.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 580 capable of running The Medium at 4K?

A: No. The measured data shows average frame rates of 31.2 FPS at Low settings and 10.3 FPS at Ultra settings for 3840x2160. These results are far below playable thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where a playable frame rate is achieved, with an average of 52.2 FPS on Low settings. At 2560x1440, even the Low preset only manages 40.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: Its average benchmark score is 13559, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13549, 0.1% delta). This places it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Will lowering the settings from High to Low improve performance?

A: Yes, significantly. At 1080p, the average frame rate jumps from 22.1 FPS on High to 52.2 FPS on Low, a 136% increase. The improvement is also substantial at 1440p, going from 16.1 FPS to 40.3 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF holding back the GPU?

A: No. The frame rate drops correlate directly with resolution and settings changes, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444, are far above what is needed to feed this GPU in this title.

Q: What is the overall performance ranking for this specific system in The Medium?

A: The data shows this combination ranks 1570 out of 1689 tested system combinations, indicating it is in the bottom 7% of all tested hardware pairings for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a powerful processor that is not the performance constraint in The Medium. Its 10 cores (with 16 threads) are based on the Alder Lake architecture and operate at a base clock of 3.70 GHz, boosting up to 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, including a 3DMark max threads score of 7952 and a Passmark multithread score of 27575. In terms of its overall standing, it sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 27827.

The data from the game measurements shows that the CPU's performance headroom is not being utilized. The frame rates are determined by the graphics settings and resolution, which are functions of the GPU. For instance, dropping the resolution from 1440p to 1080p at Low settings increases the average frame rate from 40.3 FPS to 52.2 FPS. This 12 FPS gain is entirely due to reduced GPU load, not CPU capability. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-10900K (27829, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (27851, -0.1% delta), show that it is performing at a level comparable to high-end previous-generation parts. This confirms that the Core i5-12600KF has ample single-thread and multi-thread performance to handle the game's logic and rendering calls, leaving the RX 580 as the sole reason for the low frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates for this system is as follows:

3840x2160 (4K):

• Ultra: 10.3 FPS
• High: 16.2 FPS
• Medium: 17.4 FPS
• Low: 31.2 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Ultra: 17.3 FPS
• High: 16.1 FPS
• Medium: 24.6 FPS
• Low: 40.3 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Ultra: 16.1 FPS
• High: 22.1 FPS
• Medium: 32.5 FPS
• Low: 52.2 FPS

These numbers show a clear pattern. The Ultra preset is uniformly unplayable across all resolutions, with frame rates ranging from 10.3 FPS to 17.3 FPS. The High preset offers little improvement over Ultra, consistently staying in the low 20s at 1080p and dropping to the mid-teens at higher resolutions. The Medium preset provides a step up, achieving 32.5 FPS at 1080p but still falling below 25 FPS at 1440p. The Low preset is the only level that provides a consistently playable experience, and only at 1080p does it reach a comfortable 52.2 FPS average. The data is unequivocal: to play this game with this hardware, a user must select the Low preset and accept a 1080p resolution as the maximum viable configuration.