The Medium

# The Medium: Intel Core i5-12600KF + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT lands at rank 1167 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field. This pairing combines a 10-core Alder Lake processor with an RDNA 2 GPU that sits at the 71st percentile among all GPUs, and the benchmark data reveals a system that can handle the game’s fixed-camera horror at playable framerates, but only if you’re willing to adjust settings aggressively. The CPU, sitting at the 84th percentile among all processors, is clearly not the bottleneck here; the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus shape the experience far more.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 93.3 FPS average, which is the only tested configuration that breaks past 90 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 77.4 FPS, still smooth, but 3840x2160 Low falls to 61.2 FPS, which is playable but approaching the edge of comfort.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at Ultra settings?

A: Barely, and only at 1080p. The Ultra preset yields 32.1 FPS at 1920x1080, 29.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and 21.5 FPS at 3840x2160. These are all below the 60 FPS threshold, so Ultra is not a viable choice for smooth gameplay with this hardware.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985, which is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (27883). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 by 0.9% (28238) and the AMD FirePro S7150 by 1.5% (28409).

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

A: The data suggests no. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 27827, nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27829 (0% delta). With a multi-thread score of 23444 in Cinebench R23 and 16 threads, the processor has ample headroom; the FPS drops at higher settings correlate with GPU load, not CPU limits.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 FPS target?

A: For 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 93.3 FPS, while Medium drops to 57.1 FPS, just shy of 60. At 2560x1440, Low hits 77.4 FPS, and Medium falls to 48.1 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience, choose Low at either 1080p or 1440p; Medium only works if you accept a slight dip below 60 at 1080p.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 6600 XT have, and does it matter here?

A: The card has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. Given that the game’s Ultra preset at 4K only reaches 21.5 FPS, the memory size and bandwidth appear insufficient for high-detail rendering at large resolutions, making Low settings the safe choice for higher framerates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-12600KF and RX 6600 XT sits at rank 1167 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. That places it in the 69th percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly a third of configurations perform worse. The ranking reflects a system that is competent but not exceptional for this specific title. The CPU’s percentile (84th among all CPUs) is significantly higher than the GPU’s percentile (71st among all GPUs), indicating that the graphics card is the limiting factor. In practice, this means the combo’s overall position is dragged down by the GPU’s mid-tier standing. Compared to the CPU’s nearest rivals, the i5-12600KF delivers performance nearly identical to the Core i9-10900K (0% delta), but that raw processing power doesn’t translate into top-tier gaming results here. The combo rank of 1167 suggests that many other pairings, likely those with stronger GPUs, will outperform this setup in The Medium, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes a constraint.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process. It features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, with 32 ray accelerators supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate. The card’s base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. Memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) across an 8 GB GDDR6 pool on a 128-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is the crux of the GPU’s performance in The Medium. At 3840x2160, the gap between Low and Medium settings is stark: 61.2 FPS versus 37.0 FPS, a drop of 24.2 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same settings gap is 77.4 FPS to 48.1 FPS (29.3 FPS difference), and at 1920x1080, it’s 93.3 FPS to 57.1 FPS (36.2 FPS difference). The trend shows that Medium settings consistently halve the performance headroom, likely due to texture and shading loads exceeding what the 256.0 GB/s bus can feed. The GPU’s FP32 throughput of 10.60 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s are respectable for 1080p, but the 128-bit bus becomes a wall at higher resolutions. The card’s average benchmark score of 27985 places it just 0.1% above the GTX 980 Ti, which is telling for a card released two generations later — it’s a solid 1080p performer, not a high-resolution monster.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 6600 XT delivers 93.3 FPS on Low settings, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that exceeds 90 FPS. Medium drops to 57.1 FPS, High falls to 43.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 36.2 FPS loss, while Medium to High costs 13.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 11.6 FPS. The pattern suggests diminishing returns from settings reductions — Low is clearly the sweet spot for 1080p gaming. Moving to 2560x1440, Low yields 77.4 FPS, Medium hits 48.1 FPS, High reaches 35.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 29.1 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium here is 29.3 FPS, and the gap narrows as settings increase, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, performance collapses: Low produces 61.2 FPS, Medium falls to 37.0 FPS, High manages 25.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.5 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is a 24.2 FPS loss, and every preset above Low is unplayable by modern standards. The data shows a clear hierarchy: this combo is a 1080p Low-to-Medium machine, a 1440p Low machine, and a 4K Low-only machine if you can tolerate 61 FPS. No min or max FPS values are provided, so the averages represent the full picture, but they consistently show that the GPU’s memory bandwidth limits high-detail performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It has a 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core, with support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The CPU’s benchmark results are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 27575. In 3DMark tests, it scores 7956 in the 16-thread test and 1016 in single-thread, showing balanced scaling. The processor’s average benchmark score of 27827 places it at the 84th percentile, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27829 — a 0% delta, meaning the two chips are effectively identical in average performance. The i5-12600KF also edges out the i5-12600K by 0.1% (27851) and the Core i7-13700H by 0.4% (27716), while trailing the Core Ultra 5 125H by 0.2% (27872). In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. Given that the FPS drops align with GPU settings changes — e.g., at 1080p Low (93.3 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (32.1 FPS) — the CPU is clearly not the limiting factor. With 16 threads and a 4.90 GHz boost, this processor has more than enough headroom for the game’s fixed-camera scenes, which are typically not CPU-intensive. The data indicates that the i5-12600KF is overqualified for this pairing in The Medium, and any performance gains would require a GPU upgrade, not a CPU swap.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the only viable presets are Low at 1920x1080 (93.3 FPS) and Low at 2560x1440 (77.4 FPS). At 3840x2160, Low hits 61.2 FPS, which is technically above 60 but leaves no headroom for dips. If you own a 1080p monitor, Low is the clear choice — it nearly doubles the Medium preset’s 57.1 FPS. Medium at 1080p is a compromise at 57.1 FPS, but with no min FPS data, it’s risky for a game that relies on atmosphere and steady pacing. For 1440p users, Low is mandatory for smooth play; Medium drops to 48.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror title where frame pacing matters. At 4K, Low is the only option above 60 FPS, but 61.2 FPS is borderline. If you prefer visual fidelity over framerate, Medium at 1080p (57.1 FPS) is the highest preset that stays near 60, but High (43.7 FPS) and Ultra (32.1 FPS) are only for screenshots. The data strongly suggests that the RX 6600 XT’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus cannot sustain high-detail rendering in The Medium at playable framerates, so Low settings are the recommended baseline across all resolutions. For the best experience, prioritize Low at 1440p for a balance of sharpness and smoothness, or drop to 1080p Low for maximum headroom. Avoid Ultra entirely; the 21.5 FPS at 4K and 32.1 FPS at 1080p are below playable thresholds.