The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on a heavily pre-rendered background pipeline, presents a unique scaling profile for the Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination. The measured data shows a system that transitions from a clearly GPU-bound state at 4K to a more balanced, CPU-influenced state at 1080p, with the frame rate deltas between presets revealing where the bottleneck shifts across the resolution spectrum.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant but not uniform across all settings, indicating a complex interplay between the game’s rendering load and the hardware’s capabilities. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 135 FPS at 1920x1080 to 89 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 46 FPS or roughly 34%. This is a substantial decline, but the absolute numbers remain high, suggesting that at Low, the RX 7800 XT is still delivering playable performance even at the highest resolution.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher presets. Moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings drops the average from 84 FPS to 56 FPS, a 28 FPS or 33% loss. At High settings, the drop is from 61 FPS to 40 FPS, a 21 FPS or 34% reduction. The most severe scaling occurs at Ultra, where the average falls from 48 FPS at 1080p to just 32 FPS at 4K, representing a 33% decrease. This consistency in percentage loss across presets—hovering around 33-34%—is a key indicator.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 4K, the sheer pixel count and the associated shader work overwhelm the GPU, making it the primary bottleneck. The RX 7800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth, has the capacity for the textures, but the compute load at 4K Ultra (32 FPS) and 4K High (40 FPS) shows the GPU is struggling to maintain high frame rates. Conversely, at 1080p, the CPU’s role becomes more prominent. The Intel Core i5-12600KF, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is capable, but the fixed-camera nature of The Medium often involves complex scene loads and CPU-side logic that can limit performance when the GPU is less stressed.

The 1080p Ultra result of 48 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 135 FPS shows a 2.8x performance difference, which is much larger than the 1.4x difference seen at 4K (32 FPS vs 89 FPS). This indicates that at lower resolutions, the settings have a disproportionate impact on frame rate, confirming that the GPU is not the sole constraint. The CPU is likely the secondary bottleneck at 1080p, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates when the graphical load is light.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution and the user’s preference for visual fidelity versus smoothness. For a 60 FPS target, the data shows a clear hierarchy. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver an average of 61 FPS, which is just barely above the threshold. Medium settings provide a more comfortable margin at 84 FPS, while Low pushes the frame rate to 135 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS experience at 1080p, High is the maximum preset that achieves the goal, but Medium is the safer recommendation for maintaining a consistent frame rate above the minimum of 72 FPS observed.

At 2560x1440, the situation tightens. High settings average 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 71 FPS, with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it the only preset that reliably hits the 60 FPS mark. Low settings are far above at 114 FPS, but the visual sacrifice is substantial. Therefore, for 1440p, Medium is the clear recommendation for a balanced experience, as it is the highest preset with an average above 60 FPS and a floor that does not dip below that threshold.

At 3840x2160, 60 FPS is unattainable with any tested preset. The highest average is 89 FPS at Low, but this drops to 56 FPS at Medium and 40 FPS at High. For 4K, the choice is between visual quality and frame rate. Medium at 56 FPS is the highest preset that remains within reach of a 60 FPS target, though it will not hold it consistently. High at 40 FPS is a more visually rich but noticeably less smooth experience. Ultra at 32 FPS is only suitable for a cinematic, slower-paced playthrough. The data suggests that for 4K, Medium is the best compromise, offering a playable frame rate with a significant upgrade over Low settings. The min FPS data at Medium (47 FPS at 4K, 60 FPS at 1440p, 72 FPS at 1080p) shows that the frame pacing is stable, but the average is the primary differentiator between presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested combinations for The Medium, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT sits at rank 1221 out of 3724 combos. This places it in the 67th percentile of all systems tested, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the configurations in this game’s benchmark database. This is a solid, above-average position, but it is not a top-tier performer.

The ranking is influenced by both components. The CPU’s performance is respectable; its average benchmark score of 27799 places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i9-10900K (deltaPct -0.3%) and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (deltaPct -0.3%) showing nearly identical average scores. This indicates that the i5-12600KF is not a limiting factor in most scenarios. The GPU, however, has a lower standing. Its average benchmark score of 11627 puts it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (deltaPct -0.5%) and AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (deltaPct -1.8%). This suggests that the RX 7800 XT is a mid-pack performer in the database’s broader GPU rankings, which contributes to the combo’s overall rank.

The rank of 1221 out of 3724 indicates that while the system is capable of running The Medium well at 1080p and 1440p, it is not among the elite combinations that achieve very high frame rates at 4K. The data shows that the GPU is the component holding back the combo from a higher rank, as its performance in this specific game is consistent with its mid-tier percentile ranking. The CPU, being in the 79th percentile, is doing its part, but the GPU’s 51st percentile standing drags the overall combo rank down relative to systems with higher-tier graphics cards.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains an average of 60 FPS at 2560x1440?

A: Medium settings are the only preset at 1440p that achieve an average above 60 FPS, with a measured average of 71 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS. High settings fall short at 51 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 61 FPS at 1920x1080 to 51 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 40 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% reduction in performance from the lowest to the highest resolution.

Q: Is 4K Ultra settings playable with this hardware?

A: The data shows 4K Ultra averages 32 FPS, which is below the generally accepted threshold for smooth gameplay. It is playable in a turn-based or slow-paced context, but not for a responsive action experience.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck at 3840x2160?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The performance difference between Low (89 FPS) and Ultra (32 FPS) is large, and the absolute frame rates are low, indicating the Radeon RX 7800 XT is fully saturated by the resolution and settings load.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60+ FPS experience with High settings?

A: Only 1920x1080 achieves this. At 1080p High, the average is 61 FPS. At 1440p High, the average drops to 51 FPS, and at 4K High, it is 40 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-10900K, scores 27872, which is a deltaPct of -0.3%, indicating the i5-12600KF is essentially on par with it.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT’s role in The Medium is defined by its memory capacity and clock speeds, which directly influence the measured frame rates. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU has ample capacity for the game’s high-resolution textures, even at 4K. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s ensures that this large frame buffer can be fed quickly, which is critical for the pre-rendered backgrounds that The Medium uses. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU is the limiting factor, but the memory subsystem is not causing catastrophic stutters, as evidenced by the min FPS of 47 at 4K Medium.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also a factor. The boost clock of 2430 MHz and game clock of 2124 MHz provide the raw compute throughput needed for the shader and pixel work. The pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s are substantial, but the game’s demands at 4K Ultra (32 FPS) show that these resources are exhausted. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 37.32 TFLOPS is high, yet the game’s fixed-camera rendering and lighting effects still push the card to its limits at higher presets.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 51 against all GPUs is a telling statistic. While the RX 7800 XT is a modern card with a high transistor count of 28,100 million, its performance in this specific benchmark database places it in the middle of the pack. This is reflected in the 4K results, where it cannot maintain 60 FPS at any preset above Low. The GPU’s VRAM is not a bottleneck, as 16 GB is more than sufficient for this game, but the compute power is the limiting factor. The measured data shows that the GPU is the primary component determining the frame rate at resolutions above 1440p, and its mid-tier percentile ranking aligns with the observed performance in The Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF’s contribution to The Medium’s performance is most evident at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed. With 10 cores and 16 threads, the CPU has a high level of parallelism for a desktop processor. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for the game’s main game logic and camera control. The benchmark data shows a single-thread score of 1016 in 3dmark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302, indicating robust per-core performance.

The CPU’s role becomes clearer when comparing the scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the frame rate is 135 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 48 FPS. This 2.8x difference suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p Low, as the GPU is still able to produce high frame rates. However, the fact that 1080p High (61 FPS) is significantly lower than 1080p Low (135 FPS) shows that the GPU is still the main constraint at these settings. The CPU’s influence is more subtle; it is not preventing the GPU from reaching its maximum potential at lower resolutions, but it may be limiting the absolute ceiling.

The CPU’s performance relative to its rivals is strong. Its average benchmark score of 27799 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, with deltaPct values of -0.3% for both. This indicates that the i5-12600KF is not a weak link in the system. In The Medium, the CPU’s high multi-threaded performance, as seen in its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23391, ensures that background tasks and the game’s streaming logic do not cause frame drops. The data shows that the CPU is capable of keeping up with the GPU’s demands at all tested resolutions, and it is the GPU that dictates the frame rate limits at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 135 FPS average
• Medium: 84 FPS average (min 72, max 97)
• High: 61 FPS average
• Ultra: 48 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 114 FPS average
• Medium: 71 FPS average (min 60, max 82)
• High: 51 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 89 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average (min 47, max 64)
• High: 40 FPS average
• Ultra: 32 FPS average

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution costs approximately 20-30 FPS at the same settings, and each step up in settings costs a similar margin at the same resolution. At 1080p, the system is capable of high frame rates, with even Ultra averaging 48 FPS. At 1440p, the frame rates drop, but Medium remains playable at 71 FPS. At 4K, the system is firmly in the territory of needing lower settings to achieve playable frame rates, with only Low (89 FPS) and Medium (56 FPS) providing averages above 40 FPS. The min FPS data, available only for Medium settings, shows that the frame pacing is stable, with the 4K min of 47 FPS being the lowest recorded, indicating that even at the most demanding resolution, the system does not experience severe stutters. The overall trend confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring significant settings compromises.