The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a demanding workload that this combination of an Intel Core i5-12600KF and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB struggles to manage at higher fidelity targets. The measured data reveals a system where the graphics card is the primary limiting factor, with performance scaling that points to a need for significant settings adjustments to achieve playable frame rates at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, clearly indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 30.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 23.0 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 24.3%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 20.8 FPS, which is 31.6% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the increase in pixel count directly taxes the renderer.

The trend is even more pronounced at the Medium preset. The system delivers 38.0 FPS at 1080p, but this falls to 31.4 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 28.6 FPS at 4K. The relatively small difference between the 1440p and 4K results at Medium (31.4 vs 28.6 FPS) suggests that the card is already saturated, and the additional pixel workload yields diminishing returns in terms of frame rate loss. The data implies that the RTX 3050 4 GB is overwhelmed by the game's rendering demands, even before considering the impact of higher-quality textures and effects.

The most revealing data point is the performance at Low settings. Here, the frame rate scales much more linearly with resolution. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 65.1 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 56.0 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 44.7 FPS. The smoother scaling at Low settings suggests that the GPU has more headroom when the pixel shader workload is reduced, but the absolute numbers still show that 4K is only playable at the lowest quality preset. This indicates that the 4 GB VRAM buffer and the GPU's raw compute power are insufficient for high-fidelity rendering at high resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is a massive 27.7 FPS (44.7 vs 17.0), which underscores how much of the card's performance is consumed by the game's visual effects.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested configurations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB lands at rank 1531 out of 1689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 9.4% of all tested system configurations, a stark indicator of its performance limitations for this title. The rank reflects the combined capability of the CPU and GPU, and the data strongly suggests that the GPU is dragging the overall score down.

The CPU itself is a high-performing part; its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309. Its percentile vs all CPUs is 84, placing it in the top 16% of processors. However, this raw CPU power does not translate to high frame rates in The Medium, which is a clear sign that the game is heavily GPU-bound. The combo's rank is a reflection of the GPU's inability to keep up with the CPU's potential.

Compared to its nearest rival CPUs, the i5-12600KF is essentially on par. Its average benchmark score of 27827 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K's score of 27829, with a deltaPct of 0. The i5-12600K is also a close match, at 27851 with a deltaPct of -0.1. This tells us that the processor is not the differentiator in this combo's performance; a more capable graphics card would likely yield a significantly better rank. The data implies that this system is a case of a strong CPU being paired with a GPU that is not suited for the demands of this particular game at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 1080p with a playable frame rate?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves an average of 65.1 FPS. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops to 38.0 FPS, which may be acceptable for some, but High and Ultra presets yield 30.4 and 21.4 FPS, respectively, which are likely too low for a smooth experience.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system can achieve a frame rate above 60 FPS, and that is exclusively at the Low preset. At 2560x1440 and 3840x2160, the maximum average frame rate drops to 56.0 and 44.7 FPS, respectively, both at Low settings.

Q: How much of a performance hit does the Ultra preset take compared to Low?

A: The impact is severe. At 1080p, the average frame rate drops from 65.1 FPS at Low to 21.4 FPS at Ultra, representing a 67.1% reduction in performance. At 4K, the drop is even more significant, falling from 44.7 FPS to 17.0 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU more likely to be the bottleneck?

A: The data strongly indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has a high benchmark score and percentile ranking, yet the frame rates are low across all resolutions. The steep frame rate drops as resolution increases are a classic symptom of GPU limitation.

Q: Is the 4 GB VRAM an issue for this game?

A: The benchmark results suggest it is a significant constraint. The game's performance collapses when moving from Low to higher presets, which is consistent with the GPU running out of memory for textures and other assets, forcing the system to use slower fallback methods.

Q: What is the overall ranking of this combo for The Medium?

A: This specific CPU and GPU combination ranks 1531 out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the lower 9.4% of systems for performance in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset is the only one that delivers a smooth experience, with an average of 65.1 FPS. The Medium preset provides a playable, if not optimal, 38.0 FPS. High settings yield 30.4 FPS, which is on the borderline of playability for a slower-paced horror game. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it produces an average of just 21.4 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops across the board. The Low preset remains the most viable option at 56.0 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 31.4 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 23.0 and 17.4 FPS, respectively. These results show that 1440p is only truly playable at the lowest settings.

At 3840x2160, the system is largely out of its depth. The Low preset is the only one that approaches playability, with an average of 44.7 FPS. The Medium preset falls to 28.6 FPS, High to 20.8 FPS, and Ultra to a nearly unplayable 17.0 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 3050 4 GB is overwhelmed by the demands of The Medium at 4K, with even the Low preset struggling to maintain a high frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured performance, the optimal experience for this system is to prioritize frame rate stability over visual fidelity. The data clearly shows that the Low preset is the only one that provides a consistently smooth experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, Low settings offer an average of 65.1 FPS, which is the only configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold in the data. This is the recommended starting point for a fluid experience.

For players who prioritize visual quality and can tolerate lower frame rates, the Medium preset at 1080p (38.0 FPS) is a viable compromise. It likely provides a more detailed image than Low, but the 27.1 FPS difference in average frame rate is substantial. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended at any resolution, as they consistently fall below 30 FPS, which is generally considered the minimum for a playable experience, and at 4K they drop below 21 FPS. The data suggests that the game's advanced rendering features at these presets are too demanding for the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and compute capabilities. For a playable experience, the Low preset is the only safe choice, particularly at higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Geekbench multicore score of 12373 and a single-core score of 2529. The CPU's performance is not the limiting factor in this game. Its benchmark scores are nearly identical to its direct rivals, including the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has a deltaPct of 0, and the Intel Core i5-12600K, which has a deltaPct of -0.1.

The game's performance issues are not related to the CPU's core count or clock speed. The data from the 3DMark tests shows a significant scaling from 2 threads (1995) to 8 threads (6128), but this does not translate to better frame rates in The Medium. The fact that the system's rank is so low despite the CPU's high percentile (84) indicates that the game is not CPU-bound. The fixed-camera angles and horror genre typically do not require massive amounts of CPU compute for physics or AI, and the data supports this, showing that the processor has ample headroom. The CPU is simply waiting for the GPU to finish its work.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the clear bottleneck in this system. It is an Ampere architecture GPU with a base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost clock of 1740 MHz. It has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's specs, including 2048 shading units and 16 ray tracing cores, are not sufficient for the demands of The Medium at high settings. The GPU's percentile vs all GPUs is 50, placing it squarely in the middle of the pack, and its performance in this game reflects its position.

The GPU's role in the measured frame rates is definitive. The steep performance drops from Low to Ultra settings, and from 1080p to 4K, are a direct result of the GPU's limited memory bandwidth and compute power. The 4 GB VRAM is likely a major issue, as the game's higher-quality textures and effects probably exceed this capacity, causing the system to thrash. The data shows that the GPU struggles to maintain a 30 FPS average at 1080p High, and it falls below 20 FPS at 4K Ultra. The card's performance is simply not aligned with the game's high system requirements, making it the definitive reason for the system's low ranking among tested combos.