The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-14400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combo shows a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics card at higher resolutions. The measured FPS figures reveal a clear narrative: this pairing is capable of delivering smooth gameplay at 1080p and even 1440p with settings adjustments, but it struggles to maintain playable framerates at 4K. The benchmark results indicate a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU's headroom is left unused as the RTX 3060 Ti reaches its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, highlighting the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 40.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 35.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a modest decline. However, the jump to 3840x2160 results in a precipitous drop to 25.1 FPS. This 37% reduction in performance from 1440p to 4K demonstrates that the pixel throughput demand at 4K overwhelms the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and its 448.0 GB/s bandwidth.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the combo manages 88.9 FPS at 1080p, which is excellent, but this falls to 79.5 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 59.3 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K result is barely above 60 FPS confirms that the resolution is the deciding factor, not the graphical complexity. The data suggests that the game's rendering engine is particularly sensitive to pixel count, likely due to its fixed camera angles and pre-rendered elements that still require full-resolution shader work.

At Ultra settings, the situation becomes untenable for higher resolutions. The combo delivers only 30.9 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 25.1 FPS at 1440p and a slideshow-like 20.4 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the game's Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive on the Ampere architecture, likely related to ray-traced reflections or volumetric lighting. The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 1080p shows a 45% performance penalty, suggesting that the Ultra preset is not well-optimized for this GPU class.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti sufficient for 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Based on the data, no. At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS is 20.4, and even at 4K High settings it only reaches 25.1 FPS. The only playable 4K result is at Low settings, where it hits 59.3 FPS, but this requires sacrificing all visual fidelity.

Q: What is the best resolution/settings combination for a smooth experience?

A: The benchmark results indicate that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, delivering 56.3 FPS. For a higher framerate, 1080p Low achieves 88.9 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset provides 46.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

Q: How does the CPU perform in this game?

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, placing it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. In this game, the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor, so the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads are likely not fully utilized.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM limit performance in The Medium?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has 8 GB of VRAM, which is likely a constraint at 4K with High or Ultra settings. The significant FPS drops at 4K suggest that memory capacity or bandwidth is a bottleneck, as the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot keep up with the data demands at that resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This specific combo ranks 1297 out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the lower 23% of all tested configurations. This indicates that while it can run the game, most other tested systems deliver higher average framerates.

Q: Is the FPS difference between High and Ultra settings significant?

A: Yes. At 1080p, High averages 40.1 FPS while Ultra averages 30.9 FPS, a 23% performance drop for the visual upgrade. At 1440p, the difference is even more pronounced, with High at 35.4 FPS and Ultra at 25.1 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1297 out of 1689 places this system in the bottom 23% of all tested combinations for The Medium. This is a low ranking, suggesting that most other CPU-GPU pairings in the database achieve higher framerates. The GPU's percentile of 69 (vs all GPUs) and the CPU's percentile of 88 (vs all CPUs) do not translate into a strong gaming result for this title. The data shows that the GPU is the weak link, as its PassMark G3D score of 20349 is respectable, but The Medium's specific demands at higher resolutions are too much for it.

Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 with an average score of 25235 and a deltaPct of -0.5, and the AMD Radeon RX 6700M with a deltaPct of -0.2. These are closely matched in synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS in The Medium suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti’s specific feature set does not provide an advantage here. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-13705H with a deltaPct of -0.2, show that the i5-14400F is well within expected performance for its class. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor in any resolution tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a range of results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 88.9, providing a very smooth experience. Medium settings reduce this to 56.3 FPS, which is still playable. High settings drop further to 40.1 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that benefits from smooth camera movement. Ultra settings yield 30.9 FPS, which is not recommended for a satisfying experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down. Low settings still provide a respectable 79.5 FPS. Medium settings deliver 46.8 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced exploration. High settings give 35.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25.1 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the results are mostly poor. Low settings achieve 59.3 FPS, which is the only 4K result near 60 FPS. Medium settings fall to 36.0 FPS, High to 25.1 FPS, and Ultra to 20.4 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K is only viable with the lowest settings, and even then, the framerate is not stable enough for a consistently smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with 4864 shading units and 152 tensor cores. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz and base clock of 1410 MHz are standard for the 30-series. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is a significant factor in the game's performance. The data shows that at 4K, the GPU is completely overwhelmed, with the average FPS at High settings (25.1) being identical to the 1440p Ultra result (25.1), indicating a hard cap on the GPU's throughput.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 20349 and a 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs suggest it is a mid-range performer. However, The Medium's rendering engine appears to push the card beyond its limits. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is not sufficient for the game's 4K Ultra preset. The GPU's transistor count of 17,400 million and die size of 392 mm² are irrelevant to the user, but the memory bandwidth is critical. The 448.0 GB/s figure is the likely culprit for the steep drop-off at 4K, as the game needs to stream high-resolution textures rapidly.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 scores of 21914 (multi-core) and 3093 (single-core) place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide ample headroom for gaming. In The Medium, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The benchmark results show that even at 1080p Low settings (88.9 FPS), the CPU is not limiting the framerate, as the GPU is still the primary constraint.

The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3723 is strong, ensuring that the game's main thread is well-served. The multi-thread score of 25783 indicates that the 16 threads are capable of handling background tasks. The 65 W TDP means that this CPU runs cool and is easy to pair with a capable air cooler. Based on the data, the i5-14400F provides more than enough processing power for The Medium, and any performance issues are directly attributable to the GPU's inability to render the game at higher resolutions.