The Medium

The Medium on this system presents a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay. The data shows that the High preset at 1920x1080 delivers 41.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror title where timing and atmosphere matter. Dropping to Medium at the same resolution yields 58.5 FPS, a substantial improvement that keeps the experience fluid without sacrificing the game's core visual identity. For the best balance across all resolutions, the Low preset is the only option that consistently pushes frame rates above 60 FPS, achieving 94.6 FPS at 1080p, 82.1 FPS at 1440p, and 63.4 FPS at 4K. Given that the medium preset at 1080p is nearly 17 FPS faster than High, the recommended starting point is Medium, with Low serving as the fallback for demanding scenes or higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows reveal a steep performance cliff as settings climb from Medium to High. At 1080p, the jump from Medium to High costs 16.6 FPS, a 28% reduction in frame rate. This pattern repeats at every resolution: at 1440p, High drops to 39 FPS versus 50.1 FPS on Medium, and at 4K, High falls to 27.6 FPS against 40.1 FPS on Medium. The Ultra preset is prohibitively expensive, delivering only 34.5 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 26.6 FPS at 1440p and 22.3 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that Ultra is designed for hardware well beyond this combination, and its use here results in a compromised experience.

The Low preset, by contrast, is remarkably efficient. It is the only setting that maintains a playable frame rate at 4K, hitting 63.4 FPS, which is more than double the High preset's 27.6 FPS at the same resolution. At 1080p, Low reaches 94.6 FPS, a figure that approaches the refresh rate of many monitors. The data implies that for players prioritizing smooth motion, Low is the safest choice, especially at higher resolutions. However, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best compromise: 58.5 FPS is close enough to 60 to feel responsive, and the visual upgrade over Low is likely significant given the performance gap. For 1440p, Medium at 50.1 FPS is borderline, but it remains the most balanced option. At 4K, only Low is viable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This is a high-end processor, sitting in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 49166 places it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, according to the nearestRivals data. In The Medium, which is a horror game with a focus on environmental storytelling rather than massive CPU-bound simulations, this processor is unlikely to be the limiting factor. The frame rate differences between settings and resolutions are far more pronounced than any core-count effect would suggest.

The 5.30 GHz boost clock is particularly relevant for single-threaded tasks, and the CPU's single-core performance is strong, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2803. The data shows that even at the lowest settings, where the GPU has less work, the frame rates scale smoothly with resolution. For instance, at Low settings, the FPS drops from 94.6 at 1080p to 82.1 at 1440p and then to 63.4 at 4K. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU maintains enough headroom to feed the graphics card across all tested configurations. The processor's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic, but the benchmark results do not show any scenario where the CPU's capabilities are stretched thin.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for 60 FPS gameplay at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 achieves 58.5 FPS, which is the closest to 60 FPS without dropping to Low. The Low preset reaches 94.6 FPS, but Medium offers a better visual balance for a small performance cost.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it hits 63.4 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 40.1 FPS, High falls to 27.6 FPS, and Ultra is unplayable at 22.3 FPS.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low at 2560x1440 delivers 82.1 FPS, while Ultra manages only 26.6 FPS. This is a 55.5 FPS difference, meaning Low is roughly three times faster than Ultra at this resolution.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in The Medium?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting component. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, and the CPU's high single-thread performance (boost clock of 5.30 GHz) does not appear to constrain results at any tested configuration.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Medium at 1080p?

A: High runs at 41.9 FPS, while Medium runs at 58.5 FPS. The 16.6 FPS gap represents a 28% improvement in frame rate by stepping down one preset level.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using on this hardware?

A: No. The highest FPS achieved with Ultra is 34.5 at 1080p, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, Ultra produces only 22.3 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-14600K and Radeon RX 6650 XT holds the 1084th position out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower third of the database, indicating that while the system is functional, it is not optimized for this particular title. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range standing, as the Radeon RX 6650 XT sits in the 72nd percentile against all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 29024 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.1% delta), showing that this GPU is clustered with other mid-tier performers.

The CPU's high percentile ranking (93rd) does not translate into a high combo rank, which reinforces the notion that The Medium is more dependent on graphics processing. The 1084th rank out of 1689 suggests that many other combinations, likely with stronger GPUs, achieve better frame rates. However, the data also shows that with the right settings, this combo can still deliver playable results, particularly at 1080p and 1440p on lower presets. The rank is a relative measure, and the absolute FPS numbers indicate that this system is better suited for Medium or Low settings than for chasing Ultra quality.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the magnitude varies. At Low settings, the drop from 94.6 FPS (1080p) to 63.4 FPS (4K) is a 33% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 58.5 FPS to 40.1 FPS, a 31% reduction. High settings see a drop from 41.9 FPS to 27.6 FPS, a 34% reduction, while Ultra goes from 34.5 FPS to 22.3 FPS, a 35% reduction. These percentages are relatively uniform, suggesting that the scaling is primarily driven by the GPU's rendering load rather than any CPU-side bottleneck.

The fact that Low settings at 4K (63.4 FPS) outperform High settings at 1080p (41.9 FPS) is telling. It indicates that lowering the preset has a more significant impact on performance than reducing resolution. This is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the GPU's raw throughput (10.79 TFLOPS FP32) is the deciding factor. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K, especially on higher presets. The data implies that for this system, resolution scaling is a viable way to gain performance, but only if paired with a corresponding drop in settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are: Low 94.6 FPS, Medium 58.5 FPS, High 41.9 FPS, and Ultra 34.5 FPS. The progression is not linear, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Low and Medium (36.1 FPS), followed by a 16.6 FPS drop to High and a 7.4 FPS drop to Ultra. This suggests that the Low to Medium transition involves significant visual effects that tax the GPU heavily.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 82.1 FPS, Medium 50.1 FPS, High 39 FPS, and Ultra 26.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 32 FPS, and from Medium to High is 11.1 FPS, with a further 12.4 FPS drop to Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 63.4 FPS, Medium 40.1 FPS, High 27.6 FPS, and Ultra 22.3 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 12.5 FPS, while High to Ultra is only 5.3 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional cost is smaller at 4K but still results in an unplayable frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process. It has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 32 ray accelerators. The boost clock is 2635 MHz, and the game clock is 2410 MHz. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective) on a 128-bit bus, yielding 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29024, nearly identical to the Radeon RX 6800M.

In The Medium, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor. The measured FPS scales directly with resolution and settings, and the card's compute power of 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 is the key constraint. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with higher presets, the memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s becomes a limiting factor, as evidenced by the sharp drops in performance. The card's DirectX 12 score of 62 in PassMark is low, but this may not reflect game-specific performance, as the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1859 is more representative. The GPU's performance in The Medium is consistent with its mid-range positioning, offering playable frame rates at lower settings but struggling with the highest presets.