The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror environment where the interaction between the Intel Core i5-14600K and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT produces a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The measured data reveals a system that is consistently capable at 1080p and 1440p, but which encounters significant limitations at 4K. This analysis breaks down the specific frame rate behavior, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and provides actionable settings guidance based strictly on the measured results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a steep and predictable decline as resolution increases, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT becomes the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 sees the average frame rate drop from 96 FPS to 81 FPS, a reduction of 15 FPS. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average falls to 64 FPS, marking a total 32 FPS loss from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the rendering workload at 4K quadruples the pixel count relative to 1080p, and the RX 7600 XT's 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 2048 shading units struggle to maintain throughput.

At the Medium preset, the same resolution progression yields averages of 60 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure of 40 FPS is accompanied by a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, showing a playable but not smooth experience. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 9 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 11 FPS, demonstrating that the performance penalty is not linear but becomes more pronounced at the highest resolution. This trend suggests that the GPU's compute resources are saturated by the 4K workload, leaving little headroom for frame time consistency.

The High and Ultra presets amplify this effect. At High, the system manages 43 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and only 28 FPS at 4K. At Ultra, the numbers are 34 FPS, 29 FPS, and 23 FPS respectively. The 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is barely interactive, indicating that the combination of increased pixel count and high graphical fidelity overwhelms the GPU. The data clearly shows that the RX 7600 XT is the bottleneck in these scenarios; the CPU's role diminishes as resolution rises because the frame rate becomes constrained by the GPU's pixel throughput and memory subsystem rather than by processor instruction execution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings substantial processing resources to the pairing, with 14 cores and 20 threads operating at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, and the processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and a single-core score of 2064, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 16673. These figures place the processor in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, indicating very high relative performance.

However, the measured FPS data in The Medium suggests that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the system reaches 96 FPS, which is well within the range where a strong processor can feed frames without bottlenecking. The 14-core configuration, while beneficial for multi-threaded workloads, is not heavily taxed by a game that primarily relies on single-thread performance for game logic and camera rendering. The single-core boost to 5.30 GHz likely ensures that the game's main thread executes without delays, but the frame rate ceiling is still set by the GPU.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark average score, the Core i5-14600K sits at 48618, which is 0.2% below the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) and 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 4345P (48470). These are negligible differences that would not translate into measurable FPS variations in The Medium. The data indicates that the CPU's role is to provide consistent, high-frequency execution that prevents stutter, but it does not contribute to higher frame rates once the resolution and settings push the GPU to its limits. At 4K Ultra, where the system averages 23 FPS, the CPU is almost certainly idle waiting for the GPU to complete frames.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is the dominant performance driver in this configuration. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, and operates at a base clock of 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2755 MHz. The GPU has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. In the Passmark G3D benchmark, it scores 17132, with a percentile rank of 60 among all GPUs, indicating mid-range performance.

The benchmark results in The Medium reflect this positioning. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 60, which is exactly the target for many displays, and the minimum of 51 FPS shows acceptable frame pacing. The 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any resolution tested, as even 4K Ultra only requires a fraction of that capacity for the game's textures and geometry. The bottleneck is purely computational: the 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and the 128-bit memory interface are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with high settings.

The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals in the Passmark G3D benchmark shows it is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037) and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17208). This proximity to the RTX 3070 is notable, but in The Medium, the RX 7600 XT's 4K High average of 28 FPS suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is particularly sensitive to the GPU's memory bandwidth and rasterization rate. The pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s are moderate, and the data shows that dropping from High to Medium at 4K yields a 12 FPS improvement (from 28 to 40), indicating that the Medium preset reduces the per-pixel workload enough to achieve a more fluid experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. The Low preset offers 96 FPS, but this sacrifices too much graphical fidelity for a horror game reliant on atmosphere. High at 1080p drops to 43 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and introduces perceptible judder. Ultra at 34 FPS is not recommended for serious play.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again provides the best measured experience, with an average of 51 FPS and a minimum of 43 FPS. This is a playable frame rate for a slow-paced horror title, and the visual upgrade from 1080p is significant. Low at 1440p reaches 81 FPS but looks sparse, while High (36 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) fall into the range where motion smoothness degrades. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, offering a 15 FPS improvement over High while maintaining acceptable detail.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a fully smooth 60 FPS. The Low preset averages 64 FPS, which is the only 4K option that exceeds 60 FPS, but it comes at a substantial visual cost. Medium at 4K averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that remains playable. High (28 FPS) and Ultra (23 FPS) are too slow for consistent interaction. Therefore, for 4K, the recommendation is to use Low if frame rate is paramount, or Medium if visual fidelity is preferred and the user can tolerate sub-50 FPS averages.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT ranks 2362 out of 3724 total combos. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, which aligns with the GPU's mid-range performance profile. The rank reflects the system's inability to handle 4K Ultra settings, where it produces only 23 FPS, but it also shows that the combo is not the worst performer, given that it can achieve 96 FPS at 1080p Low.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's percentile of 60, which is below the median for high-end gaming rigs but above the bottom quartile. The CPU's high percentile of 90 does not boost the combo's rank because the game is GPU-bound at most settings. The data indicates that this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can hold its own against other mid-range systems. At 4K, the combo's rank would likely drop further, as many other tested combinations with more powerful GPUs would outperform it by a significant margin.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080 with the Low preset, the system averages 96 FPS. At 1080p Medium, it averages exactly 60 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where a 60 FPS average is attainable without dropping to the lowest settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 64. With Medium settings, it drops to 40 FPS, and with High or Ultra, it falls to 28 FPS and 23 FPS respectively, which are not ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 17132 in the Passmark G3D benchmark, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070's score of 17208, and 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690's score of 17037.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K is in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618. It is 0.2% slower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and 0.3% faster than the AMD EPYC 4345P.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The data does not indicate any VRAM-related performance drops. The bottleneck at 4K is computational, as the GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 2048 shading units limit throughput, not the 16 GB GDDR6 capacity.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 51 FPS, while the High preset averages 36 FPS. This is a 15 FPS difference, favoring Medium for a smoother experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low preset produces 96 FPS, Medium produces 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, High produces 43 FPS, and Ultra produces 34 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a consistent decline, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Medium and High, a loss of 17 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 81 FPS, Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS, High averages 36 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is 15 FPS, and the difference between High and Ultra is 7 FPS, indicating diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 64 FPS, Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 24 FPS, which is the largest single-setting drop across all resolutions, highlighting the GPU's struggle with the 4K pixel workload. The Ultra preset's 23 FPS is the lowest measured average for this combo, confirming that the highest settings are not viable at 4K.