The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER produces a mid-table result in The Medium, ranking 1026th out of 1689 tested combinations. This places the combo in the lower half of the database, indicating that while the hardware is competent for general workloads, it struggles to deliver consistently high frame rates in this specific title at higher quality settings. The data shows a system that is balanced enough to handle the game at playable levels, but only when settings are managed carefully relative to the target resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1026 out of 1689 tested combinations puts it in the 39th percentile of all systems tested for this game. This is a significant drop from the individual component percentiles, where the CPU sits in the 93rd percentile and the GPU in the 65th percentile. The discrepancy suggests that The Medium is a demanding title that does not scale linearly with raw hardware potential, and the pairing's overall position reflects a bottleneck that emerges specifically within this game's engine.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-14600K posts an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 1% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. It trails the Intel Core i5-14600KF by 0.4% and the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.9%. These margins are tight, meaning the processor is not the limiting factor here; its compute headroom is comparable to top-tier alternatives from the same generation.

For the GPU, the RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 22206 places it 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700. It sits 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 2.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile. These small deltas indicate that the graphics card is competitive within its class, but the game's measured FPS results show that this level of GPU performance is insufficient for high-refresh-rate gameplay at demanding presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that the Low preset is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Low produces an average of 100.4 FPS, which drops to 82.8 FPS at 2560x1440 and 67.6 FPS at 3840x2160. These numbers indicate that Low is the safest choice for maintaining fluid motion, even at 4K, where the average stays above the 60 FPS threshold.

The Medium preset offers a more balanced visual quality versus performance trade-off, but only at lower resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 63.9 FPS on average, which is playable, but at 1440p it falls to 56 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 39.4 FPS. The High preset is more demanding, with 47.3 FPS at 1080p, 35.9 FPS at 1440p, and 31.8 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most taxing, producing just 38.1 FPS at 1080p, 32.6 FPS at 1440p, and 23.6 FPS at 4K.

Given these results, the recommended configuration for this combo is the Low preset for any resolution above 1080p, or the Medium preset for 1080p users who prioritize visuals over maximum frame rates. The data shows that stepping up to High or Ultra incurs a substantial FPS penalty that is difficult to justify, especially at higher resolutions where the average drops below 40 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 100.4 FPS at 1080p to 82.8 FPS at 1440p (a decrease of 17.5%) and then to 67.6 FPS at 4K (a further 18.4% drop from 1440p). This gradual decline suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the CPU has enough headroom to keep up with the increased pixel count.

At the Medium preset, the scaling is more severe: 63.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 56 FPS at 1440p (a 12.4% drop) and then to 39.4 FPS at 4K (a 29.6% drop from 1440p). The larger relative drop at 4K indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are being saturated, particularly as texture and shading complexity increases with the higher quality setting.

The High and Ultra presets show even steeper declines. High drops from 47.3 FPS at 1080p to 35.9 FPS at 1440p (a 24.1% drop) and then to 31.8 FPS at 4K (an 11.4% drop from 1440p). Ultra goes from 38.1 FPS at 1080p to 32.6 FPS at 1440p (a 14.4% drop) and then to 23.6 FPS at 4K (a 27.6% drop). These patterns confirm that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the bottleneck, with the CPU's compute capacity remaining largely unused as the resolution scales.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces averages from 38.1 FPS on Ultra to 100.4 FPS on Low. The Medium preset lands at 63.9 FPS, which is the closest to the 60 FPS target, while High sits at 47.3 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 62.3 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of quality settings on this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages range from 32.6 FPS on Ultra to 82.8 FPS on Low. Medium delivers 56 FPS, and High produces 35.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 50.2 FPS, but the overall performance drops across all settings compared to 1080p, with the largest relative decrease seen on Medium.

At 3840x2160, the results are the weakest, with averages from 23.6 FPS on Ultra to 67.6 FPS on Low. Medium produces 39.4 FPS, and High delivers 31.8 FPS. The 4K data shows that only the Low preset maintains an average above 60 FPS, while all other settings fall below 40 FPS, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206.

In The Medium, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth appear to be sufficient for the game's demands at lower settings, but the compute resources become strained at higher presets. The 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are tasked with rendering the game's fixed camera angles and layered scenes, which likely explains why the FPS drops so sharply when moving from Medium to High or Ultra. The 40 RT cores are present, but the game's implementation of ray tracing effects, if any, is not reflected in the measured data, suggesting that the standard rasterization workload is the primary driver of the performance numbers.

The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z, has a very similar average benchmark score (22006 vs. 22206), yet the RTX 2070 SUPER's newer architecture likely provides better driver optimization for this 2021 title. The 0.9% performance advantage over the GTX TITAN Z is minimal, though, and the measured FPS results show that the card struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 1440p on anything above Low settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 on the Low preset yields an average of 100.4 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate. At 2560x1440, the Low preset still produces 82.8 FPS, making it viable, while 3840x2160 on Low drops to 67.6 FPS, which is still playable but closer to the minimum threshold.

Q: Can this system run the game at 60 FPS on Ultra settings?

A: No. The Ultra preset produces averages of 38.1 FPS at 1080p, 32.6 FPS at 1440p, and 23.6 FPS at 4K. None of these reach the 60 FPS target, so Ultra is not recommended for this configuration.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and 1% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H. It is 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600KF and 0.9% lower than the AMD EPYC 4345P.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: The resolution scaling data suggests yes. As resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, frame rates drop consistently across all settings, while the CPU's high percentile rank (93rd) indicates it has ample headroom. The GPU's 65th percentile rank aligns more closely with the game's overall performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Medium settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 82.8 FPS, while Medium drops to 56 FPS. This is a 26.8 FPS difference, representing a 32.4% decrease in performance when moving up one quality tier.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to the AMD Radeon RX 5700?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 22206, which is 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700's score of 21670. This small margin indicates they are closely matched in synthetic tests, though the measured game FPS may vary.