The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The Medium presents a steep performance curve as resolution climbs, and the measured data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 72 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same preset drops that to 60 FPS, a 16.7% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 High is more punishing, landing at 47 FPS, which is 34.7% below the 1080p result. This scaling behavior indicates that the game's graphical load is expanding faster than the GPU's raw throughput as pixel count increases, but the RTX 5070 still maintains playable framerates at 4K High.

The Low preset tells a different story about the system's headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 160 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all settings and resolutions. At 1440p Low, it drops to 135 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still holds 106 FPS. The fact that 4K Low produces more than double the framerate of 4K Ultra (106 vs 38 FPS) demonstrates that the RTX 5070's rendering pipeline is heavily taxed by the higher-quality effects, not by raw resolution alone. When the visual load is lightened, the GPU has ample capacity to push high framerates even at 4K.

The Medium's fixed-camera horror presentation means that scene complexity can vary widely, but the measured averages suggest a consistent trend: resolution scaling is nearly linear for the Low preset, while High and Ultra show diminishing returns as resolution increases. The gap between 1080p and 1440p High is 12 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K High is 13 FPS, indicating that the GPU is approaching its limits at 4K High. At Ultra, the 4K result of 38 FPS is only 79% of the 1440p result of 48 FPS, which itself is only 84% of the 1080p result of 57 FPS. This progressive degradation points to memory bandwidth and shading throughput becoming the limiting factors at higher resolutions with maximum settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of The Medium's performance, and its specifications explain the observed framerate behavior. The GPU carries 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for The Medium's demands at 4K, though the game's horror aesthetic with volumetric fog and dynamic lighting likely consumes significant bandwidth. The base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz provide the compute throughput, with 6144 shading units and 80 ROPs handling the pixel work.

The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 482.3 GTexel/s texture rate are the raw resources that determine how fast the game's scenes can be rendered. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 5070 produces 38 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects — likely including higher-quality shadows, reflections, and post-processing — are pushing the GPU's compute units to their practical limit. The 4K Medium result of 66 FPS (with min/max of 56/76) shows that dropping from Ultra to Medium recovers 74% of the lost performance, indicating that the Ultra preset's extra features are costly.

In broader context, the RTX 5070 ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 with a score of 40318 (0.1% delta), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 40063 (0.8% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 40870 (-1.2% delta). The RTX 5070's scores on DirectX 11 (277) and DirectX 12 (108) in Passmark, along with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077, provide a reference for its gaming capabilities. The GPU's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures it can receive data from the CPU without bottleneck, which is relevant given The Medium's reliance on streaming assets between camera cuts.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured framerate data, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 2560x1440 Medium, the system delivers 84 FPS average with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 97 FPS. This result sits comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth action in a horror game, where consistent frametimes matter for atmosphere. The 71 FPS minimum indicates that even during demanding scenes, the system avoids dropping into stutter territory.

For players targeting 1080p, the Ultra preset at 57 FPS average is the most demanding option, but it falls just shy of 60 FPS. The High preset at 1080p yields 72 FPS, which provides a 26% improvement over Ultra while sacrificing some visual fidelity. Given that The Medium is a slow-paced horror game, the difference between 57 and 72 FPS may be less critical than maintaining the highest visual quality, but the data shows that High at 1080p is the safer choice for a locked 60 FPS experience.

At 4K, the choices are more constrained. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 produces 66 FPS average with a 56 FPS minimum and 76 FPS maximum. This is the only 4K setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the recommended resolution/setting combination for 4K displays. The High preset at 47 FPS and Ultra at 38 FPS are both below playable thresholds for most users, while Low at 106 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality to be worthwhile. The 56 FPS minimum at 4K Medium is close to the 60 FPS target, but the overall average suggests that most scenes will run smoothly.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 675th out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 18.1% of all systems tested for this game. This ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's processing power and the GPU's rendering capabilities. The i5-14600K's performance in synthetic benchmarks — a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and single-core score of 2064 — ensures that the CPU can feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios.

The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with the CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, suggests that this combo is well-matched for gaming. The combo's rank of 675 out of 3724 indicates that while many systems outperform it, the vast majority of tested configurations deliver lower performance in The Medium. The data shows that this pairing is more than capable of handling the game at high settings across common resolutions, with the primary limitation appearing at 4K Ultra where the GPU's 12 GB memory and 192-bit bus are taxed to their limits.

The relative rankings of the components provide context for the combo's position. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (-0.2% delta), AMD EPYC 4345P (0.3% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX (0.7% delta) — all have similar average benchmark scores, indicating that the i5-14600K sits in a competitive performance tier. The GPU's nearest rivals are professional workstation cards (AMD Radeon Pro 580, Radeon Pro WX 7100, Radeon Pro 5300) with similar scores, which underscores that the RTX 5070's gaming performance is aligned with its professional-grade siblings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its specifications are relevant to The Medium's performance characteristics. The CPU features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This hybrid configuration — combining performance and efficiency cores — delivers strong multi-threaded performance as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the game's asset streaming between fixed camera angles.

The CPU's single-thread performance is equally important for The Medium. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064 and Geekbench single-core score of 2491 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for games that rely on a primary rendering thread. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz provides the high frequency needed for latency-sensitive operations, while the 125W TDP reflects the power envelope required to maintain these clocks under load.

The measured framerates across resolutions suggest that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 160 FPS, which is a high framerate that would expose CPU bottlenecks in many games, yet the i5-14600K sustains it. The fact that performance scales down by roughly the same proportion as resolution increases (from 160 FPS at 1080p Low to 106 FPS at 4K Low) indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as pixel count grows, while the CPU maintains adequate headroom. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48618, places it ahead of the vast majority of processors, ensuring that The Medium's CPU demands are comfortably met.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting for smooth gameplay with this combo?

A: The 1440p Medium preset delivers 84 FPS average with a 71 FPS minimumandar 97 FPS maximum, providing the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 4K, the Medium preset at 66 FPS average (56 FPS minimum) is the only 4K setting that stays above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 4K Medium (66 FPS) but falls short at 4K Ultra (38 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's extra effects exceed the memory subsystem's comfortable capacity.

Q: Is the Core i5-14600K a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 160 FPS, and performance scales consistently with resolution (135 FPS at 1440p Low, 106 FPS at 4K Low), indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases while the CPU maintains adequate headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 675th out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18.1% of all systems for this game. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile and the GPU in the 82nd percentile among their respective categories.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the combo delivers 100 FPS average with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS. This narrow range indicates consistent performance without major frametime spikes.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score is 40377, with the nearest rival being the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 40318 (0.1% delta). Other close competitors include the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 40063 (0.8% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 40870 (-1.2% delta).