The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a unique stress profile that diverges from typical open-world benchmarks. Testing the combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D reveals a configuration where the GPU’s sheer rasterization power is frequently capped by the game’s engine and CPU overhead, particularly at lower resolutions. The measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets provides a clear picture of a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at 4K, but which reveals significant CPU limitations as resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic pattern of increasing GPU load, but the magnitude of the drop is heavily influenced by the quality preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 179 FPS at 1920x1080 to 153 FPS at 3840x2160, a decline of roughly 15%. This relatively modest drop indicates that even at 4K Low, the RTX 5090 D is not being pushed to its absolute limit, and the CPU is still a substantial contributor to the final frame time. The scaling is much steeper at Ultra settings, where the average FPS plummets from 82 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 4K, a 34% reduction. This steep decline shows that the Ultra preset introduces a massive increase in pixel and shader work that fully saturates the GPU, making it the definitive bottleneck.

The Medium preset offers the clearest illustration of the transition. At 1080p, the average is 144 FPS; at 1440p, it drops to 122 FPS; and at 4K, it falls to 95 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 15% reduction, while the step from 1440p to 4K is a 22% reduction. This suggests that while the GPU load is increasing, the CPU is still able to feed frames adequately up to a point, after which the GPU’s work becomes the sole limiting factor. The 4K Medium result of 95 FPS is particularly telling, as it is only 27 FPS lower than the 1080p result, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom to render the higher resolution but is still being held back by other factors at the lower resolution.

For High settings, the data shows a similar pattern: 103 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 34%, mirroring the Ultra preset’s scaling. This indicates that the High preset is nearly as demanding as Ultra for this GPU, and the resolution scaling is primarily a function of the GPU’s fillrate and shading capacity. The data strongly suggests that the RTX 5090 D is the dominant component at 4K across all presets, while at 1080p, the i5-14600K’s performance ceiling prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential, particularly on the Low and Medium presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a formidable piece of silicon, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its specifications are extreme: 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with the memory running at an effective 28 Gbps. With 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs, the card is designed for massive parallel throughput, reflected in its 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The RTX 5090 D’s benchmark scores confirm its position in the upper echelon, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Passmark G3D score of 44,065.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is clear from the resolution scaling. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 54 is a direct reflection of the GPU’s raw compute limits being overwhelmed by the game’s highest fidelity effects. The 32 GB VRAM buffer is far beyond what this game requires, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor. Instead, the bottleneck is the GPU’s shading and pixel throughput. The fact that the 4K Low preset achieves 153 FPS shows that when the render load is light, the GPU can push frames rapidly, but the CPU then becomes the constraint. The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 77,712 place it well ahead of the average, yet in this specific title, its performance is often gated by the processor driving it.

Comparing to its nearest rivals in the database, the RTX 5090 D’s average benchmark score is only 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT. This is a curious data point, as the 5090 D is a desktop flagship while those rivals are mobile parts, but the numbers show that in synthetic aggregate, the scores are close. However, this does not translate to identical gaming performance, as the 5090 D’s massive memory bandwidth and core count are designed for high-resolution workloads, which is where it excels in The Medium. The GPU’s role is to provide the headroom for high frame rates at 1440p and 4K, and it does so admirably, but only when the CPU can keep up.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It features a 24 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24,491 and a single-core score of 2,064. The processor’s 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 48,618 place it as a high-performance desktop part. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, has an average score that is 0.2% lower, while the AMD EPYC 4345P is 0.3% higher, showing that the i5-14600K sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In The Medium, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p. The gap between the 1080p Low (179 FPS) and 4K Low (153 FPS) is only 26 FPS, which is surprisingly small. This suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU is not being fully utilized. The same is true for the Medium preset, where the 1080p result of 144 FPS is significantly lower than what the GPU could theoretically produce. The game’s engine appears to have a hard ceiling on frame rates dictated by the CPU’s single-threaded performance and the game’s draw call overhead. The i5-14600K’s 5.30 GHz boost clock is high, but the engine’s limitations prevent it from translating that clock speed into higher FPS beyond the 179 observed at 1080p Low.

The data indicates that the CPU’s role is to provide a stable foundation, but it is not a source of performance scaling at lower resolutions. At 4K, the CPU’s workload is relatively lighter, as the GPU takes longer to render each frame, allowing the CPU to stay ahead. This is why the 4K results show a clearer GPU-bound behavior. The i5-14600K’s multi-core capabilities are largely irrelevant here, as The Medium likely does not scale well across all 14 cores. Instead, the performance is tied to the processor’s strong single-core performance, which is sufficient to avoid being a major bottleneck at higher resolutions but caps the potential at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are:

• Low: 179 average FPS
• Medium: 144 average FPS (min 123, max 166)
• High: 103 average FPS
• Ultra: 82 average FPS

The 1080p results show a wide spread of 97 FPS between Low and Ultra. The Medium preset’s minimum of 123 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above 120 FPS, providing a very smooth experience. The jump from Medium to High is a 41 FPS drop, which is substantial, showing that the High preset introduces significant visual effects that impact performance.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 169 average FPS
• Medium: 122 average FPS (min 103, max 140)
• High: 87 average FPS
• Ultra: 69 average FPS

At 1440p, the Low preset remains very high at 169 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 122 FPS. The High preset’s 87 FPS is a 35 FPS reduction from Medium, indicating that the extra graphical fidelity is costly. The Ultra preset at 69 FPS is still playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 153 average FPS
• Medium: 95 average FPS (min 81, max 110)
• High: 68 average FPS
• Ultra: 54 average FPS

At 4K, the Low preset still manages 153 FPS, which is impressive. The Medium preset’s 95 FPS is a solid result for 4K gaming. The High preset’s 68 FPS is the first point where the experience may feel less fluid on high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset’s 54 FPS is the lowest measured result, indicating that this is the most demanding configuration, and it may not be suitable for fast-paced action due to the lower frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 18 out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the top 0.6% of all configurations tested, which is an exceptional result. The high rank reflects the raw power of both components, despite the CPU bottleneck observed at lower resolutions.

The top-tier ranking is largely driven by the GPU’s ability to handle 4K resolutions with high frame rates. Many other combos in the database will feature less powerful GPUs that cannot reach the 95 FPS average seen at 4K Medium. The i5-14600K, while not the absolute fastest CPU available, provides sufficient processing power to avoid dragging down the GPU’s performance at higher resolutions. The combination’s rank of 18 indicates that the system is at the very top of the performance pyramid for this specific game, and users can expect a premium experience across all settings.

The data shows that the combo is more competitive at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU limit prevents the system from stretching its legs, and it may be outperformed by combos with faster single-threaded CPUs or lower-latency memory. However, at 1440p and especially 4K, the GPU’s dominance ensures that this combo will outperform the vast majority of the 2,911 tested configurations. The rank of 18 is a strong indicator that this is a high-end gaming system, but the specific FPS numbers show that its strengths are best utilized at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user’s target resolution and refresh rate.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It provides an average of 95 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and its minimum of 81 FPS ensures that there are no significant dips. The High preset at 68 FPS is also viable, but the 27 FPS drop from Medium is substantial, and the visual difference between Medium and High may not justify the performance cost. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS is only recommended for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate and have a display that supports variable refresh rates to mitigate the lower FPS.

For 1440p gaming, the High preset provides an average of 87 FPS, which is a good balance of quality and performance. The Medium preset at 122 FPS is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors (120Hz+), offering a very fluid experience. Users with 144Hz displays may prefer the Medium preset to ensure the frame rate stays above the refresh rate, as the High preset’s 87 FPS will not fully saturate a 144Hz panel.

For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset at 144 FPS is the best option for high-refresh-rate displays, as it comfortably exceeds 120 FPS. The Low preset at 179 FPS is the only way to approach 180 FPS, but the visual quality reduction is significant. The High preset at 103 FPS is still a good experience, but the CPU bottleneck prevents it from reaching the higher frame rates seen at lower settings. The Ultra preset at 82 FPS is less desirable, as the additional graphical settings do not yield a proportional visual improvement over High, and the frame rate is lower.

Overall, the Medium preset is the most versatile, offering high frame rates at all resolutions, while the High preset is a good middle ground for those who want better visuals without sacrificing too much performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest average FPS measured is 179 FPS at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset achieves an average of 95 FPS, and the Low preset achieves 153 FPS, both of which are very playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p, as the frame rate at Low settings (179 FPS) is not significantly higher than at 4K Low (153 FPS), indicating the GPU has headroom that the CPU cannot feed.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Medium and High presets at 4K?

A: The Medium preset averages 95 FPS, while the High preset averages 68 FPS, a difference of 27 FPS. This is a significant drop that makes Medium the more performance-oriented choice.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 18th out of 2,911 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 54 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.