The Medium

The Medium presents a severe challenge for the AMD Radeon RX 580 when paired with the Intel Core i5-14600KF. The measured frame rates are consistently low across all tested settings and resolutions, placing this combination near the bottom of the database. At 1571 out of 1689 tested combos, this system is firmly in the lower percentile for this specific title, indicating that the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck. The data shows a configuration that can render the game, but only at the lowest settings and even then with performance that falls short of a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is drastic, revealing a GPU that is saturated at even the lowest resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 51.3 FPS, but this falls to 41.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 34.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 32.5% performance loss from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. While this scaling is expected, the absolute numbers are the key story. The fact that the RX 580 cannot maintain a 60 FPS average even at 1080p with the lowest preset indicates that the graphics card is the limiting component, not the CPU.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling when examining higher settings. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 21.2 FPS at 1080p to 18.4 FPS at 1440p and 14.6 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p is a 13.2% reduction, while the step to 4K results in a 20.6% reduction from 1440p. This non-linear scaling suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and fill rate are being exhausted. The 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 42.88 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for the demands of this horror title at higher resolutions. The data indicates that resolution scaling has a more pronounced effect as settings increase, which points to a component that is fully utilized even at 1080p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580's specifications directly explain its performance in The Medium. With 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card has the capacity but not the speed required for this game. The base clock of 1257 MHz and boost clock of 1340 MHz are modest figures, and the 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is clearly insufficient for the game's rendering load. The data shows the card's synthetic benchmark scores align with this, as it sits at the 53rd percentile when compared to all GPUs, with an average score of 13559.

The performance is particularly revealing when compared to its nearest rivals. The RX 580's average benchmark score is essentially identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, with a deltaPct of 0. It is also within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 455. These are all older or lower-tier cards, which confirms that the RX 580 is at the lower end of the performance spectrum. In The Medium, this translates to the RX 580 being the clear limiting factor. The game's measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (17.3 FPS) is nearly identical to the 4K High result (14.6 FPS), showing that the card is so overburdened that even reducing resolution provides minimal benefit at high settings. The VRAM is not the primary issue; rather, it is the raw compute and memory throughput that hold the system back.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this combo can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 51.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the RX 580's performance compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 13559 is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which has a deltaPct of 0, and is only 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system only produces 51.3 FPS, and increasing settings to Medium drops the frame rate to 29 FPS, showing the graphics card is saturated.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 21.2 FPS at 1080p to 14.6 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 31.1%.

Q: Does this combo rank in the top half of all tested configurations for this game?

A: No, it ranks 1571 out of 1689 total combos, placing it in the bottom 7% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the performance at 1440p with the Medium preset?

A: The system achieves an average of 23.5 FPS at 2560x1440 with the Medium settings preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1571 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom portion of the database, indicating that it is not a suitable configuration for this game. The rank is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations; the CPU is a high-end part, ranking in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, but it cannot compensate for the graphics card's deficits.

The data shows a clear imbalance. The CPU's average benchmark score of 49367 is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, showing it is a top-tier processor. However, the GPU's average score of 13559 is comparable to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 950, which are generations old. This pairing creates a massive bottleneck where the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU to render frames. The result is that this combo's rank is almost entirely determined by the GPU's performance. For a game like The Medium, which appears to be heavily GPU-bound based on the resolution scaling, this rank is expected and accurately reflects the playability of the title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a complete picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are:

• Low: 51.3 FPS
• Medium: 29 FPS
• High: 21.2 FPS
• Ultra: 17.3 FPS

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades:

• Low: 41.2 FPS
• Medium: 23.5 FPS
• High: 18.4 FPS
• Ultra: 14.1 FPS

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to remain playable:

• Low: 34.6 FPS
• Medium: 17.5 FPS
• High: 14.6 FPS
• Ultra: 13.1 FPS

The data reveals that there is no configuration where the system achieves a consistently smooth 60 FPS. The only settings that approach playability are 1080p Low, which is still under the 60 FPS mark. The progression from Low to Ultra at any resolution shows a steep decline; for example, at 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is a 66.3% reduction in average frame rate. This indicates that the game's higher presets introduce rendering effects that are particularly taxing on the RX 580's architecture.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the only viable preset for this combo is 1080p Low. This is the only tested configuration that provides an average frame rate above 50 FPS, at 51.3 FPS. While this is not a locked 60 FPS experience, it is the only setting that offers a semblance of playability. All other settings at 1080p result in average frame rates below 30 FPS, which would be a poor experience for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing.

At 1440p, the Low preset yields 41.2 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 23.5 FPS, which is not recommended. The data clearly shows that any attempt to increase graphical fidelity results in a disproportionate drop in performance. Therefore, the recommendation is to play at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. Any other combination of resolution and settings will result in a sub-30 FPS average, which is not suitable for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a powerful processor that is not the bottleneck in this configuration. With 14 cores and 20 threads, it offers substantial multi-threaded performance. Its boost clock of 5.30 GHz and 24 MB of shared L3 cache provide excellent single-thread speed. The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores confirm its capability, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and a single-core score of 4643. Its percentile rank of 93 places it among the best processors available.

However, in The Medium, this CPU's power is untapped. The measured FPS does not improve when the resolution is lowered, which would be expected if the CPU were the limiting factor. Instead, lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p at Low settings only increases the average frame rate from 41.2 to 51.3 FPS, a gain that is limited by the GPU. The CPU's average benchmark score of 49367 is 1.4% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, showing its dominance, but this has no bearing on the game's performance. The data supports the conclusion that the RX 580 is the sole constraint, and upgrading the CPU would not yield any tangible improvement in this game.