The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in The Medium, with performance heavily dictated by graphics settings. The data indicates that this combination is a strong 1440p performer, but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum quality presets. The benchmark results show a clear pattern: the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU provides ample headroom even at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this title at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 60.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 41.1 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a roughly 32% reduction in performance. This scaling pattern intensifies when moving to the Ultra preset, where the average FPS drops from 50.7 at 1080p to just 34.4 at 4K—a 32% loss that pushes the experience below the threshold of smoothness for many users.

The scaling between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 74.5 at 2560x1440 to 56.9 at 3840x2160, a 24% decrease. This suggests that the RX 6800 XT’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily by the higher pixel count, but the card still maintains a playable frame rate. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is enormous—90.9 FPS versus 34.4 FPS—indicating that the graphics preset has a more significant impact on performance than resolution choice alone.

At 1080p, the frame rates are consistently high across all settings, with the Low preset reaching 139.2 FPS and the Medium preset at 89.9 FPS. This indicates that at this resolution, the system is not overly constrained by either component, and the user has substantial headroom to increase visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In the context of The Medium, this CPU provides more than enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any tested resolution or settings level. The benchmark data supports this interpretation: at 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 139.2, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU’s single-thread performance is clearly not a limiting factor.

The processor’s strong multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889, suggest that it can handle the game’s background processing demands without issue. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 93 among all tested processors indicates that it sits in the top tier of performance, further reinforcing that it is not the weak link in this pairing. In contrast, the GPU’s percentile ranking of 87 is lower, suggesting that the graphics card is the more likely component to constrain performance as settings and resolution increase.

The boost clock of 5.30 GHz is particularly relevant for a game like The Medium, which relies on consistent frame pacing. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS of 34.4 is not limited by CPU throughput, as the frame rate scales almost entirely with GPU load. This means that users upgrading from a weaker CPU would see minimal gains in this specific title, as the RX 6800 XT is the dominant factor in determining final frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the decisive component in this pairing, and its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is well-suited to The Medium’s demands. The GPU’s boost clock of 2250 MHz, combined with a game clock of 2015 MHz, provides substantial compute throughput, as evidenced by its 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The benchmark results show that this card is capable of delivering high frame rates at lower resolutions, but its performance degrades predictably as resolution increases.

At 1080p, the RX 6800 XT delivers an average of 60.6 FPS at High settings and 139.2 FPS at Low settings, demonstrating that the card has significant performance headroom at this resolution. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 88.5 FPS, which is a wider margin than the gap between 1080p and 1440p at the same settings. This indicates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences across settings presets.

The card’s 72 ray tracing cores are present but not heavily utilized in this title, as the game’s fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments place less stress on real-time ray tracing. The 128 ROPs and 288 TMUs ensure that texture fill rates and pixel throughput remain high, but the 4K Ultra result of 34.4 FPS shows that the card’s compute resources are stretched thin at the highest settings. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 49982 places it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, scores 2.6% lower, confirming that this card is a strong performer despite its age.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates show a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from a low of 34.4 at Ultra settings to a high of 90.9 at Low settings, with Medium at 56.9 and High at 41.1. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is only viable at Low or Medium settings, as High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the results are more encouraging. The Low preset achieves an average of 119.8 FPS, while Medium hits 74.5 FPS. High settings yield 54.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40.6 FPS. The 1440p resolution appears to be the sweet spot for this combo, as it allows for Medium settings at a smooth frame rate while still providing a significant visual upgrade over 1080p.

At 1920x1080, the system performs admirably across the board. Low settings produce an average of 139.2 FPS, Medium reaches 89.9 FPS, High achieves 60.6 FPS, and Ultra manages 50.7 FPS. The 1080p results show that even at Ultra settings, the frame rate remains above 50 FPS, making this resolution the most flexible for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 537th out of 1689 combos. This places it in the 68th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it outperforms the majority of configurations while still leaving room for higher-end hardware to achieve better results. The rank of 537 reflects the GPU’s strong but not top-tier performance, as well as the CPU’s ability to support it without bottlenecking.

The ranking suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where the measured FPS at Medium settings (74.5) is competitive with many higher-ranked systems. The fact that the combo ranks higher in percentile than the GPU alone (87th percentile) indicates that the CPU is providing a slight boost to overall performance, likely through better frame pacing and reduced stutter. However, the gap between this combo and top-tier setups is most evident at 4K Ultra settings, where the 34.4 FPS average is significantly below the 60 FPS target that many high-end systems achieve.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the most balanced resolution, with Medium settings achieving 74.5 FPS and High settings reaching 54.2 FPS. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with the lowest frame rate being 50.7 FPS at Ultra.

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

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. At 4K, the Low preset averages 90.9 FPS and Medium averages 56.9 FPS. High and Ultra settings fall to 41.1 and 34.4 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367, which is 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. It is 0.5% lower than the AMD EPYC 4345P.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance relative to its competitors?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 49982, which is 2.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and 1.9% higher than the NVIDIA CMP 50HX. It is 1.7% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A1000.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: No. The data shows that frame rates scale consistently with GPU load, and the CPU’s high single-thread score of 4643 in Cinebench R23 indicates it has sufficient headroom even at 1080p Low settings where the average FPS is 139.2.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 119.8 FPS while Ultra averages 40.6 FPS, a difference of 79.2 FPS. This indicates that the graphics settings have a more substantial impact on performance than resolution alone.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal choice, delivering 74.5 FPS which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target. This setting provides a significant improvement over Low quality while maintaining a frame rate that is smooth on most displays. Users with 1440p monitors who prioritize frame rate can drop to Low settings for 119.8 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual fidelity for the modest gains.

At 1080p, the High preset is recommended, as it achieves 60.6 FPS while providing a noticeably better visual experience than Medium. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 50.7 FPS, which is playable but may feel less responsive on high refresh rate monitors. For 4K users, the Low preset at 90.9 FPS is the only fully smooth option, while Medium at 56.9 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay where slight frame rate dips are less noticeable.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, as it consistently produces frame rates below 55 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, the 40.6 FPS average is too low for a game that relies on atmospheric tension, as frame pacing issues can break immersion. The data clearly shows that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering the best compromise between visual fidelity and performance.