The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 produces a set of results that clearly illustrate the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the RX 7600 can deliver playable frame rates, while 4K remains largely out of reach except at the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all quality presets, pointing directly at the AMD Radeon RX 7600 as the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At Low settings, the measured average frame rate falls from 92 FPS at 1920x1080 to 77 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 15 FPS, and then plummets to 61 FPS at 3840x2160. This demonstrates that even at the least demanding visual settings, the jump to 4K imposes a significant load that the GPU struggles to maintain.

The scaling pattern becomes more severe as the preset quality increases. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 57 at 1080p to 48 at 1440p, and then falls to 38 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Medium is 19 FPS, a larger absolute drop than what is seen at Low. This trend intensifies with the High preset, where the average FPS goes from 41 at 1080p to 35 at 1440p and finally to 27 at 4K. The most demanding scenario, the Ultra preset, shows a similar pattern: 33 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and a nearly unplayable 22 FPS at 4K.

This data suggests that the Intel Core i5-14600KF is not the limiting factor in this game. The consistent and predictable frame rate drops that scale directly with resolution and settings are classic signs of a GPU-bound scenario. The i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, provides ample processing power to feed the GPU, but the RX 7600's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become the wall that performance hits. The scaling indicates that the CPU has headroom left on the table, as the frame rate is dictated almost entirely by the graphical workload being pushed onto the Radeon card.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of tested hardware combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7600 lands in the lower-middle portion of the pack. The data shows a combo rank of 2571 out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the 31st percentile of all configurations. This ranking is a direct reflection of the GPU's performance tier, as the RX 7600's individual percentile versus all GPUs is 57, while the CPU is much more powerful, sitting in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low rank underscores the GPU-bound nature of this pairing in The Medium. A more powerful graphics card would shift this combo significantly higher in the rankings, as the i5-14600KF has the computational strength to support it. The comparison against the CPU's nearest rivals reinforces this point. The i5-14600KF's average benchmark score of 49394 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49228, a negligible delta of 0.3 percent. This indicates that the processor is performing at a level expected of a top-tier desktop chip, but that raw CPU power does not translate to high frame rates in this game when paired with a mid-range GPU.

The GPU's own rival comparisons further contextualize its standing. The RX 7600's average benchmark score of 15171 is just 0.2 percent behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which scores 15199, and 0.6 percent ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 560X. These are very tight margins, showing that the RX 7600 is firmly in a specific performance bracket. The combo's rank of 2571 is a direct consequence of this GPU performance level, as the system is unable to break into higher performance tiers despite the capable processor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the decisive component in this system's The Medium performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it is likely a limiting factor at 4K, where the higher resolution demands more memory capacity and bandwidth to store and stream textures and frame data. The steep drop in performance at 3840x2160 across all settings suggests that the card is hitting a memory or compute wall at that resolution.

Clock speeds play a significant role in the card's behavior. The RX 7600 has a base clock of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2250 MHz, and a boost clock of 2655 MHz. The fact that performance scales consistently with settings at 1080p and 1440p indicates that the GPU's compute units are being utilized effectively, with the boost clock engaging under load. However, the inability to maintain high frame rates at 4K, even at Low settings where it only manages 61 FPS, suggests that the raw compute throughput of 21.75 TFLOPS is insufficient for the pixel count, or that the memory subsystem is saturated.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 3.0 on a 6 nm process, includes 2048 shading units and 32 ray accelerators. While The Medium does not heavily utilize ray tracing, the card's overall shading power is what drives the traditional rasterization performance seen in the results. The data shows that the card's performance is consistent with its benchmark standing; its Passmark G3D score of 16634 places it in the 57th percentile, and its nearest rival, the RTX 3050 OEM, is within a fraction of a percent in performance. This confirms that the RX 7600 is a solid 1080p performer that can handle 1440p with adjustments, but it is out of its depth at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which yields an average of 92 FPS. This is the only configuration that provides a high refresh rate experience, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. For gamers with a 60 Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1080p is the best balance, delivering an average of 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS, ensuring mostly smooth gameplay with better visual fidelity than Low.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, producing an average of 77 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS, which is playable but may feel less fluid during intense scenes. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, which average 35 FPS and 27 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a comfortable gaming experience as they fall below the 30 FPS playability threshold for many users.

The 3840x2160 resolution should be avoided with this hardware for a quality experience. The Low preset at 4K manages an average of 61 FPS, which is technically playable, but the visual quality compromise is severe. The Medium preset at 4K averages 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS, which is borderline playable but subject to noticeable stuttering. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, with averages of 27 FPS and 22 FPS, are not recommended. The data indicates that the system's performance sweet spot is at 1080p, where the GPU can maintain high frame rates without being overwhelmed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates reveals a clear performance hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves the highest average at 92 FPS. The Medium preset follows with an average of 57 FPS, with a minimum of 49 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS. The High preset averages 41 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 33 FPS. This shows a steady degradation of performance as visual quality increases, with a 59 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality settings at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute numbers. The Low preset averages 77 FPS, which is a 15 FPS drop from the same setting at 1080p. The Medium preset averages 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 35 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a consistent reduction of roughly 15-20 percent across all presets, indicating a proportional increase in GPU load.

The 3840x2160 results show the most significant performance collapse. The Low preset averages 61 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 40 FPS. The Medium preset averages 38 FPS, with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS, showing a wide variance that indicates instability. The High preset averages 27 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 22 FPS. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 39 FPS, and the overall performance at this resolution is consistently poor, confirming that the RX 7600 is not suited for 4K gaming in this title.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution, with the Low preset achieving an average of 92 FPS and the Medium preset achieving 57 FPS. Performance at 2560x1440 is acceptable with the Low preset at 77 FPS, but 3840x2160 is mostly unplayable except at Low settings, which average 61 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank against other tested systems in this game?

A: This combo ranks 2571 out of 3724 tested configurations. This places it in the lower-middle tier, which is a direct result of the GPU's performance, as the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all processors while the GPU is in the 57th percentile.

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

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor. The frame rate drops consistently with increasing resolution and settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU has a high benchmark score, but the system's performance is capped by the RX 7600's capabilities.

Q: What are the average FPS numbers for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset averages 57 FPS with a minimum of 49 and a maximum of 66. At 2560x1440, it averages 48 FPS with a minimum of 41 and a maximum of 56. At 3840x2160, it averages 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 and a maximum of 44.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: Generally, no. The only 4K setting that approaches playability is Low, which averages 61 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 38 FPS, and the High and Ultra presets average 27 FPS and 22 FPS respectively, all of which are below the 30 FPS threshold for a comfortable experience.

Q: How does the RX 7600's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7600's average benchmark score of 15171 is 0.2 percent below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM and 0.6 percent above the AMD Radeon Pro 560X. This indicates it is a mid-range card whose performance is tightly grouped with those specific competitors.