The Medium

The Medium is a heavy, atmosphere-driven horror title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-14600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 shows a combo that is capable but requires careful settings management to hit smooth frame rates. The measured results reveal a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, but the 8 GB of VRAM and the game's demands at higher presets create a clear bottleneck that builders should understand before committing to this pairing for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking pattern in the data is how aggressively frame rates fall as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, this combo produces an average of 126 FPS, which is exceptional for a game with this visual density. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces that to 102.6 FPS, and at 4K Low it still holds a very playable 79.6 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a drop of roughly 37%, which indicates the GPU is still the dominant factor even at the lowest preset.

The story changes dramatically when you look at the higher presets. At Ultra settings, the frame rates fall off a cliff: 42.2 FPS at 1080p, 39.9 FPS at 1440p, and 31.9 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p Ultra and 1440p Ultra is only about 5%, which is far smaller than the scaling gap at Low settings. This compression of performance at high presets points to a hard limit being hit. The RTX 3070 is the limiting component here, but not just because of raw compute — the 8 GB VRAM buffer is likely filling up, causing the GPU to fall back on less efficient memory handling. The data suggests that at Ultra, you are not getting a linear resolution penalty; you are getting a VRAM capacity penalty that flattens the curve.

Another way to read the scaling is via the Medium preset, which represents a more balanced load. At 1080p Medium, the average is 78.8 FPS. At 1440p Medium, that drops to 65.9 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it lands at 52 FPS. The step from 1080p to 1440p is a 16% reduction, while the step from 1440p to 4K is a 21% reduction. This is more typical GPU-bound scaling, and it shows that the Medium preset is where this combo behaves most predictably. The Ultra preset, by contrast, shows only a 20% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is abnormally small and reinforces the idea that something other than pixel count is throttling performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 is the star of this show, and its specs explain a lot about the measured behavior. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That bandwidth is healthy, but the capacity is the concern. The GPU also has 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units, with a boost clock of 1725 MHz. The 8 nm process from Samsung allows for 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, and it is rated for a 220 W TDP.

In the benchmark results, the GPU’s raw compute is not the issue. The PassMark G3D score of 22214 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 28238 is within 0.9% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. But the game’s measured FPS tells a different story. At 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 31.9 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth play. At 4K High, it improves to 33.4 FPS, still not great. The fact that Low settings at 4K yields 79.6 FPS shows the GPU has the compute headroom; the VRAM is what is dragging down the higher presets.

The clocks and memory speed are relevant here. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed is standard for the generation, but the 8 GB capacity is the binding constraint. When the game needs more than 8 GB, the GPU must evict and reload textures, which causes stutters and frame drops that are not captured in an average. The data supports this interpretation: the gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution is massive. At 1080p, Low is 126 FPS and Ultra is 42.2 FPS — a 66% reduction. That is not just a shader complexity difference; that is the VRAM ceiling forcing the renderer into a less efficient path.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested combinations, this pairing sits at rank 763 out of 1689 combos for The Medium. That places it in the upper-middle tier, which is a fair reflection of its capabilities. The ranking is based on average FPS across the measured rows, and this combo’s mixed results — excellent at Low, mediocre at Ultra — pull the average down.

The CPU is not the limiting factor here. The Intel Core i5-14600KF has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 places it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and its 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. This is a processor with plenty of headroom for a game like The Medium, which is not known for being CPU-intensive. The bottleneck is squarely on the GPU, and the ranking reflects that.

The GPU’s percentile of 72 against all GPUs is lower than the CPU’s 93, and the measured FPS data shows the GPU is the one being pushed to its limits. The combo rank of 763 out of 1689 means about 45% of tested combos perform better, but many of those likely feature higher-tier GPUs. For a mid-range card like the RTX 3070, this ranking is respectable, but it is not a top-tier result. The data suggests that if you are targeting this game, this combo is adequate for 1440p play, but you need to be selective about settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the full range of settings is available. Low produces 126 FPS, Medium drops to 78.8 FPS, High comes in at 55.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 42.2 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 37% reduction, while Medium to High is another 30% reduction. High to Ultra is only a 24% reduction, which again hints at the VRAM wall flattening the curve at the top end.

At 1440p, the numbers are more moderate. Low hits 102.6 FPS, which is still very smooth. Medium is 65.9 FPS, High is 46.8 FPS, and Ultra is 39.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 15%, which is smaller than at 1080p. This is counterintuitive — you would expect the higher resolution to amplify the difference — but it confirms that Ultra is being throttled by something other than pixel throughput.

At 4K, the story is stark. Low is 79.6 FPS, which is playable. Medium drops to 52 FPS, which is borderline. High is 33.4 FPS, and Ultra is 31.9 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 4.5%, meaning you gain almost nothing by dropping from Ultra to High, but you lose a lot by dropping from Medium to High. The data shows a clear sweet spot: Medium at 4K is the highest preset that stays above 50 FPS, while High and Ultra are both in the low 30s and effectively unplayable for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience comes from the Medium preset at 1440p. That combination delivers 65.9 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for most players, and it keeps the visual quality at a level that still looks good for a horror game. If you prefer 1080p, Medium at 78.8 FPS is even smoother, and it leaves enough headroom for occasional dips without dropping below playable levels.

For 4K, the only sensible choice is Low at 79.6 FPS. Medium at 4K gives 52 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, and the jump from Low to Medium at 4K is a 35% frame rate loss. If you have a 4K display, you are better off accepting Low settings and enjoying the smooth frame rate than chasing higher presets that fall into the low 30s. High and Ultra at any resolution above 1080p are not recommended, as they consistently land below 50 FPS and often below 40 FPS.

The practical advice from the data is straightforward: stick to Medium on a 1440p monitor, and use Low if you are on 4K. The Ultra preset is a trap for this combo — it offers marginal visual gains over High while costing nearly 40% of your frame rate at 1080p. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot where the GPU’s compute and VRAM are balanced, and the scaling behavior is most predictable.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it averages 79.6 FPS. At Medium, it drops to 52 FPS, and at High or Ultra, it falls to 33.4 FPS or 31.9 FPS, which are not smooth.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p?

A: Medium is the best choice, delivering 65.9 FPS. High drops to 46.8 FPS, and Ultra is 39.9 FPS, so Medium offers the best balance of quality and smoothness.

Q: Why is the performance difference between High and Ultra so small at 4K?

A: At 4K, High averages 33.4 FPS and Ultra averages 31.9 FPS, a difference of only 4.5%. This suggests the 8 GB VRAM is the limiting factor, as the GPU struggles with memory capacity rather than compute at the highest presets.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889. The frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a way that points to the GPU as the limiting component.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 3070’s nearest rivals in general?

A: The RTX 3070’s average benchmark score of 28238 is 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, so it is slightly ahead of those cards in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the most playable 1080p setting?

A: Low gives 126 FPS, Medium gives 78.8 FPS, and High gives 55.3 FPS. For the best experience, Medium at 1080p offers a high frame rate with better visuals than Low, while High is still playable but leaves less margin for dips.