The Medium

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a combo rank of 442 out of 1,689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the configuration in the upper quartile of all tested systems, roughly in the 74th percentile of combinations. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component bottlenecks the other to an extreme degree in this horror title.

Looking at the GPU's standalone standing, the RTX 3080 Ti sits at the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 41,224. Its nearest rival, the RTX 3090, scores 41,441, a difference of just 0.5% — effectively a statistical tie. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 trails by 0.9%, and the RTX 5070 is 1.1% behind. This clustering indicates the 3080 Ti remains competitive with much newer hardware in raw compute terms.

On the CPU side, the Core i5-14600KF holds the 93rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 49,367. Its closest competitor, the AMD EPYC 4345P, scores 49,595, putting the Intel chip 0.5% behind. The i5-14600K is 0.4% behind the 14600KF, while the Ryzen 9 5950X trails by 0.6%. The Xeon Gold 5318H is 1.4% behind. These margins are minor, meaning the 14600KF's processor-level performance is well within expectations for its class.

The combined rank of 442 suggests that while both components are individually strong, the overall system performance in The Medium is influenced heavily by the game's specific rendering demands. The gap between the combo's percentile standing and the GPU's individual percentile indicates that the game's engine does not fully saturate the 3080 Ti's capabilities in all scenarios, or that the CPU's contribution varies by resolution and settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA102 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. The GPU contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, with a transistor density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. This large die houses 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units, along with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

Memory configuration is a defining feature: 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus delivers 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz, translating to 19 Gbps effective. This bandwidth is critical for The Medium, a game known for its dual-reality rendering where two perspectives are often displayed simultaneously. The 12 GB capacity provides ample headroom for the game's texture streaming at high resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds are relatively modest for a flagship-tier card: a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. However, the sheer width of the memory bus and the high shading unit count compensate. Pixel rate is 186.5 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 532.8 GTexel/s. FP32 compute reaches 34.10 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same rate (1:1 ratio). These figures explain why the card performs well even at 4K, where memory bandwidth and fill rate become the primary constraints.

The 3080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Medium's fixed-camera angles and layered scenes benefit from the high texture rate and RT core count, though the game does not heavily rely on ray tracing in its default presets. The GPU's power draw is rated at 350 W TDP, requiring a 750 W suggested PSU, with a single 12-pin power connector.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX 3080 Ti compare to the RTX 3090 in overall GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti scores 41,224 on average, while the RTX 3090 scores 41,441. The 3080 Ti is 0.5% behind, which is within normal run-to-run variance. Performance is effectively identical in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the CPU's single-threaded performance relative to its multi-threaded score?

A: The Core i5-14600KF achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,643 and a multi-core score of 32,889. The multi-core result is roughly 7.1 times higher, reflecting the 14 cores and 20 threads working in parallel.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM on the RTX 3080 Ti limit performance in The Medium?

A: The measured FPS data shows playable frame rates at all resolutions, suggesting 12 GB is sufficient. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 32.6, but this is more likely due to compute load than memory capacity, given the 912.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How does the i5-14600KF compare to the i5-14600K in CPU benchmarks?

A: The 14600KF scores 49,367 on average, while the 14600K scores 49,166. The KF version is 0.4% ahead, a negligible difference that falls within measurement noise.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded across all tested settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 149.8 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches 150 FPS, indicating the game's engine has a practical ceiling even with lowered settings.

Q: Is the combo's ranking in The Medium consistent with its component-level percentiles?

A: No. The GPU sits at the 83rd percentile and the CPU at the 93rd, but the combo ranks 442nd out of 1,689 (about 74th percentile). The game's rendering workload likely does not fully utilize the CPU's multi-threading capabilities at lower resolutions, pulling the combined rank down.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 149.8 FPS, which is smooth for any display. Medium settings drop to 91.8 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings yield 64.4 FPS, a comfortable margin for standard refresh rates. Ultra settings reduce the average to 50.6 FPS, which may feel slightly less fluid but remains playable. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 66% reduction in frame rate, indicating the game's Ultra preset imposes a significant load on the GPU.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern holds but with lower absolute values. Low settings average 128.6 FPS, maintaining high refresh capability. Medium settings produce 77.8 FPS, and High settings drop to 53.6 FPS. Ultra settings fall to 42.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but still acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 67%, similar to 1080p, suggesting the game's settings scaling is resolution-independent.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more demanding. Low settings average 100.4 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates the game scales well when visual effects are reduced. Medium settings produce 64.8 FPS, right at the 60 FPS mark. High settings drop to 45.7 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 32.6 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 4K is a 29% drop, while High to Ultra is another 29% drop, showing that each settings tier has a consistent cost.

The most striking observation is the Low settings performance at 4K: 100.4 FPS is more than double the Ultra settings result at the same resolution. This suggests that the game's Ultra preset enables effects that are disproportionately expensive at high pixel counts. Conversely, the CPU's impact appears minimal at 4K, as the frame rates are primarily GPU-bound.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, specifically the Raptor Lake-R refresh. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The CPU is built on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 257 mm². Cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

In The Medium, the CPU's role varies by resolution. At 1920x1080 Low settings, the frame rate reaches 149.8 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit rather than a CPU bottleneck. The single-threaded Cinebench R23 score of 4,643 indicates strong per-core performance, which is relevant for a game that often relies on a few heavily loaded threads for scene management and AI logic.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,889, provide headroom for background tasks and the game's dual-world rendering. However, the measured FPS deltas between resolutions suggest that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the 32.6 FPS average is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU's 14 cores are unlikely to constrain a horror game with limited on-screen entities.

The 14600KF's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, combined with a 125 W TDP, makes it a flexible pairing with the RTX 3080 Ti. The unlocked multiplier allows overclocking, though the benchmark results reflect stock settings. The processor's 93rd percentile standing among all CPUs indicates it is not the weak link in this combo for The Medium's workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings across different display targets. For 60 FPS gaming, the Medium preset is the sweet spot at both 2560x1440 (77.8 FPS) and 3840x2160 (64.8 FPS). At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 91.8 FPS, making it suitable for high refresh rate monitors seeking smooth motion.

For those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, High settings are viable at 2560x1440 (53.6 FPS) and 1920x1080 (64.4 FPS). At 4K, High settings drop to 45.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but may be acceptable for a horror game where slower pacing is expected. Ultra settings are only recommended at 1920x1080 (50.6 FPS); at higher resolutions, Ultra falls below 42.5 FPS, which risks noticeable stutter in fast-moving scenes.

Low settings are rarely necessary with this hardware. At 4K, Low still achieves 100.4 FPS, which is more than sufficient. The data suggests that players with 4K displays should default to Medium for a balanced experience, while those with 1440p monitors can safely run High. The largest per-setting jump at any resolution is between Low and Medium — at 4K, this is a 36% FPS reduction — indicating that Medium introduces substantial visual improvements at a manageable cost.

For competitive or high-refresh play, 1080p Low at 149.8 FPS is the only configuration that approaches 150 FPS, but the horror genre rarely demands such speeds. The most efficient configuration overall is 1440p Medium at 77.8 FPS, which balances the game's atmospheric lighting and shadow quality with responsive frame pacing.