The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a highly capable 4K experience in The Medium, though the data shows that hitting high refresh rates at maximum settings requires some compromise. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 45 FPS, which is playable for a horror title but falls short of the smoothness most builders target. Dropping to 4K High raises the average to 57 FPS, while the Medium preset at 4K yields 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. The Low preset at 4K pushes the average to 127 FPS, indicating the game scales aggressively with settings. At 1440p, the story improves significantly: Ultra averages 57 FPS, High hits 72 FPS, Medium reaches 101 FPS, and Low jumps to 161 FPS. At 1080p, the combo exceeds 120 FPS on Medium and High, with Low reaching 178 FPS. The scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K reveals that the RTX 4080 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom to drive frame rates at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable progression across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 178 FPS, which drops to 127 FPS at 4K Low — a reduction of 51 FPS, or roughly 29%. This relatively modest drop at the lowest settings suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU even at high frame rates, but the GPU still becomes more stressed as pixel count increases. Moving to Medium settings, 1080p yields 120 FPS, 1440p yields 101 FPS, and 4K yields 79 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Medium is 22 FPS, while the gap between 1080p and 1440p is only 19 FPS, indicating that the 4K resolution imposes a heavier load on the GPU.

At High settings, the resolution scaling becomes more pronounced: 1080p averages 86 FPS, 1440p averages 72 FPS, and 4K averages 57 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 4K is 29 FPS, which is a 34% reduction. This suggests that High settings at 4K are pushing the RTX 4080 closer to its limits, but the combo still maintains a playable frame rate. The Ultra preset tells a different story: 1080p Ultra averages 68 FPS, 1440p Ultra averages 57 FPS, and 4K Ultra averages 45 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 23 FPS, which is a 34% reduction, mirroring the High preset's scaling pattern.

The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU. At 1080p Low, the 178 FPS result indicates the CPU can handle high frame rates without bottlenecking, but as resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows faster than the CPU's. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 127 FPS shows the RTX 4080 has substantial raw power, but the game's rendering demands at 4K Ultra (45 FPS) outpace what the GPU can deliver for a locked 60 FPS experience. Builders targeting 4K should expect to use Medium or High settings to stay above 60 FPS, while 1440p owners can comfortably run Ultra at 57 FPS or High at 72 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 227th out of 3,724 tested combos for The Medium. That places it in the top 6% of all combinations, which is a strong result for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing: the i5-14600KF provides enough single-thread performance to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 in most scenarios, while the GPU dominates the rendering workload at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 49,228 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G at 49,196 (0.4% higher). The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48,995 (0.8% higher), while the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49,796 (0.8% lower). These deltas are all within 1% of the i5-14600KF's average score of 49,394, indicating that the CPU's performance is essentially on par with these alternatives for this game. The percentile ranking of 90 means the CPU outperforms 90% of all tested processors, reinforcing that it is not a weak link in this combo.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080's nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER with an average score of 54,209 (0.1% higher), which is a negligible difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55,757 (2.7% higher). These deltas are small, suggesting the RTX 4080 is competitive with these cards in general benchmarks, though the measured FPS in The Medium shows the actual in-game performance is what matters most. The GPU's percentile ranking of 86 places it above 86% of all GPUs, making it a strong choice for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this combo, and its specifications explain the measured FPS results. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth — ample for The Medium's textures and effects at 4K. The base clock is 2205 MHz with a boost clock of 2505 MHz, and the memory runs at 22.4 Gbps effective. These clocks are high for a 40-series card, and the 9728 shading units along with 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs deliver the raw compute needed for the game's rendering.

The RTX 4080's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are relevant for The Medium, which uses ray-traced effects and DLSS. The measured FPS data does not include specific ray tracing benchmarks, but the card's Ada Lovelace architecture with 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance indicates it can handle the game's visual demands. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its position as a high-end part, though the 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS shows that even this card cannot max out the game at 4K without DLSS or frame generation.

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for The Medium at any resolution, as the game is not known for excessive memory usage. The 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures textures load quickly, and the 256-bit bus provides enough throughput for 4K rendering. The GPU's TDP of 320 W and suggested PSU of 700 W indicate it draws significant power, but the measured FPS results show the performance is there. The triple-slot cooler and 310 mm length mean builders need a spacious case, but the card's 86th percentile ranking justifies the physical footprint.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 4K, Medium averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS, which keeps the experience above 60 FPS for the majority of the time. This is the only 4K preset that guarantees a smooth experience without dipping below the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, Medium averages 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p, Medium averages 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS, making it perfect for 120 Hz displays.

For users with the monitor bandwidth to handle it, the High preset at 1440p provides 72 FPS average, which is playable but may not be smooth enough for fast-paced scenes. At 1080p, High averages 86 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for competitive play. The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K since it drops to 45 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra yields 57 FPS, which is borderline playable. At 1080p Ultra, the 68 FPS average is a reasonable choice if visual fidelity is the priority.

The Low preset is only recommended for users targeting maximum frame rates: 178 FPS at 1080p, 161 FPS at 1440p, and 127 FPS at 4K. These numbers suggest that Low settings remove most of the GPU load, but the visual downgrade is substantial for a horror game that relies on atmosphere. The Medium preset at 4K (79 FPS) is the sweet spot for this combo, as it maintains the game's intended atmosphere while staying well above the 60 FPS threshold. For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 101 FPS is the clear winner, and 1080p users should also choose Medium at 120 FPS for the best experience.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p provides the best balance, with Medium settings averaging 101 FPS and Ultra reaching 57 FPS. At 4K, Medium averages 79 FPS, while 1080p Medium hits 120 FPS, but 1440p offers the best visual-to-performance ratio.

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings, which average 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. High settings at 4K average 57 FPS, which is below 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080's 54,247 average. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 1.1% higher at 54,828, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 2.6% higher at 55,698.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 178 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all processors, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, scores only 0.3% higher.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium: 67 FPS at 4K, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 102 FPS at 1080p. Other presets do not have min FPS data in the measured results.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 227th out of 3,724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 6% of all combinations. This reflects the strong pairing of a high-end GPU with a capable mid-range CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF plays a supporting role in this combo, but its specifications are crucial for avoiding bottlenecks. With 14 cores and 20 threads, the CPU provides substantial multi-threaded performance, which is evident in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,544 and Geekbench multi-core score of 17,085. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensure strong single-thread performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,594 and Geekbench single-core score of 2,445. These scores place the CPU in the 90th percentile among all processors, meaning it outperforms 90% of tested CPUs.

The CPU's cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency in games. The Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process with a 257 mm² die size provides efficient performance, and the 125 W TDP is reasonable for a desktop part. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, giving builders flexibility, and its PCIe Gen 5 support with 16 lanes ensures the RTX 4080 can run at full bandwidth.

The measured FPS data shows the CPU's impact most clearly at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 178 FPS, which is a high frame rate that demands strong single-thread performance. The fact that the CPU can sustain this without dipping below the GPU's capability indicates it is not a limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the 45 FPS result is entirely GPU-bound, as the CPU has ample headroom. The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores — the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 at 49,228 and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 at 48,995 — are within 1% of the i5-14600KF's 49,394 average, confirming that this CPU is competitive for gaming workloads. For The Medium specifically, the CPU's 14 cores handle the game's background simulation and AI tasks without issue, leaving the RTX 4080 to focus on rendering.