The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror title that stresses both CPU and GPU, and the data for the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 shows a combination that is firmly positioned in the lower-middle tier of tested systems. With a combo rank of 1373 out of 1689 total combinations, this setup delivers playable frame rates only when settings and resolution are carefully managed. The benchmark results indicate a system that can handle the game’s atmospheric environments at 1080p with adjusted presets, but it struggles to maintain smooth performance at higher resolutions or with maximum visual fidelity.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo achieves consistently playable frame rates across multiple presets. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 82.3, and at 1080p Medium it drops to 51.6, while 1440p Medium only reaches 46.1 and 4K Medium falls to 38.1.

Q: How does the RX 6600 perform relative to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 25235, which places it in a dead heat with the AMD Radeon 890M (0% deltaPct) and just 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP. It is also only 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, indicating these four GPUs are statistically indistinguishable in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for the RX 6600 in this game?

A: The CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance suggests it is not the limiting factor. The i7-12700K scores 29241 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 34404 in Passmark multithread, while its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, scores 35802, a delta of -0.3%. The GPU’s frame rate drops at higher resolutions point to a graphics-bound scenario.

Q: What is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 82.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 27.8 FPS. This represents a drop of 54.5 FPS, or roughly a 66% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the RX 6600 have enough VRAM for The Medium at 4K?

A: The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 23.5 FPS and Ultra averages 22.5 FPS, indicating that the card is overwhelmed at this resolution regardless of the 8 GB capacity, likely due to raw compute limits rather than memory alone.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1373 out of 1689 total combinations tested in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 20% of systems, meaning the vast majority of other CPU-GPU pairings in the database deliver higher average frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience across most resolutions, but the best overall experience balances visual quality with playability. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 82.3 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 51.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror title where consistent frame pacing matters for atmosphere. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 72.2 FPS, making it the recommended choice for users with 1440p displays who prioritize frame rate over graphical fidelity.

The High preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it averages 36.4 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 23.5 FPS at 4K — all below acceptable playability thresholds. The Ultra preset is similarly unplayable, with the highest average being 27.8 FPS at 1080p. For the best experience, the data suggests using the Low preset at 1920x1080, as it is the only configuration that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. Users who accept lower frame rates could try Medium at 1080p, but the jump from 82.3 to 51.6 FPS represents a significant performance cost for modest visual gains. The 4K resolution is effectively off-limits for this combo, as even the Low preset only manages 53.8 FPS, which is marginal at best.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 1626 MHz and a boost clock of 2491 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2044 MHz. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the card at the 69th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 25235.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the steep frame rate declines when resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the card produces 82.3 FPS, but at 1440p Low it drops to 72.2 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 53.8 FPS. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is hitting its compute limits rather than a memory bottleneck, as the 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads. The 1792 shading units and 28 ray tracing cores provide the raw math throughput, but the 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 performance is simply not enough for The Medium’s demanding rendering at higher resolutions. The card’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, scores 25287 in averages, a delta of -0.2%, confirming that the RX 6600 is performing exactly as expected for its class.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 occupies the 1373rd position out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This rank places the combo in the bottom 20% of all systems in the database, indicating that it is significantly outmatched by the majority of other CPU-GPU pairings. The ranking is primarily driven by the GPU’s limitations, as the CPU is a high-end part that ranks in the 89th percentile of all processors. The combo’s position suggests that users with this hardware will need to make substantial compromises in settings and resolution to achieve acceptable performance.

The data shows that the combo’s performance is highly dependent on the GPU’s workload. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 82.3 FPS, which would likely place it higher in the rankings if all systems were tested at that preset. However, the default comparison across all tested configurations includes higher resolutions and quality settings, where this combo falls behind. The rank of 1373 indicates that most other combos in the database can achieve higher average frame rates at their respective test conditions. For context, the CPU alone outperforms its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, by 0.6% in average benchmark scores, but this advantage is negated by the GPU’s mid-range positioning.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S family, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode and connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes. The processor ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game’s fixed-camera scenes, which can be surprisingly demanding on single-thread performance. The i7-12700K scores 4128 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 1043 in 3DMark single-thread, indicating strong per-core performance. However, the game’s frame rates at lower resolutions suggest that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 82.3 FPS, while at 1080p Medium it drops to 51.6 FPS — a 30.7 FPS difference that is entirely attributable to GPU load. The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities, evidenced by a 29241 Cinebench R23 multicore score, are more than sufficient for this title. The processor’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, scores 35802 with a -0.3% delta, meaning the i7-12700K is statistically tied with it. This indicates that the CPU provides consistent, predictable performance that will not hold back the RX 6600 in this game.