The Medium

# FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance tier of this combo in The Medium?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1111th out of 1689 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects a system that can handle the game at lower settings but struggles at higher presets.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i7-12700K scores 35,684 on average, which is 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802) and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35,940). It edges out the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.6% (35,468) and the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.8% (35,416). These are marginal differences, indicating near-identical CPU compute capability.

Q: What is the GPU's synthetic benchmark standing relative to its closest competitors?

A: The RX 6650 XT averages 29,024, which is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (29,011, a 0% delta). It is 0.1% ahead of the Radeon RX 470 (28,996) but 0.5% behind the Intel Arc A370M (29,175) and 0.6% behind the Radeon RX Vega M GH (29,197).

Q: What are the best and worst measured frame rates for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 95.2 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while the lowest is 19.4 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. Between these extremes, the spread across resolutions and presets ranges from 25.7 to 79.2 FPS.

Q: Does this combo deliver playable framerates at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (65.2 FPS) reaches a smooth threshold. Medium (38.8 FPS) and High (25.7 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra (19.4 FPS) is effectively unplayable for real-time action.

Q: How does the CPU's single-threaded performance inform gaming results?

A: The Core i7-12700K posts a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,128. These strong single-thread results help maintain consistent frame pacing, but the data shows the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K provides 12 cores and 20 threads, built on Intel's 10 nm Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it carries 25 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 per core. This is a high-end desktop processor with a TDP of 125 W, and its synthetic scores reflect solid multi-threaded throughput: 29,241 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 34,404 in Passmark multithread.

In The Medium, the CPU's contribution is most evident at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU is not saturated. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 95.2 FPS, and at 2560x1440 Low it hits 79.2 FPS. The gap between these two — roughly 16.8% — suggests that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render at 1080p, but the GPU becomes a bottleneck as resolution climbs. The 3DMark scores across thread counts (2,065 for 2 threads, 9,276 for 16 threads, 9,979 for max threads) indicate the processor scales well with load, which helps in a game like The Medium that uses multiple threads for streaming and rendering.

However, the benchmark data shows that even with this capable CPU, the combo ranks 1111th of 1689, meaning the processor is not the primary constraint. The CPU's single-thread score of 4,128 in Cinebench R23 is strong, yet frame rates at 4K High (25.7 FPS) and 4K Ultra (19.4 FPS) collapse, pointing squarely at the GPU as the limiting component.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2055 MHz, a game clock of 2410 MHz, and a boost clock of 2635 MHz. Its 2,048 shading units and 32 ray accelerators provide 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In The Medium, the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth are critical. The game's measured results show a severe drop when moving from Low to Medium settings at every resolution: at 1080p, Low yields 95.2 FPS, but Medium falls to 58.5 FPS — a 38.6% reduction. At 4K, the drop from Low (65.2 FPS) to Medium (38.8 FPS) is 40.5%. This pattern suggests that Medium settings introduce significant texture and shading loads that strain the 8 GB VRAM and the 128-bit memory bus.

The GPU's synthetic scores reinforce this: Passmark G3D is 17,166, and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is 1,859. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 93,769 shows reasonable API efficiency, but the hardware is clearly mid-range. The percentile rank of 72 versus all GPUs places it above average, yet in this specific title, the high-resolution Ultra preset (19.4 FPS at 4K) reveals the GPU's limits. The ray tracing cores (32) are present, but the data does not show any measurable ray-traced performance benefit in this game.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 95.2 FPS on Low, 58.5 on Medium, 41.9 on High, and 33.3 on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is the steepest single-step decline, losing 36.7 FPS. High to Ultra drops 8.6 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, results scale down predictably: Low delivers 79.2 FPS, Medium 51.0, High 36.8, and Ultra 30.6. The Low-to-Medium drop is 28.2 FPS, again the largest single-step reduction. The High-to-Ultra delta is 6.2 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low still manages 65.2 FPS, but Medium falls to 38.8, High to 25.7, and Ultra to 19.4. The Low-to-Medium drop is 26.4 FPS, while the High-to-Ultra drop is only 6.3 FPS. Notably, the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is just 14 FPS (79.2 vs 65.2), suggesting the CPU can still push frames, but the GPU's pixel throughput limits higher resolutions.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset is the only one that consistently exceeds 60 FPS (95.2 at 1080p, 79.2 at 1440p, 65.2 at 4K). Medium hovers between 38.8 and 58.5 FPS, making it playable only at 1080p. High and Ultra remain below 42 FPS at every resolution.

# Resolution Scaling

The data reveals how FPS scales from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, FPS drops from 95.2 at 1080p to 79.2 at 1440p (a 16.8% reduction) and then to 65.2 at 4K (a further 17.7% reduction from 1440p). This relatively gentle slope indicates the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p Low; the CPU and memory bandwidth can partially compensate.

At Medium settings, the drop is steeper: 58.5 at 1080p to 51.0 at 1440p (a 12.8% cut) and then to 38.8 at 4K (a 23.9% cut from 1440p). The accelerating decline at 4K points to the GPU's memory bandwidth (280.3 GB/s) becoming a bottleneck as texture resolution and fill rates increase.

At High settings, the pattern is 41.9 at 1080p, 36.8 at 1440p, and 25.7 at 4K. The 4K drop is 30.2% from 1440p, the largest relative decline of any preset. This suggests that High settings introduce effects — likely volumetric lighting and shadow detail — that heavily tax the 8 GB VRAM at 4K.

At Ultra, the numbers are 33.3, 30.6, and 19.4. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is only 8.1%, but the 1440p-to-4K drop is 36.6%. This severe falloff indicates the GPU is wholly overwhelmed at 4K Ultra, with the 19.4 FPS result confirming that the Radeon RX 6650 XT cannot handle maximum settings at that resolution.

Overall, the scaling pattern shows a system where the CPU (ranked in the 89th percentile) is more than adequate, but the GPU (72nd percentile) hits a hard wall at 4K with higher presets. The limiting component is unambiguously the graphics card.

# Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the Low preset is the only reliable option across all resolutions. At 1080p, Low delivers 95.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for streaming or background tasks. At 1440p, Low holds 79.2 FPS, still excellent. Even at 4K, Low achieves 65.2 FPS, making it the only preset that provides fluid gameplay at that resolution.

If visual fidelity is a priority, Medium at 1080p (58.5 FPS) is a reasonable compromise, though it dips below 60 FPS. At 1440p, Medium (51.0 FPS) is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sections. High at 1080p (41.9 FPS) and 1440p (36.8 FPS) is acceptable for a horror game with slower pacing, but the frame rate drops are noticeable.

Ultra should be avoided entirely. Even at 1080p, it only reaches 33.3 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 19.4 FPS — a stuttery, unresponsive experience. The data clearly shows that the RX 6650 XT lacks the VRAM and bandwidth for Ultra settings in this title. The best experience per the measured rows is Low at 1080p or 1440p, where the combo delivers 95.2 and 79.2 FPS respectively, providing the most consistent performance without sacrificing playability.

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1111th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 34th percentile of all configurations. This rank is lower than the CPU's individual percentile (89th) and the GPU's percentile (72nd), indicating that the pairing underperforms relative to its components' potential in this specific game.

The disconnect arises because The Medium's high-resolution, high-settings demands exceed the GPU's capabilities. The CPU's strong synthetic scores — such as 29,241 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 9,979 in 3DMark max threads — are wasted when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough. The combo's rank of 1111 suggests that many systems with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs achieve better results in this title, as the game is heavily GPU-bound at the settings most players would use.

In the broader database context, the GPU's nearest rivals (RX 6800M, RX 470, Arc A370M) all have near-identical average scores, but their real-world performance in The Medium varies based on VRAM and memory bandwidth. The RX 6650 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are the limiting factors, and the measured FPS data confirms this. The combo's rank reflects a fundamental mismatch: a top-tier CPU paired with a mid-range GPU, which yields mediocre results in a graphically demanding horror title. For users seeking high frame rates at 4K Ultra, this configuration is not competitive, but for 1080p Low or Medium gaming, it remains a functional, if unremarkable, choice.