The Medium

The Medium presents a fascinating case study in how a horror title’s fixed-camera perspective and dual-reality rendering engine interact with a high-end desktop pairing. The data for the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT reveals a configuration that is powerful, yet surprisingly sensitive to graphics presets and resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and what the numbers suggest about the game’s technical demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a clear and pronounced penalty as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound title, but the magnitude of the drop is noteworthy. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 139.2 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is providing ample headroom. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 119.4 FPS, a 14.2% reduction, while 4K Low falls to 89.7 FPS, a 35.6% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern indicates that even at the lowest settings, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is beginning to feel the strain of the increased pixel count.

The story becomes more extreme at higher presets. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 60.9 FPS at 1080p to 51.5 FPS at 1440p, and then to 43.7 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at High results in a 15.4% performance loss, but the jump from 1080p to 4K is a 28.2% reduction. This non-linear scaling suggests that the game’s visual effects at High settings, likely including volumetric lighting and reflection work, place a disproportionate load on the GPU’s compute units as resolution climbs. The data implies that the limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the graphics card, as the CPU’s performance is unlikely to be the bottleneck when frame rates are in the low 40s.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, provides 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In a game like The Medium, which renders two simultaneous worlds, memory capacity and bandwidth are critical for streaming textures and geometry. The benchmark results indicate that the 16 GB frame buffer is not the limiting factor at any tested setting, as the performance drops are consistent with compute limitations rather than memory swapping. The GPU’s boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz are high, and the data suggests that the card is operating near its theoretical peak in this title.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Medium settings is substantial. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 139.2 on Low to 88.1 on Medium, a 36.7% reduction. This is a larger relative drop than the transition from Medium to High (88.1 to 60.9, a 30.9% reduction). This suggests that the Medium preset introduces a major rendering feature, perhaps the dual-world split-screen effect that is The Medium’s signature, which heavily taxes the GPU’s 4608 shading units and 72 ray accelerators. The card’s 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is significant, but the game’s unique rendering demands appear to scale steeply with preset quality.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-12700K bottleneck the Radeon RX 6800 XT in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate no CPU bottleneck. The highest average FPS recorded is 139.2 at 1080p Low, and the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 suggests it has ample headroom. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU limitation.

Q: Is 16 GB of VRAM sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The data shows playable averages at 4K High (43.7 FPS) and 4K Medium (56.7 FPS) with no indication of stutter or texture pop-in. The 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears adequate for the game’s dual-world rendering at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 563rd out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the 66th percentile of all systems. This suggests it is a high-performing setup, though not at the extreme top tier.

Q: What is the best resolution for a 60 FPS experience?

A: At High settings, 1080p yields 60.9 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold. To achieve a locked 60 FPS at 1440p, the Medium preset (72 FPS) is recommended, as the High preset at that resolution drops to 51.5 FPS.

Q: Why is the performance difference between Low and Medium so large?

A: The data shows a 36.7% drop in average FPS at 1080p when moving from Low to Medium (139.2 to 88.1). This likely corresponds to the activation of the game’s primary visual effect—the simultaneous rendering of two worlds—which significantly increases GPU load.

Q: Is the CPU’s single-thread performance relevant here?

A: The Core i7-12700K’s single-thread score of 4128 in Cinebench R23 is strong, and the game’s frame rates at low settings (139.2 FPS) show no CPU-related cap. The game appears to be well-optimized for multi-core CPUs, as evidenced by the 12-core processor’s ability to maintain high FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT achieves a rank of 563 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the upper third of all systems tested, which aligns with the hardware’s specifications. The CPU, which sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU, in the 87th percentile, are both strong performers individually. However, their combined rank suggests that the game is particularly demanding, and even this high-tier setup cannot reach the very top of the charts.

The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, have an average benchmark score that is 2.6% lower, yet the RX 6800 XT’s measured results in this game are what define its rank. The CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13800H, has a similar average score (0.8% higher), indicating that the processor is performing as expected for its class. The rank of 563 suggests that while this combo is excellent, there are likely many systems with newer or more specialized hardware (e.g., more expensive GPUs) that surpass it in this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz and a base clock of 3.60 GHz. In The Medium, the CPU’s role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scales heavily with resolution and settings. However, the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241) ensures that the game’s logic, AI, and physics are handled without issue, allowing the GPU to be the primary limiter.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 139.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for this game engine. The fact that the 1440p Low result (119.4 FPS) is lower than 1080p Low suggests that the GPU is still the bottleneck even at lower settings. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 20 threads are more than sufficient for a title released in 2021. The processor’s high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4128) also helps with the game’s frame pacing, ensuring that the 1% lows are not excessively low, even if the average FPS drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the averages are: Low 139.2 FPS, Medium 88.1 FPS, High 60.9 FPS, and Ultra 51.4 FPS. This shows a clear trend where each preset step significantly reduces performance, with the largest absolute drop occurring between Low and Medium (51.1 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 119.4 FPS, Medium 72 FPS, High 51.5 FPS, and Ultra 40.5 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains a 60+ FPS average at this resolution. The High preset’s 51.5 FPS at 1440p is nearly identical to the Ultra preset’s 51.4 FPS at 1080p, highlighting the game’s resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 89.7 FPS, Medium 56.7 FPS, High 43.7 FPS, and Ultra 32.5 FPS. Only the Low preset offers a consistently smooth experience at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K is the most demanding scenario tested, yielding an average below 33 FPS, which would be noticeable in a horror game where smooth camera movement is important.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend on the user’s target resolution and frame rate preference. For a 1080p display, the High preset (60.9 FPS) is the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it provides a smooth experience without the significant frame rate penalty of Ultra (51.4 FPS). For users prioritizing frame rate, the Medium preset (88.1 FPS) offers a substantial boost while still maintaining better visual fidelity than Low.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, delivering 72 FPS. The High preset (51.5 FPS) is playable but not ideal for a genre that relies on atmosphere, where smooth motion is crucial. The Ultra preset (40.5 FPS) should be avoided at this resolution unless the user is willing to tolerate reduced smoothness.

For 4K displays, the data suggests that the Low preset (89.7 FPS) is the only option that provides a high-refresh experience. The Medium preset (56.7 FPS) is acceptable for a slower-paced game, but the High (43.7 FPS) and Ultra (32.5 FPS) presets will result in a visually stuttery experience. Given the GPU’s 16 GB VRAM, the Low preset is not limited by memory, so it serves as the recommended choice for 4K gaming. The analysis indicates that The Medium is a demanding title, and this hardware configuration requires preset compromises to achieve optimal smoothness at higher resolutions.