The Medium

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a steep performance cliff between 1440p and 4K, particularly at High settings, where the average frame rate drops from 52.8 FPS to 38.7 FPS, a 27% reduction. This pattern indicates that the RX 7800 XT is being pushed to its limits at 4K, while the i7-12700K has ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in The Medium reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 59.7 FPS to 52.8 FPS, a modest 11.6% decline. However, moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 at High settings results in a much steeper 26.7% drop to 38.7 FPS. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB VRAM and 256-bit memory bus are sufficient at 1440p, but the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the GPU’s compute throughput.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more revealing. The 1080p Low result of 136.9 FPS drops to 113.9 FPS at 1440p (a 16.8% decline) and then to 90 FPS at 4K (a 21% further decline). The fact that even at Low settings 4K cannot reach 100 FPS shows that the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU. The i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is unlikely to be the constraint here, as its performance percentile of 89 among all CPUs indicates strong headroom.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling pain. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 50.8 FPS, which falls to 43 FPS at 1440p and 33.5 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K Ultra is 34%, making it clear that Ultra settings at 4K are not viable for this hardware combination. The Medium preset, however, offers a more balanced scaling curve, with 81.5 FPS at 1080p, 73.7 FPS at 1440p, and 54.8 FPS at 4K, suggesting that Medium is the sweet spot for resolution flexibility.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT’s specifications directly explain the observed frame rates. With a boost clock of 2430 MHz and a game clock of 2124 MHz, the GPU operates at high frequencies but still struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K Ultra. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the game’s textures, yet the 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is not enough to brute-force 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU’s performance percentile of 76 among all GPUs places it in the upper midrange, and its average benchmark score of 32619 is within 0.7% of its nearest rival, the AMD FirePro S10000. This positioning is consistent with the measured FPS: the card can handle 1440p High comfortably at 52.8 FPS, but the 4K High result of 38.7 FPS falls below the 40 FPS threshold many consider playable. The RX 7800 XT’s 96 ROPs and 240 TMUs are clearly taxed by the game’s rendering demands at higher resolutions.

The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any tested configuration, as even the 4K Ultra preset with 33.5 FPS does not suggest memory swapping. Instead, the bottleneck is raw shading power. The 60 RT cores are present but The Medium does not appear to leverage ray tracing heavily in these measurements, as the frame rates at 4K are consistent with traditional rasterization loads.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT ranks 589th out of 1689 combos for The Medium. This places it in the 65th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the combos in the database. The rank is respectable but not exceptional, reflecting the GPU’s mid-high tier positioning rather than a flagship pairing.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for the processor’s contribution. The Intel Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35684, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468). These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game’s performance. The GPU’s rivals, including the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32540) and NVIDIA P104-100 (32747), are within 0.7% of the RX 7800 XT’s average score of 32619, further confirming that the GPU is the primary factor in the combo’s rank.

The rank of 589 suggests that while this combo is solid, it is not in the top tier for The Medium. For context, the combo’s 4K High score of 38.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, which likely pulls its ranking down relative to combos with more powerful GPUs. However, at 1080p Low, the 136.9 FPS result shows the combo can deliver high refresh rates when settings are reduced.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce 136.9 FPS, Medium yields 81.5 FPS, High drops to 59.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 50.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 86.1 FPS, indicating that the CPU can push high frame rates at this resolution when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates compress. Low settings achieve 113.9 FPS, Medium 73.7 FPS, High 52.8 FPS, and Ultra 43 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 70.9 FPS, showing the GPU becoming more influential. At 1440p, the High preset is borderline playable at 52.8 FPS, while Ultra dips below 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly. Low settings hit 90 FPS, Medium 54.8 FPS, High 38.7 FPS, and Ultra 33.5 FPS. The 4K Low result is surprisingly strong, suggesting the game’s low settings are not terribly demanding. However, the High and Ultra presets at 4K are not playable for most users, as they fall well below 60 FPS. The 4K Medium result of 54.8 FPS is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, and even that is below the 60 FPS standard.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p in The Medium?*

A: Yes, at 1080p, the combo exceeds 60 FPS on Low (136.9 FPS), Medium (81.5 FPS), and High (59.7 FPS) settings. Only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS at 50.8 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides a good balance, with 73.7 FPS. At 1440p High, the score drops to 52.8 FPS, while 4K Medium is the only 4K preset above 50 FPS at 54.8 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7800 XT’s 16 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 16 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in any tested configuration, as even the 4K Ultra preset at 33.5 FPS does not show signs of memory exhaustion. The bottleneck is compute throughput, not memory capacity.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 4K Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra preset yields an average of 33.5 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. This setting is not recommended for this hardware.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K holding back the GPU?

A: No, the CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128, indicate it has sufficient headroom. The GPU is the limiting component, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to the CPU’s nearest rivals?

A: The i7-12700K’s average benchmark score of 35684 is within 0.8% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (-0.3%) and Intel Core i7-13800H (+0.8%). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the Medium preset is the recommended choice across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 81.5 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, Medium yields 73.7 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above playability. Even at 4K, Medium achieves 54.8 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that approaches a playable frame rate.

The High preset is viable only at 1080p, where it hits 59.7 FPS, narrowly missing the 60 FPS mark. At 1440p, High drops to 52.8 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset is not recommended, as it only reaches 50.8 FPS at 1080p and falls to 33.5 FPS at 4K.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset offers exceptional performance: 136.9 FPS at 1080p and 113.9 FPS at 1440p. However, the visual quality trade-off is significant. The Medium preset provides the best balance of performance and quality, with the data showing it is the only setting that maintains playable frame rates at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K’s role in The Medium is to provide consistent frame delivery without becoming a bottleneck. With 12 cores and 20 threads, the CPU has substantial parallel processing capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensure strong single-thread performance, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4128.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 35684 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a top-tier processor. Its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and Intel Core i7-13700T, are within 0.8% in average score, meaning the i7-12700K is not a differentiator in this game. The data shows that the CPU can easily feed the GPU at 1080p, where the combo achieves 136.9 FPS on Low settings, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide sufficient bandwidth for the game’s data streaming needs. The CPU’s 3DMark max-threads score of 9979 and passmark multithread score of 34404 confirm its ability to handle the game’s background tasks without interfering with frame rendering. In summary, the i7-12700K is more than capable for The Medium, and its performance is not a limiting factor in any of the measured configurations.