The Medium

# FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 36 FPS. This is the lowest result among the four settings presets at that resolution, with Medium producing 63 FPS and Low reaching 101 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which places it 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (score 16129). It is 1% above the AMD Radeon R9 370X and AMD Radeon RX 7700, both scoring 15862 and 15852 respectively.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combo ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the field, indicating that while it is not a top-tier pairing, it is far from the bottom of the ranking.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K features 12 cores and 20 threads. Its base clock is 3.60 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it has 25 MB of shared L3 cache.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective.

Q: Does the GPU support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 includes 28 ray tracing cores. It also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is relevant for modern game features in titles like The Medium.

# GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary rendering component in this combo, and its specifications directly shape the measured frame rates in The Medium. The GPU features a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. These clock speeds are paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory size and bandwidth are critical for a game like The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and high-resolution textures that can stress memory capacity at higher settings.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, with a pixel rate of 191.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 334.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 21.43 TFLOPS, which is a moderate figure for a card in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. The presence of 28 ray tracing cores suggests the card is technically capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing, though the game's measured results do not isolate this feature.

In the context of The Medium, the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity appears to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 30 on High settings and 24 on Ultra, while the Low preset at the same resolution achieves 67 FPS. This spread of 43 FPS between Low and Ultra at 4K indicates that memory bandwidth and capacity are heavily taxed as texture quality and effects increase. The GPU's 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K Ultra, the data shows the card struggling to maintain playable frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide additional context. Its PassMark G3D score is 17631, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3322. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 88183 and Vulkan score of 39476 suggest strong compute performance that could help with the game's fixed-camera rendering techniques. However, the average benchmark score of 16014 places this GPU in a competitive bracket with the RTX 3060 Ti (0.7% higher) and the RX 7700 (1% lower), indicating that its raw performance is solid for its class but not exceptional.

The GPU's TDP is 132 W, which is modest, and it requires a single 8-pin power connector with a suggested 300 W PSU. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures adequate bandwidth to the CPU, though this is unlikely to be a bottleneck in a game like The Medium. The 4 nm process node and 29,700 million transistors on a 199 mm² die indicate a modern, efficient design, but the measured FPS data shows that efficiency does not translate to high-end 4K performance.

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the average frame rates drop consistently across all settings presets. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 63 at 1080p to 53 at 1440p, then to 42 at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 33% drop from 1440p to 4K relative to the 1080p baseline.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 101 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 16% and 21% respectively, indicating that even at the lowest settings, the GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K. At High settings, the progression is 45 FPS (1080p), 38 FPS (1440p), and 30 FPS (4K), with drops of 16% and 33%. The Ultra preset follows a similar trend: 36 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K.

The consistency of these drops—roughly 16% from 1080p to 1440p and 33% from 1080p to 4K—indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, and the observed FPS reductions are roughly proportional to the increased pixel load. The CPU, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is unlikely to be a bottleneck at these resolutions, especially given its strong multi-threaded benchmark scores (e.g., 19784 in Cinebench R23 multicore). The data strongly suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the component that determines performance scaling.

The 4K results are particularly telling. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 24, which is below the threshold for comfortable playability. At 4K High, it is 30 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it is 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS. Only at 4K Low does the card achieve a playable 67 FPS. This indicates that for 4K gaming, users must drastically reduce settings to achieve smooth performance, and even then, the frame rates are not high enough for competitive play.

At 1440p, the situation is more manageable. The Medium preset offers 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS, while High yields 38 FPS and Ultra 30 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 85 FPS. This suggests that 1440p is the practical resolution ceiling for this combo if users want to maintain 60+ FPS, but only at Low settings. For 1080p, the Low preset hits 101 FPS, Medium 63 FPS, and High 45 FPS, making it the most flexible resolution for this pairing.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 101 FPS, Medium produces 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, High produces 45 FPS, and Ultra produces 36 FPS. The Medium preset shows the most complete data with a 19 FPS range between minimum and maximum, indicating some frame time variability. The 65 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution highlights the significant impact of settings on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 85 FPS, Medium at 53 FPS (minimum 45, maximum 61), High at 38 FPS, and Ultra at 30 FPS. The Medium preset's range of 16 FPS is slightly tighter than at 1080p, suggesting more consistent frame pacing at the higher resolution. The drop from 101 to 85 FPS at Low settings represents a 16% reduction, while the drop from 63 to 53 FPS at Medium is also 16%. At High, the drop from 45 to 38 FPS is 16%, and at Ultra, from 36 to 30 FPS is 17%. This uniform percentage drop across all settings reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 67 FPS, Medium at 42 FPS (minimum 35, maximum 48), High at 30 FPS, and Ultra at 24 FPS. The Medium preset's range of 13 FPS is the tightest of all resolutions, indicating that at 4K, the GPU is operating closer to its limits and frame times are more consistent. The Low to Ultra spread at 4K is 43 FPS, which is narrower than the 65 FPS spread at 1080p, showing that at higher resolutions, even Low settings cannot fully escape the GPU's performance ceiling.

The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum is 53 FPS, which is 84% of the average. At 1440p, the minimum is 45 FPS, which is 85% of the average. At 4K, the minimum is 35 FPS, which is 83% of the average. These similar ratios suggest that the GPU maintains consistent frame delivery across resolutions, with no sudden drops that would indicate memory or driver issues.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe performance degradation, with 4K Ultra producing only 24 FPS. This is 33% lower than 1080p Ultra's 36 FPS, and the 4K Ultra result is below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for playable. The data clearly shows that Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, and even then, the 36 FPS average is borderline.

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combo ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 56.6th percentile of all pairings. This is a middle-of-the-pack result, consistent with the GPU's own 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs is notably higher, suggesting that the GPU is the limiting factor in this combo's overall standing.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the RX 9060's average benchmark score of 16014 is 0.7% below the RTX 3060 Ti (16129), 1% above the R9 370X (15862), and 1% above the RX 7700 (15852). In practice, this means the combo's in-game performance should be nearly identical to a system using an RTX 3060 Ti, and slightly better than one using an RX 7700. The 2.1% delta over the Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) further confirms that the RX 9060 sits in a narrow performance band.

The combo's rank of 1648 out of 2911 means that roughly 56% of tested combos perform better in The Medium, while 44% perform worse. Given that the GPU is in the 59th percentile, the combo's slightly lower in-game rank suggests that The Medium is somewhat more demanding on the GPU than its average benchmark suite indicates. The game's fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds may place unusual stress on memory bandwidth, which is a known weakness of the RX 9060's 128-bit bus.

The CPU's nearest rivals show that the i7-12700K is closely matched with several other processors. Its average benchmark score of 35287 is 0.1% below the i5-13600T (35305), 0.2% below the i7-12700KF (35365), 0.3% below the i7-13700T (35403), and 0.4% below the Core 5 213PE (35428). These negligible deltas mean that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would have virtually no impact on the combo's in-game ranking, further confirming that the GPU dictates performance in The Medium.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS of 53 is still playable, and the maximum of 72 FPS shows there is headroom for less demanding scenes.

At 1440p, Medium produces 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS. While the average is below 60 FPS, the minimum of 45 FPS indicates that the experience remains playable, though not perfectly smooth. The High preset at 1440p drops to 38 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid, and Ultra at 30 FPS is borderline. For users with 1440p displays, Medium is the recommended preset, as it provides the best compromise between visual fidelity and frame rate.

At 4K, Medium yields 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS. This is playable but not ideal, and users seeking higher frame rates must drop to Low, which achieves 67 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is the only way to get close to 60 FPS, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. Given that the game is a horror title where atmosphere matters, the Medium preset at 4K may be preferable for visual immersion, even at 42 FPS.

The High preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it produces 45 FPS, which is only slightly better than Ultra's 36 FPS but with lower visual quality. At 1440p and 4K, High produces 38 FPS and 30 FPS respectively, both of which are below the Medium preset's performance at the same resolutions. The data shows that the jump from Medium to High costs roughly 16-20% performance, while the visual improvement is unlikely to justify the frame rate loss.

The Ultra preset should only be used at 1080p, where it achieves 36 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for a slow-paced horror game. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra produces 30 FPS and 24 FPS respectively, which are too low for comfortable play. The Low preset is the fallback for users who prioritize frame rate above all else, offering 101 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. 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. These specifications place the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong multi-threaded performance.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The game's benchmark results show consistent FPS scaling with resolution, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound workloads. The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 and Geekbench single-core score of 2308, is more than sufficient for the game's logic and AI. The multi-threaded scores, including Cinebench R23 multicore of 19784 and PassMark multithread of 34404, ensure that the CPU will not bottleneck the GPU even in complex scenes.

The CPU's 20 threads are likely underutilized in The Medium, which is not known for heavy multi-threading. The game's fixed-camera design reduces the need for extensive physics or AI calculations that would stress the CPU. The 3DMark scores provide further context: the single-thread score is 1043, the 4-thread score is 4011, and the max-thread score is 9979. The scaling from 2 threads (2065) to 4 threads (4011) is nearly linear, but from 8 threads (7202) to max threads (9979) shows diminishing returns, suggesting that the game would not benefit from more than 8 cores.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel memory bus, provides flexibility but is unlikely to impact The Medium's performance significantly. The 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes from the CPU ensure that the GPU's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface is not bandwidth-limited, though the GPU's 128-bit memory bus is more likely to be the performance constraint. The CPU's integrated UHD Graphics 770 is not used in this configuration, as the discrete GPU handles all rendering.

Overall, the CPU's performance is more than adequate for this combo. The data indicates that the i7-12700K's nearest rivals, such as the i5-13600T and i7-12700KF, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (within 0.4%), so any of these CPUs would produce similar results in The Medium. The bottleneck lies squarely with the GPU, and the CPU's substantial multi-threaded headroom ensures that it will not be a limiting factor in any scenario, including at 4K with Low settings where the GPU achieves its highest frame rates.