The Medium

The Medium places this Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination in a crowded field. The benchmark data shows a system that is consistently capable of delivering playable frame rates at lower settings, but which struggles under the game's heavier visual loads. The measured results reveal a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets, with the GPU acting as the primary constraint in most scenarios.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

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. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The processor's cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. Its synthetic benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128, while Geekbench reports 13892 multi-core and 2561 single-core. These figures place the CPU in the 89th percentile when compared against all tested processors.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700K is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which scores 35802 on average, a delta of -0.3%. The Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% behind, while the Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% ahead, and the Intel Core i7-13800H trails by 0.8%. This indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in The Medium; its processing power is more than sufficient for the game's demands. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 91.7 FPS, and even at 4K Low it maintains 62.5 FPS. These results suggest that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately across all tested resolutions, and the frame rate drops observed when increasing settings are attributable to graphics load rather than processor limitations.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip fabricated on TSMC's 12 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and it houses 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It also includes 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate. The GPU's synthetic performance is modest, with a Passmark G3D score of 16462 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011, placing it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 SUPER is nearly identical in average score to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which is 0.3% ahead, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which is 0.5% ahead. The NVIDIA Quadro K5200 is 0.8% behind, and the NVIDIA Tesla K40m trails by 1.3%. In The Medium, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth become critical factors. The measured frame rates show a steep decline as settings increase: at 1080p, the average FPS drops from 91.7 on Low to 59.8 on Medium, then 39.9 on High, and finally 30.4 on Ultra. This pattern is consistent with the GPU being the limiting component, as the CPU's performance headroom is not the cause of these drops.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data shows a clear and consistent scaling pattern across resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 91.7 FPS at 1080p to 76.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 14.8 FPS, and then to 62.5 FPS at 4K, a further drop of 14.4 FPS. This represents a 31.9% decrease from 1080p to 4K, which is relatively moderate and indicates that the GPU is still capable of handling the load at lower settings.

At Medium settings, the drop is more pronounced: 59.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 47.0 FPS at 1440p and then to 37.4 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 37.5%. High settings show a similar trend, with 39.9 FPS at 1080p dropping to 32.2 FPS at 1440p and 27.3 FPS at 4K, a 31.6% overall reduction. Ultra settings exhibit the steepest decline: 30.4 FPS at 1080p falls to 25.4 FPS at 1440p and then to 18.8 FPS at 4K, a 38.2% drop.

These scaling patterns indicate that the GPU is the primary constraint. The frame rate reductions are roughly proportional to the increase in pixel count, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's performance, as evidenced by its high benchmark scores and percentile ranking, is not a limiting factor here. The data shows that even at 4K Low, the system can exceed 60 FPS, but at higher presets, the GPU's computational and memory resources are exhausted, leading to sub-30 FPS results at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1263 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, indicating that while it is not among the weakest systems, it is far from the top tier. The rank reflects the GPU's limitations more than the CPU's capabilities; the i7-12700K is a high-end processor, but the RTX 2060 SUPER is a mid-range GPU from an older generation.

Given that the CPU sits in the 89th percentile of all processors while the GPU is in the 63rd percentile, the overall combo ranking is dragged down by the graphics card. The benchmark results confirm this imbalance. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91.7 FPS, which is respectable, but at 4K Ultra, it falls to 18.8 FPS, which is below playable thresholds. The combo's rank of 1263 out of 1689 suggests that many other pairings, likely those with more powerful GPUs, achieve better performance in this title. The data indicates that the system is best suited for lower resolutions and settings, where the CPU can fully support the GPU's output.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear guide for optimizing the experience in The Medium. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 91.7 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 1080p yields 59.8 FPS, which is borderline but acceptable for most players. High at 1080p drops to 39.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30.4 FPS, both of which are below ideal smoothness.

At 1440p, the Low preset maintains 76.9 FPS, which is excellent, while Medium drops to 47.0 FPS, still playable but with noticeable stutter potential. High at 1440p is 32.2 FPS, and Ultra is 25.4 FPS, both of which are too low for a comfortable experience. At 4K, only the Low preset reaches a playable level at 62.5 FPS. Medium at 4K is 37.4 FPS, High is 27.3 FPS, and Ultra is 18.8 FPS, all of which are below acceptable thresholds.

The data suggests that the best experience is achieved by using the Low preset at 1080p or 1440p, where the system can maintain high frame rates. For players prioritizing visual fidelity, Medium at 1080p offers a balanced trade-off at nearly 60 FPS. Pushing to High or Ultra at any resolution results in frame rates that drop below 40 FPS, which is likely to impact gameplay in a horror title where smooth camera movement is important. Given the GPU's constraints, the Low preset at 1440p provides the best combination of resolution and performance, while 4K should be reserved for Low settings only. The measured data clearly indicates that the system's hardware is best utilized at lower settings to avoid the steep performance penalties associated with higher presets.