The Medium

The Medium presents a unique rendering challenge, combining fixed camera angles with dual-reality scenes that often double the geometry load. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, using only the benchmark data provided. The results show a configuration that is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but which requires careful settings management at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 79.6 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 125.8 FPS. For 2560x1440, only the Low preset achieves a playable average above 60 FPS, hitting 105.7 FPS. The High preset at 1440p dips to 48.6 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling is significant.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High across resolutions?

A: The Ultra preset is consistently the most demanding. At 1920x1080, it averages 45.7 FPS versus 55 FPS for High, a difference of 9.3 FPS. At 2560x1440, the gap is 12.6 FPS (36.0 vs 48.6). At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 27.4 FPS, while High maintains 38.1 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not directly measure VRAM usage, but the performance drop from Medium to High settings suggests a significant increase in texture and shader complexity. The 8 GB VRAM, paired with a 256-bit memory bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, is likely sufficient for the presets tested, but the large FPS deltas between High and Ultra at all resolutions point to heavy GPU load rather than a memory capacity bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 743rd out of 1689 tested combinations. This places it in the upper-middle tier of the database, indicating that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it outperforms a majority of tested systems.

Q: What is the CPU's contribution to the frame rate at lower settings?

A: The Core i7-12700K, with 12 cores and 20 threads, has a high multi-threaded benchmark score of 29241 in Cinebench R23. This headroom means it is unlikely to bottleneck the GPU at Low settings, where the FPS jumps to over 100 at all resolutions, indicating the GPU is still the primary performance driver.

Q: What does the 72nd percentile ranking for the GPU signify?

A: The RTX 3070's percentileVsAllGpus is 72, meaning it performs better than 72% of all GPUs in the database. This is a strong result, but the game's demanding nature at 4K Ultra shows that even a well-above-average GPU struggles with the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. For a target of 60 FPS, the only viable preset at 2560x1440 is Low, which delivers an average of 105.7 FPS, providing substantial headroom. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers a good balance, averaging 79.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold while offering improved visual fidelity over Low.

The High preset is not recommended for smooth gameplay at any resolution, as its averages fall below 60 FPS at both 1440p (48.6) and 1080p (55). The Ultra preset is essentially for screenshot purposes, as it averages 45.7 FPS at 1080p and drops to 27.4 FPS at 4K. Therefore, the data suggests that for a consistent 60+ FPS experience, players should select the Medium preset at 1080p or the Low preset at 1440p. The performance scaling between Low and Medium is substantial, with a 46.2 FPS jump at 1080p (79.6 to 125.8), suggesting that the game's visual settings have a significant impact on GPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 achieves a rank of 743 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 44th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating that about 56% of the tested systems perform better. This is a notable position, as it implies that while the GPU is a capable performer in general, the specific demands of this game push the combo into a more mid-range position.

This ranking aligns with the GPU's overall percentile of 72, but the game's specific workload appears to be more demanding than average. The CPU, ranking in the 89th percentile, provides a robust foundation, but the measured FPS data shows that the RTX 3070 is the primary constraint. The gap between this combo and higher-ranked ones is likely due to more powerful GPUs, as the CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 is strong enough to avoid significant bottlenecks. The rank of 743 suggests that users with this hardware should not expect top-tier performance but can still achieve a good experience with adjusted settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data reveals a consistent performance pattern across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 125.8 on Low, 79.6 on Medium, 55 on High, to 45.7 on Ultra. This shows a steep drop-off when moving from Medium to High, a 24.6 FPS decrease, highlighting the High preset's increased computational cost. At 2560x1440, the values are 105.7, 62.6, 48.6, and 36 for Low, Medium, High, and Ultra, respectively. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with an average performance reduction of about 20-25% across settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. The Low preset still manages an average of 82.2 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 52.2, High to 38.1, and Ultra to a stuttering 27.4. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 30 FPS, indicating a massive increase in shader and texture complexity. The data shows that the Ultra preset is not viable for 4K gaming with this hardware, and even High falls below the 40 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. The 4K Medium result of 52.2 FPS is the only non-Low preset that approaches a playable frame rate at this resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, based on the Ampere architecture and GA104 chip, is the central component in determining frame rates. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is a substantial amount for this generation. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 46 RT cores are engaged heavily in The Medium's dual-world rendering. The boost clock of 1725 MHz and base clock of 1500 MHz are standard for this model, and the data shows that the card is working near its limits at higher presets.

The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 22214 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3162, demonstrate its raw compute power. However, the measured FPS in The Medium shows that this power is insufficient for Ultra settings at 1440p and above. The performance drop from Low to Ultra is significant, suggesting that the game's Ultra preset likely utilizes features like volumetric lighting and high-resolution shadows that heavily tax the GPU's FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a factor at 4K Ultra, but the steady decline in FPS across all resolutions indicates that raw compute power is the primary bottleneck, not memory capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K provides a strong processing foundation, but its role in The Medium is secondary to the GPU. With 12 cores and 20 threads (Alder Lake architecture), it offers substantial parallel processing capabilities, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 and Passmark multithread score of 34404. The CPU's high single-thread performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2561 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4128, ensures that it can efficiently handle the game's main thread and direct the GPU's workload.

The data indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS of 125.8 is likely near the CPU's limit for this game engine, but at higher settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 is robust, and its 25 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain smooth data flow. The Core i7-12700K's 125W TDP and boost clock of 5.00 GHz allow it to handle the game's AI and physics calculations without issue. The 89th percentile CPU ranking confirms that this processor is far more powerful than the average, meaning that any frame rate limitations in this combo are almost exclusively due to the RTX 3070's performance at the given settings.