The Medium

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 lands at rank 30 out of 1,689 tested combos in The Medium. That places this configuration in the top 1.8% of all systems evaluated, which is an exceptional standing for a horror title that demands both strong CPU throughput for scene logic and massive GPU resources for its fixed-camera rendering style. The combination of a 12-core Alder Lake processor with the flagship Ada Lovelace GPU produces a balanced platform that rarely leaves performance on the table, though the data reveals specific bottlenecks that shift depending on resolution and quality preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The rank of 30 out of 1,689 combos signals that this pairing outperforms the overwhelming majority of tested hardware configurations in The Medium. Only 29 other CPU-GPU combinations deliver higher average frame rates across the benchmark suite. This is not a marginal top-tier placement; it is a decisive one, placing the system ahead of roughly 98% of all recorded results. The i7-12700K's 89th percentile standing among all CPUs and the RTX 4090's 91st percentile among all GPUs both contribute to this high placement, but the synergy matters more than the individual parts. When both components operate near their respective ceilings, the combo rank reflects that combined strength. The data shows that this system does not suffer from a glaring imbalance that would drag the overall result down. For a game like The Medium, which uses pre-rendered backgrounds and dynamic camera angles, the CPU must feed the GPU consistently, and the 12700K's 20 threads appear sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 occupied at most settings, though the frame rate gaps across resolutions reveal where the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 4090 brings 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. That memory capacity is far beyond what The Medium requires, even at 4K Ultra, which means VRAM pressure is never a constraint in this title. The GPU's base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 16,384 shading units, deliver the raw compute needed to push high frame rates. The benchmark results confirm that the GPU is the dominant performance driver in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system hits 169.4 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 48.8 FPS, a range that tracks almost entirely with GPU load rather than CPU capability. The passmark G3D score of 38,194 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 position the RTX 4090 as a top-tier part, and the measured FPS in The Medium reflects that standing. The GPU's 91st percentile rank among all GPUs is consistent with the observed performance, where the card delivers playable frame rates even at the most demanding preset. The 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are not relevant to the FPS numbers, but they indicate the card is built to sustain heavy loads without thermal throttling, which matters for long play sessions in a game with fixed-camera scenes that can spike in complexity.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K shows a classic GPU-bound pattern, but the shape of that curve varies by preset. At Low settings, the system delivers 169.4 FPS at 1080p, 161 FPS at 1440p, and 139 FPS at 4K. That is a modest 18% drop from 1080p to 4K, which indicates that at Low the CPU and GPU are both capable of maintaining high throughput, and the scaling is relatively flat because the workload is not stressing either component to its limit. At High settings, the numbers are 98.1 FPS at 1080p, 82.6 FPS at 1440p, and 64.4 FPS at 4K, a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K. This steeper decline reveals that the GPU is beginning to become the limiting factor as resolution increases. At Ultra settings, the drop is more pronounced: 77.4 FPS at 1080p, 65.5 FPS at 1440p, and 48.8 FPS at 4K, a 37% reduction. The data suggests that at 1080p Ultra, the CPU still has headroom, but by 4K Ultra the RTX 4090 is working near its effective ceiling for this title. The Medium's rendering approach, which uses layered camera effects and volumetric lighting, scales heavily with pixel count, and the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K across all presets. At 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-limited or engine-limited, as the 169.4 FPS figure is well below what the RTX 4090 could theoretically produce in lighter workloads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 169.4 FPS on Low, 131.1 FPS on Medium, 98.1 FPS on High, and 77.4 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium costs 38.3 FPS, a 23% reduction, while the step from Medium to High costs 33 FPS, a 25% reduction, and the step from High to Ultra costs 20.7 FPS, a 21% reduction. This shows that each quality tier imposes a meaningful but diminishing penalty as settings increase. At 2560x1440, the results are 161 FPS on Low, 109.7 FPS on Medium, 82.6 FPS on High, and 65.5 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 51.3 FPS, a 32% reduction, which is steeper than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is working harder at the higher resolution. At 3840x2160, the numbers are 139 FPS on Low, 84.4 FPS on Medium, 64.4 FPS on High, and 48.8 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Medium gap widens to 54.6 FPS, a 39% reduction, and the High-to-Ultra gap narrows to 15.6 FPS, a 24% reduction. The 4K Ultra result of 48.8 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset, which means that for a 60 Hz display, players should use High settings at 4K to maintain a consistent frame rate. At 1440p, all presets exceed 65 FPS, and at 1080p, even Ultra stays above 77 FPS, so the system offers flexibility for high-refresh monitors at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for The Medium at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 77.4 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 169.4 FPS. The CPU can feed the GPU at these frame rates, but the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the 169.4 FPS ceiling is likely engine-related. For 1080p High, the 98.1 FPS figure is strong, but the RTX 4090 has significant headroom that the game does not utilize at this resolution.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: At 4K High, the system delivers 64.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 48.8 FPS, which is below 60. For a 60 Hz display, High settings at 4K are the recommended ceiling.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35,684, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i7-13700T. The score is also 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-13800H. These deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU performance is effectively on par with those parts.

Q: Does the 24 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far more than The Medium can use. The game does not show any VRAM-related performance constraints in the measured FPS data, as the frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with compute and bandwidth limits rather than memory capacity limits.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at all settings?

A: No. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 48.8, which is below 60. At 4K High, it is 64.4, and at all other resolution and preset combinations, the average FPS is above 60. The only sub-60 result in the dataset is 4K Ultra.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 66,473, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40. It is also 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 and 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro P6000. These differences are within a narrow band, but the RTX 4090's gaming performance in The Medium is clearly superior due to its architecture.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The Alder Lake architecture uses a hybrid design, though the FACT PACK does not specify the P-core/E-core split, but the 20 threads indicate 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core provide ample on-chip storage for the game's data. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29,241 and a single-core score of 4,128, plus a Geekbench multi-core score of 13,892 and single-core score of 2,561. In The Medium, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic and streaming of pre-rendered backgrounds. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 169.4 FPS, which is likely near the engine's frame rate cap or a CPU limit, since the RTX 4090 could push higher in lighter workloads. At 4K Ultra, the CPU has plenty of headroom, as the frame rate drops to 48.8 FPS due to GPU load. The 12700K's 89th percentile rank among all CPUs confirms it is a high-end part, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and Intel Core i7-13700T, have nearly identical average scores, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this pairing. The 125 W TDP and Socket 1700 platform are standard for this generation, and the CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,276 and max-thread score of 9,979 indicate that scaling beyond 16 threads provides only a 7.6% improvement, which suggests The Medium does not heavily utilize more than 16 threads, so the 12-core design is sufficient. The passmark multi-thread score of 34,404 and single-thread score of 4,013 further corroborate the CPU's strong performance, but in this game, the CPU is never the bottleneck above 1080p Low, as the GPU takes over as the limiting factor at higher resolutions.