The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror title that leans heavily on atmosphere, and the benchmark data for this Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT pairing shows a system that is clearly capable of delivering a playable experience, though the optimal settings depend heavily on your target resolution. The measured frame rates across the board indicate that this combo is far more comfortable at 1080p and 1440p than at 4K, where only the lowest preset approaches fluid motion. The data reveals a system whose CPU has ample headroom for the game’s logic, while the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution and graphical fidelity increase.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This is a high-end desktop part from the Core 12th Gen series, and its benchmark results place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355. For a horror game like The Medium, which relies on consistent frame pacing and complex scene rendering rather than massive multi-threaded physics simulations, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU efficiently without becoming a limiting factor.

The benchmark results for this processor show a substantial gap between single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 4091 points in the single-core test and 28979 points in the multi-core test. Similarly, Geekbench shows a single-core score of 2526 and a multi-core score of 13596. This indicates that while the chip has massive parallel throughput for productivity tasks, its single-thread strength is also robust, which is relevant for game engines that often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The 3DMark results reinforce this: the 2-thread score is 2065, while the max-thread score is 9983, showing a scaling factor of roughly 4.8x from two threads to all threads.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-12700KF is essentially in a dead heat. The data shows it sits just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400, with an average score of 35336, and 0.2% behind the Intel Core i9-12900HX, which scores 35289. The deltaPct values are tiny, indicating that any of these CPUs would deliver virtually identical performance in The Medium. The processor’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory further ensure that it can maintain high memory bandwidth for streaming the game’s detailed environments.

In the context of the measured frame rates, the CPU is not the constraining element. At 1080p with Low settings, the system hits 110.2 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the processor can handle the game’s logic and draw calls without breaking a sweat. Even at the most demanding 4K Ultra settings, where the average frame rate drops to 27.6 FPS, the bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as the CPU’s performance headroom remains largely untapped. The data suggests that the i7-12700KF provides a stable foundation that allows the RX 6700 XT to be the sole determinant of frame rate across all tested scenarios.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU built on the 7 nm process, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Its memory clock runs at 2000 MHz, with an effective speed of 16 Gbps. The GPU has a base clock of 2321 MHz, a boost clock of 2581 MHz, and a game clock of 2424 MHz. This places the card in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 33721. In The Medium, the GPU’s VRAM capacity and raw shading power are the primary factors driving the measured performance.

The benchmark data for the RX 6700 XT shows a mixed profile. In Passmark’s G3D test, it scores 19786, while its DirectX 12 score is a relatively low 77, and its DirectX 11 score is 173. This suggests that the card’s performance in modern APIs like Vulkan, where it scores 108032 in Geekbench, is strong, but legacy DirectX paths may not be fully optimized. For a game released in 2021, The Medium likely uses DirectX 12, which aligns with the card’s strengths.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the RX 6700 XT shows a 0.7% lead over the AMD Radeon RX 6800, which has an average score of 33493, and a 1.3% lead over the NVIDIA RTX A5000, which scores 33294. Interestingly, it is 1% behind both the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and the AMD Radeon RX 480, which score 34050 and 34059 respectively. These deltaPct values are within a narrow band, indicating that the RX 6700 XT’s performance is well-established and consistent.

The measured frame rates in The Medium show a clear pattern: the GPU’s 12 GB of VRAM and 2560 shading units are sufficient for smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, but struggle at 4K. At 1440p High, the system delivers 42 FPS, while at 1440p Medium, it jumps to 58.1 FPS. At 1080p, the Medium preset yields 69.6 FPS, and High yields 48.1 FPS. The card’s 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs provide adequate fill rates for the game’s stylized visuals, but the 4K results—33.2 FPS at High and 27.6 FPS at Ultra—demonstrate that the card’s raw compute power (13.21 TFLOPS FP32) is insufficient for high-resolution, high-fidelity rendering without significant frame rate compromises.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The system achieves an average of 69.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which is a solid baseline for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the Intel Core i5-14400 in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35355, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14400’s score of 35336. This difference is negligible.

Q: At which resolution does the system fail to maintain a 30 FPS average on High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 (4K) with High settings, the average frame rate drops to 33.2 FPS, which is close to the 30 FPS threshold. On Ultra settings at the same resolution, it falls to 27.6 FPS, which is below 30 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth and how does it relate to performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT has a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game’s texture streaming at 1080p and 1440p, but appears to be a limiting factor at 4K where the frame rates drop significantly.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1440p Ultra?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the system delivers 32.3 FPS. Given the CPU’s high multi-threaded scores (e.g., 28979 in Cinebench R23), the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as its performance scales poorly with resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in The Medium?

A: This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT ranks 916th out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the pack.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for The Medium with this hardware combination suggests that the best experience depends on your tolerance for frame rate versus visual fidelity. For a target of 60 FPS, the only viable option is 1080p with Low settings, where the system delivers 110.2 FPS, leaving plenty of headroom. However, this may be overkill for a horror game that benefits from atmosphere, so a more balanced approach would be to aim for 60 FPS at 1440p with Medium settings, which yields 58.1 FPS—close enough to the target for most players.

If you prefer higher visual quality, the 1080p High preset provides 48.1 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced horror title, but you may notice occasional dips below 60 FPS. At 1440p High, the average drops to 42 FPS, which is still playable but not ideal for those who prioritize smooth motion. The Medium preset at 1440p (58.1 FPS) offers the best compromise between frame rate and graphical fidelity, as it maintains a near-60 FPS experience while preserving more visual detail than Low.

For 4K gaming, the data indicates that this combo is not well-suited for high settings. The Medium preset at 4K yields 45.2 FPS, which is playable but requires accepting a lower visual standard. The Low preset at 4K achieves 74.7 FPS, which is surprisingly smooth, but the drop in visual quality may detract from the game’s intended atmosphere. Ultimately, the 1440p Medium preset is the recommended sweet spot for this hardware, as it balances frame rate and visual fidelity better than any other combination in the measured rows.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination ranks 916th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems. This middle-of-the-road ranking reflects the fact that while both components are capable individually—the CPU in the 89th percentile and the GPU in the 77th percentile—their combined performance in this specific game is not exceptional. The ranking suggests that many other combinations, likely featuring more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates, particularly at higher resolutions.

Given the measured frame rates, this ranking is consistent with the system’s performance profile. At 1080p, the combo delivers playable frame rates across all presets, but at 4K, it struggles to maintain 30 FPS on High and Ultra settings. The CPU’s near-parity with rivals like the Intel Core i5-14400 and Intel Core i9-12900HX means that upgrading the processor would yield little benefit in this game. Instead, the GPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the significant frame rate drops at higher resolutions. The data clearly indicates that this combo is a solid mid-range option for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it does not offer the headroom required for a premium 4K experience in The Medium.