The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience, and this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a clear performance profile. The benchmark data shows a system that is heavily constrained by the GPU at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom to push frame rates at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured results to show exactly where this combination excels and where it begins to struggle, providing a practical view for builders targeting this game.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo averages 124 FPS. Moving to 1440p, that average falls to 104 FPS, a reduction of 20 FPS. At 4K, the average drops further to 82 FPS, which is a significant 42 FPS below the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is a classic sign of a GPU-limited workload; the CPU is capable of feeding the frames, but the RTX 5080 cannot maintain the same output as pixel count increases.

The trend is consistent across all settings. For Low settings, the progression is 167 FPS at 1080p, 157 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 4K. Even at this lowest quality preset, the 4K result is 36 FPS lower than 1080p. With High settings, the drop is from 89 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 1440p and finally to 59 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 70 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and just 47 FPS at 4K, indicating that the highest visual quality demands are squarely on the GPU.

This data indicates that for 4K gaming, the limiting component is unequivocally the graphics card. The CPU's role is diminished as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest the CPU is still keeping up, but the GPU is starting to work harder. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a clear wall where the RTX 5080's rendering throughput becomes the primary factor determining performance. Users targeting high refresh rates at 4K will need to consider lowering settings, as the difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 84 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The system averages 82 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS.

Q: How does the 1080p Ultra performance compare to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average is 70 FPS, which is a playable level. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 47 FPS, indicating a significant performance hit of 23 FPS from the resolution increase.

Q: Is the RTX 5080 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: Based on the data, the CPU appears sufficient, as the average frame rates are quite high. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 167 FPS, and at Medium, it achieves 124 FPS. The GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU is not holding back performance to a significant degree at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming with this combo?

A: For high refresh rates, 1080p is the only resolution where the average FPS exceeds 144 on Low settings. At 1440p, the highest average is 157 FPS on Low, but Medium settings yield 104 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 100 FPS on average.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: The data shows an average of 104 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS, indicating a spread of 31 FPS. This suggests some variability in frame pacing, but the average is solid.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at 4K?

A: At 4K, the Low preset averages 131 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 47 FPS. This represents a performance advantage of 84 FPS for the Low settings, which is a substantial difference of roughly 2.8 times the frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant force in this system's gaming performance, and its specifications explain the observed frame rates. It features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This large memory pool is likely sufficient for The Medium’s high-resolution textures, preventing potential stutters from memory swapping at 4K. The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, is built on a 5 nm process and contains 45,600 million transistors.

Clock speeds are also a key factor. The base clock is 2295 MHz, with a boost clock of 2617 MHz. Memory operates at 1875 MHz, which translates to 30 Gbps effective. These high clocks contribute to the GPU's raw compute power, which is rated at 56.28 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This substantial processing capability is what allows the card to handle the heavy rendering loads, but the data shows it still struggles with the most demanding settings at 4K.

The GPU's performance relative to other cards is strong. Its average benchmark score is 56083, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. In the nearest rivals comparison, it is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. However, it is 2.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE. This indicates the RTX 5080 is a top-tier performer, but not the absolute fastest in every scenario.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is clear: it is the primary determinant of performance at 1440p and 4K. The benchmark results show a consistent pattern where the average FPS scales inversely with resolution and settings. The 16 GB VRAM capacity likely prevents bottlenecks at 4K, as the game world's assets can be held in memory. The card's compute power is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high frame rates, but the Ultra preset at 4K proves to be a significant challenge, resulting in an average of 47 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all common resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers high frame rates. With Low settings, it averages 167 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. High settings yield 89 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 70 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, even the most demanding preset is playable, though not at high refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings still produce a high average of 157 FPS. Medium settings average 104 FPS, with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 120 FPS. High settings average 75 FPS, and Ultra settings average 59 FPS. The 1440p results are solid, with Medium settings providing a good balance between visual quality and smooth gameplay, while Ultra remains playable for those with 60 Hz monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly taxed. Low settings average 131 FPS, which is still very good. Medium settings average 82 FPS, with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 94 FPS. High settings average 59 FPS, which is right at the threshold for smooth 60 Hz play. Ultra settings, however, average only 47 FPS, which is below the standard for comfortable gameplay. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is for high refresh rates, 1440p is for a balanced experience, and 4K is best suited for Medium or Low settings to maintain high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 173rd out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 5% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a high-performance pairing. The rank reflects the combined capability of the CPU and GPU, and this result suggests that the system is well-matched for this title, providing a strong experience at most settings.

The ranking reflects the GPU's power, as the RTX 5080 is a high-end card. The CPU, while not the strongest on the market, provides enough performance to avoid being a significant bottleneck. The 173rd position out of over 3700 combos means that a large majority of systems will perform worse than this one. This is a confident position for a builder, indicating that this hardware will handle The Medium with ease at most resolution and settings combinations.

While the rank is strong, it is not at the very top. This suggests that there are other combinations, likely with even more powerful CPUs or GPUs, that can achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K Ultra settings. However, for the vast majority of users, this combo offers a premium experience. The data shows that the system is positioned to deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and it remains capable at 4K with some settings adjustments.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF plays a supporting role in this system, ensuring the GPU is fed with data. This processor has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its architecture, Alder Lake, is built on a 10 nm process. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache is a key asset for gaming, as it helps reduce memory latency and improve data access.

Its benchmark scores show strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 28838 in multi-core and 4071 in single-core tests. Its average benchmark score is 35365, which places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival comparison shows it is nearly identical in performance to the Intel Core i7-12700K, with a delta of 0.2%, and also 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-13600T. This indicates that the CPU is a solid performer, but not a leader in its class.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU's. The frame rates scale heavily with resolution, which is a GPU-bound characteristic. However, the CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1043, is likely important for maintaining consistent frame pacing, especially at high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 167 FPS, which requires a capable CPU to process the game logic and issue draw calls quickly.

The CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor in this game. The consistent frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are more attributable to the GPU's rendering load. The Core i7-12700KF provides a strong foundation, ensuring that the RTX 5080 can perform at its full potential. For this title, the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient, and its high boost clock helps maintain responsiveness in a game that may have CPU-intensive scenes.