The Medium

The Medium, a horror title from 2021, presents a demanding workload, but the combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D proves exceptionally capable. Measured data shows this pairing delivers high frame rates, though the specific settings and resolution chosen have a dramatic impact on performance. Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 5090 D, holding the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, provides the graphical muscle, while the Core i7-12700KF, ranking in the 85th percentile for CPUs, ensures the system keeps pace. The data clearly shows that while 4K Ultra is a significant challenge, this combo excels at lower resolutions and can achieve very high frame rates with adjusted settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for the best experience across different resolutions. At 1080p, the Medium preset emerges as the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance, delivering an average of 139 FPS with a minimum of 118 FPS and a maximum of 160 FPS. This ensures a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience without the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset, which drops to 82 FPS. While the Low preset achieves 167 FPS, the jump to Medium is substantial for a relatively small performance penalty, making it the sweet spot for competitive or fast-paced play on standard monitors.

For 1440p, the Medium preset remains the most well-rounded choice. It produces an average of 122 FPS, with a 103 FPS minimum and 140 FPS maximum. This performance level is ideal for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, offering a fluid experience that is not achievable with the High or Ultra presets, which post averages of 87 FPS and 69 FPS, respectively. The Low preset’s 157 FPS is impressive, but the visual upgrade to Medium is worthwhile for a game with such an atmospheric setting.

At 4K, the situation changes. The High preset, with an average of 68 FPS, is the most demanding setting that still provides a playable and generally smooth experience. It offers a significant visual improvement over Medium (95 FPS) and Low (145 FPS), but the Ultra preset is too punishing, dropping the average to 54 FPS. For a cinematic, high-fidelity experience on a 4K display, High is the recommended setting, as it maintains a frame rate that is close to the 60 FPS target for most players. The data shows that while the RTX 5090 D is powerful, even it cannot tame 4K Ultra in this title, making High the pragmatic ceiling for a premium experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance setting for this CPU and GPU combo at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset provides the best performance balance at 2560x1440, achieving an average of 122 FPS, with a minimum of 103 FPS. This is significantly higher than the High preset's 87 FPS average and provides a much smoother experience.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, placing it in the 92nd percentile. This score is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT's 76904, but it is 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT's 78940.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 D in The Medium?

A: The data suggests it is not a significant bottleneck. In 3DMark's 16-thread test, the CPU scores 9282, and its multi-threaded performance is strong. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 167 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it hits 139 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently at these high frame rates.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: The difference is substantial. At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces an average of 145 FPS, while the Ultra preset only manages an average of 54 FPS. This represents a massive performance gap of 91 FPS, highlighting the extreme cost of the Ultra settings.

Q: How does the Core i7-12700KF's performance compare to the Core i7-12700K?

A: The two CPUs are nearly identical in performance. The Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, which is a 0.2% difference from the Core i7-12700K's score of 35287, making them effectively equal in processing power.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 118. This indicates that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate remains well above 60 FPS, ensuring a consistently smooth experience.

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. In synthetic benchmarks, it demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities, scoring 28838 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 14367 in Geekbench multi-core. Its single-thread performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2255. These scores place the CPU in the 85th percentile of all processors, indicating it is a high-end part.

For a game like The Medium, which is a horror title with a fixed-camera perspective and pre-rendered backgrounds, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, physics, and asset streaming. The benchmark data suggests that the i7-12700KF is more than capable of this task. The 3DMark scores are particularly telling: the max-threads score of 9983 and the 16-thread score of 9282 show that the CPU scales well with multi-threaded workloads. This ensures that even when the game engine is under heavy load, it can maintain a steady stream of data to the GPU.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 167 FPS, a frame rate that would challenge many CPUs. The fact that it can maintain high performance at this resolution indicates that the i7-12700KF has ample headroom. The gap between the Low and Medium presets at 1080p (167 FPS vs. 139 FPS) is more likely a result of increased GPU workload rather than CPU limitations. The CPU's 20 threads and high boost clock provide a solid foundation for the RTX 5090 D to operate at its full potential in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a top-tier performer in The Medium. The measured data places this specific combo at rank 38 out of 2911 tested combinations. This puts it in the top 1.3% of all systems tested, a position that reflects the exceptional power of both the CPU and GPU. This ranking reflects the RTX 5090 D's status as one of the fastest graphics cards available, as indicated by its 92nd percentile performance rating.

This high ranking is further supported by the component's individual scores. The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77712 is only bested by a narrow margin in its nearest rival list, with the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT being just 1.6% faster. This puts the GPU in the upper echelon of graphics hardware. When paired with a CPU that is also in the 85th percentile, the resulting system is expected to perform exceptionally well in most scenarios. The fact that it ranks 38th out of 2911 combos in this specific game confirms that the pairing is well-balanced and effective for The Medium's requirements.

The deltaPct values from the CPU's nearest rivals show how close the performance margins are at the top end. The i7-12700KF is virtually tied with the i7-13700T and the Intel Core 5 213PE, with performance differences of only -0.1% and -0.2%, respectively. This means that the specific choice of CPU among these high-end models has a negligible impact on the overall combo rank. The dominant factor is the GPU, and the RTX 5090 D ensures that this combo sits near the very top of the performance leaderboard for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and expected trend: performance scales down as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. This is a classic sign of the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 103 FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 87 FPS, and at 4K, it falls further to 68 FPS. This progression indicates a GPU-bound scenario where the demands on the RTX 5090 D's pixel-pushing capabilities increase significantly at higher resolutions.

The impact of resolution is even more pronounced at the Medium settings tier. The system achieves 139 FPS at 1080p, 122 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 44 FPS, or about a 32% reduction. This further confirms that the GPU's raw throughput is the limiting factor. The CPU, with its high multi-threaded score of 28838 in Cinebench R23, is not being taxed as heavily by the resolution increase, as its workload (game logic, draw calls) remains relatively constant.

However, the scaling is not perfectly linear, which is also interesting. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drop on High settings is 16 FPS, but from 1440p to 4K, the drop is 19 FPS. This suggests that 4K is a significantly heavier lift for the GPU than 1440p, as the number of pixels more than doubles. The data clearly shows that while this combo can handle 4K, it does so with a noticeable performance hit, and for maximum frame rates, 1440p is the more suitable resolution for high-refresh-rate gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across all resolution and setting combinations.

1920x1080:

• Low: The highest performance tier, with an average of 167 FPS.
• Medium: A strong performer, achieving an average of 139 FPS, with a minimum of 118 FPS and a maximum of 160 FPS.
• High: Delivers a smooth experience, averaging 103 FPS.
• Ultra: The most demanding, but still playable, with an average of 82 FPS.

2560x1440:

• Low: Excellent performance, with an average of 157 FPS.
• Medium: The recommended tier, providing an average of 122 FPS, with a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 140 FPS.
• High: A solid choice, achieving an average of 87 FPS.
• Ultra: Pushes the system, resulting in an average of 69 FPS.

3840x2160:

• Low: Very high performance, with an average of 145 FPS.
• Medium: A good balance, averaging 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 110 FPS.
• High: The most viable high-fidelity option, with an average of 68 FPS.
• Ultra: The most challenging setting, with the average dropping to 54 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern. The Medium preset is the most versatile, offering a significant step up from Low in visual quality while maintaining high frame rates. The Ultra preset is consistently the most punishing, demanding a heavy toll on performance at every resolution. For players seeking the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p offers a remarkable 167 FPS, but for the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p provides an excellent platform with its 122 FPS average. The 4K High preset is the only way to get a near-60 FPS experience at that resolution, with its 68 FPS average.