The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title, presents a distinctive performance profile for the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination. The measured data shows a system that is heavily influenced by resolution and settings, with the GPU serving as the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. This analysis breaks down the FPS measurements, scaling behavior, and component roles based strictly on the provided benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, which is a clear indicator of GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 115 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low reduces that to 97 FPS, a drop of 18 frames, and at 4K Low the average falls to 76 FPS. This scaling pattern—from 115 to 97 to 76 FPS across the three resolutions—shows a consistent performance decline that tracks directly with pixel count, suggesting the Radeon RX 7700 is doing the heavy lifting.

The Medium settings row provides the most complete picture, as it includes both min and max FPS values. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 and maximum of 83. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 61 FPS with a range of 51 to 70. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average falls to 48 FPS with a range of 40 to 55. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings is roughly 33% (from 72 to 48 FPS), which is substantial and points squarely at GPU limitations.

The High settings row shows a similar trend: 51 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. The Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 41 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K. Across all settings, the 4K to 1080p ratio hovers around 0.66 to 0.67, meaning 4K performance is roughly two-thirds of 1080p performance. This consistent ratio confirms that the limiting component is the GPU, as the Core i7-13700K has ample headroom to feed the frame pipeline.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system breaks past 100 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 27 FPS. The scaling is not linear—the jump from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, with Medium settings losing 13 FPS (from 61 to 48) compared to the 11 FPS loss from 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that 4K is the resolution where the RX 7700 begins to struggle significantly, making 1440p the practical ceiling for smoother gameplay in The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings balance depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 115 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset provides 72 FPS on average, with a minimum of 61 FPS, ensuring that even the lowest frame dips stay above 60. For players with 60 Hz displays, Medium at 1080p is the best choice because it offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS line.

The High preset at 1080p yields 51 FPS on average, which drops below the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset at 1080p falls further to 41 FPS. Given the data, Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot—it provides the highest quality preset that still keeps the minimum FPS above 60. The min FPS of 61 at Medium 1080p is particularly telling, as it means the frame pacing remains consistent without noticeable stutter.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS. This is borderline for 60 Hz displays, as the minimum dips below the target. The Low preset at 1440p averages 97 FPS, which is excellent, but it sacrifices visual fidelity. For a smoother experience at 1440p, Low is the safer choice, as the Medium preset's minimum FPS of 51 indicates occasional drops below the refresh rate. The High preset at 1440p averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS, both of which are too low for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is playable, while Medium averages 48 FPS with a minimum of 40. The High preset at 4K averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only one that maintains a playable average above 60 FPS, though the Medium preset's 48 FPS average might be acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay. The data suggests that Medium at 1080p or Low at 1440p provides the best experience per the measured rows, as these are the highest settings that remain comfortably above 60 FPS averages.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores indicate substantial processing power: the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 30745, and the single-core score is 2116. The Geekbench multicore score is 19429, with a single-core score of 2529. These numbers place the CPU in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs, indicating it is a high-end processor.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as the FPS scaling with resolution is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. The CPU has enough single-thread performance—evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and the Passmark single-thread score of 4333—to handle the game's logic and AI without becoming the limiting factor. The 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample multitasking headroom, but the game's fixed-camera perspective likely does not heavily utilize many cores.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3. This large L3 cache helps with data locality, which can benefit game performance. However, the benchmark data shows that the CPU's performance is far above what The Medium requires at 1080p Low (115 FPS) and even at 4K Low (76 FPS). The CPU's cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and 3DMark max threads score of 12412 suggest it can handle far more demanding workloads than this game presents.

The nearest CPU rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, which is 0.2% behind in average score, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX, which is 0.5% ahead. These close margins indicate the Core i7-13700K is competitively positioned, but in The Medium, the CPU is not the bottleneck. The FPS differences across resolutions and settings are entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's single-thread performance is more than sufficient for the game's demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 7700 is ranked 1738 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 47th percentile of all combinations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's modest standing relative to other options. The GPU itself is in the 58th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% ahead). This suggests the RX 7700 is a mid-range graphics card that performs well but is not top-tier.

The combo's rank of 1738 out of 3724 indicates that a majority of tested combinations deliver better performance in this specific game. Given the CPU's high percentile (89th) and the GPU's mid percentile (58th), the ranking is dragged down by the GPU's performance. The data shows that the combo is not CPU-limited, as the CPU has significant headroom, but rather GPU-limited, which explains the mid-pack ranking. For context, the CPU's average benchmark score is 46881, placing it well above the 89th percentile threshold, while the GPU's average score of 15852 is closer to the median.

The ranking implies that players with this combo will experience playable frame rates at lower settings, but the system is not optimized for high-fidelity or high-resolution play. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS and the 1440p Ultra result of 34 FPS are below typical playable thresholds, while the 1080p Medium result of 72 FPS is solid. The combo's rank of 1738 suggests that there are many other combinations that handle The Medium more effectively, particularly at higher settings, but the data shows this combo is workable for 1080p Medium or 1440p Low gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium based on the data?

A: The 1920x1080 resolution provides the most consistent performance, with the Medium preset averaging 72 FPS and the Low preset averaging 115 FPS. The 2560x1440 resolution is workable with Low settings (97 FPS average), but Medium at 1440p averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51, which may cause occasional dips.

Q: Does the Core i7-13700K bottleneck the RX 7700 in this game?

A: No. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's single-thread score of 2116 in Cinebench R23 and 4333 in Passmark single-thread indicates it has ample performance headroom, and the combo's rank of 1738 out of 3724 suggests the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset achieves an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS at 1920x1080. The High preset drops to 51 FPS average, so Medium is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS on average.

Q: How does the RX 7700 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 15852. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% ahead, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% ahead, and the AMD Radeon R9 370X is 0.1% behind. This places the RX 7700 in a competitive mid-range position.

Q: Is 4K playable with this combo in The Medium?

A: At 4K, the Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset averages 48 FPS with a minimum of 40, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror. The High and Ultra presets average 34 and 27 FPS respectively, which are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 1738 out of 3724 indicate?

A: It places the combo in the 47th percentile of all tested combinations for The Medium. This means roughly half of tested combos perform better, likely due to more powerful GPUs, since the CPU is not the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 115 FPS. The Medium preset averages 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. The High preset averages 51 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each settings step costs roughly 20-30% performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 97 FPS. The Medium preset averages 61 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. The High preset averages 43 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. The drop from Medium to High at 1440p is significant, losing 18 FPS, while the drop from Low to Medium is 36 FPS, indicating that Medium is a substantial visual upgrade but also a large performance hit.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 76 FPS. The Medium preset averages 48 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. The High preset averages 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 27 FPS. The 4K Medium result is notable because it has the widest min-max range (40 to 55 FPS), suggesting variable performance in demanding scenes. The 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS is the lowest measured value, indicating that this combination is not suitable for max settings at 4K.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset shows the smallest absolute drop from 1080p to 4K (from 115 to 76 FPS, a 39 FPS difference). The Ultra preset shows the smallest relative drop (from 41 to 27 FPS, a 34% reduction). The Medium preset shows the most consistent scaling, with 72, 61, and 48 FPS across the three resolutions. The data shows that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory are sufficient for the game's textures, as the FPS drops are primarily due to pixel fill rate rather than memory capacity.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. The GPU has 40 ray tracing cores and operates at a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a mid-range performer. The Passmark G3D score is 20974, and the Geekbench OpenCL score is 106028. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2865. The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 58, and its average benchmark score is 15852. These numbers indicate that the RX 7700 is positioned in the lower half of the performance spectrum among all GPUs, which is consistent with its measured performance in The Medium.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The game's fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds place a heavy load on the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing capabilities. The GPU's texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s are the likely limiting factors at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for The Medium's requirements, as the game does not appear to be memory-limited based on the FPS scaling patterns.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% ahead). This tight clustering indicates that the RX 7700 is a competitive mid-range card, but it is not a high-end performer. The measured FPS data in The Medium confirms this, as the combo achieves playable frame rates at lower settings but struggles at higher settings and resolutions. The boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz indicate that the GPU is capable of sustained performance, but the underlying architecture's raw throughput limits its ability to handle the game's demands at 4K Ultra.