The Medium

The Medium places this Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination at rank 392 out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 23% of all systems evaluated for this title. That is a strong position, but it is not a top-tier lock for maximum settings at 4K. The pair is well-balanced for high-refresh 1080p and 1440p play, with the GPU becoming the clear limiting factor as resolution climbs. The data suggests this is a capable horror rig, but you will need to make deliberate settings choices to keep frame rates smooth in The Medium's demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 392 out of 1,689 measured systems puts it firmly in the upper quartile of tested hardware for this game. That ranking is driven by a CPU that sits in the 93rd percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 47,282. The i7-13700K is essentially tied with its nearest rivals: it trails the Intel Core i7-13700KF by a negligible 0.1%, leads the AMD EPYC 4364P by 0.3%, and sits 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900F. This CPU is not the bottleneck here. The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 82nd percentile of all graphics cards with an average score of 39,647, landing it within 0.6% of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and just 0.2% behind the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile. The practical takeaway: the CPU has headroom to spare, and the GPU defines the experience. In The Medium, this means the combo's rank is essentially a GPU rank—the i7-13700K is doing its job without holding the Radeon back.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 9070 XT carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. That memory capacity is substantial for a 2021 horror title, but the architecture is what matters here. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2,970 MHz with a game clock of 2,400 MHz, and it packs 4,096 shading units. Raw compute is rated at 48.66 TFLOPS FP32. In The Medium, these specs translate into a card that scales poorly with quality presets at high resolutions. The measured data shows a clear pattern: the GPU's performance collapses when moving from Low to Ultra settings, dropping from 150.7 FPS at 1080p Low to 56 FPS at 1080p Ultra. That is a 63% reduction in frame rate from a single settings tier change, which points to the game's heavy reliance on shading and memory bandwidth rather than any CPU limitation. The 16 GB VRAM buffer is never stressed at these resolutions, so the frame rate swings are purely a function of shader load and fill rate.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS deltas across resolutions reveal a GPU-bound scenario at every setting tier. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p drops average FPS from 150.7 to 124.7, a 17% reduction, and then further to 100.4 at 4K, another 19% drop. The pattern holds at Medium: 92.8 FPS at 1080p, 80.4 at 1440p, and 62.8 at 4K. High settings show the same shape: 64.9 to 54.3 to 42.6. The scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which is the signature of a GPU that is saturated. The CPU is not stepping in to save the frame rate at lower resolutions either—if it were, you would see the 1080p numbers plateau or the 1440p numbers come closer to matching 1080p. Instead, every resolution step costs a proportional chunk of performance. The i7-13700K's 16 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, are more than adequate for this game's fixed camera angles and pre-baked scenes; the Radeon is doing all the heavy lifting.

Settings Recommendations

The data points to Medium as the best experience for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 92.8 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold, while High drops to 64.9 FPS and Ultra falls to 56 FPS. At 1440p, Medium holds 80.4 FPS, which is still excellent, while High slips to 54.3 FPS. The story at 4K is different: Medium yields 62.8 FPS, which is playable, but High drops to 42.6 FPS and Ultra to 35.4 FPS. If you are targeting 4K, Medium is the ceiling for a consistent experience; going higher will cause noticeable hitches in a game that relies on atmosphere and timing. For 1080p and 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot because it preserves the visual fidelity of the horror environments—lighting and shadows matter in this game—without sacrificing the frame rate headroom needed for sudden action sequences. Low settings are not worth it; the jump from Low to Medium costs only 58 FPS at 1080p (150.7 to 92.8) but the visual upgrade in a game like this is substantial.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces 150.7 FPS on Low, 92.8 FPS on Medium, 64.9 FPS on High, and 56 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High is 27.9 FPS, while High to Ultra is a smaller 8.9 FPS gap, suggesting diminishing returns beyond High.

At 2560x1440, Low runs at 124.7 FPS, Medium at 80.4 FPS, High at 54.3 FPS, and Ultra at 47 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 26.1 FPS, which is a steep penalty for one tier of settings. High to Ultra only costs 7.3 FPS, so if you are already on High, Ultra is not a huge additional burden.

At 3840x2160, Low delivers 100.4 FPS, Medium 62.8 FPS, High 42.6 FPS, and Ultra 35.4 FPS. The Medium to High transition is a 20.2 FPS loss, pushing the frame rate below the 60 FPS mark. Ultra is effectively unplayable for smooth motion, but it is only 7.2 FPS below High, so the preset is not a cliff—it is just a steady decline into sub-40 territory.

The data shows no min or max FPS values, so these averages are the only metric. Still, the trend is consistent: this GPU loses roughly 30% of its performance for each settings tier above Medium at every resolution.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better for 1080p or 1440p gaming in The Medium?

A: Both are excellent. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 92.8 FPS, and at 1440p Medium it stays at 80.4 FPS. If you want to push High settings, 1080p gives you 64.9 FPS, while 1440p High drops to 54.3 FPS. The GPU is the limit, not the CPU.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K smoothly?

A: Only on Low or Medium settings. Low runs at 100.4 FPS and Medium at 62.8 FPS at 4K. High drops to 42.6 FPS and Ultra to 35.4 FPS, which is not smooth for a horror game where timing matters.

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

A: The i7-13700K scores 47,282 on average, which is 0.1% behind the i7-13700KF, 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P, and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900F. It is effectively a tie across all three rivals, so there is no meaningful CPU performance gap in this game.

Q: What is the biggest performance drop between settings?

A: The largest single-tier drop is from Low to Medium at 1080p, where FPS falls from 150.7 to 92.8—a 57.9 FPS loss. The smallest is High to Ultra at 1440p, which only costs 7.3 FPS.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: Yes. The RX 9070 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. At 4K Ultra, the card manages 35.4 FPS, which is a compute limitation, not a memory one. The VRAM buffer is not the constraint at any measured setting.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of quality and performance?

A: 1440p on Medium is the standout: 80.4 FPS with the visual fidelity of higher settings. If you prefer 1080p, Medium at 92.8 FPS gives you extra headroom for frame rate dips during intense scenes. 4K is only viable on Low or Medium presets.