The Medium

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 occupies a precarious position in The Medium, ranking 3082nd out of 3724 tested combinations. This places the combo in the lower 17% of all tested systems, a statistical reality that frames the entire benchmark analysis. The pairing is fundamentally lopsided: a top-tier 16-core processor from the 13th Gen Core series is yoked to a mid-range Pascal-era graphics card from 2016. The data suggests that while the CPU has ample headroom for this horror title, the GPU struggles to maintain playable framerates at higher settings, making this a study in bottleneck dynamics rather than a showcase of balanced performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 3082 out of 3724 is a stark indicator of its standing. It means that roughly 83% of all recorded system configurations outperform this pairing in The Medium. This is not a surprising outcome given the GPU’s profile. The GTX 1070 sits at the 47th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 9780. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5000 (avg score 9803, delta -0.2%), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (avg score 9832, delta -0.5%), the NVIDIA Tesla M10 (avg score 9724, delta 0.6%), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (avg score 9716, delta 0.7%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the GTX 1070 is clustered in a tight performance band with these professional and mobile parts, none of which are known for gaming prowess.

Conversely, the Intel Core i7-13700K is a computing powerhouse. It ranks in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (avg score 46971, delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (avg score 47022, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (avg score 46654, delta 0.5%), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (avg score 46653, delta 0.5%). Again, the deltas are minimal, showing that the i7-13700K is at the apex of CPU performance, statistically tied with the fastest chips available.

The disconnect between the CPU’s elite status (89th percentile) and the GPU’s middling position (47th percentile) explains the combo’s low rank. In a game like The Medium, which relies heavily on GPU rendering for its fixed-camera cinematography and volumetric effects, the graphics card becomes the limiting factor. The benchmark results across all resolutions confirm this: the CPU is never the bottleneck, as even the lowest GPU performance at 4K Ultra (18 FPS) does not come close to taxing the i7-13700K’s capabilities. The data implies that this combo is a CPU-rich, GPU-poor environment, where the processor’s potential is severely underutilized.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank so poorly in The Medium despite having a high-end CPU?

A: The combo rank of 3082 out of 3724 is driven by the GPU’s limitations. The GTX 1070 is at the 47th percentile of all GPUs, while the i7-13700K is at the 89th percentile of CPUs. The game’s rendering demands are primarily on the GPU, so the processor’s strength cannot compensate for the graphics card’s mid-range performance.

Q: What is the best average framerate this combo can achieve?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 75, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only setting combination that approaches high-refresh-rate territory. All other configurations produce average framerates below 63 FPS.

Q: Is the GTX 1070’s 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for The Medium?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory with a 256-bit bus and 256.3 GB/s bandwidth. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 18, which suggests that memory capacity or bandwidth is insufficient for the highest fidelity assets at that resolution.

Q: How does the i7-13700K’s multi-threading performance compare to its single-thread performance?

A: The CPU’s multi-threaded score in Cinebench R23 is 30745, while its single-core score is 2116. This indicates a strong scaling across its 16 cores and 24 threads, but this advantage is irrelevant in this GPU-bound scenario.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 75 FPS, while Ultra drops to 27 FPS. This is a 48 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset costs roughly 64% of the Low preset’s performance.

Q: Does the game show a clear frame rate advantage at lower resolutions?

A: Yes. The data shows a consistent scaling from 4K to 1440p to 1080p. For example, at Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 31 at 4K, to 40 at 1440p, to 47 at 1080p. This scaling indicates a GPU-bound workload where lowering resolution directly improves performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, confirming that the GTX 1070 is the primary performance limiter. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 47 at 1920x1080, to 40 at 2560x1440, to 31 at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% performance loss from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all presets. At High settings, the drop is from 34 FPS at 1080p, to 28 FPS at 1440p, to 22 FPS at 4K — a 35% reduction. Even at Low settings, where the GPU is less stressed, the scaling holds: 75 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K, a 33% decrease.

This consistent ~33-35% drop from 1080p to 4K across all presets is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU workload stays constant. Instead, the data shows that every increase in pixel count proportionally taxes the GPU more, leading to lower FPS. The i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and boost clock of 5.40 GHz, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at all resolutions. The scaling curves suggest that at 1080p, the GTX 1070 is still the limiting factor, as even the fastest preset (Low) is only at 75 FPS, while the CPU could theoretically drive much higher frame rates. The implication is that upgrading the GPU would yield linear improvements in FPS, while the CPU would remain underutilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides average FPS for four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 75 FPS, Medium 47 FPS (min 40, max 54), High 34 FPS, and Ultra 27 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing a range of 14 FPS, which indicates some frame pacing variability but not severe stuttering. At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 63 FPS, Medium 40 FPS (min 34, max 45), High 28 FPS, and Ultra 22 FPS. The Medium preset’s range narrows slightly to 11 FPS. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 50 FPS, Medium 31 FPS (min 26, max 36), High 22 FPS, and Ultra 18 FPS. The Medium preset’s range expands to 10 FPS, but the overall framerate is low.

The progression across presets is logical, with each step up in fidelity costing a significant number of frames. For instance, at 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 28 FPS (75 to 47), from Medium to High costs 13 FPS (47 to 34), and from High to Ultra costs 7 FPS (34 to 27). The diminishing returns at higher presets suggest that the Ultra preset is particularly demanding, likely due to shadow quality and volumetric effects. At 4K, the Ultra preset is essentially unplayable at 18 FPS average. The Low preset at 4K, at 50 FPS, is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability, but it requires sacrificing all visual fidelity. The data shows that the GTX 1070 is best suited for 1080p gaming with this title, where it can achieve 34 FPS at High settings, and 47 FPS at Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the bottleneck in this system. Its specifications tell the story: 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a memory bus of 256-bit. The boost clock is listed at 1683 MHz, with a base of 1506 MHz. The memory runs at 2002 MHz, effectively 8 Gbps, providing 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The 8 GB of GDDR5 is the standard capacity for this era of GPU. These specs place it at the 47th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 9780.

The benchmark results in The Medium directly reflect these specifications. At 4K Ultra, the 18 FPS average indicates that the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel count and the game’s high-fidelity assets. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a limiting factor at this resolution, as the game may be exceeding the memory capacity, forcing texture streaming from system memory. The 256.3 GB/s bandwidth also becomes a constraint at higher resolutions where the GPU must move more data per frame. At 1080p Low, the 75 FPS average shows that the GPU can perform well when the workload is reduced, but it never reaches the 100+ FPS territory that would indicate CPU bottlenecking. The GPU’s DirectX 12 support (12_1) is present, but its Pascal architecture lacks dedicated ray tracing cores, which The Medium does not require at these settings. The data implies that the GTX 1070 is a capable 1080p card for this game, but it is not designed for high-resolution or ultra-fidelity gaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is vastly overqualified for this game, but its role is to ensure the GPU is never waiting on data. With 16 cores and 24 threads, it has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116. Its 3DMark max threads score is 12412, and its single-thread score is 1136. The processor has 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. It operates on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node, supporting both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The base clock is 3.40 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 5.40 GHz.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, AI, and rendering calls. Given that the GPU is the limiting factor, the CPU’s performance headroom is evident. The fact that the frame rates scale linearly with resolution, rather than staying flat, confirms that the CPU is not saturated. Even at 4K Ultra (18 FPS), the CPU is likely idle most of the time, waiting for the GPU to complete its rendering tasks. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all processors means it is in the top 11% of all CPUs ever tested. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, scores nearly identically (delta -0.2%), indicating that this is a top-tier processor regardless of the GPU pairing. The data suggests that the i7-13700K would perform identically with a much faster GPU in this game, as it is not the limiting factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This preset yields an average of 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. The 40 FPS minimum is above the playable threshold for a horror game, where consistent frame pacing is more important than raw FPS. The Medium preset provides a balance between visual quality and performance, offering better textures and effects than Low while maintaining a smooth experience. The High preset at 1080p, at 34 FPS average, is borderline playable but may suffer from occasional dips below 30 FPS, which can be noticeable in a slow-paced horror game.

At 1440p, the Medium preset drops to 40 FPS average (min 34, max 45), which is still playable but not ideal. The Low preset at 1440p, at 63 FPS, is the best option for those prioritizing frame rate over visuals. At 4K, the Low preset is the only option that reaches 50 FPS, but this requires accepting minimal visual quality. The Ultra presets at all resolutions are not recommended, as they produce average FPS below 30 (27 at 1080p, 22 at 1440p, 18 at 4K), which is not suitable for a game that relies on atmospheric tension. The data indicates that the Medium preset at 1080p provides the best balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, making it the recommended starting point for any player using this hardware combination.