The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales steeply with resolution. When paired with the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, the data reveals a configuration where the GPU is consistently the limiting factor, yet the CPU’s headroom ensures that frame pacing remains stable even when the renderer is saturated. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across three resolutions and four quality presets, interpreting what the numbers mean for the player experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data for this combo shows a clear and predictable pattern: performance degrades sharply as pixel count increases, confirming that the RTX 2060 is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 83 FPS, which drops to 70 FPS at 1440p and further to 55 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K on the Low preset, a substantial hit that indicates the GPU’s pixel throughput is being taxed heavily.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced at higher quality settings. With Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 52 FPS at 1080p to 44 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 34 FPS at 4K. The jump from 1440p to 4K alone costs 10 FPS, which is a 23% drop, while the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs only 8 FPS, or 15%. This non-linear scaling suggests that at 4K, the card is hitting a memory bandwidth or fill-rate wall, as the 6 GB VRAM buffer and 192-bit bus struggle to keep up with the increased data demands.

High settings tell a similar story, with averages of 37 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, yielding just 30 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and a barely playable 20 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the gap between 1080p and 4K narrows as settings increase, from a 28 FPS difference on Low to a 10 FPS difference on Ultra. This suggests that at Ultra, the GPU is so saturated that even reducing resolution does not proportionally increase frame rates, as the shading complexity and memory pressure remain high.

The measured Minimum FPS values for Medium settings provide additional insight. At 1080p, the minimum is 44 FPS, which is 85% of the average, indicating relatively stable frame delivery. At 1440p, the minimum is 37 FPS (84% of average), and at 4K, it is 29 FPS (85% of average). This consistency in the min-to-avg ratio across resolutions suggests that the CPU is not causing stutter, as the frame time variance remains proportional to the average. The limiting component is clearly the GPU, as the i7-13700K’s strong single-thread performance ensures that the game’s logic and draw calls are never starved.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers a smooth 83 FPS average, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, but the Medium preset offers a better balance at 52 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 44 FPS ensures that the experience stays above the 30 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for a playable yet visually richer experience. High settings at 1080p drop to 37 FPS, which is still playable, but the jump from Medium to High costs 15 FPS, a significant penalty for marginal visual gains.

For 1440p, the Low preset is the only option that provides a consistently fluid experience, with a 70 FPS average. Medium settings at 1440p yield 44 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but the minimum of 37 FPS may be noticeable during camera transitions. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not recommended, as the 25 FPS average falls below the playability threshold, and High settings at 31 FPS are borderline. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p, offering a 44 FPS average that maintains the game’s atmospheric rendering without sacrificing too much fluidity.

At 4K, the situation is dire. The Low preset is the only setting that achieves a playable average of 55 FPS, but even this comes with significant visual compromises. Medium settings at 4K drop to 34 FPS, which is technically playable but will feel sluggish, and the Ultra preset’s 20 FPS average is a slideshow. For players prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, Low at 4K is the only viable choice. However, the data indicates that this combo is not well-suited for 4K gaming, as even the lowest settings strain the GPU’s capabilities.

The measured results show that the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. It is the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate at 1440p (44 FPS) while still offering a reasonable experience at 1080p (52 FPS). High settings are a compromise, and Ultra should be avoided entirely, as it never exceeds 30 FPS at any resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the deciding factor in this configuration’s performance. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card offers a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, which is insufficient for the high-resolution textures and effects in The Medium. The data shows that the game’s memory demands scale aggressively with resolution, and the card’s 6 GB buffer is likely a primary constraint at 4K, where texture streaming and geometry data exceed the available VRAM.

The GPU’s clocks are set at a base of 1365 MHz with a boost of 1680 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). These clocks are modest by modern standards, and the card’s 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs are being pushed to their limits in this title. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p but becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep frame rate drops.

The RTX 2060’s 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present, but The Medium’s use of ray tracing is limited, and the data does not indicate that these features significantly impact the measured FPS. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the GTX 580 (0% delta), Radeon 680M (0.1% delta), and RTX 3050 OEM (0.6% delta). This positioning shows that the RTX 2060 is a mid-range card that performs similarly to much older or integrated solutions, which is reflected in the game’s frame rates.

The GPU’s 12 nm process node and 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die contribute to its 160 W TDP, but the thermal and power characteristics are secondary to the raw performance limitations. The card’s 58th percentile ranking against all GPUs underscores that it is not a high-end part, and The Medium’s demanding rendering pipeline exposes its weaknesses. At 4K Ultra, the 20 FPS average is a clear indication that the GPU is overwhelmed, and even at 1080p Low, the 83 FPS average shows that the card is working hard to maintain playable rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested configurations for The Medium, this combo ranks 2948 out of 3724 possible combinations. This places it in the bottom 21% of all tested systems, which is a poor result for a CPU that is in the 89th percentile of all processors. The i7-13700K is a high-end part, but its pairing with the RTX 2060 drags the overall combo ranking down significantly.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 46881 puts it in the 89th percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (0.2% slower), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (0.3% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (0.5% faster), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 (0.5% faster). This shows that the CPU is competitive with top-tier parts, but the GPU’s 58th percentile ranking (avg score 15290) is the limiting factor. The RTX 2060’s nearest rivals include the GTX 580 (0% delta), Radeon 680M (0.1% delta), RTX 3050 OEM (0.6% delta), and RX 7600 (0.8% delta), all of which are similarly matched in synthetic benchmarks.

The combo’s rank of 2948 out of 3724 indicates that most other tested configurations deliver better frame rates in this title. This is expected, as the RTX 2060 is an older, lower-tier GPU that cannot keep pace with modern cards. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as its performance is far above average, but the GPU’s mid-range capabilities hold the entire system back. Players with this combo should expect below-average performance in The Medium, especially at higher resolutions, and the ranking reflects this reality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K provides ample computational headroom for The Medium, as evidenced by the consistent frame pacing and the lack of CPU-bound stutter in the measured minimum FPS values. With 16 cores and 24 threads, the CPU offers substantial multi-threaded performance, scoring 30745 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 19429 in Geekbench multi-core. These scores place the CPU in the 89th percentile of all processors, indicating that it is more than capable of handling the game’s logic and physics.

The CPU’s base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for games that rely on a primary rendering thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116 and Geekbench single-core score of 2529 confirm this, and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 shows that the CPU can deliver high instructions per clock. For a game like The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and streaming, the CPU must manage asset loading and script execution efficiently, and the i7-13700K’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce latency.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and support for DDR4/DDR5 memory (dual-channel) mean that it is not a power or memory bandwidth bottleneck. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, as the frame rates scale predictably with GPU load. At 1080p Low, the 83 FPS average is well below the CPU’s potential, and even at 4K Ultra, the 20 FPS average is clearly GPU-bound. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (0.2% slower) and Ryzen 9 7845HX (0.5% faster), show that the i7-13700K is competitive, but this does not translate to better game performance when paired with a weak GPU.

The data indicates that the CPU’s role in this combo is to provide a stable foundation, ensuring that the GPU is always the bottleneck. The measured minimum FPS values for Medium settings (44 FPS at 1080p, 37 FPS at 1440p, 29 FPS at 4K) show that the CPU can maintain consistent frame delivery even when the GPU is struggling. If the CPU were weaker, these minimums would likely be lower and more erratic, but the i7-13700K’s strong performance ensures smooth operation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo’s performance across all tested scenarios. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 83 FPS, which is the highest frame rate observed in this test. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS, showing a tight range that indicates stable performance. High settings drop to 37 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30 FPS, making the latter two presets less desirable for playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 70 FPS, which is still fluid but shows a 13 FPS drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 44 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS and a maximum of 50 FPS, representing a 15% reduction from 1080p. High settings average 31 FPS, and Ultra drops to 25 FPS, both of which are below the 30 FPS threshold for comfortable play. The data shows that 1440p is a significant step up in GPU load, and only the Low and Medium presets are viable.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 55 FPS, which is surprisingly playable given the resolution, but it is a 34% drop from 1080p. The Medium preset averages 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 FPS and a maximum of 40 FPS, indicating that frame rates dip below 30 FPS during intense scenes. High settings average 25 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS, both of which are unplayable. The 4K results confirm that this combo is not suited for high-resolution gaming, as even the Low preset struggles to maintain a consistent 60 FPS.

The minimum FPS data for Medium settings is the only set with complete min/max information, and it shows that the combo’s frame pacing is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the minimum is 44 FPS (85% of average), at 1440p it is 37 FPS (84% of average), and at 4K it is 29 FPS (85% of average). This consistency suggests that the CPU is not causing frame time spikes, and the GPU is the sole contributor to performance degradation as resolution increases. The data paints a clear picture: the RTX 2060 is a capable 1080p card, but it is outclassed at higher resolutions, and the i7-13700K’s power is wasted in this configuration.