The Medium

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination delivers a distinctive performance profile in The Medium, a horror title known for its dual-reality rendering technique. Benchmark data shows this combo ranks 38th out of 1,689 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.3% of systems. The pairing produces strongly playable frame rates across most settings, though the data reveals an interesting dependency on resolution and graphical presets that points to a nuanced balance between the CPU's 16 cores and the GPU's Blackwell architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline is not uniform across settings. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 costs 9.4 FPS (from 181.7 to 172.3), while moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 costs 38.0 FPS (down to 134.3). This steep second drop suggests that at 4K, the RTX 5080 begins to feel the pressure of pixel throughput, even at Low settings. The pattern intensifies at Ultra settings, where frame rates fall from 74.0 at 1080p to 59.1 at 1440p (a 14.9 FPS reduction), then to 50.1 at 4K (another 9.0 FPS reduction). The Ultra preset at 4K produces the lowest measured average at 50.1 FPS, indicating the game's demanding rendering effects scale heavily with pixel count.

The High preset tells a similar story with slightly less severe drops: 92.0 at 1080p, 75.5 at 1440p, and 60.4 at 4K. The spread between Low and Ultra at each resolution is substantial—at 1080p, the gap is 107.7 FPS; at 1440p, it is 113.2 FPS; and at 4K, it narrows to 84.2 FPS. This narrowing at 4K is telling: when the GPU is heavily loaded at 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra settings compresses because the pixel fill rate becomes the limiting factor. Conversely, at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom to drive higher frame rates, and the settings-based differences expand. The data indicates that the Core i7-13700K, with its boost clock of 5.40 GHz and 30 MB of shared L3 cache, is never the primary bottleneck at 4K; rather, the RTX 5080's rendering load defines the ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 181.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in The Medium?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K with High settings, the combo averages 60.4 FPS, which is playable. At Ultra, it drops to 50.1 FPS, while Low settings reach 134.3 FPS.

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

A: The Core i7-13700K has an average benchmark score of 47,282, placing it 0.1% behind the Core i7-13700KF (47,334) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P (47,131). It also edges out the Core i9-12900F by 0.4%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 5080 ranks in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59,188. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A570M, scores 58,239, which is 1.6% lower.

Q: Does the frame rate drop linearly from 1080p to 4K?

A: No. For example, at Medium settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 17.4 FPS (126.1 to 108.7), but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 24.1 FPS (108.7 to 84.6), showing a non-linear scaling with resolution.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combination ranks 38th out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.3% of all systems tested in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain much of the measured performance. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is critical for The Medium, a game that renders two simultaneous perspectives at times, which can inflate memory usage. The GPU's 10,752 shading units and 112 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s, which directly supports the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. The boost clock of 2617 MHz, paired with 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, gives the card substantial headroom for the game's fixed-function effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 8,637, and in Passmark G3D, it achieves 36,565. Its percentile ranking of 89 places it above most GPUs, though the nearestRivals data shows a tight cluster: the Intel Arc A570M scores 58,239 (1.6% lower), while the Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60,326 (1.9% higher). This suggests that while the RTX 5080 is a high-end part, its performance in synthetic tests is closely matched by some workstation-oriented competitors. In The Medium, however, the measured FPS data shows the GPU scaling well with settings, indicating that its 360 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC are being utilized effectively. The GPU's 84 RT cores are relevant for a horror game using modern lighting, though the data does not isolate ray tracing performance specifically.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides 12 measured average FPS values across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the performance envelope spans from 74.0 FPS at Ultra to 181.7 FPS at Low. The Medium setting produces 126.1 FPS, while High achieves 92.0 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (34.1 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (18.0 FPS), suggesting that the High preset introduces a significant visual feature that costs performance, while Ultra adds diminishing returns.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings pattern holds but with reduced absolute numbers. Low delivers 172.3 FPS, Medium 108.7 FPS, High 75.5 FPS, and Ultra 59.1 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 113.2 FPS, the widest of any resolution. At this resolution, the system remains highly playable even at Ultra, with 59.1 FPS just above the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the numbers compress: Low hits 134.3 FPS, Medium 84.6 FPS, High 60.4 FPS, and Ultra 50.1 FPS. Here, High and Ultra both fall below the 75 FPS mark seen at lower resolutions, and Ultra dips below 60 FPS. The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that drops below a smooth 60 FPS average, while 4K High barely maintains it. For users targeting 4K, the Medium preset at 84.6 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, according to the measured results.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1,689 tested combinations, this pairing of Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 holds the 38th position. This high ranking is consistent with the CPU's 93rd percentile performance among all CPUs and the GPU's 89th percentile ranking. The CPU's average benchmark score of 47,282 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals, with the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 slightly ahead at 47,527 (0.5% higher) and the EPYC 4364P slightly behind at 47,131 (0.3% lower). This tight clustering indicates that the CPU is well-matched to its peers in raw compute, but the GPU's 89th percentile position is more significant for gaming outcomes.

The combo rank of 38 out of 1,689 means that 1,651 other combinations performed worse in The Medium, while 37 performed better. Given that the CPU's rivals show only minor score differences, the ranking is likely driven by the GPU's strength. The RTX 5080's nearest rival, the Intel Arc A570M, scores 1.6% lower in average benchmarks, yet the RTX 5080's 16 GB GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth give it a distinct advantage in memory-intensive scenes. The data suggests that this combo is optimized for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming and solid 4K performance, with the caveat that Ultra settings at 4K will push the average below 60 FPS. Users with a 1080p display will find the system has substantial headroom, as it exceeds 180 FPS at Low settings, providing a smooth experience even in the most demanding moments.