The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title, presents a unique load profile that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily depending on the settings chosen. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, focusing on how the components interact across the three primary resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 18.2 FPS (from 115.7 to 97.5), while moving to 4K drops another 23.2 FPS (to 74.3). This suggests that even at Low, the GPU is becoming the primary limiter at higher resolutions, though the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads keep the frame rate high enough to remain playable.

The Medium settings show a similar but more pronounced scaling penalty. At 1080p, the combo delivers 72.9 FPS. Dropping to 1440p reduces that to 61.3 FPS (a 15.9% loss), and 4K cuts it down to 47.4 FPS (a further 22.7% loss from 1440p). This indicates that the Radeon RX 6750 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are being pushed harder, but the frame times remain stable.

High settings expose the most significant bottleneck. The 1080p result of 53.9 FPS falls to 43 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 32.3 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K is 10.7 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than the 10.9 FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p. This nonlinear scaling points to the GPU's 40 ray accelerators and 2560 shading units being saturated by the game's fixed-camera rendering techniques at higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with the combo producing 42.4 FPS at 1080p, 32.3 FPS at 1440p, and 24.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is a 42% reduction from the 1080p figure, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component here. The CPU's 5.4 GHz boost clock cannot compensate for the GPU's raw pixel throughput limitations at this extreme setting.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Core i7-14700F and Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 848th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. That places it in the 50th percentile, meaning it is exactly average among all tested systems. This is surprising given the individual component strengths, but the game's engine appears to favor certain hardware configurations.

The CPU itself sits in the 94th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 54097. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (scoring 54450, which is 0.6% higher) and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681, 1.1% higher). The Intel chip is just 1.2% ahead of the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 and 1.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313P. This suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing.

The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 79th percentile of all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 35327. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 5600M (35264, 0.2% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435, 0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon 880M (35646, 0.9% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (35787, 1.3% lower). The RX 6750 XT is competitive with these parts, but the median combo ranking indicates that the pairing's overall performance is dragged down by the game's specific demands.

The 848th rank out of 1689 combos means that over half of the tested systems outperform this pairing. This is not a condemnation of the hardware, but rather a reflection of how The Medium's fixed-camera angles and dual-world rendering can create CPU-bound scenarios even with a powerful processor.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that at Medium settings, 1080p yields 72.9 FPS while 1440p yields 61.3 FPS. Both are playable, but 1080p is clearly the sweet spot for maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS. At High settings, 1080p provides 53.9 FPS, which is borderline, while 1440p drops to 43 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it produces 74.3 FPS. At Medium settings, 4K drops to 47.4 FPS, which is less smooth. Ultra settings at 4K are not viable, as the combo only manages 24.5 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect performance in this game?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads, which is substantial. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops are more consistent with GPU limitations when resolution increases. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps with asset streaming.

Q: What is the most balanced settings preset for this combo?

A: Medium settings at 1440p, which produces 61.3 FPS, appears to be the most balanced option. It offers a resolution upgrade over 1080p while keeping the frame rate above 60. At 1080p, Medium gives 72.9 FPS, which is smoother but at a lower resolution.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly?

A: Ultra settings at 1080p (42.4 FPS), 1440p (32.3 FPS), and 4K (24.5 FPS) are all below the 60 FPS target. The RX 6750 XT's 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is not sufficient to handle the game's highest graphical effects at a smooth frame rate, even at 1080p.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 115.7 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU's 5.4 GHz boost clock is providing the necessary processing power. The CPU's single-thread performance of 5003 in Cinebench R23 supports this.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience, the Medium preset is the clear choice. At 1080p, it delivers 72.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. At 1440p, it drops to 61.3 FPS, which is still respectable. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates (115.7 FPS at 1080p) but sacrifices visual fidelity that may be important for the game's atmospheric horror.

The High preset is a compromise that is difficult to recommend. At 1080p, it produces 53.9 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that benefits from smooth camera movement. At 1440p, it falls to 43 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as even at 1080p it only achieves 42.4 FPS.

The data suggests that the game's visual engine is not well-optimized for high-end settings on this hardware. The Medium preset likely disables some of the most demanding post-processing effects while retaining the core visual identity. For players with a 1440p monitor, Medium is the only viable option that maintains a playable frame rate, while 1080p users can choose between Medium for a stable experience or Low for maximum frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 115.7 FPS, Medium produces 72.9 FPS, High produces 53.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 42.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 42.8 FPS, which is the largest jump between any two settings at this resolution. This indicates that Medium introduces significant graphical effects that the GPU must process.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 97.5 FPS, Medium at 61.3 FPS, High at 43 FPS, and Ultra at 32.3 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings is a 18.2 FPS drop, while at Ultra it is a 10.1 FPS drop. This suggests that at lower settings, the GPU is still capable of maintaining high frame rates, but at Ultra, the pixel count becomes the dominant factor.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low at 74.3 FPS, Medium at 47.4 FPS, High at 32.3 FPS, and Ultra at 24.5 FPS. The Medium setting at 4K is actually equivalent to the High setting at 1440p (both 32.3 FPS), which highlights the massive cost of resolution scaling. The 4K Low result of 74.3 FPS is higher than the 1080p High result of 53.9 FPS, showing that settings have a greater impact than resolution in this range.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 33 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 35443 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 5003 in single-core, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle the game's physics and logic. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a manner consistent with GPU limitations. For example, at 1080p Low, the combo produces 115.7 FPS, which is close to the CPU's potential, but at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 24.5 FPS, clearly indicating GPU saturation.

The CPU's 28 threads are likely beneficial for the game's dual-world mechanic, where the game renders two versions of the same environment simultaneously. The 33 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is important for the game's asset streaming. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Ryzen 9 9900X (which is 0.6% faster in average benchmarks), would likely produce similar frame rates in this game, confirming that the CPU is not the limiting factor.

The processor's 65 W TDP is low for a 20-core part, but the boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance when needed. The data suggests that the game is more dependent on GPU throughput than CPU processing power, as the frame rate differences between settings far exceed any potential CPU-related variation.