The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 produces a highly variable experience in The Medium, where the GPU’s performance ceiling and the CPU’s substantial headroom combine to make settings and resolution the primary determinants of frame rate. Benchmark results across three resolutions and four quality presets show a clear pattern: the system delivers smooth, high-refresh gameplay at lower settings, but demands careful tuning at higher presets to maintain playability. This analysis walks through the measured data to explain the role of each component and identify the optimal configuration for this specific combination.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60+ FPS on Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset yields an average of 72 FPS, and at 2560x1440 it drops to 61 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset yields only 48 FPS, so 1440p is the highest resolution where this combo maintains a 60 FPS average on Medium.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-core performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6505P, scores slightly higher at 53701, putting the i7-14700F just 0.2% behind. It also outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X by 0.6% and the AMD EPYC 7313P by 0.8%.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129. The RX 7700 trails the RTX 3060 Ti by 1.7% in this metric.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset records an average of 115 FPS, while the Ultra preset records an average of 41 FPS. This represents a 74 FPS drop, or roughly a 64% reduction in average frame rate.

Q: What is the difference between the GPU's base clock and boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The boost clock is 559 MHz higher than the base clock.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top half of tested configurations for this game?

A: Yes. The combo ranks 1307 out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile (above the median) for performance in The Medium.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the primary driver of frame rate differences across settings in The Medium. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. It is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node and contains 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units. The card’s 40 ray accelerators handle real-time ray tracing workloads, though the game’s performance at Ultra settings suggests this feature is demanding when enabled.

The GPU’s clock behavior is critical to understanding its performance. The base clock is set at 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. The gap between the game clock and boost clock indicates that the card can sustain higher frequencies under load, but the measured FPS data shows that this headroom is insufficient to maintain high frame rates at the most demanding presets. For instance, at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages just 27 FPS, while the Low preset averages 76 FPS. This 49 FPS spread is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s rasterization and shading workload scaling with settings.

The GPU’s compute throughput is substantial, with an FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS, yet the results in The Medium indicate that this raw power is not enough for 4K Ultra gameplay. The card’s 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for the game’s textures, but the memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions where pixel fill rate demands increase. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s are the specs that directly influence how many pixels and texels the GPU can process each second, and the data shows these rates are adequate for 1080p and 1440p at Medium quality.

Across the benchmark suite, the RX 7700 achieves an average score of 15852, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9060, scores 16014, which is 1% higher, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679, which is 1.1% lower. These comparisons contextualize the GPU’s position: it is a mid-range performer that can handle most games at 1440p with adjusted settings, but it will struggle at 4K with high or ultra presets in a graphically intensive title like The Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides ample processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck in The Medium. This CPU features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It is based on the Raptor Lake architecture and manufactured on a 10 nm process node. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are exceptional, as demonstrated by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and its Geekbench multi-core score of 19620. The single-core performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2429. These numbers indicate that the CPU can handle both the game’s main thread and background tasks without issue, ensuring that the GPU is the limiting component in most scenarios.

The CPU’s overall average benchmark score is 53620, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. It sits just 0.2% below the Intel Xeon 6505P (score 53701) but outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (score 53288) by 0.6% and the AMD EPYC 7313P (score 53206) by 0.8%. In the context of The Medium, the 28 threads allow the CPU to handle the game’s complex scene rendering and physics calculations efficiently. The 5.40 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded tasks, such as game logic and draw call submissions, are executed with minimal latency.

The fact that the CPU is not the limiting factor is evident from the FPS scaling across resolutions. When the resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at the same settings, the frame rate drops significantly. For example, on High settings, the average FPS drops from 51 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p and finally to 34 at 4K. This pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at higher resolutions. The CPU’s memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, along with a dual-channel bus, provides sufficient data throughput to keep the GPU fed, even at lower resolutions where the CPU is more likely to be the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive look at how this combo performs across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combination. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. The High preset averages 51 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS. This progression shows a steady decline as graphical fidelity increases, with a 74 FPS difference between Low and Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 97 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset averages 61 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS, indicating that the frame rate can dip below the ideal threshold during intense scenes. The High preset averages 43 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings is 11 FPS (from 72 to 61), which is a moderate reduction that reflects the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more challenging. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset drops to 48 FPS on average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. The High preset averages 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages just 27 FPS. The 4K resolution imposes a significant load on the GPU, and the data shows that only the Low preset can maintain a consistent 60+ FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K is borderline, with an average below 50 FPS and minimums that fall into the low 40s, which may be uncomfortable for some players.

The minimum and maximum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 61 to 83 FPS, a spread of 22 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 51 to 70 FPS, a spread of 19 FPS. At 4K, the range is 40 to 55 FPS, a spread of 15 FPS. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is working closer to its limits, reducing the variance in frame times as it becomes consistently saturated.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this combination. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 115 at 1080p to 97 at 1440p (a 15.7% decrease) and then to 76 at 4K (a 21.6% decrease from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 39 FPS, or 33.9%. This is a substantial reduction, but the frame rates remain playable throughout.

At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 72 at 1080p to 61 at 1440p (a 15.3% decrease) and then to 48 at 4K (a 21.3% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 24 FPS, or 33.3%. The pattern is consistent: each resolution step costs roughly 15-21% of the frame rate, which is expected when the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor.

At High settings, the average FPS drops from 51 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p (a 15.7% decrease) and then to 34 at 4K (a 20.9% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 17 FPS, or 33.3%. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 41 at 1080p to 34 at 1440p (a 17.1% decrease) and then to 27 at 4K (a 20.6% decrease from 1440p). The total drop is 14 FPS, or 34.1%.

The consistent percentage drop across all settings suggests that the resolution scaling is uniform and driven by the GPU’s fill rate capabilities. The CPU’s performance does not degrade with resolution, as its workload is largely independent of pixel count. This analysis confirms that the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the limiting component when moving to higher resolutions, and that the Intel Core i7-14700F has more than enough headroom to support the GPU at any resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this combo depends on the target frame rate and resolution. For 1080p gameplay, the Medium preset is the best choice, as it delivers an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much visual quality. The High preset at 1080p averages 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but may be acceptable for players who prioritize visuals over smoothness. The Low preset at 1080p offers the highest frame rate at 115 FPS, but the visual downgrade is significant.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the only option that maintains an average above 60 FPS, with a score of 61 FPS. However, the minimum FPS of 51 indicates that there will be occasional dips below the ideal threshold. The Low preset at 1440p averages 97 FPS, providing a much larger safety margin, but with reduced visual fidelity. Players who want a balance between quality and performance at 1440p should choose Medium, while those who prioritize consistent frame rates should opt for Low.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is the only preset that provides a comfortable playing experience. The Medium preset at 4K averages 48 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stutter. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended for serious gameplay, as they average 34 FPS and 27 FPS respectively, making the game feel sluggish.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions, as it provides a balanced experience. At 1080p, it delivers 72 FPS, at 1440p it delivers 61 FPS, and at 4K it delivers 48 FPS. For players who demand 60+ FPS, the Medium preset at 1440p is the highest resolution that meets this criterion. The Low preset is the fallback option for higher resolutions or when maximum frame rates are desired.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1307 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 55th percentile of all configurations, indicating that it performs slightly above the median. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU’s high multi-core performance (91st percentile) and the GPU’s more modest standing (58th percentile). The CPU’s strength helps boost the combo’s overall ranking, but the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions and settings prevent it from achieving a top-tier position.

The rank of 1307 out of 2911 means that there are 1306 combos that perform better and 1604 that perform worse. This puts the combo in a solid mid-range position, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing playable performance at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but not at 4K with high or ultra presets. The combo is better suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates on Medium settings, and for 1440p gaming on Medium settings, where it maintains a 60 FPS average.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% higher), which suggests that the RX 7700 is competitive with other mid-range cards. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (0.6% slower) and the AMD EPYC 7313P (0.8% slower), indicating that the i7-14700F is a strong performer in its class. Overall, this combo provides a capable gaming experience for The Medium, with the caveat that users must manage settings to achieve their desired frame rate, particularly at higher resolutions.