The Medium

The Medium on this Intel Core i7-14700F and GeForce GTX 1660 Ti pairing is a study in GPU-bound scaling. The data shows a clear pattern: resolution and settings dictate playability far more than the CPU’s capability. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 71.6 FPS, which is the only row that approaches high-refresh territory. By the time you reach 4K Ultra, the average collapses to 14.7 FPS, confirming that the GTX 1660 Ti is the definitive bottleneck in this build.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and linear, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 71.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 62.4 FPS at 2560x1440, then plunges to 45.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 36% reduction from 1080p to 4K on the lowest preset. The pattern repeats across all settings, but the absolute impact is larger at higher quality levels. For instance, on High settings, the 1080p average of 32.7 FPS drops to 27.8 FPS at 1440p and then to 21.8 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K is the worst case, reaching just 14.7 FPS.

What this scaling tells you is that the GTX 1660 Ti’s rasterization throughput and memory bandwidth are exhausted long before the CPU becomes relevant. The Core i7-14700F does not show any signs of being a limiting factor in the measured rows; the frame rate deltas between resolutions are entirely consistent with a GPU that is working harder as pixel count rises. If this were a CPU bottleneck, you would expect the 1080p numbers to be much closer to the 1440p numbers, but they are not. The 23% difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low (71.6 to 62.4 FPS) and the 27% drop from 1440p to 4K (62.4 to 45.6 FPS) indicate that the graphics card is the sole constraint. For a practical takeaway: this is not a system where lowering resolution alone will unlock high refresh rates at high settings; you must also drop the preset.

GPU Role

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a Turing-generation card with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. With a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, it delivers 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In the benchmark database, this GPU sits at the 55th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13925. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 570X (0.4% higher score) and the NVIDIA Tesla K10 (0.7% lower score), which shows it is a firmly mid-range part.

The VRAM capacity and bandwidth are the primary suspects for the poor scaling at 4K. The Medium is a horror game with heavy fixed-perspective scenes; at 3840x2160, the 6 GB frame buffer is likely being saturated, especially on Ultra settings. The measured data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the card manages only 14.7 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 4K Medium, the 27 FPS average is below the threshold for comfortable play. The 12 Gbps effective memory speed is not enough to compensate for the resolution’s demands. In contrast, at 1080p Low, the card hits 71.6 FPS, suggesting that the memory bandwidth is adequate for lower pixel counts. The GTX 1660 Ti’s 12871 Passmark G3D score and 5226 compute score align with a card that can handle 1080p gaming but is out of its depth at higher resolutions. The data indicates that this GPU is the limiting component in every measured row, and any attempt to improve frame rates must involve reducing its workload.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on Raptor Lake Refresh, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It has 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 35443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5003 in single-core, placing it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 54097, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 1.1% lower than the Ryzen 9 9900X3D.

Given this CPU’s strength, the measured FPS in The Medium are entirely GPU-bound. The single-core performance of 5003 in Cinebench R23 is more than sufficient to feed the GTX 1660 Ti in a horror game that is not known for heavy physics or simulation. The multi-core muscle (20 cores, 28 threads) is largely irrelevant here; the game’s engine does not appear to scale with the thread count in a way that would change these results. The CPU’s high percentile ranking (94%) compared to the GPU’s mid-range ranking (55%) confirms the imbalance. If you were to pair this same GPU with a weaker CPU, you might see identical FPS numbers in this game, because the GTX 1660 Ti is the ceiling. Conversely, upgrading the GPU would yield massive gains, while upgrading the CPU would not change a single frame in this title. The data suggests that for The Medium specifically, the i7-14700F is overkill; it is not a factor in any of the 12 measured rows.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system to play The Medium?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo achieves playable averages across all settings. At 1080p Low it hits 71.6 FPS, and even at 1080p High it reaches 32.7 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (62.4 FPS) is smooth, while 4K is below 46 FPS on every preset.

Q: Why does 4K Ultra only get 14.7 FPS?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti’s 6 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 3840x2160 at the highest quality. The 4K Ultra row is the lowest in the dataset, and the card’s 55th percentile ranking among GPUs indicates it is a mid-range part not designed for that workload.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F holding back the GTX 1660 Ti?

A: No. The CPU is at the 94th percentile with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003, while the GPU is at the 55th percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU bottleneck, meaning the i7-14700F has ample headroom.

Q: Can I play at 1440p with this setup?

A: Only with Low settings, which yields 62.4 FPS. Medium at 1440p drops to 35.4 FPS, and High falls to 27.8 FPS. If you target 60 FPS, 1440p Low is the only viable option in the measured data.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for The Medium?

A: The combo is ranked 1485 out of 1689 total combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of tested hardware. This reflects the GPU’s limitations in this specific game, not the CPU’s performance.

Q: What setting should I use at 1080p for a smooth experience?

A: For a consistent 60+ FPS, 1080p Low at 71.6 FPS is the only measured row above that threshold. If you prefer higher visuals, 1080p Medium at 43.7 FPS is the next best, but it falls short of 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data gives a clear hierarchy for this hardware. If you prioritize frame rate, the only row that achieves a 60 FPS average is 1920x1080 with Low settings, hitting 71.6 FPS. This is the recommended preset for a responsive experience, especially in a horror game where smooth camera movement matters. The next step up, 1080p Medium, provides 43.7 FPS, which is acceptable for a slower-paced title but not ideal. At 1440p, Low is the only playable option at 62.4 FPS, but you sacrifice visual fidelity.

For those willing to accept lower frame rates for better image quality, 1080p High at 32.7 FPS is a borderline option, but the drop from Low to High is a 54% performance penalty. The same settings at 1440p (27.8 FPS) and 4K (21.8 FPS) are not recommended for consistent play. Avoid Ultra entirely; at 1080p it only reaches 25 FPS, and at 4K it is a slideshow at 14.7 FPS. The data suggests that the GTX 1660 Ti cannot handle the Ultra preset’s additional shading and texture loads at any resolution. A practical rule from these rows: use Low at 1080p for speed, or Medium at 1080p if you must have better visuals and can tolerate sub-50 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The lowest resolution provides the best results. Low settings yield 71.6 FPS average, which is the highest number in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 43.7 FPS, a 39% reduction. High is next at 32.7 FPS, and Ultra is the worst at 25 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (11 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (7.7 FPS), indicating a steep quality curve on this card.

2560x1440: Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings are still playable at 62.4 FPS. Medium falls to 35.4 FPS, and High is 27.8 FPS. Ultra at 1440p is 23.6 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. The drop from 1080p to 1440p on Low is 9.2 FPS (71.6 to 62.4), while on High it is 4.9 FPS (32.7 to 27.8), showing that the GPU’s limits are more apparent at lower settings.

3840x2160: At 4K, the GTX 1660 Ti struggles across the board. Low settings average 45.6 FPS, which is the only 4K row above 30 FPS. Medium is 27 FPS, High is 21.8 FPS, and Ultra is 14.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 18.6 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is only 5.2 FPS. This suggests that the 6 GB VRAM buffer and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks at this resolution, as the performance collapses regardless of preset. For any 4K play, only Low is viable, and even then, it is not a smooth 60 FPS experience.