The Medium

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F serves as the processing foundation for this configuration. It is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on the Raptor Lake architecture and manufactured on a 10 nm process. The base clock runs at 2.10 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and it operates at a 65 W TDP. Cache configuration includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB shared L3. The database lists this CPU with a launch MSRP of $359.

Benchmark results for this processor show strong synthetic performance. In Cinebench R23, it records 35,122 multi-core and 4,958 single-core points. Geekbench scores are 19,620 multi-core and 2,429 single-core. The PassMark multithread score reaches 41,317, with single-thread at 4,257. Integer math performance is 155,808, floating point math is 107,005, and extended instructions score 28,564. The processor's average benchmark score is 53,620, placing it at the 91st percentile among all CPUs in the database.

For The Medium, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining frame pacing and handling the game's fixed camera scenes, which are not heavily threaded. The 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom, but the game's own engine workload does not scale to fully use those resources. The single-core performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,958, is more relevant for the game's logic and draw call submission. The nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Xeon 6505P with an average score of 53,701 (0.2% higher), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 at 53,469 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X at 53,288 (0.6% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53,206 (0.8% lower). This CPU sits effectively on par with these alternatives in aggregate synthetic workloads, indicating that processor selection among these options is unlikely to be the limiting factor in game performance.

The CPU's 28 threads do not directly translate to higher FPS in The Medium, as the game was released in January 2021 and does not exhibit extreme multi-thread scaling. The recorded FPS data across all resolutions and settings shows that the CPU keeps up without bottlenecking even at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work. At 1080p Low, the configuration reaches 129 FPS average, which is the highest recorded value in this dataset, suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding frames well beyond typical display refresh rates. The PassMark physics score of 2,455 and data compression score of 505,885 further indicate robust general processing capability, though these specific workloads are not directly exercised by The Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is the primary performance driver for this game. It uses the GA104 chip from the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung. The GPU has 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It includes 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores. Memory consists of 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. Memory runs at 1188 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective. The GPU's TDP is listed at 290 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3070 Ti delivers a PassMark G3D score of 23,356 and a PassMark GPU compute score of 11,601. The Geekbench Vulkan score is 139,541, while OpenCL is 119,718. DirectX 12 performance in PassMark is 91, and DirectX 11 is 192. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3,478. The average benchmark score is 29,945, placing the GPU at the 75th percentile among all GPUs. Nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile at 29,928 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6800 at 30,095 (0.5% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 29,783 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 at 30,433 (1.6% higher). The RTX 3070 Ti sits squarely between these cards, meaning its performance class is well understood in aggregate.

For The Medium, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra the capacity and bandwidth are stressed. The game's dual-reality rendering, which presents two worlds simultaneously, places a significant load on the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth. The measured FPS drops from 129 FPS at 1080p Low to 30 FPS at 4K Ultra, a reduction of 99 FPS, which is a direct consequence of the GPU being the dominant bottleneck as resolution and settings increase. The RT cores are not specifically utilized by The Medium's rendering path in a way that would show in these non-ray-traced measurements, so the standard raster performance is what the data reflects.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals how the combination of CPU and GPU handles increasing pixel counts. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 129 at 1080p to 109 at 1440p and then to 85 at 4K. This represents a 15.5% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34.1% drop from 1080p to 4K. The decline is moderate, indicating that at Low settings the CPU still has influence, but the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor as resolution rises.

At Medium settings, the average FPS is 81 at 1080p, 68 at 1440p, and 53 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 16.0%, and from 1080p to 4K it is 34.6%. This pattern is similar to Low, showing that the GPU's load scales roughly linearly with pixel count. The minimum FPS at Medium settings also scales: 69 at 1080p, 58 at 1440p, and 45 at 4K, with corresponding maximums of 93, 78, and 61. These min/max values indicate frame time consistency degrades as resolution increases, with the spread between min and max growing slightly at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the average FPS is 58 at 1080p, 49 at 1440p, and 38 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15.5%, and from 1080p to 4K it is 34.5%. The High preset introduces more shading and texture detail, which directly taxes the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and bandwidth. The similarity in percentage drops across Low, Medium, and High (around 15% for 1440p and 34% for 4K) suggests the limiting component is consistently the GPU, with the CPU not introducing a variable bottleneck at these settings.

At Ultra settings, the average FPS is 46 at 1080p, 39 at 1440p, and 30 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15.2%, and from 1080p to 4K is 34.8%. Ultra settings push the GPU to its limits, especially at 4K where the 30 FPS average is at the edge of playability. The overall scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti's performance degrades in a predictable manner as pixel count increases, with no sudden cliff that would indicate a VRAM capacity failure, but the 8 GB capacity is clearly a constraint at 4K Ultra where the game's dual-world rendering demands more memory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data provides a complete matrix of average FPS across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 129 FPS. Medium produces 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93. High yields 58 FPS, and Ultra drops to 46 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is 48 FPS, from Medium to High is 23 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 12 FPS. The diminishing returns are clear: each step up in settings costs less FPS than the previous step, indicating that the GPU's headroom shrinks as quality improves.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 109 FPS. Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 and maximum of 78. High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 39 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 41 FPS, Medium to High is 19 FPS, and High to Ultra is 10 FPS. The pattern mirrors 1080p but with lower absolute values. The min/max data at Medium shows a 20 FPS spread, which is consistent with the 24 FPS spread at 1080p Medium, indicating frame pacing remains stable.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 85 FPS. Medium averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 and maximum of 61. High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 32 FPS, Medium to High is 15 FPS, and High to Ultra is 8 FPS. The min/max at Medium shows a 16 FPS spread, which is tighter than at lower resolutions, a sign that at 4K the GPU is consistently saturated and frame times are more uniform. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is exactly at the threshold where many users would consider the game barely playable, and the 4K High result of 38 FPS offers a slight improvement.

The data shows that the Medium preset provides the only rows with min/max FPS recorded, which are 69/93 at 1080p, 58/78 at 1440p, and 45/61 at 4K. These recorded ranges indicate that the Medium preset is where the engine's frame pacing is most variable, likely due to the balance between CPU and GPU load. At Low and High, the absence of min/max data suggests the frame times were more uniform in the measurement, though the average values are the primary reference.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks at position 1,304 out of 3,724 tested combos in the database for The Medium. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, roughly at the 65th percentile. The ranking reflects the GPU's mid-to-high-end status (75th percentile among all GPUs) combined with a high-end CPU (91st percentile among all CPUs). The CPU is not holding back the GPU, as evidenced by the consistent FPS scaling across resolutions.

Within the context of the game, this combo outperforms configurations with weaker GPUs but similar CPUs. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (0.5% higher average score) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (0.5% lower), would likely produce nearly identical FPS in The Medium, given the small synthetic deltas. The RTX 3070 Ti's 8 GB VRAM and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are the defining characteristics for this game's dual-world rendering, and the ranking reflects that the card is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but marginal at 4K.

The combo rank of 1,304 out of 3,724 means that about 2,420 other combos are slower, while about 1,303 are faster. This is a solid mid-field position for a horror game that is not known for extreme performance demands. The data indicates that this pairing is well balanced: the CPU's high percentile ensures it is never the bottleneck, and the GPU's performance class determines the final FPS. Users with this combo should expect performance in line with other RTX 3070 Ti systems, with the CPU providing headroom for future GPU upgrades without needing a platform change.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 81 FPS average with a minimum of 69 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. At 1440p, Medium averages 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS, which is near the 60 FPS mark and acceptable for most displays. At 4K, Medium averages 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced scenes.

The High preset provides a 58 FPS average at 1080p, which is below the Medium preset's 81 FPS, and the visual uplift from Medium to High is not proportional to the 23 FPS loss. At 1440p, High averages 49 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target, and at 4K it drops to 38 FPS. The Ultra preset is the least recommended: 46 FPS at 1080p, 39 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The 30 FPS at 4K Ultra is at the border of playability, and the visual differences between Ultra and High are typically minor in this title.

The Low preset delivers the highest FPS (129 at 1080p, 109 at 1440p, 85 at 4K) but sacrifices the game's atmospheric lighting and texture detail, which are central to the horror experience. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot where the game's visual identity is preserved while maintaining acceptable frame rates. The min FPS of 45 at 4K Medium indicates that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 40 FPS, which is a reasonable floor for a game that does not require twitch reflexes.

For users with a 60 Hz display, the Medium preset at 1440p is the highest quality setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS. For 1080p users, the High preset at 58 FPS is close to 60 FPS, but the Medium preset's 81 FPS provides more headroom for drops. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only setting that stays above 50 FPS average, making it the default choice for 4K displays. The data strongly supports Medium as the recommended preset across all resolutions, with High as a viable alternative for 1080p users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate.