The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around dual-reality rendering, places a distinctive load on hardware. For the combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, the measured data reveals a system that is exceptionally capable at mainstream resolutions but begins to strain under the weight of 4K and maximum settings. The following analysis breaks down the benchmark results for this specific pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: The benchmark data shows an average of 87.4 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This represents a solid baseline, but the GPU has significant headroom to push higher settings at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset yields an average of 55.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 41.5 FPS. This indicates a 25.8% performance penalty for the Ultra preset, which may not be justifiable given the visual gains.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data shows 4K performance is playable but not ideal. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset averages 57.4 FPS, while High drops to 43.3 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below playable thresholds at 37.2 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 142.7 FPS, while Ultra averages 53.7 FPS. This represents a 62.4% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 54097, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 1.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D. It performs slightly better than the Intel Xeon Phi 7290, which it leads by 1.2%.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all tested GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 sits in the 80th percentile for all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 35787. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores nearly identically, with a delta of -0.2%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across resolutions indicates that the optimal experience depends heavily on the target display. At 1920x1080, the RTX 3080 is powerful enough to handle the High preset with an average of 64.9 FPS, but the jump to Ultra drops to 53.7 FPS. For a smoother experience, the Medium preset at 87.4 FPS offers a substantial frame rate advantage with only a modest visual compromise. However, the data suggests that High is the sweet spot at 1080p, delivering a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining visual fidelity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation becomes more nuanced. The High preset averages 55.9 FPS, which is slightly below the 60 FPS target but playable. The Medium preset at 72.8 FPS provides a safer margin for maintaining consistent performance. The Ultra preset at 41.5 FPS is not recommended for this resolution, as the visual upgrade does not compensate for the significant frame rate loss. For players prioritizing a locked 60 FPS experience, Medium is the recommended preset at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 is clearly pushed to its limits. The Medium preset averages 57.4 FPS, which is marginally below the 60 FPS target but represents the best balance of quality and performance at this resolution. The High preset at 43.3 FPS is playable but may feel less fluid in fast-moving scenes. The Ultra preset at 37.2 FPS is not recommended for 4K gaming. The data indicates that Medium is the highest playable setting at 4K for this hardware combination.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary driver of frame rate in The Medium, given that the game's rendering engine is heavily GPU-bound. The GPU's memory configuration is a critical factor. With 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, the RTX 3080 provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with High or Ultra settings, the memory capacity may become a limiting factor, contributing to the significant frame rate drops observed at higher resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1710 MHz, are consistent with the Ampere architecture. The 8704 shading units and 68 RT cores are relevant for The Medium's use of ray-traced effects and dual-world rendering. The benchmark results show that the GPU's compute capabilities, evidenced by a Passmark G3D score of 25086, translate into strong performance at lower resolutions. However, the 80th percentile ranking for all GPUs indicates that while this is a high-end card, it is not at the absolute top tier. The data suggests that the GPU's performance is well-matched to the CPU, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings changes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope is broad. The Low preset delivers an average of 142.7 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the bottleneck at this setting. The Medium preset reduces this to 87.4 FPS, and High further reduces it to 64.9 FPS. The Ultra preset brings the frame rate down to 53.7 FPS. This progression shows a clear performance curve, with each step up in quality costing approximately 20-25% of the previous frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are more constrained. The Low preset averages 123.9 FPS, which is still very high. The Medium preset drops to 72.8 FPS, and High averages 55.9 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 41.5 FPS. The delta between Medium and High at this resolution is 23.2%, which is smaller than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of the higher pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low averages 93.1 FPS, which is still playable. Medium averages 57.4 FPS, and High drops to 43.3 FPS. Ultra averages 37.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 38.3%, and the difference between Medium and High is 24.6%. This data shows that the RTX 3080 can handle 4K, but only at lower settings for a consistent experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 493rd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the combo in the 70.8th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it outperforms the majority of hardware pairings in this game. The rank reflects a system that is well-balanced for this title, though it is not at the top tier where only the most powerful CPUs and GPUs reside.

The CPU's performance is a contributing factor to this ranking. With an average benchmark score of 54097, the i7-14700F is in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 9900X3D, score slightly higher, with deltas of -0.6% and -1.1% respectively. This indicates that the CPU is providing sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios. The GPU, while in the 80th percentile, has a lower relative standing than the CPU, but its performance in The Medium is still strong enough to secure a solid overall rank. The data suggests that the combination is well-matched, with neither component severely limiting the other, resulting in a ranking that is competitive but not at the very top of the chart.