The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a unique load profile where resolution and settings interact in ways that clearly separate GPU-bound scaling from CPU-bound ceilings. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination provides a complete grid of average frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets, offering a precise look at where this system's bottlenecks lie.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, though the degree of impact varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a drop from 149 FPS to 98 FPS, a reduction of 51 FPS or roughly 34%. This relatively modest decline suggests that at Low settings, even at 4K, the RTX 3080 Ti has enough headroom that the CPU is still contributing meaningfully to the final frame rate. The 1080p Low score of 149 FPS is the highest recorded for this combo in any configuration, indicating that the i7-14700F is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling becomes steeper. The 1080p Medium average is 93 FPS, which falls to 78 FPS at 1440p and then to 61 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 15 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 17 FPS, showing a near-linear degradation as pixel count increases. The 4K Medium result includes a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS, indicating that the playable range at this setting is tightly clustered around the average, with no severe frame time spikes.

High settings amplify the resolution sensitivity further. The 1080p High average of 67 FPS drops to 56 FPS at 1440p and then to 44 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 34%, identical to the Low preset's relative decline, but the absolute numbers are much lower. At Ultra settings, the pattern continues but with the lowest absolute values: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset's 4K result is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 40 FPS average.

The data suggests that The Medium is heavily GPU-bound at every resolution above 1080p Low. The fact that 1080p Low reaches 149 FPS while 4K Ultra sits at 35 FPS — a 4.26x difference — points to the rendering complexity scaling almost entirely with pixel count and shader complexity. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, never appears to be the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution rather than hitting a plateau.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a combo rank of 901 out of 3724 tested combinations for The Medium. This places the system in the top 24.2% of all tested configurations, a strong showing that reflects the balance between the CPU's high multi-threaded performance and the GPU's substantial rasterization capabilities.

The CPU alone holds a percentile rank of 91 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the Intel Xeon 6505P at 53701 (a 0.2% difference), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 at 53469 (0.3% higher than this chip), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X at 53288 (0.6% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53206 (0.8% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the i7-14700F sits in a tightly contested performance tier where synthetic scores alone do not predict gaming outcomes.

The GPU, meanwhile, holds a percentile rank of 83 among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 41187. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 40870 (0.8% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB at 41707 (1.2% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 at 41897 (1.7% higher). The RTX 3080 Ti's 83rd percentile rank is notably lower than the CPU's 91st, suggesting that in this pairing, the GPU is the more modest component relative to its peers.

The combo rank of 901 out of 3724 indicates that while this system is capable, there are many combinations that achieve higher frame rates in The Medium. The data shows that the CPU's high percentile does not fully translate into an elite gaming rank because the game is GPU-bound at most settings. The system's strength lies in its consistency across resolutions rather than in topping any particular performance chart.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average is 149 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that exceeds 125 FPS, with the next closest being 125 FPS at 2560x1440 Low.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: The 1080p Medium average is 93 FPS, while the 4K Medium average is 61 FPS. This represents a 32 FPS reduction, or approximately a 34.4% drop in average frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the frame rate scales from 149 FPS at 1080p to 98 FPS at 4K, showing that even with reduced graphical load, resolution still heavily impacts performance. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested settings.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The only configurations with recorded minimum frame rates are the Medium presets. The lowest minimum is 52 FPS at 3840x2160 Medium, while 2560x1440 Medium has a minimum of 67 FPS and 1920x1080 Medium has a minimum of 79 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested combinations in the database?

A: This combo ranks 901st out of 3724 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the top 24.2% of all systems tested.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the system achieve a 60 FPS average or higher?

A: The system achieves 60 FPS or higher at 4K Low (98 FPS), 4K Medium (61 FPS), 1440p Low (125 FPS), 1440p Medium (78 FPS), 1440p High (56 FPS falls short), 1080p Low (149 FPS), 1080p Medium (93 FPS), and 1080p High (67 FPS). The 4K High (44 FPS) and all Ultra presets (35-53 FPS) fall below this threshold.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in The Medium. For players targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the 4K Medium preset is the only 4K option that meets this goal, with an average of 61 FPS and a minimum of 52 FPS. The minimum is below 60, so there may be brief dips, but the average is sufficient for smooth gameplay. The 4K Low preset offers a more comfortable margin at 98 FPS average, though this comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 78 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS, providing a solid experience with headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1440p drops to 56 FPS average, which is below the target. For those who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, the 1440p High setting may still be acceptable for a slow-paced horror title, but the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual features and performance consistency.

At 1080p, the Medium preset achieves 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 1080p produces 67 FPS average, which is also viable, especially for players with 60 Hz monitors who want better shadows and textures. The Ultra preset at any resolution is difficult to recommend given the data: the 1080p Ultra score of 53 FPS is only 14 FPS lower than the 1080p High score, but the visual difference between High and Ultra in this title is unlikely to justify the performance cost.

The data suggests that Medium settings provide the most consistent experience across all resolutions, with the smallest gap between average and minimum frame rates. The 4K Medium configuration is the only 4K setting with a recorded minimum (52 FPS), and the 1440p and 1080p Medium presets both show tight minimum-to-average gaps of 11-14 FPS. For the best experience per the measured rows, Medium at 1440p offers the highest average frame rate that still maintains a comfortable minimum above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo shows a clear progression across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with 149 FPS average, followed by Medium at 93 FPS (minimum 79, maximum 107), then High at 67 FPS, and finally Ultra at 53 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 96 FPS, a 64.4% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a massive rendering cost relative to the lowest settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 125 FPS average, which is 24 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset at 1440p achieves 78 FPS (minimum 67, maximum 90), a 15 FPS drop from 1080p Medium. The High preset falls to 56 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 80 FPS, a 64% reduction, mirroring the proportional scaling seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset still manages 98 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS target and demonstrates the GPU's raw horsepower. The Medium preset delivers 61 FPS (minimum 52, maximum 71), barely crossing the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset drops to 44 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is the lowest score in the entire dataset, representing a 76.5% reduction from the 4K Low score.

The Medium preset is the only setting where all three resolutions have recorded minimum and maximum values, providing the most complete picture of frame time consistency. The 1080p Medium range spans 79 to 107 FPS, the 1440p Medium range spans 67 to 90 FPS, and the 4K Medium range spans 52 to 71 FPS. These ranges show that the frame pacing remains stable across resolutions, with the range width staying relatively constant at roughly 19-28 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 2.10 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, and it carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 2 MB of L2 cache per core. This configuration is heavily skewed toward multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and single-core score of 4958.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The highest frame rate recorded (149 FPS at 1080p Low) suggests that the CPU can handle the game's simulation and draw call overhead at high frame rates, but the game's fixed-camera design likely limits the number of visible objects and thus the CPU load. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4257 and multi-thread score of 41317 indicate strong performance in both single-threaded and multi-threaded scenarios, but the game's engine appears to scale primarily with GPU workload.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 1% of its average score, including the Intel Xeon 6505P (0.2% lower), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (0.6% higher), and AMD EPYC 7313P (0.8% higher). This tight clustering means that swapping to any of these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, as the game does not appear to be CPU-limited at any tested resolution or setting. The CPU's 91st percentile rank among all processors further confirms that it is not a weak link in this system.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, manufactured on Samsung's 8 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. The GPU has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. Its base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost of 1665 MHz, and memory runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective).

The GPU's performance in The Medium is clearly the dominant factor in the measured results. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at every setting shows a consistent reduction in frame rate that correlates with pixel count. At Low settings, the GPU can sustain 98 FPS at 4K, which is impressive but still 34% lower than the 1080p result. At Ultra settings, the 4K result of 35 FPS suggests the GPU is being pushed to its limits, with the 34.10 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 186.5 GPixel/s pixel rate being insufficient for the combined demands of high-resolution rendering and the game's post-processing effects.

The GPU's 83rd percentile rank among all graphics cards is lower than the CPU's 91st percentile, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (0.8% lower average score) and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB (1.2% higher). The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for all tested settings, but the game's performance at 4K Ultra suggests that memory bandwidth (912.4 GB/s) is being heavily utilized. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 26896 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 provide context for its overall capability, but the in-game results show that The Medium's rendering demands are particularly heavy at high resolutions.