The Medium

The Medium presents a uniquely demanding workload, and the Intel Core i7-14700F combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a dataset that clearly illustrates where the bottlenecks lie in this horror title. The measured frames per second across resolutions and settings reveal a configuration that is consistently capable but requires careful settings management to hit higher refresh rates. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics of this specific pairing, interpreting the measured results against the broader context of the benchmark database.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is not linear, and the pattern reveals a significant dependence on the GPU. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces an average of 53.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings, the average falls to 46.9 FPS, a reduction of 6.6 FPS. Scaling up to 4K Ultra yields 36.5 FPS, which is a further drop of 10.4 FPS from the 1440p result. This shows a steep decline as pixel count increases, a classic sign that the RTX 4070 is the primary limiting factor at the highest fidelity settings.

However, the scaling behavior changes dramatically when settings are lowered. At Low settings, the average frame rate at 1080p is 151 FPS. This drops to 126.7 FPS at 1440p, a difference of 24.3 FPS. When moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the frame rate falls from 126.7 to 98.4 FPS, a drop of 28.3 FPS. In this scenario, the resolution scaling is more substantial in absolute terms, but the percentages tell a different story. The performance at 4K Low is still more than double the performance at 4K Ultra, indicating that the graphical settings have a massive impact on the GPU load.

The data shows that the gap between 1080p and 4K narrows as settings are reduced. At Ultra, the 4K score is roughly 68% of the 1080p score (36.5 / 53.5). At Low settings, the 4K score is roughly 65% of the 1080p score (98.4 / 151). This relatively consistent ratio, despite the massive difference in raw FPS, suggests that the game's engine is not becoming CPU-bound at lower settings; the GPU remains the dominant constraint. The benchmark results indicate a configuration where the CPU has ample headroom, and the RTX 4070's workload scales predictably with resolution, but the impact of settings is immense.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the decisive component in this pairing for The Medium. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is a substantial resource for a game that can be demanding on memory capacity and throughput. While the fact pack does not provide specific VRAM usage metrics, the smooth scaling from Low to Ultra at all resolutions suggests that the 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient to handle the game's assets at 4K, as the configuration does not exhibit a sudden performance collapse that would indicate memory swapping.

The GPU's clock speeds are also a key factor. The base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz are the figures that define its operating range. The benchmark results show that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 36.5, which is a demanding load that will keep the GPU at or near its boost clock. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the average FPS of 151 is a much lighter load. In this scenario, the GPU is likely not the limiting factor, and its clocks may not need to sustain their maximum boost to achieve that frame rate.

This points to a GPU that is well-suited for high-fidelity 1440p gaming but is challenged at 4K with maximum settings. The data shows that the RTX 4070 can deliver a playable 46.7 FPS at 4K High, but for a smoother experience, dropping to Medium settings at 4K yields 62.8 FPS. The GPU's compute capabilities, with 5888 shading units and 46 RT cores, are being heavily utilized by the game's fixed-camera angles and complex lighting, making the choice of preset more critical than the resolution for achieving higher frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 holds a rank of 375 out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 22% of all systems tested, a strong showing that indicates a high level of performance. The rank reflects the overall capability of the pairing across all resolutions and settings, and the data suggests that this system is more powerful than the vast majority of configurations in the database.

The combo's rank is a function of both components, but the GPU's influence is likely more pronounced in this game. The CPU, with its average benchmark score of 54097, is a high-end part that sits in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, with an average benchmark score of 37283, is in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU's percentile might suggest that the CPU is helping to push the system into a higher tier than the GPU alone would achieve.

The position of 375 out of 1689 combos is a clear indicator that this system is built for high-end gaming. It outranks the vast majority of user configurations, but it is not at the very top, where more powerful GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090 would reside. For The Medium, this rank suggests that the system will handle the game at high settings at 1440p with ease, and it can manage 4K with some adjustments to the quality presets, solidifying its position as a capable high-end setup.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear map of performance across the three primary resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The Low preset yields an average of 151 FPS, which drops to 93.8 FPS at Medium, 69 FPS at High, and 53.5 FPS at Ultra. This is a predictable progression, with each quality tier imposing a significant cost. The spread from Low to Ultra is 97.5 FPS, demonstrating the scale of the performance impact of the game's visual features.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 126.7 FPS for Low, 82 FPS for Medium, 55.9 FPS for High, and 46.9 FPS for Ultra. The 1440p results show that the system is still very capable, with even the High preset delivering a frame rate above 55 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra at 1440p is 9 FPS, which is less severe than the drop from High to Ultra at 1080p (15.5 FPS), suggesting that at higher resolutions, the GPU is becoming more saturated and the relative cost of each setting is changing.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the system's limits. The Low preset delivers 98.4 FPS, which is still very smooth, but the Medium preset drops to 62.8 FPS. The High preset yields 46.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings the average down to 36.5 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K is a drop of 61.9 FPS, showing that the RTX 4070 is being pushed to its limits. The results indicate that for 4K gaming, the user must choose between high frame rates with lower fidelity or a more cinematic experience with Ultra settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides a formidable foundation for this configuration. With 20 cores and 28 threads, this processor is a multi-threading powerhouse, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and its overall 94th percentile ranking against all CPUs. In The Medium, this level of CPU performance is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4070. The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution or setting, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, provides both high multi-core throughput and strong single-core performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003. This combination is ideal for a game like The Medium, which may have demanding AI and physics calculations in addition to the graphical load. The high boost clock ensures that the primary gaming threads can run at maximum speed, while the many cores handle background tasks and the game's overall logic.

The benchmark results indicate that the CPU has significant headroom. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is less stressed and frame rates are high at 151 FPS, the CPU is able to keep up without limiting performance. This is corroborated by the fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low is significantly higher than at 1440p Low, proving that the GPU is the factor that is limiting performance as the resolution increases. The i7-14700F is a high-end component that ensures the system's performance ceiling is determined by the graphics card, not the processor.