The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both GPU and CPU, and the combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti delivers a wide range of performance depending on how you configure it. The measured data shows a clear hierarchy across presets and resolutions, with the system capable of high refresh rate play at 1080p but requiring compromises to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for most users, offering a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 112.2 FPS, which is 32% higher than the High preset's 84.8 FPS and 75% higher than the Ultra preset's 64.2 FPS. This makes Medium the best choice for players with standard 1080p monitors seeking a smooth, responsive experience without significant visual concessions.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the recommended setting, producing 98 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid gameplay, while the High preset drops to 69.4 FPS and Ultra falls to 53.6 FPS. The data shows that Medium at 1440p provides a 41% improvement over High and an 83% improvement over Ultra, making it the most effective way to enjoy the game at this resolution with a high refresh rate display.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset is still the best choice, though it drops to 74.1 FPS. This remains playable and is substantially better than the High preset's 52.5 FPS and the Ultra preset's 44.3 FPS. The Low preset at 4K achieves 120 FPS, but the visual quality loss is significant enough that the Medium preset's 74.1 FPS is the better overall experience for most users, given the horror genre's reliance on atmospheric detail.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the primary driver of performance in The Medium, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across settings. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for the game's high-resolution textures and dual-reality rendering, which is a hallmark of The Medium's horror presentation.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest on paper, with a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2452 MHz, but the architecture compensates with 8960 shading units and 70 RT cores. The measured performance shows that the RTX 5070 Ti is well-suited to handle the game's demands, as the frame rate differences between Low and Ultra presets are substantial across all resolutions. At 1080p, the jump from Low (175.5 FPS) to Ultra (64.2 FPS) represents a 63% reduction, indicating that the GPU is being pushed harder with each preset increase.

The GPU's 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 686.6 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient for this title, as the data shows the card can achieve high frame rates even at 4K with the Low preset. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K does not encounter memory bottlenecks, which would manifest as stuttering or texture pop-in. The RTX 5070 Ti's percentile ranking of 87 among all GPUs further confirms its strong position for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the limiting component in this configuration. At the Low preset, the system achieves 175.5 FPS at 1080p, 155.5 FPS at 1440p, and 120 FPS at 4K. This represents a 31% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a relatively modest drop and suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated at lower resolutions.

At the Ultra preset, the scaling is more pronounced. The system delivers 64.2 FPS at 1080p, 53.6 FPS at 1440p, and 44.3 FPS at 4K, a 31% reduction from 1080p to 4K as well. This consistent percentage drop across presets indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at all settings, as the resolution increase places additional load on the render pipeline.

The data shows that the Intel Core i7-14700F is not a bottleneck in this game. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, provide ample processing power. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35443 and single-core score of 5003 place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, confirming it can feed the GPU effectively. The frame rate differences between resolutions are entirely attributable to the GPU's workload, as the CPU's performance headroom remains constant regardless of resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows a wide performance envelope. The Low preset achieves 175.5 FPS, which is exceptional for a horror title with complex lighting. Medium produces 112.2 FPS, High delivers 84.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 64.2 FPS. This represents a 63% difference between the lowest and highest quality presets, giving players substantial control over their performance target.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still strong. Low delivers 155.5 FPS, Medium produces 98 FPS, High achieves 69.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 53.6 FPS. The Medium preset remains above 90 FPS, which is ideal for 1440p gamers with high refresh rate monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 66%, slightly wider than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance becomes more constrained. Low achieves 120 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K gaming. Medium drops to 74.1 FPS, High falls to 52.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 44.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 63%, consistent with the other resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 74.1 FPS is the recommended target for a smooth experience, while Ultra at 44.3 FPS is best suited for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for playing The Medium at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset is the optimal choice, delivering 98 FPS at 1440p. This is 41% faster than the High preset's 69.4 FPS and 83% faster than the Ultra preset's 53.6 FPS, providing a smooth experience without significant visual compromise.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 achieves 44.3 FPS on average. While this is playable for a slower-paced horror game, it is noticeably below the 60 FPS threshold, and the Medium preset at 74.1 FPS is a better option for most users.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F a bottleneck for the RTX 5070 Ti in this game?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets, showing a 31% reduction from 1080p to 4K at both Low and Ultra settings, which points to the GPU as the limiting component.

Q: What VRAM capacity does the RTX 5070 Ti have, and is it sufficient?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti comes with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory. This is more than sufficient for The Medium, as the game does not appear to hit memory limits even at the Ultra preset with 4K resolution, based on the consistent frame rate behavior.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to its closest rival in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 52086, which places it at a 0% delta compared to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (52085). It is 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 and 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7700S.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 84.8 FPS while the Ultra preset achieves 64.2 FPS. This represents a 24% reduction in frame rate when moving from High to Ultra, for a relatively modest increase in visual quality settings.