The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique workload that stresses both the CPU and GPU heavily due to its dual-reality rendering technique. The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a performance spectrum that ranges from highly playable to brutally demanding, depending on the resolution and preset selected. The data shows that this pairing ranks 12th out of 1,689 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all systems for this specific game, a position that reflects the raw horsepower of both components.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this hardware?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At this resolution, the Medium preset delivers 117.3 FPS and the High preset delivers 82.2 FPS, both well above the 60 FPS threshold. While 1920x1080 offers higher frame rates, the visual fidelity at 2560x1440 is superior, and the performance remains fluid.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K (3840x2160) gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The High preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 67.6 FPS, which is playable. However, the Ultra preset drops to 53.4 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. To maintain a smooth experience at 4K, players should stick to the High preset or below.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306. It is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 5090 D and 0.2% ahead of the RTX 5050 Mobile. It also holds a 1.3% lead over the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, while trailing the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by 1.6%.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700F a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: Given that this combo ranks 12th out of 1,689 tested systems, the i7-14700F is clearly not a significant bottleneck. Its 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample processing power to keep the RTX 5090 fed, especially at lower resolutions where CPU load is higher.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 165.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 63.4 FPS. This represents a performance drop of over 100 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a massive load on the GPU.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 54,097. It is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, while being 1.2% behind the Intel Xeon Phi 7290.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the undisputed performance driver in this pairing. Its massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a staggering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for The Medium's dual-world rendering technique that requires loading and processing two full scenes simultaneously. The GPU's 21,760 shading units and 170 RT cores are put to work processing the complex lighting and reflections that define the game's eerie atmosphere. The high pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s ensure that the game's detailed environments are rendered without any texture streaming hitches.

The benchmark results illustrate the GPU's scaling across presets. At 3840x2160, the RTX 5090 manages 145.2 FPS on Low, 89.7 FPS on Medium, and 67.6 FPS on High, before dropping to 53.4 FPS on Ultra. This pattern shows that the Ultra preset is exceptionally demanding, likely due to advanced post-processing effects and shadow quality. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power allows it to brute-force these settings, but the data suggests that even this flagship card cannot guarantee a locked 60 FPS at 4K with everything maxed out. At 2560x1440, the same preset ladder yields 165.6, 117.3, 82.2, and 63.4 FPS respectively, showing a healthier margin above the 60 FPS target.

The RTX 5090's performance relative to its peers is notable. With a percentile ranking of 94 against all GPUs, it sits at the apex of consumer graphics. Its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, is virtually identical, with a delta of just 0.1%. The RTX 5050 Mobile, despite its name, also posts a nearly identical average score, being only 0.2% slower. This indicates that the desktop 5090 and these specific alternatives are in the same performance tier for synthetic benchmarks. The game-specific results, however, show that the 5090 is well-suited to handle the high-resolution textures and shader complexity of The Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F provides the processing foundation for this system. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it offers a robust multi-threaded capability that is essential for the game's complex AI routines and physics calculations. The CPU's architecture, Raptor Lake-R, is built on a 10 nm process and can boost up to 5.40 GHz, ensuring that single-threaded tasks, such as game logic and draw call submission, are executed with minimal latency. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps to keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory stalls.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i7-14700F scores 35,443 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5,003 in single-core, demonstrating a balanced profile. Its Geekbench scores of 16,571 multi-core and 2,711 single-core further confirm its strength. The CPU's average benchmark score of 54,097 places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of processors on the market. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, is a mere 0.6% faster, while the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is 1.1% faster. This puts the i7-14700F in a competitive position, though the data shows it is not the absolute fastest CPU available.

The CPU's role in The Medium is less about raw frame rate and more about maintaining consistent frame times. As the resolution decreases, the CPU becomes a more significant factor. At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 175.5 FPS, a figure that requires a capable processor to keep up with the GPU. The i7-14700F's high boost clock and 28 threads ensure that it can feed the RTX 5090 with enough data to achieve these high frame rates without stuttering. The 65W TDP is a modest figure for a 20-core processor, underscoring its efficiency in handling gaming workloads.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance for this combo. For the best experience, the Medium preset is the recommended choice across all resolutions. It offers a substantial performance uplift over High while maintaining a visually rich presentation. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset achieves 89.7 FPS, which is a 33% improvement over the High preset’s 67.6 FPS. This jump is significant enough to ensure smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 117.3 FPS, which is an excellent result for a horror game that benefits from fluid camera movement. It is a 43% improvement over the High preset’s 82.2 FPS. This setting allows for a perfect balance between visual fidelity and performance, making it the ideal choice for most players. The Low preset at this resolution hits 165.6 FPS, but the graphical compromises are likely too severe for a game that relies on atmosphere and detail.

For 1920x1080, the Medium preset yields 136.8 FPS, providing a very smooth experience. The High preset at 98.5 FPS is also viable, offering higher visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. Even at 1080p, it only achieves 80.5 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 53.4 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. The performance cost of Ultra is too high relative to the visual gains over the High preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination holds the 12th position out of 1,689 tested combos in The Medium. This ranking places the system in the top 0.7% of all configurations tested, indicating that it is one of the most capable systems for this game. The high rank is a direct result of the RTX 5090's dominant GPU performance, which is supplemented by the i7-14700F's strong multi-threaded scores.

This ranking is particularly impressive given the age of the game, as The Medium's dual-reality rendering is a known performance hog. The fact that this combo can achieve a 67.6 FPS average at 4K High demonstrates the raw power of the RTX 5090. The CPU’s contribution is also notable; without a processor capable of high single-thread performance, such as the i7-14700F’s 5.40 GHz boost clock, the system might not rank as highly. The 12th place finish out of 1,689 combos suggests that only a handful of other pairings, likely featuring even more specialized CPUs or overclocked variants of the RTX 5090, can outperform this setup. The data confirms this is a top-tier system for playing The Medium at high settings.