The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 1650th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 2.3% of all configurations. This is a severely GPU-limited pairing for this title, where the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture become the primary bottlenecks across every resolution and settings preset tested.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1650 out of 1689 tested combinations places it in the bottom percentile of all systems measured for The Medium. This ranking reflects a fundamental mismatch: the Core i7-14700K is a top-tier CPU sitting at the 96th percentile among all processors, while the RX 570 sits at the 74th percentile among all GPUs. The data shows a system that is dramatically held back by its graphics card, with the CPU's capability far exceeding what the GPU can deliver in this horror title.

The benchmark results indicate that even at 1080p Low settings, the combo only achieves 42.5 FPS average. This is barely playable for a game that relies on atmospheric tension and smooth camera movement. The measured FPS data shows the GPU is the limiting component at every setting, with the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads providing ample headroom that the RX 570 simply cannot utilize in this workload. The nearest GPU rivals to the RX 570 in the database — the RTX 5060, RX 7700 XT, Tesla M60, and RTX 5070 Mobile — all have similar average benchmark scores, but none of them would meaningfully change this combo's ranking without a corresponding CPU bottleneck. The CPU's nearest rivals include the i7-14700KF, EPYC 9115, Ryzen 9 9950X, and Xeon Platinum 8270, all within 1.4% of each other, which confirms the CPU is not the constraint.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so low despite having a high-end CPU?

A: The Core i7-14700K is at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, but the RX 570 at the 74th percentile among GPUs cannot keep pace. The measured FPS shows the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution, with even 1080p Ultra only reaching 14.3 FPS average.

Q: What is the best playable setting for this combo?

A: The only setting that approaches playability is 1080p Low, which delivers 42.5 FPS average. 1440p Low drops to 34.4 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 28.5 FPS, so 1080p Low is the only preset that stays above 40 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's VRAM affect performance in The Medium?

A: The RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The benchmark data shows steep FPS drops when moving from Low to Medium settings, indicating the 4 GB capacity is likely being exceeded at higher presets, causing severe performance degradation.

Q: Is the CPU ever a limiting factor in this configuration?

A: No. The i7-14700K has 20 cores, 28 threads, and a 5.60 GHz boost clock. Even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed, the system only reaches 42.5 FPS, and the CPU's benchmark scores (44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) indicate it is nowhere near being maxed out.

Q: How does this combo compare to other GPU pairings in the database?

A: The RX 570's nearest rivals (RTX 5060, RX 7700 XT) have average scores within 0.2% of the RX 570, but those GPUs would likely deliver much higher FPS in The Medium because they have more VRAM and newer architectures. The combo's rank of 1650 out of 1689 reflects the GPU's age and memory limitation.

Q: What resolution should users target with this combo?

A: The data clearly shows 1080p is the only viable resolution. 1440p and 4K deliver unplayable frame rates across all settings, with 4K Ultra dropping to 10.8 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU as the absolute bottleneck. At Low settings, the system delivers 42.5 FPS at 1080p, 34.4 FPS at 1440p, and 28.5 FPS at 4K — a 33% performance drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the drop is even steeper: 25.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 22.3 FPS at 1440p and 18.0 FPS at 4K, representing a 30% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

The resolution scaling pattern indicates that the RX 570's 4 GB VRAM is the primary constraint. At High settings, the frame rate barely changes between 1080p (17.8 FPS) and 1440p (18.6 FPS) — a 4.5% increase at higher resolution — which is abnormal and suggests the game is already VRAM-limited at 1080p High. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern with 14.3 FPS at 1080p and 13.2 FPS at 1440p, then collapsing to 10.8 FPS at 4K. The CPU's capability is irrelevant here; the i7-14700K's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 5.60 GHz boost clock cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to process the game's visual data at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows that Low settings at 1080p is the only viable configuration, delivering 42.5 FPS average. This is the only tested preset that exceeds 40 FPS, which is the minimum threshold for acceptable gameplay in a horror title where smooth camera panning is essential for atmosphere. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 25.8 FPS, a 39% reduction from Low, which severely compromises the experience.

At 1440p, Low settings provide 34.4 FPS, which is marginal at best. The 4K resolution is entirely impractical, with even Low settings only reaching 28.5 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended at any resolution — they deliver frame rates below 20 FPS in all cases, with 4K Ultra bottoming out at 10.8 FPS. Users should accept Low settings at 1080p as the optimal experience for this combo. The 18 FPS at 4K Medium and 15.7 FPS at 4K High are so far below playability that they cannot be justified for visual quality gains.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 42.5 FPS, Medium 25.8 FPS, High 17.8 FPS, and Ultra 14.3 FPS. This represents a 66% drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p, highlighting the GPU's struggle with higher graphical loads.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 34.4 FPS, Medium 22.3 FPS, High 18.6 FPS, and Ultra 13.2 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium at 1440p is 35%, similar to the 39% drop seen at 1080p, indicating the 4 GB VRAM limit is consistently hit when moving past Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 28.5 FPS, Medium 18.0 FPS, High 15.7 FPS, and Ultra 10.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, and even 4K Low fails to reach 30 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: each settings tier above Low causes a disproportionate FPS penalty, which is characteristic of a GPU running out of memory bandwidth and capacity. The RX 570's 224.0 GB/s bandwidth and 4 GB capacity are simply insufficient for The Medium's demands beyond minimal settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is not a limiting factor in this configuration. With 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this CPU has exceptional processing capability. The benchmark data supports this: the CPU scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 6287 in single-core, and 18896 in Geekbench multi-core. Its average benchmark score of 70074 places it at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals like the i7-14700KF and EPYC 9115 within 0.3% of its score.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to process game logic, AI, and scene management. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB per-core L1 cache provide ample memory hierarchy for the game's data. Even at 1080p Low where the GPU is least stressed, the system only achieves 42.5 FPS, which is far below what this CPU can deliver. The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node are irrelevant to the game's performance here; the bottleneck is entirely on the GPU side. The data shows no scenario where the CPU limits FPS, as even the most demanding GPU settings at 4K Ultra only produce 10.8 FPS, which would not stress a CPU of this caliber.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the definitive bottleneck in this combo. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, 2048 shading units, and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, this GPU is from the Polaris 20 generation based on GCN 4.0 architecture. Its 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply inadequate for The Medium's requirements at any resolution above 1080p Low.

The GPU's 4 GB VRAM is the critical limitation. The measured FPS shows a sharp drop when moving from Low to Medium settings at every resolution — from 42.5 to 25.8 FPS at 1080p, 34.4 to 22.3 FPS at 1440p, and 28.5 to 18.0 FPS at 4K. This consistent 30-40% penalty suggests the game exceeds the 4 GB VRAM capacity at Medium settings, forcing the GPU to use system memory. The GPU's 150 W TDP and 14 nm process node are secondary concerns; the primary issue is memory capacity and bandwidth. The GPU's average benchmark score of 30158 places it at the 74th percentile, with nearest rivals like the RTX 5060 and RX 7700 XT within 0.2% of its score, but those newer GPUs have significantly more VRAM which would change the game's performance profile entirely. The RX 570's 32 ROPs and 128 TMUs cannot handle the pixel and texture throughput demanded by The Medium's horror visuals, resulting in the sub-20 FPS results seen at High and Ultra presets across all resolutions.