The Medium

The Medium presents an unusual stress test for this pairing of an Intel Core i7-14700K with an AMD Radeon RX 580. The data reveals a system where a high-end 2023 processor is paired with a 2017 graphics card, creating a significant bottleneck. The benchmark results show that this combination ranks 1555th out of 1689 tested combos in this specific game, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations. This page examines how the game's performance scales across resolutions and settings, and what the measured frames indicate about the roles of each component.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a stark and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 50.9 FPS, which drops to 39.8 FPS at 1440p, and further to 32.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 22% performance hit when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 37% total reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the frame rate drops are directly proportional to the increase in pixel count.

The pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate plummets from 17 FPS at 1080p to 12.5 FPS at 1440p and finally to 11.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 26% drop from 1080p to 1440p, but only a 10% additional drop from 1440p to 4K. This non-linear scaling at Ultra indicates that the game is already so demanding at 1080p Ultra that the additional pixel load at higher resolutions has diminishing impact on the already-strained GPU.

The data implies that the RX 580's 8 GB of VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for this game's demands at higher resolutions. The 4K High setting yields just 14.2 FPS, which is barely playable even for a slow-paced horror title. The scaling curve suggests that the game's rendering engine becomes increasingly bottlenecked by the GPU's compute capabilities as resolution rises, with the pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s being clearly overwhelmed.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position at 1555 out of 1689 tested combinations is telling. This places the system in the bottom percentile of all tested hardware pairings for The Medium, indicating that this is not a configuration suited for this game. The rank reflects the GPU's age and performance class rather than the CPU's capabilities, as the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs while the i7-14700K ranks at the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

This massive disparity between component performance levels creates an unbalanced system. The GPU's average benchmark score of 13559 places it in direct competition with much older cards like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, 0% delta) and GTX 950 (13549, 0.1% delta). These are all cards from a similar era, and none of them are designed for modern AAA titles at high resolutions. The data suggests that the CPU is essentially waiting for the GPU to complete its work, as evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Low, the system only manages 50.9 FPS.

The ranking becomes even more problematic when considering the game's genre. Horror games like The Medium often rely on atmosphere and tension, which means frame rate consistency is crucial for immersion. With this combo, even at the lowest settings, the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p, making it difficult to recommend for this title at any quality level.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is an exceptionally powerful processor with 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44534 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2932. However, the data shows that this CPU's power is largely wasted in this pairing, as the GPU cannot keep up with the processor's ability to feed frames.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache should provide ample bandwidth for game logic and asset streaming. The Passmark single-thread score of 4472 indicates strong per-core performance, which is essential for games that rely heavily on single-threaded tasks. However, The Medium's performance at 1080p Low (50.9 FPS) is far below what this CPU is capable of supporting, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor.

The i7-14700K's 125W TDP and 10nm process node make it an efficient processor, but efficiency is irrelevant when the GPU can only produce 14.2 FPS at 4K High. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs contrasts sharply with the GPU's 53rd percentile, creating a fundamental imbalance. In this game, the CPU's role is reduced to ensuring the GPU is never starved of data, which is easily accomplished given the low frame rates being generated.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 50.9 FPS on Low, 31.5 FPS on Medium, 22.4 FPS on High, and 17 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 38% performance drop, while the jump from Medium to High represents a 29% drop. These are significant reductions, indicating that each settings tier places substantially more load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops to 39.8 FPS on Low, 29.1 FPS on Medium, 20.4 FPS on High, and 12.5 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is relatively consistent across settings, with approximately 22% reductions at each tier. However, the Ultra setting shows a 26% reduction, suggesting that the most demanding settings are particularly sensitive to resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the system manages 32.2 FPS on Low, 22.2 FPS on Medium, 14.2 FPS on High, and 11.3 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra figure of 11.3 FPS represents a 33% drop from 1440p Ultra, and a 78% drop from 1080p Low. This dramatic scaling demonstrates that the RX 580 is completely out of its depth at 4K, regardless of settings. The data shows that the only playable configuration is 1080p Low, which barely reaches 50 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is a GPU from 2017 with a 14nm process node and GCN 4.0 architecture. Its specifications include 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operation units, with a boost clock of 1340 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest by modern standards.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS and texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s are the primary metrics determining its gaming performance. In The Medium, these specifications translate to the frame rates observed, with the GPU being the clear bottleneck at every resolution and settings combination. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005 and Passmark G3D score of 8813 place it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are all from a similar era.

The GPU's 185W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it was a mid-range card at launch, and its performance in this game reflects that positioning. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is sufficient for 1080p gaming, but the bandwidth limitation becomes apparent at higher resolutions. The data indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is simply insufficient for The Medium's asset-heavy environments at 1440p and 4K, leading to the observed frame rate collapses.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any settings configuration reaches above 50 FPS (50.9 FPS on Low). At 2560x1440, the maximum achievable is 39.8 FPS on Low, while 4K caps out at 32.2 FPS on Low.

Q: Can this system handle The Medium at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not at playable frame rates. The best 4K result is 32.2 FPS on Low settings, which drops to 11.3 FPS on Ultra. None of the 4K configurations provide a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 70074, which is essentially tied with the Core i7-14700KF (70104, 0% delta) and AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, 0.3% delta). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X by 0.5% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 by 1.4%.

Q: What settings provide the best balance at 1080p?

A: The data shows Medium settings at 31.5 FPS provides a 41% improvement over High at 22.4 FPS, while Low at 50.9 FPS provides a 62% improvement over Medium. Given the horror genre's need for smooth motion, Low settings appear most suitable.

Q: Is the GPU the main bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 53rd percentile. The frame rates are consistently low across all configurations, indicating the GPU is unable to keep pace with the CPU's capabilities.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, which is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564, 0% delta) and GTX 950 (13549, 0.1% delta). It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 455 by 1.1% but trails the NVIDIA P106-090 by 1.1%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 50.9 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches playable frame rates for a horror game. The Medium preset at 31.5 FPS is borderline, while High at 22.4 FPS and Ultra at 17 FPS are too choppy for the atmospheric gameplay The Medium requires.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset at 39.8 FPS is potentially acceptable, but it still falls short of the 50 FPS threshold that allows for comfortable horror game pacing. The Medium preset at 29.1 FPS is marginal, and the High and Ultra presets at 20.4 and 12.5 FPS respectively are not recommended. For 4K, none of the settings presets are viable, as even Low at 32.2 FPS struggles to maintain consistent motion.

The data suggests that the optimal experience is 1080p Low, which provides the best combination of frame rate and visual clarity. Moving to Medium at 1080p sacrifices 38% of the frame rate for marginal visual improvements. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over performance, the 1440p Medium setting at 29.1 FPS might suffice, but the 1080p Low setting at 50.9 FPS is the only configuration that allows for smooth, uninterrupted horror gameplay. The significant frame rate drops at higher settings indicate that this game is too demanding for the RX 580, regardless of the capable CPU backing it up.