The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT lands in the lower-mid tier for The Medium, ranking 1084th out of 1689 tested combinations. This places the combo in the 36th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that while it is far from the weakest configuration, the majority of tested setups deliver higher frame rates in this specific horror title. The ranking reflects a significant bottleneck imposed by the GPU, as the 14700K is a top-tier processor (96th percentile among all CPUs) while the RX 6650 XT sits at the 72nd percentile among GPUs. The data suggests this pairing is unbalanced for this game, with the CPU's potential largely untapped due to the graphics card's limitations, particularly at higher resolutions and quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1084 out of 1689 tested configurations places it squarely in the lower half of the performance distribution for The Medium. This is a verdict-driven outcome: the 14700K is clearly not the limiting factor, as its average benchmark score of 70074 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, nearly matching the Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct 0) and edging out the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (deltaPct -0.5) and AMD EPYC 9115 (deltaPct 0.3). However, the RX 6650 XT's average benchmark score of 29024, which is statistically identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct 0) and AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct 0.1), holds the combo back. The result is a system that performs closer to mid-range gaming rigs than to the high-end potential of its processor. The rank of 1084 means that roughly 605 tested combos perform worse, but the vast majority perform better, highlighting that this configuration is positioned for 1080p gaming rather than high-refresh or high-resolution play in this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the decisive component in this combo's The Medium performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p but becomes a clear constraint as resolution climbs. The GPU's boost clock of 2635 MHz and game clock of 2410 MHz, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, provide a baseline of compute power. The data shows the card's DirectX 12 performance is notably weak, scoring only 62 in PassMark's DirectX 12 test, which is directly relevant since The Medium relies on modern API features. This low DirectX 12 score, combined with a PassMark G3D score of 17166 (72nd percentile), explains why the card struggles to maintain high frame rates even at 1080p with Ultra settings, where it only achieves 35.3 FPS. The GPU's 32 ray accelerators are present, but the card's overall throughput of 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 is simply insufficient for the game's demanding rendering at higher quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-limited scaling across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 95.1 FPS, but this drops to 79.7 FPS at 1440p (-16.2%) and further to 65.6 FPS at 4K (-31.0% from 1080p). This relatively modest drop at Low settings suggests the CPU is still providing enough headroom to partially compensate for the GPU's workload. However, at High settings, the scaling becomes more punishing: 41.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 33.6 FPS at 1440p (-18.6%) and then to 29.9 FPS at 4K (-27.6% from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows the most severe degradation, with 35.3 FPS at 1080p dropping to 31.1 FPS at 1440p (-11.9%) and then plummeting to 21.1 FPS at 4K (-40.2% from 1080p). This pattern indicates that as settings increase, the GPU becomes the overwhelming bottleneck; the 14700K's 20 cores and 28 threads are effectively idle while the RX 6650 XT struggles to keep up. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is particularly revealing, as the 10 FPS drop shows the card's memory bandwidth and compute resources being saturated.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of running The Medium at 4K?*

A: At 4K, the combo only achieves playable frame rates on Low settings, hitting 65.6 FPS. Medium settings drop to 40.5 FPS, High to 29.9 FPS, and Ultra to a slideshow-like 21.1 FPS, indicating that 4K is only viable with significant graphical compromises.

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

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K's average benchmark score of 70074 is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70104, deltaPct 0) and the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, deltaPct 0.3). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X by only 0.5% and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 by 1.4%, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the most sensible choice, as it is the only resolution where the combo exceeds 60 FPS on Medium settings (58.1 FPS) and approaches 100 FPS on Low (95.1 FPS). Higher resolutions force compromises that degrade the experience.

Q: How does the RX 6650 XT compare to its GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6650 XT's average benchmark score of 29024 is statistically tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (29011, deltaPct 0) and AMD Radeon RX 470 (28996, deltaPct 0.1). It slightly trails the Intel Arc A370M (29175, deltaPct -0.5) and AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (29197, deltaPct -0.6).

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Ultra, the combo manages only 31.1 FPS, which is barely above the 4K High result of 29.9 FPS. This indicates the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maximum quality settings, making Ultra impractical at this resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 96th percentile with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534, while the GPU sits in the 72nd percentile. The FPS drops across resolutions and settings are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, not CPU limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a powerhouse that is largely wasted in this configuration for The Medium. With 20 cores and 28 threads, a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, the processor has far more compute capability than the game can utilize when paired with this GPU. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 place it in the 96th percentile, and its PassMark multithread score of 52392 confirms its high-end status. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the 14700KF and Ryzen 9 9950X, show deltaPct values within 0.5%, meaning the 14700K is at the top of its class. However, in The Medium, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (95.1 FPS) versus 4K Low (65.6 FPS) shows only a 31% drop, which is relatively mild for a 4x increase in pixel count. This suggests the CPU is still providing some assistance at lower resolutions, but at higher settings the game becomes almost entirely GPU-bound, leaving the 14700K's capabilities untapped. The processor's 125W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible platform, but in this pairing, its role is reduced to feeding frames to a GPU that cannot keep up.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of playable settings for this combo. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 58.1 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, though players seeking higher frame rates can use Low settings for 95.1 FPS. The High preset at 1080p drops to 41.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror game where smooth motion matters. Ultra at 1080p (35.3 FPS) is not recommended, as the visual uplift does not justify the performance hit. At 1440p, Low settings are the only viable option, delivering 79.7 FPS, while Medium drops to 49.4 FPS and High to 33.6 FPS. Ultra at 1440p (31.1 FPS) is essentially unplayable. For 4K, Low settings (65.6 FPS) are the only acceptable choice, with Medium (40.5 FPS) and High (29.9 FPS) falling below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data strongly suggests that 1080p Medium is the optimal experience, as it provides a stable frame rate without sacrificing the game's atmospheric quality to the lowest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 95.1 FPS
• Medium: 58.1 FPS
• High: 41.3 FPS
• Ultra: 35.3 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 79.7 FPS
• Medium: 49.4 FPS
• High: 33.6 FPS
• Ultra: 31.1 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 65.6 FPS
• Medium: 40.5 FPS
• High: 29.9 FPS
• Ultra: 21.1 FPS

This breakdown shows a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium settings is roughly 37-39% at every resolution, while the gap between High and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between High (41.3 FPS) and Ultra (35.3 FPS) is 6 FPS, but at 4K, the difference between High (29.9 FPS) and Ultra (21.1 FPS) is 8.8 FPS, indicating that Ultra becomes disproportionately more demanding at higher resolutions. The most striking drop is from 1440p High (33.6 FPS) to 4K High (29.9 FPS), a mere 3.7 FPS decrease, suggesting the GPU is already saturated at 1440p High and the extra resolution has diminishing returns. Conversely, the jump from 1080p Low (95.1 FPS) to 1440p Low (79.7 FPS) shows a 15.4 FPS drop, indicating the card still has some headroom at lower settings. This data confirms that the RX 6650 XT is the definitive bottleneck, with the 14700K's performance ceiling far above what this GPU can deliver in The Medium.