The Medium

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS values for The Medium with the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT reveal a clear pattern when scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p sees a drop from 113.3 FPS to 97.3 FPS, a reduction of roughly 14%. Pushing further to 4K Low brings the average down to 76 FPS, which is about 33% lower than the 1080p result. This scaling behavior suggests the GPU is becoming progressively more stressed as pixel count rises, but the frame rates remain playable even at 4K Low.

The Medium preset tells a steeper story. At 1080p Medium the system delivers 73.6 FPS, which falls to 59.7 FPS at 1440p and then drops sharply to 47.3 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K here is approximately 36%, indicating that the added shading and texture work at Medium settings amplifies the resolution penalty. High settings exhibit an even more pronounced curve: 53.7 FPS at 1080p, 42.5 FPS at 1440p, and only 31.7 FPS at 4K. That final step from 1440p to 4K represents a 25% loss, confirming that the Radeon RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily by the higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 41 FPS at 1080p dropping to 36.2 FPS at 1440p and then to 27 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K reduction of roughly 34% mirrors the Medium trend, but the absolute numbers sit at the edge of smooth playability. The data indicates that the limiting component at 4K is undoubtedly the GPU, given that the Core i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample headroom for any resolution. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 suggest it is not the bottleneck in this horror title, which relies more on visual atmosphere than physics-heavy simulation. The scaling pattern across all four presets points to a graphics-card-bound scenario, especially at 4K where even Low settings require 76 FPS — a number that only the GPU can influence.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT carries 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective, while the base clock is 2150 MHz and the boost reaches 2600 MHz. The game clock is listed at 2495 MHz. These specifications directly correlate with the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 27 indicates that the GPU’s 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs are working near their limit with the highest preset’s demands. The pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s provide context for why 4K Ultra struggles: filling 8.3 million pixels per frame at that rate requires substantial memory bandwidth and compute throughput.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is relevant for The Medium, a game that renders dual worlds simultaneously in certain sequences. At 4K High, the average FPS of 31.7 suggests the memory bus is saturated, as the 192-bit interface must feed the render target and texture caches. Compare this to 4K Low at 76 FPS — the dramatic jump indicates that reducing texture quality and shadow resolution alleviates memory pressure, allowing the GPU to operate more efficiently. The Radeon RX 6750 XT’s FP32 throughput of 13.31 TFLOPS is the raw compute available for pixel shaders, and the data shows that at 1080p Ultra (41 FPS) the card is still delivering playable numbers, but the gap between Low and Ultra at every resolution widens as pixel count grows. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2548 and Passmark G3D score of 20700 further position this GPU as a mid-range performer that excels at 1080p and 1440p but falls short of 4K Ultra aspirations.

The GPU’s closest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with an average score of 35787, which is only 1.3% higher, and the AMD Radeon 880M at 35646, which is 0.9% higher. These small deltas indicate that the RX 6750 XT’s performance envelope is tightly clustered with these alternatives, yet the measured FPS in The Medium shows how real-world gaming can differ from synthetic averages. The card’s 40 ray accelerators are present but The Medium’s fixed-function renderer does not appear to leverage them heavily, as the FPS scaling is consistent with traditional rasterization pressure.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured rows, the Low preset at 1080p yields 113.3 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, but the visual quality would be severely compromised for a horror game that relies on lighting and shadow detail. Medium at 1080p provides 73.6 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and likely delivers a significantly improved visual experience over Low. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs roughly 35% of the frame rate, but the resulting average is still well within playable territory. At 1440p, Medium produces 59.7 FPS, which hovers just below the 60 FPS mark; this could be acceptable for many players, but it is not a locked experience. High at 1080p gives 53.7 FPS, which is below 60 FPS and might introduce noticeable stutter in this horror title’s slower-paced exploration.

The data suggests that Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot for this combination of CPU and GPU. It provides 73.6 FPS, which is 19.9 FPS higher than High at the same resolution, while still benefiting from the additional texture and effect quality over Low. At 1440p, Medium at 59.7 FPS is the best balance, as High drops to 42.5 FPS and Ultra to 36.2 FPS. For players with 4K displays, Low at 76 FPS is the only preset that clears 60 FPS, but Medium at 47.3 FPS and High at 31.7 FPS are both sub-60 and would require adaptive sync to feel smooth. Ultra is not recommended at any resolution above 1080p, since even at 1080p it only reaches 41 FPS, which is below the Medium preset’s 1440p performance.

The measured data shows that the scaling between Medium and High is consistent across resolutions — roughly a 27-28% drop — while the step from High to Ultra costs another 23-24%. This suggests that Medium offers the most efficient use of the GPU’s resources, as it avoids the diminishing returns of High and Ultra settings. The game’s horror atmosphere benefits from shadows and volumetric effects, but the FPS numbers indicate that Medium retains enough of these features to be immersive without sacrificing frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT achieves a rank of 837 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 49.5th percentile of all combinations tested, meaning slightly more than half of the tested systems perform better. The rank is a holistic measure that considers all the measured FPS rows together, weighting resolutions and settings. Given that the GPU ranks in the 79th percentile among all GPUs and the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, the combo’s middling rank suggests that the GPU is the constraining factor in this pairing. The i7-14700K’s nearest rival, the Core i7-14700KF, has an average score of 70104 with a deltaPct of 0, indicating they are effectively identical in compute benchmarks. The AMD EPYC 9115 at 69887 is 0.3% lower, and the Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 is 0.5% higher — these deltas are negligible, meaning the CPU’s choice among these top-tier processors would not materially change the game’s FPS.

The GPU, however, sits in a more contested space. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600M, has an average score of 35264, which is 0.2% lower — a near tie. But the RTX 3080, at 35787, is 1.3% higher, and the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile at 35435 is 0.3% higher. These small percentage differences in synthetic benchmarks do not translate directly to The Medium’s measured FPS, but they explain why the combo ranks in the middle of the pack: the GPU is competitive with mid-range and older high-end cards but does not dominate. A combo ranking of 837 out of 1689 means that for this game, the i7-14700K’s massive CPU headroom (20 cores, 28 threads, 33 MB of L3 cache) is underutilized, as the RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus become the performance ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 113.3 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 73.6 FPS. At 1440p Low, it hits 97.3 FPS, but Medium drops to 59.7 FPS. Only 1080p Low and Medium, and 1440p Low, reliably exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT compare to its nearest GPU rival in average score?

A: The RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600M, scores 35264, which is 0.2% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 35787, which is 1.3% higher.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K Ultra in The Medium?

A: The data shows 4K Ultra averages 27 FPS, while the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 indicate it is not the limiting factor. The GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are the constraining resources.

Q: What percentile does the GPU rank in compared to all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35327.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p High and 1440p High?

A: At 1080p High, the combo delivers 53.7 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 42.5 FPS, a reduction of 11.2 FPS or approximately 21%.

Q: How many combos rank below this i7-14700K + RX 6750 XT setup?

A: This combo ranks 837 out of 1689 tested combos, meaning 852 combos rank below it and 836 rank above it.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 113.3 FPS, Medium produces 73.6 FPS, High produces 53.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 41 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the largest single step being from Low to Medium (39.7 FPS drop) and the smallest from High to Ultra (12.7 FPS drop). At 2560x1440, the averages are Low at 97.3 FPS, Medium at 59.7 FPS, High at 42.5 FPS, and Ultra at 36.2 FPS. The 1440p data shows that Medium still clears 55 FPS, but High and Ultra fall below 45 FPS, making them less viable for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the results are Low at 76 FPS, Medium at 47.3 FPS, High at 31.7 FPS, and Ultra at 27 FPS. The 4K Low figure is the only one above 60 FPS, while 4K Ultra is barely above 25 FPS, which would be perceptibly choppy.

Comparing across resolutions for the same preset, Low settings show a 1080p-to-4K drop of 37.3 FPS (from 113.3 to 76), Medium drops 26.3 FPS (73.6 to 47.3), High drops 22 FPS (53.7 to 31.7), and Ultra drops 14 FPS (41 to 27). This pattern reveals that higher presets have smaller absolute FPS losses from resolution scaling, but the starting points are so low that the end results become unplayable. The delta between 1080p and 1440p is generally smaller than between 1440p and 4K for Low and Medium, but for High and Ultra, the 1440p-to-4K step is the more punishing one. For instance, High at 1440p is 42.5 FPS, and at 4K it is 31.7 FPS — a 25% drop — whereas the 1080p-to-1440p drop is only 21%. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes a critical factor as resolution increases, particularly for High and Ultra presets that demand more texture data.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide substantial on-die storage for game data. In The Medium, a game that renders two synchronized worlds for puzzle-solving sequences, the CPU must manage draw calls and physics for both scenes simultaneously. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (113.3 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond the refresh rate of most displays. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 place this chip in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 96% of processors in general compute tasks.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the Core i7-14700KF (average score 70104, 0% delta), the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, 0.3% lower), and the Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, 0.5% higher). These negligible differences confirm that the i7-14700K is not a performance outlier among top-tier chips. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain consistent frame pacing during scene transitions and when both worlds are on screen. The fact that the combo ranks 837 out of 1689 despite the CPU’s high percentile strongly implies that the game is GPU-bound. At 1080p Ultra, the FPS is 41, which is identical to the 1440p Ultra’s 36.2 FPS trend — the CPU is not the reason for these low numbers.

The processor’s 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory (dual-channel) mean it can pair with fast memory to reduce latency, but the measured FPS data does not show any CPU-related bottlenecks, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra scenario (27 FPS) leaves the CPU with ample headroom. The UHD Graphics 770 integrated GPU is present but irrelevant for this discrete-GPU setup. The data indicates that upgrading the CPU would not improve The Medium’s frame rates, as the RX 6750 XT is the limiting factor across all resolutions and presets. The i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 28 threads are overkill for this title, which likely uses only a fraction of the available threads, but the high single-core performance ensures that any CPU-bound scenario would still be handled adequately.