The Medium

# The Medium: Intel Core i7-14700K + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience where the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The measured data shows this pairing ranks 274th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the top 16% of all configurations. The RX 7900 XT, with its 20 GB GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth, demonstrates substantial headroom at lower resolutions, while the Core i7-14700K's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample processing muscle. This analysis examines how the game scales across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, what settings deliver the best experience, and where the bottleneck shifts between CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a compelling story about system balance. At Low settings, the combo delivers 161.8 FPS at 1920x1080, 134.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and 106.5 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 17% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 21% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is remarkably linear, suggesting the RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of performance even at lower settings—the GPU's 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs handle the workload efficiently without CPU interference.

Moving to Medium settings reveals a similar pattern but with more pronounced drops. The 103.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 87.3 FPS at 1440p (a 16% drop) and then to 68.3 FPS at 4K (a 22% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentages across Low and Medium presets indicates that the game's rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count. At High settings, the numbers shift to 73.0 FPS at 1080p, 63.3 FPS at 1440p, and 46.7 FPS at 4K—the 4K figure now sits below the 60 FPS threshold, a critical consideration for smooth gameplay.

Ultra settings expose the most dramatic scaling. The 59.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 47.0 FPS at 1440p (a 21% reduction) and then to 41.1 FPS at 4K (a 13% reduction from 1440p). Interestingly, the 4K-to-1440p gap narrows at Ultra, suggesting the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound with diminishing returns from resolution reduction. The data indicates that at 1080p Ultra, the system achieves near-60 FPS, but the RX 7900 XT's 20 GB of VRAM and 320-bit bus width cannot maintain that pace when pixel count quadruples. The scaling pattern points to the GPU as the limiting component across all resolutions, with the i7-14700K's 5.60 GHz boost clock providing sufficient single-thread performance to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows offer clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 103.9 FPS, which is more than adequate for the game's deliberate pacing. High settings at 1080p produce 73.0 FPS—still smooth but with a 30% performance cost over Medium. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs another 19% (from 73.0 to 59.4 FPS), which may not justify the visual gains in a horror title where atmosphere matters more than fine detail.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset's 87.3 FPS represents the sweet spot for this combo. It maintains high frame rates while allowing the game's fixed-camera angles to showcase more environmental detail. High at 1440p drops to 63.3 FPS, still playable but approaching the threshold where motion smoothness suffers. Ultra at 1440p falls to 47.0 FPS, which is borderline for a game that relies on tension and timing—a stutter here could break immersion.

For 3840x2160, the data becomes more constrained. Low settings deliver 106.5 FPS, which seems excessive for a horror game and suggests underutilized hardware. Medium at 4K produces 68.3 FPS, offering the best balance for 4K display owners. High at 4K drops to 46.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 41.1 FPS—both below the 60 FPS target that many players consider essential. Given the measured results, Medium at 4K or High at 1440p provides the most consistent experience without sacrificing visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K brings substantial processing power to this pairing. With 20 cores, 28 threads, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile of all processors tested. Its Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and a single-core score of 6287. These numbers indicate exceptional headroom for game logic, AI pathfinding, and background tasks that The Medium might spawn.

The nearestRivals data shows the i7-14700K's average benchmark score of 70074 sits within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887). This places the CPU in elite company, but the measured FPS results suggest the processor is rarely the limiting factor in this game. At 1080p Low, where CPU load typically peaks, the system achieves 161.8 FPS—a figure that would require exceptional single-threaded performance to sustain. The i7-14700K's 633 Cinebench R15 single-core score and 4472 Passmark single-thread score support this capability.

The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which benefits fixed-camera scenes where the same assets load repeatedly. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for DDR5 memory (dual-channel) further reduce potential bottlenecks. However, the data shows that even at 1080p Ultra (59.4 FPS), the GPU appears to be the constraint—the CPU has ample remaining capacity to push higher frame rates if the RX 7900 XT could deliver them.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 274th out of 1689 tested configurations, placing it in the top 16.2% of all systems evaluated. This percentile position is notable given that the GPU itself sits in the 82nd percentile of all graphics cards. The discrepancy between the CPU's 96th percentile and the GPU's 82nd percentile suggests the combo's overall ranking is dragged down by the graphics card's relative position, even though the pairing performs admirably in absolute terms.

The GPU's nearestRivals provide context for its performance tier. The RX 7900 XT's average benchmark score of 38358 is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (38225, 0.3% delta). It sits 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38494) and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135). These tight margins indicate the RX 7900 XT competes in a crowded performance band, and the measured FPS results reflect that positioning.

With 1689 total combos, a rank of 274 means roughly 1415 configurations perform worse and 273 perform better. The combination's strength lies in its balance—the i7-14700K never starves the GPU, and the RX 7900 XT delivers consistent frame rates across all tested settings. The data implies that upgrading either component alone would yield diminishing returns; the pairing is well-matched for this game's demands.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant factor in these results. Based on the Navi 31 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, the GPU packs 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2394 MHz, and the 20 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) across a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is particularly relevant for The Medium, which features split-world rendering that can consume significant VRAM.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s provide substantial raw compute for the game's visual effects. The 84 ray tracing cores support the game's lighting and shadow effects, though the measured data does not isolate RT performance. The 5 nm process from TSMC, with 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, explains the GPU's efficiency in translating power into frame rates.

Examining the measured FPS, the RX 7900 XT shows its strongest performance at 1080p Low (161.8 FPS) and its weakest at 4K Ultra (41.1 FPS). The 3.9x difference between these extremes highlights the GPU's scaling behavior under increasing load. The Passmark G3D score of 29009 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 place it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, confirming its high-end status. However, the data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the GPU's 20 GB VRAM and 800 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain 60 FPS, indicating the game's Ultra preset demands more than this card can deliver at that resolution.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K in The Medium?

A: Only at Low settings (106.5 FPS) and Medium settings (68.3 FPS). High settings drop to 46.7 FPS and Ultra to 41.1 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best 1080p setting for this system?

A: Medium settings deliver 103.9 FPS, which is 30% faster than High (73.0 FPS) and 43% faster than Ultra (59.4 FPS). Low settings reach 161.8 FPS but likely sacrifice too much visual quality for a horror game.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 38358 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38494) and 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135). It matches the RTX 5080 Mobile (38349) at 0% delta.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The data indicates the GPU limits performance at 1440p. The i7-14700K's 96th percentile CPU ranking and high single-thread scores (6287 in Cinebench R23) suggest it has headroom, while the GPU's frame rate drops from 134.6 FPS at Low to 47.0 FPS at Ultra point to graphics card constraints.

Q: What frame rate can players expect at 1440p Ultra?

A: The measured average is 47.0 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for the game's slower pacing. High settings at 1440p offer 63.3 FPS for smoother performance.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top quarter of all tested systems?

A: Yes, the combination ranks 274th out of 1689 combos, placing it in the top 16.2% of all configurations tested for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 161.8 FPS average
• Medium: 103.9 FPS average
• High: 73.0 FPS average
• Ultra: 59.4 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 134.6 FPS average
• Medium: 87.3 FPS average
• High: 63.3 FPS average
• Ultra: 47.0 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 106.5 FPS average
• Medium: 68.3 FPS average
• High: 46.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 41.1 FPS average

The full dataset reveals consistent behavior across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1080p, the system maintains playable frame rates at every preset, with even Ultra exceeding 59 FPS. At 1440p, Medium becomes the recommended ceiling for smooth gameplay, while High remains viable at 63.3 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium presets cross the 60 FPS threshold, with High and Ultra falling to 46.7 and 41.1 FPS respectively. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a predictable performance cost: at 1080p, Ultra costs 63% of Low's frame rate; at 1440p, the cost is 65%; at 4K, it is 61%. This consistency suggests the game's rendering pipeline applies settings uniformly across resolutions, with the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources determining the final output. The RX 7900 XT's 20 GB VRAM proves sufficient even at 4K Ultra, as no out-of-memory stutters are indicated in the data—the frame rate drop is purely a function of computational load.