The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around narrative and atmosphere rather than fast-paced action, places very specific demands on a system. The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT produces a set of results that reveal a clear performance hierarchy. The data from the benchmark rows indicates that this pairing offers a wide range of playable experiences depending on resolution and settings, but its overall standing is firmly in the mid-to-upper tier of tested combinations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT secures the 441st position out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 26% of all systems tested, which is a respectable position for a high-end desktop pairing. The rank is not defined by a single component but by their interaction within this specific game; the data suggests a balanced setup that can handle the game’s demands, but it is not at the absolute pinnacle of performance. The CPU itself is a strong contributor, holding the 96th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 70074. Its nearest rivals provide a tight cluster of performance: the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70104, which is a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420, putting the i7-14700K 0.5% behind. This shows that the processor is performing exactly as expected for its class, offering no bottleneck that would drag the combo down. The GPU, holding the 82nd percentile against all GPUs, has an average benchmark score of 39647. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 575 at 39703 (a 0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile at 39568 (a 0.2% delta). While these absolute scores are lower than the CPU’s, they still indicate a capable graphics processor. The combo’s rank of 441 is a direct consequence of these two components working in concert; the processor’s high percentile ensures the GPU has enough data to work with, but the GPU’s performance ceiling in this title prevents the pair from reaching the top 100.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the primary driver of frame rate in The Medium. Its memory configuration is substantial, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is a significant amount of memory bandwidth that allows the GPU to handle high-resolution textures and complex scenes without stuttering. The clock speeds are also a key factor: the base clock is 1660 MHz, but the boost clock reaches 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. This boost headroom means the card can dynamically increase its performance when thermal and power limits allow, which is critical for maintaining higher frame rates in less demanding scenes. The data shows that the GPU’s performance is heavily influenced by the settings preset. At 1440p High, the average FPS is 53.4, which is a demanding workload. However, dropping to Low at the same resolution yields 127 FPS, a more than doubling of performance. This suggests that the GPU’s raw power is sufficient, but the game’s higher presets introduce effects that heavily tax the hardware. The GPU’s 82nd percentile ranking against all GPUs is reflected in these results; it is a solid performer, but not the fastest available. The texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s are high, but The Medium’s rendering techniques seem to require more than just raw fill rates, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when moving from Low to Ultra settings. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 48.66 TFLOPS provides the computational foundation, but the game’s engine appears to be sensitive to specific settings, making the choice of preset more impactful than the card’s theoretical peak capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the computational backbone for this combo. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it offers massive parallel processing capability. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance is also very strong. The benchmark data supports this: in Cinebench R23, it scores 44534 in multi-core and 6287 in single-core. For a game like The Medium, which is not typically considered CPU-bound, this processor is more than sufficient. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency. The CPU’s performance is so high that in the measured FPS rows, it is unlikely to be the limiting factor. For instance, at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 146.7 FPS, a very high frame rate that indicates the CPU is feeding the GPU efficiently. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is heavily stressed, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame delivery. The 96th percentile ranking confirms its position as a top-tier part. Comparing it to its nearest rivals reinforces this: the 0% delta from the i7-14700KF shows they are virtually identical, while the 0.5% difference from the Ryzen 9 9950X is negligible in real-world gaming. In The Medium, the CPU’s 20 cores are likely underutilized, but the high single-core performance from the 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures that the game’s logic and physics calculations are completed without introducing frame pacing issues. The CPU’s 125W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory also make it a flexible platform component, though memory bandwidth is not a stated bottleneck in these results.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this combo for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The data shows that at 1440p High, the average FPS is 53.4, which is below 60. To achieve a stable 60 FPS, the 1440p Medium preset yields 80.9 FPS, providing a comfortable margin. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 68.5 FPS, also above 60.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the results vary significantly. The Low preset achieves 96.2 FPS, which is very playable. However, the Medium preset drops to 58.5 FPS, and the High preset falls to 44.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding only 34.8 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 146.7 FPS, but the High preset drops to 68.5 FPS. This significant drop is due to increased graphical load on the GPU, not CPU limitations, as the CPU’s high single-core score (6287 in Cinebench R23) makes it unlikely to be a constraint.

Q: How does the Intel Core i7-14700K compare to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X?

A: The average benchmark score for the i7-14700K is 70074, while the Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420. This means the i7-14700K is 0.5% behind the Ryzen 9 9950X in average performance, a difference that is negligible in gaming scenarios.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT?

A: The launch MSRP for the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is 599 USD.

Q: Does the GPU’s memory bandwidth affect performance at higher resolutions?

A: The RX 9070 XT has a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. At 4K, the performance difference between Low (96.2 FPS) and Medium (58.5 FPS) is significant, indicating that higher presets increase memory and bandwidth demands, but the card’s 16 GB capacity and bandwidth are sufficient to avoid hard stutters, as evidenced by the playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear trend as resolution increases, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 146.7 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 127, a reduction of 19.7 FPS. At 4K Low, the FPS drops further to 96.2, a reduction of 30.8 FPS from 1440p. This scaling indicates a GPU-bound scenario where each pixel increase adds a substantial load. The pattern is similar for Medium settings: 1080p yields 93.4 FPS, 1440p yields 80.9 FPS, and 4K yields 58.5 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 22.4 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than from 1080p to 1440p (12.5 FPS), showing that 4K is exponentially more demanding. For High settings, the numbers are 68.5 FPS at 1080p, 53.4 FPS at 1440p, and 44.4 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is more linear, with a 15.1 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 9 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that at High settings, the GPU is already under significant load, and the additional pixels at 4K cause a less dramatic percentage drop. The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve: 54.1 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 34.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 35.7%, which is the largest of all presets. This indicates that at Ultra, the GPU is completely saturated, and resolution scaling has a pronounced effect. The data indicates that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU’s performance is consistent, but the GPU’s frame output scales inversely with resolution and settings, confirming that to improve 4K performance, a more powerful graphics card would be necessary.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and frame rate. For 4K, the data is clear: the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, yielding 96.2 FPS. The Medium preset at 58.5 FPS is playable but risky for a game that may have demanding moments, while High and Ultra are below the 60 FPS threshold. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the best choice, providing 80.9 FPS, which gives a comfortable buffer above 60 FPS. The High preset at 53.4 FPS is acceptable for a slower-paced horror game, but Medium offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended as it introduces the highest graphical load with a significant FPS cost. At 1080p, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering 68.5 FPS. This allows for a high level of visual fidelity while maintaining a frame rate above 60. The Medium preset at 93.4 FPS is also a strong option for those who prefer a higher refresh rate, but High offers a better visual experience. The Ultra preset at 54.1 FPS is below 60 and should be avoided if smoothness is a priority. The data shows a consistent pattern: the Ultra preset is never the best choice for frame rate, and the Low preset, while fast, sacrifices too much visual detail. The recommended presets are Medium at 4K (if 60 FPS is not strictly required) or Low, Medium at 1440p, and High at 1080p. These choices provide the best balance between the game’s intended visual atmosphere and the hardware’s measured capabilities.