The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700K with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a wide spread of results depending on the resolution and quality preset selected. The data reveals a system where the aging GPU is almost always the limiting factor, though the CPU's substantial headroom ensures that frame rates scale predictably as graphical load is adjusted. This combination lands at rank 1419 out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the lower percentile of systems and highlighting the challenge of running a 2021 title on 2016 hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, where performance degrades sharply as resolution increases. At the lowest preset, the system delivers 72.5 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 64.3 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 49.4 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a decline of 11.3% from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 23.2% from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 31.9% drop from the lowest to highest resolution. The fact that the 4K result at Low settings still achieves nearly 50 FPS indicates that the GTX 1070 retains enough raw throughput for lighter workloads, but the scaling curve steepens dramatically when quality settings are raised.

At High settings, the pattern becomes more punishing. The average frame rate at 1080p is 36.7 FPS, which falls to 27.9 FPS at 1440p (a 24% reduction) and then to 21.3 FPS at 4K (a 23.6% reduction from 1440p, and a 42% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset shows an even harsher trajectory: 30 FPS at 1080p, 23.4 FPS at 1440p, and a nearly unplayable 17.8 FPS at 4K. These numbers strongly suggest that the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are being saturated, as the frame rate penalty for moving from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is a steep 41.7% decline.

The CPU, a 20-core, 28-thread Raptor Lake part, is never the bottleneck here, as evidenced by the fact that even the lowest FPS figures (17.8 at 4K Ultra) are far below what the i7-14700K could theoretically feed. The i7-14700K scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it has ample headroom for this workload. Instead, the scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1070, which sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs, is the sole constraint. The 4K Low result of 49.4 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 17.8 FPS shows how much of the performance envelope is dictated by shader complexity and memory pressure rather than resolution alone.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves an average of 49.4 FPS. At Medium the frame rate drops to 28.7 FPS, and at High and Ultra it falls to 21.3 and 17.8 FPS respectively, making those presets impractical for smooth play.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 30 FPS across all tested presets. At 1080p, even Ultra settings hold at 30 FPS, while Low settings reach 72.5 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, placing it 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4200, 1.3% behind the GeForce GTX 880M, and 1.4% behind the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700K powerful enough for this game?

A: The CPU is far more capable than needed. It scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6287 in single-core, ranking in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the i7-14700KF, scores nearly identically at 70104 average, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is only 0.5% faster.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 64.3 FPS, while Ultra drops to 23.4 FPS. That is a 63.6% reduction in frame rate, showing that the preset choice matters more than the resolution step.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck. At Low settings, the drop from 72.5 FPS to 49.4 FPS is 31.9%, but at Ultra settings the drop from 30 FPS to 17.8 FPS is 40.7%. This larger percentage loss at higher presets indicates memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate limits on the GTX 1070.

Settings Recommendations

For a playable experience, the Low preset is the only reliable choice at 1440p and 4K. At 2560x1440, Low delivers 64.3 FPS, which is smooth and responsive, while Medium drops to 38 FPS and High to 27.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low produces 49.4 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but Medium (28.7 FPS) and High (21.3 FPS) fall below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for comfort.

At 1920x1080, the user has more flexibility. Medium settings provide 47.9 FPS, which is a solid balance between visual quality and performance. High settings at 36.7 FPS are still playable, and even Ultra at 30 FPS is marginally acceptable if the player prioritizes image fidelity over smoothness. The data suggests that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, offering nearly 50 FPS while retaining some of the game's atmospheric effects. For those who prefer higher frame rates, 1080p Low at 72.5 FPS gives a very responsive experience, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra 24.6 FPS over Medium.

Given the game's horror genre, where atmosphere matters, the recommendation is to stick to 1080p Medium or 1440p Low. The 1440p Low result of 64.3 FPS is particularly compelling because it provides a higher resolution with frame rates that are still well above 60 FPS. At 4K, only Low is viable, and even then, the 49.4 FPS average is close enough to the 50 FPS mark to be considered borderline.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows a clear progression across presets. Low settings produce an average of 72.5 FPS, which is the highest result recorded for this combo. Medium settings drop to 47.9 FPS, a 34% reduction. High settings further reduce performance to 36.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30 FPS exactly. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42.5 FPS, or 58.6%, demonstrating the heavy cost of the game's higher-quality shaders and effects.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats with lower absolute numbers. Low settings average 64.3 FPS, which is still quite responsive. Medium settings fall to 38 FPS, a 40.9% drop from Low. High settings manage 27.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 40.9 FPS, or 63.6%, which is a slightly larger percentage loss than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. Low settings yield 49.4 FPS, which is the only preset that stays above the 30 FPS playability line. Medium settings drop to 28.7 FPS, High to 21.3 FPS, and Ultra to 17.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 31.6 FPS drop, or 64%. Notably, the 4K Medium result of 28.7 FPS is nearly identical to the 1440p High result of 27.9 FPS, indicating that the GPU is hitting a hard performance wall around the 20-30 FPS range regardless of how the workload is distributed.

The data also reveals that the jump from Medium to High at any resolution is particularly punishing. At 1080p, the drop is 11.2 FPS (from 47.9 to 36.7); at 1440p, it is 10.1 FPS (from 38 to 27.9); and at 4K, it is 7.4 FPS (from 28.7 to 21.3). This consistent 25-30% penalty suggests that High settings introduce a specific effect or texture tier that disproportionately taxes the GTX 1070's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 256.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination ranks 1419 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 16% of all systems tested. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 12331. The GTX 1070's nearest rival, the Quadro K4200, scores 12241, which is 0.7% lower, while the GTX 1650 SUPER scores 12504, 1.4% higher. These small deltas in synthetic benchmarks translate to the narrow margins seen in the game's frame rates.

The CPU, by contrast, is a top-tier part. The i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074. Its nearest rival, the i7-14700KF, scores 70104, a negligible 0% difference, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420, only 0.5% higher. This means the CPU is providing no meaningful bottleneck, and the same GPU paired with a much weaker processor would likely show nearly identical frame rates in this game.

Looking at the rank more closely, being 1419 out of 1689 means there are 1418 combos that perform better, and only 270 that perform worse. This places the system in the lower quartile of performance for The Medium specifically, which is a demanding title due to its fixed-camera angles and high-resolution textures. The data shows that the GTX 1070, with its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus, is simply outclassed by the game's requirements at higher settings, despite being a capable 1080p card in older titles. The i7-14700K provides enough headroom that any future GPU upgrade would immediately unlock significantly higher frame rates, as the CPU is operating far below its limits in this scenario.