The Medium

The Medium presents a punishing scenario for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, even when paired with the high-end Intel Core i7-14700K. The benchmark data shows a system where the GPU is the definitive bottleneck across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the GTX 1650 manages an average of only 11.5 FPS on High settings, while dropping to Low settings yields 32.1 FPS, a substantial 20.6 FPS improvement that highlights the extreme pressure on the graphics processor. The pattern is consistent at lower resolutions, where the card's limitations become slightly less severe but remain firmly below playable thresholds for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K in The Medium is stark, revealing a graphics card that is overwhelmed by the game's visual demands. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system produces 22.8 FPS, but moving to 2560x1440 drops this to 14.5 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 11.5 FPS. This represents a 49.5% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, a clear indicator that the GPU's rendering pipeline is saturated. The data suggests that the limiting component is definitively the GTX 1650, as the i7-14700K is a top-tier processor with a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, far exceeding the demands of this title. The GPU's 4 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are likely contributing factors, as the higher resolutions require more memory bandwidth and capacity than the card can provide.

The scaling becomes even more telling when examining the Low settings preset. Here, the gap between resolutions narrows considerably: 1080p delivers 46.8 FPS, 1440p delivers 39.9 FPS, and 4K delivers 32.1 FPS. The smaller percentage drop at Low settings suggests that the GPU is still the primary constraint, but the reduced graphical load allows the card to operate more efficiently. Interestingly, the 4K Low result of 32.1 FPS is higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 18 FPS, which demonstrates that settings adjustments have a more significant impact on performance than resolution scaling alone. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is struggling with memory bandwidth and raw compute power, rather than a system that is CPU-limited.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 run The Medium at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. At 3840x2160, the system achieves an average of 32.1 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 11.5 FPS on High and 10.7 FPS on Ultra. The data indicates that 4K is only viable if the user is willing to accept very low frame rates, which is not recommended for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing.

Q: What is the best resolution for this configuration?

A: The benchmark results show that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system approaches acceptable performance. At 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 46.8 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Even at 1080p, Medium settings yield only 26 FPS, indicating that the user must compromise significantly on visual fidelity.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 8713, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, scores 8746, which is a 0.4% difference. The AMD Radeon 550X scores 8749, also a 0.4% difference, while the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 scores 8671, a 0.5% difference. This indicates that the GTX 1650 is performance-adjacent to these products, though none are particularly strong for modern gaming.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The CPU has a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 70074, which is nearly 8 times higher than the GPU's average score. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores 70104 (0% difference), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420 (-0.5% difference). The processor is vastly overqualified for this pairing, and the measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the sole limiting factor.

Q: What is the highest frame rate achievable with this setup?

A: The maximum average frame rate recorded in the measured data is 46.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. No other resolution or settings combination exceeds this value. The 1080p Medium preset produces 26 FPS, and the 1080p High preset produces 22.8 FPS, showing a steep decline as graphical fidelity increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the defining component in this benchmark, and its specifications explain the poor results. The card features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a critical limitation for The Medium, which appears to require more memory capacity and bandwidth than the card can offer at higher settings. The GPU's 896 shading units and 56 texture mapping units are also relatively modest, contributing to the low texture and pixel rates of 93.24 GTexel/s and 53.28 GPixel/s, respectively.

The GPU's clock speeds are set at a base of 1485 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, but these are insufficient to overcome the architectural limitations. The card's FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, which is low for a game that appears to have significant shader complexity. The 43rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the average benchmark score of 8713 confirm that this is a low-end part, despite being from the Turing architecture. The 4 GB VRAM is particularly problematic, as the data shows a 39.9 FPS result at 1440p Low versus a 32.1 FPS result at 4K Low, suggesting that the memory subsystem is being taxed heavily as resolution increases. The card's end-of-life production status and the fact that it relies on a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface further underscore its age and limited capability for a 2021 title like The Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive picture of the system's performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 18 FPS, which is barely interactive. The High preset improves this to 22.8 FPS, and the Medium preset yields 26 FPS. The Low preset is the only playable option, achieving 46.8 FPS, which is a 160% improvement over the Ultra setting. This wide disparity between presets indicates that the game's graphical options have a massive impact on the GPU load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results become more dire. The Ultra preset produces 10.7 FPS, identical to the 4K Ultra result, suggesting that the game is hitting a hard floor due to VRAM or compute limits. The High preset yields 14.5 FPS, and the Medium preset produces 25.6 FPS. The Low preset delivers 39.9 FPS, which is the only 1440p result that approaches playability, but it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target. At 3840x2160, the situation worsens further: Ultra yields 10.7 FPS, High yields 11.5 FPS, Medium yields 20.5 FPS, and Low yields 32.1 FPS. The 4K Medium result of 20.5 FPS is lower than the 1080p High result of 22.8 FPS, highlighting the compounding effect of resolution and settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only viable configuration for this hardware is 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset. This combination produces an average frame rate of 46.8 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the entire dataset. While this is not a locked 60 FPS, it is the only setup that provides a reasonably fluid experience for a game that relies on exploration and narrative pacing. The 1080p Medium preset, which yields 26 FPS, is a significant downgrade in smoothness and is not recommended for gameplay, though it could be used for taking screenshots or static observation.

For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the 1080p High preset at 22.8 FPS is the best choice, but the data suggests that the visual upgrade from Low to High is not worth the 51% performance penalty. The Ultra preset at any resolution is effectively unplayable, with results ranging from 10.7 FPS to 18 FPS. Given the GPU's 4 GB VRAM limitation, the Low preset is likely the only setting that avoids memory overflow issues, as higher settings at 1440p and 4K show disproportionately low frame rates that indicate the card is struggling to manage textures and geometry. The combination of the i7-14700K's immense processing power and the GTX 1650's limited graphics capability means that users should accept Low settings at 1080p as the ceiling for this configuration.