The Medium

The Medium presents a unique stress profile for the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. The measured data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution, where the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor at higher settings. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, contextualizes the CPU and GPU roles, and provides a detailed look at the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K in The Medium clearly illustrates the transition from a balanced workload to a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 75 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops performance to 63 FPS, a 16% reduction. The jump to 4K High further reduces the average to 49 FPS, representing a 22% decline from the 1440p figure and a 35% drop from the 1080p baseline. This progressive decline indicates that the rendering load is scaling directly with pixel count, putting increasing strain on the graphics card.

The pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low settings tier. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 167 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames at a rapid pace. Scaling to 1440p Low yields 140 FPS, a 16% decrease, while 4K Low produces 110 FPS, a further 21% reduction. The fact that even at the lowest graphics settings, 4K performance drops significantly below the 1080p result points to the raw pixel throughput requirements of 4K resolution as the primary bottleneck.

The Medium settings tier provides the most complete data, including minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 120. The 1440p Medium average drops to 88 FPS (min 75, max 101), and 4K Medium settles at 69 FPS (min 59, max 79). The spread between minimum and maximum FPS remains relatively consistent across resolutions, suggesting stable frame pacing rather than erratic spikes. The 4K Medium minimum of 59 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains playable performance.

Ultra settings represent the heaviest load, with 1080p yielding 59 FPS, 1440p at 50 FPS, and 4K dropping to 39 FPS. The scaling here is nearly linear with pixel count, confirming that at maximum graphical fidelity, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the definitive constraint. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold commonly targeted for smooth gameplay, highlighting the limitations of this combination at the highest fidelity and resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz can boost up to 5.60 GHz, providing substantial single-thread performance that is critical for frame generation. The processor's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a single-core score of 2160. The Geekbench results further corroborate this, showing 20767 multi-core and 2569 single-core scores.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is to maintain a consistent frame delivery pipeline. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 167 FPS, which is likely near the upper limit of what this CPU can generate in this title. The fact that 1440p Low only drops to 140 FPS suggests that the CPU is still keeping pace, but the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload. At 4K Low, the 110 FPS result indicates that the GPU is now the limiting factor, as the CPU has more than enough headroom to process the game logic and draw calls.

The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining smooth frame times. The i7-14700K ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, placing it in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9115, which scores within 0.1% of the i7-14700K, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which is 0.2% behind. This close grouping indicates that the i7-14700K is competitive with the best consumer and workstation processors available.

For a horror game like The Medium, which relies on atmospheric tension and scripted sequences, the CPU's ability to handle sudden load spikes is important. The 20-core, 28-thread configuration ensures that even if background processes interfere, the game's main thread receives adequate resources. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52392 and single-thread score of 4472 underline the processor's balanced performance profile, making it well-suited for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm TSMC process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and it houses 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The 56 ray tracing cores and 224 tensor cores provide dedicated hardware for advanced visual effects.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for The Medium, which uses a fixed camera perspective and heavy texture streaming. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 4K resolutions, as evidenced by the measured results. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s ensures that texture data can be fed to the rendering pipeline without causing stutters, which is reflected in the relatively stable minimum FPS values across resolutions.

The RTX 4070 SUPER's benchmark results show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and a PassMark G3D score of 29995. The GPU ranks in the 83rd percentile among all graphics cards, indicating it is a high-performance part but not the absolute fastest available. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, which is 0.1% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, also 0.1% behind. The RTX 4090 Mobile is 1% ahead, showing that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER is competitive with top-tier mobile parts.

In The Medium, the GPU's performance ceiling is clearly demonstrated by the 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS. This suggests that the game's Ultra settings are particularly demanding, likely due to high-resolution shadows and advanced post-processing effects. The GPU's compute capability of 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 provides ample raw power, but the game's engine appears to be optimized for a balance between resolution and settings. At 1440p Ultra, the 50 FPS result is more palatable, and at 1080p Ultra, the 59 FPS average approaches the 60 FPS target.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 546th out of 3724 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the combo in the top 15% of all configurations, indicating a strong overall performance level. The percentile ranking of the CPU (94th) and GPU (83rd) suggests that the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card, which aligns with the observation that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings.

The combo's ranking of 546 out of 3724 represents a solid mid-to-high-tier position. Given that the CPU is in the 94th percentile but the GPU is in the 83rd percentile, it is likely that combinations with a more powerful GPU (such as an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090) would rank higher. Conversely, the i7-14700K's strong performance ensures that it does not hold back the GPU, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p Low settings.

The data suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where it achieves 88 FPS on Medium settings and 63 FPS on High. For 4K gaming, the combo is playable but not ideal for Ultra settings, as the 39 FPS result is below the smoothness threshold. The 4K Medium result of 69 FPS, however, provides a good balance between visual quality and performance, making this combination suitable for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors or standard 4K displays with adjusted settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 59 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its multi-core performance?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2160, while the multi-core score is 33440.5, indicating a strong single-thread performance that is complemented by excellent multi-threaded capability.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, provided by 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a smooth experience?

A: The 1440p Medium settings provide 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, offering a good balance of visual quality and smoothness. The 4K Medium settings also provide 69 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 546th out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the top 15% of all configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS is 39, and given the CPU's high single-thread score of 2160 in Cinebench R23, the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured FPS values across all tested resolutions and settings:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 49 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 110 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 69 | 59 | 79 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 39 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | High | 63 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 140 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 88 | 75 | 101 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 50 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | High | 75 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 167 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 104 | 88 | 120 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 59 | - | - |

The data reveals a consistent pattern of performance scaling. The Low settings tier shows the highest FPS, with 167 FPS at 1080p and 110 FPS at 4K, indicating that the rendering pipeline is heavily influenced by graphical fidelity. The Medium tier provides the most complete dataset, with the 4K result of 69 FPS (min 59, max 79) demonstrating that the RTX 4070 SUPER can handle 4K gaming when settings are moderated. The Ultra tier shows the steepest drop-offs, with the 4K result of 39 FPS being the lowest measured value in the entire dataset.

The minimum FPS values for the Medium settings tier show that even in the most demanding scenes, the system maintains a playable frame rate. At 1440p, the minimum of 75 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold, while at 4K, the minimum of 59 FPS is just below it. This indicates that the combo is capable of delivering a stable experience in The Medium, with only the most demanding 4K Ultra scenarios falling below the smoothness threshold. The maximum FPS values show that the system has headroom for less demanding scenes, with the 1080p Medium max of 120 FPS demonstrating the CPU's ability to drive high frame rates when the GPU load is lower.