The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents an interesting stress test for high-end hardware. The data for this configuration—the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090—reveals a system that is overwhelmingly capable, yet still subject to the game's specific engine demands. With a combo rank of 6 out of 1689 tested configurations, this pairing sits at the very top of the performance hierarchy, but the measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings tell a more nuanced story about where the bottlenecks lie.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 186.3 frames per second, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 142.7 FPS at 3840x2160 on the same Low preset.

Q: How does this setup rank against all other tested combinations?

A: This pairing ranks 6th out of 1689 total tested combos in the game, placing it in the top 0.4% of all configurations in the database.

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

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 186.3 FPS, which is only 4.6% higher than the 1440p Low result of 178.1 FPS, indicating a performance ceiling that is not purely GPU-bound.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Ultra and Low settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset yields an average of 49.2 FPS, while the Low preset achieves 142.7 FPS. This represents a 193% increase in frame rate when switching from Ultra to Low.

Q: Does this GPU have enough VRAM for the highest settings?

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This is more than sufficient for The Medium's demands, even at 4K Ultra.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra setting playable on this hardware?

A: The 49.2 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered standard for smooth gameplay, suggesting that while technically playable, the Ultra preset at 4K does not fully utilize the display's potential refresh rate.

GPU Role

The GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant force in this configuration, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. Built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, this GPU houses 21,760 shading units and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yields a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This memory subsystem is critical for The Medium, which features high-resolution textures and detailed environments that are streamed as the camera moves through the game's dual-reality mechanic.

The GPU's raw compute power is evident in the scaling between settings. At 4K, moving from Low to Medium increases the average FPS from 142.7 to 92.9, a significant 35% drop that indicates the GPU is working harder to render additional effects. The jump to High reduces performance further to 65.7 FPS, and finally, Ultra brings it down to 49.2 FPS. This progression shows a consistent, predictable cost for each graphical enhancement tier. The RTX 5090's performance percentile of 94 versus all GPUs underscores its position, though the data shows that even this flagship card is challenged by the most demanding preset at 4K resolution, suggesting the game's Ultra settings are particularly heavy on pixel shading and post-processing effects.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the shifting balance between CPU and GPU load. At Low settings, the progression is 186.3 FPS at 1080p, 178.1 FPS at 1440p, and 142.7 FPS at 4K. The modest 4.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p indicates that at these lower graphical loads, the system is not purely GPU-limited; the CPU is likely playing a significant role in maintaining that high frame rate. The more substantial 19.9% drop from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU beginning to take over as the primary bottleneck.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is much more dramatic. The system delivers 79.6 FPS at 1080p, 64.6 FPS at 1440p, and 49.2 FPS at 4K. The 18.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and the subsequent 23.8% drop to 4K demonstrate a classic GPU-bound scenario where the resolution increase directly taxes the rendering pipeline. The data implies that for players targeting high refresh rates at 1080p, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, but at 4K Ultra, the RTX 5090's compute and memory bandwidth become the definitive limiting factors, with the CPU's role diminishing.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 6 out of 1689 combos, this system is in the 99.6th percentile of all tested configurations for The Medium. This exceptional standing is expected given the components involved. The RTX 5090 sits at the top of NVIDIA's consumer stack, and the i7-14700K is a high-end desktop processor. The rank indicates that only five other combinations in the database managed to outperform this pairing, likely involving even more specialized or high-clock-count CPUs.

The data shows this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, but it is not the absolute fastest. This suggests that while the i7-14700K and RTX 5090 are an excellent match, there is still a marginal performance headroom that other CPUs might unlock, particularly in CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions. The 6th place finish confirms the balance of this pairing, but it also hints that for the absolute peak FPS, a processor with even higher single-thread performance might be necessary. The delta between this combo and the top 5 is not in the data, but the ranking itself confirms its elite status.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the computational foundation for this system. With 20 cores (8 performance and 12 efficient) and 28 threads, it offers substantial multi-threading capability. Its boost clock of 5.60 GHz is a key factor for gaming, where single-thread performance often dictates the maximum achievable frame rate. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency in game logic and physics calculations.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is most apparent when the GPU is not saturated. The 1080p Low result of 186.3 FPS is likely near the limit of what the game engine can process, regardless of GPU power. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,534 and single-core score of 6,287 reflect its high throughput. Its 96th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70,074, places it just behind the i7-14700KF (0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (-0.5% delta). This suggests that for this specific game, the CPU is not a bottleneck at standard resolutions, but its influence on the absolute peak FPS at 1080p Low is measurable, as the frame rate does not scale linearly with GPU load reductions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear matrix of performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low settings deliver 186.3 FPS, Medium settings deliver 136.7 FPS, High settings deliver 101.1 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 79.6 FPS. This shows a 57% reduction in performance from Low to Ultra at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 178.1 FPS, Medium at 117.3 FPS, High at 86.0 FPS, and Ultra at 64.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 63.8% at this resolution, indicating the increased pixel count amplifies the cost of higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 142.7 FPS, Medium at 92.9 FPS, High at 65.7 FPS, and Ultra at 49.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 65.5%. The data shows that the High preset at 4K (65.7 FPS) is roughly equivalent to the Ultra preset at 1440p (64.6 FPS), suggesting that players can trade resolution for visual fidelity while maintaining a similar frame rate. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 50 FPS, and the Low preset at 1080p is the only one that exceeds 180 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend entirely on the user's display resolution and refresh rate target.

For 4K displays, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 65.7 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. The Ultra preset at 49.2 FPS is noticeably slower and may result in a less fluid experience, while the Medium preset at 92.9 FPS is significantly faster but sacrifices visual detail. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 4K, providing a 33.6% performance increase over Ultra while maintaining most of the graphical enhancements.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 117.3 FPS provides a high refresh rate experience, though the High preset at 86.0 FPS is also excellent for standard 60Hz or 120Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 64.6 FPS is playable but leaves performance headroom on the table for users with 144Hz+ monitors.

For 1080p displays, the High preset at 101.1 FPS is a solid choice, but the Medium preset at 136.7 FPS better utilizes high refresh rate panels. The Ultra preset at 79.6 FPS is still smooth, but the data indicates that the gap in visual fidelity between High and Ultra may not be worth the 21% performance cost. The Low preset is only recommended for competitive play or systems targeting maximum frame rates, as it exceeds 180 FPS.