The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 830th out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the middle of the database. This position reflects a pairing where the GPU, which sits at the 79th percentile among all graphics cards, is the primary constraint in this horror title, while the CPU, at the 96th percentile, provides ample headroom. The result is a configuration that can handle the game’s fixed-camera scenes at 1080p and 1440p with smooth performance, but struggles to maintain playable rates at 4K on higher presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most consistent choice, with the Low preset achieving 116.5 FPS and High reaching 51.2 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset drops to 45.8 FPS, while 3840x2160 High falls to 35.5 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all presets remain above the 24.5 FPS floor seen at 4K Ultra.

Q: How does this combo compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 6750 XT’s average benchmark score is 35327, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5600M and 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile. Against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, this GPU trails by 1.3% in average score, yet in The Medium, the measured FPS patterns show the RX 6750 XT delivering playable results only up to 1440p on Medium.

Q: Is the CPU holding back performance in this game?

A: No. The Core i7-14700KF ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70104, which is only 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. Since the FPS scales heavily with resolution and settings rather than CPU load, the data indicates the Radeon RX 6750 XT is the limiting factor, not the processor.

Q: What is the lowest playable setting at 4K?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 75.9 FPS, which is the only 4K setting above 60 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 44.9 FPS, High falls to 35.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 24.5 FPS, so Low is the only viable option for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High across resolutions?

A: Ultra consistently delivers lower FPS than High at every resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 43 FPS versus 51.2 FPS for High; at 2560x1440, Ultra hits 33.2 FPS versus 45.8 FPS; and at 3840x2160, Ultra drops to 24.5 FPS versus 35.5 FPS. The gap widens from 8.2 FPS at 1080p to 11 FPS at 4K, indicating diminishing returns from Ultra settings.

Q: Does this combo ever exceed 100 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with the Low preset, which averages 116.5 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 98.7 FPS, just below the 100 FPS mark, and at 4K Low it falls to 75.9 FPS. No other settings or resolutions reach triple-digit averages.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh processor, built on a 10 nm process, carries 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic tests, it scores 44557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6290 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700K with a delta of 0%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, which is 0.4% faster on average.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU. The game’s measured FPS across resolutions shows a clear pattern: dropping from 116.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 75.9 FPS at 4K Low represents a 34.8% reduction that correlates with pixel count, not core utilization. The processor’s high multi-threaded capability (18713 in Cinebench R20 multi-core) suggests it can handle the game’s background rendering tasks without bottlenecking the RX 6750 XT. The data supports this: at 1080p High, the combo produces 51.2 FPS, which is nearly identical to the 45.8 FPS at 1440p High once resolution scaling is factored in, indicating the CPU is not the limiting component. The 14700KF’s 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier allow for tuning, but even stock, its Passmark single-thread score of 4480 ensures no scene in The Medium becomes CPU-bound based on the FPS data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset averages 116.5 FPS, Medium drops to 69.4 FPS, High reaches 51.2 FPS, and Ultra pulls 43 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 73.5 FPS, showing that the RX 6750 XT has significant headroom at this resolution but that Ultra settings impose a heavy cost. At 2560x1440, the same settings yield 98.7 FPS (Low), 63.1 FPS (Medium), 45.8 FPS (High), and 33.2 FPS (Ultra). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at Low (17.8 FPS) and least at High (5.4 FPS), suggesting that higher presets are already GPU-limited at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, performance falls sharply. The Low preset averages 75.9 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 44.9 FPS, High to 35.5 FPS, and Ultra to 24.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 31 FPS, the largest single-step difference in the dataset, indicating that the GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth become strained when higher textures are enabled. Across all resolutions, the High preset shows the most consistent behavior relative to resolution, with FPS declining from 51.2 at 1080p to 45.8 at 1440p to 35.5 at 4K, a 30.7% total reduction. The Ultra preset, by contrast, falls from 43 at 1080p to 24.5 at 4K, a 43% drop, underscoring its unsuitability for this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

Scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS by an average of 15.7% across all settings. The Low preset sees the smallest relative decline (116.5 to 98.7, a 15.3% drop), while High drops from 51.2 to 45.8 (10.5% decline), and Ultra falls from 43 to 33.2 (22.8% decline). This pattern shows that at 1080p, the GPU is already near its limit on Ultra, so adding pixels has a larger impact than on High where the GPU has more headroom. Moving from 1440p to 4K is more punishing: Low drops from 98.7 to 75.9 (23.1% decline), Medium from 63.1 to 44.9 (28.8% decline), High from 45.8 to 35.5 (22.5% decline), and Ultra from 33.2 to 24.5 (26.2% decline).

This scaling behavior reveals the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, but the data shows a consistent 20-30% reduction from 1080p to 4K at every setting. The RX 6750 XT’s 13.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 166.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are the constraining factors, especially at 4K where the pixel count quadruples. The fact that Low at 4K (75.9 FPS) exceeds High at 1080p (51.2 FPS) further confirms that settings, not resolution alone, dictate the GPU load. For this combo, 1080p is the sweet spot, 1440p is viable on Low to Medium, and 4K requires the Low preset to stay above 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to the High preset at 1920x1080 as the best balance for this pairing, delivering 51.2 FPS. This is above the 45.8 FPS seen at 1440p High and the 35.5 FPS at 4K High, making it the only resolution where High stays comfortably in the 50s. For users prioritizing smoothness over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p offers 116.5 FPS, which is more than double the High preset’s output, and even at 1440p Low, the 98.7 FPS average remains highly playable. The Medium preset at 1080p (69.4 FPS) is a middle-ground option, but it does not provide a significant visual upgrade over High given the 18.2 FPS penalty it imposes relative to High.

At 1440p, the Low preset is the recommended choice, as it is the only setting above 90 FPS (98.7). The Medium preset at 1440p (63.1 FPS) is acceptable for slower-paced horror scenes, but the High preset (45.8 FPS) approaches the lower bounds of smooth gameplay. At 4K, the Low preset (75.9 FPS) is the only sensible option; the Medium preset (44.9 FPS) and High preset (35.5 FPS) are too close to the 30 FPS threshold for comfort, and Ultra (24.5 FPS) is effectively unplayable. Given the game’s fixed camera angles and atmospheric pacing, a stable 45 FPS may be tolerable, but the data suggests that this combo should avoid Ultra entirely, as it never exceeds 43 FPS at any resolution and drops to 24.5 FPS at 4K. The High preset at 1080p provides the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate, with a 51.2 FPS average that keeps the horror experience fluid without sacrificing the game’s detailed environments.