The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core i7-14700KF + AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a playable but inconsistent experience in The Medium, a horror title that clearly favors lower settings for smooth frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, which is the sweet spot for this pairing. However, pushing to Ultra at 1440p or 4K drops the average below 30 FPS, making those presets impractical for sustained gameplay. The data shows this is a 1080p-oriented combination for this specific game, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 as the most consistent resolution. At Medium settings, the combo delivers 60 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum, while Low settings reach 96 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Medium drops the average to 51 FPS, and 4K Medium falls to 40 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The RX 7600 XT has an average benchmark score of 17083, which is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17208) by 0.7% and leads the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16932) by 0.9%.

Q: What CPU benchmark score does the Core i7-14700KF achieve in multi-core tests?

A: The CPU posts 44167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 18550 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 21462 in Geekbench multi-core. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 70163, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: Is the Core i7-14700KF meaningfully faster than its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The data shows minimal separation. The Core i7-14700KF scores 70163 average, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875). It is 0.9% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) but 1% slower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (70879).

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 23 FPS, which is the lowest recorded across all tested configurations. For comparison, 4K High averages 28 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM help at higher resolutions in this game?

A: The RX 7600 XT carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. While this capacity is generous, the measured FPS data shows the GPU still struggles at 4K Ultra (23 FPS), indicating that memory bandwidth and compute throughput, not just capacity, limit performance in The Medium.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process by TSMC. It contains 13,300 million transistors across a 204 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1980 MHz, a game clock of 2470 MHz, and a boost clock of 2755 MHz. Memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed, delivering 288.0 GB/s bandwidth across a 128-bit bus.

In The Medium, the GPU's raw compute capabilities translate directly into measurable FPS differences. The card features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, along with 32 ray tracing cores. Its peak FP32 throughput is 22.57 TFLOPS, with texture rate at 352.6 GTexel/s and pixel rate at 176.3 GPixel/s. These specifications matter because The Medium's horror environments use dense volumetric lighting and layered scenes, which stress both texture fill and pixel throughput.

The benchmark data highlights the GPU's behavior across settings. At 3840x2160, the RX 7600 XT delivers 64 FPS on Low but only 28 FPS on High and 23 FPS on Ultra. This steep drop indicates that the GPU's 16 GB VRAM is not the limiting factor — rather, the 128-bit memory bus and the 22.57 TFLOPS compute ceiling restrict high-detail rendering at 4K. The card's PassMark G3D score of 17132 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2348 corroborate its mid-range positioning, placing it in the 60th percentile of all GPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, but with unusual sensitivity to settings. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 60 at 1920x1080, to 51 at 2560x1440, to 40 at 3840x2160. That is a 16% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The minimum FPS at Medium follows a similar pattern: 51 at 1080p, 43 at 1440p, and 34 at 4K.

Low settings show a different scaling curve. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 96 FPS average. This falls to 81 FPS at 2560x1440 Low, a 16% drop, and further to 64 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, a 21% drop from 1440p. The High preset is much more punishing: 43 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. Ultra is the most demanding, with 34 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution above 1080p Medium. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is not the constraint here. The Core i7-14700KF's high single-thread performance — 6235 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2578 in Geekbench single-core — ensures that frame pacing is consistent even when the GPU struggles, as evidenced by the relatively tight minimum FPS margins at Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the optimal configuration for this hardware combination. It delivers a 60 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum and a 69 FPS maximum, providing smooth gameplay for a horror title where consistent frame delivery matters for atmosphere. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 96 FPS average, which is overkill for this genre and sacrifices visual fidelity unnecessarily.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the best choice, averaging 51 FPS with a 43 FPS minimum. This is playable, but the lower minimum FPS may introduce stutter during intense scenes. For players who prioritize frame rate over visuals at 1440p, Low settings at 81 FPS average offer a smoother experience. The High preset at 1440p (36 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) should be avoided, as they fall below the 40 FPS threshold needed for comfortable play.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 64 FPS average is the only configuration that provides a consistently playable experience. Medium at 4K averages 40 FPS with a 34 FPS minimum, which is borderline — suitable for slower-paced horror exploration but risky during action sequences. High (28 FPS) and Ultra (23 FPS) are not recommended at 4K, as the frame rates drop into slideshow territory.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 96 FPS average
• Medium: 60 FPS average, 51 FPS minimum, 69 FPS maximum
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 51 FPS average, 43 FPS minimum, 58 FPS maximum
• High: 36 FPS average
• Ultra: 29 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 64 FPS average
• Medium: 40 FPS average, 34 FPS minimum, 46 FPS maximum
• High: 28 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

The data reveals a clear pattern: the RX 7600 XT can handle Low settings at any resolution up to 4K, but its performance collapses when High or Ultra presets are enabled. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 36 FPS (96 to 60), while Medium to High costs another 17 FPS (60 to 43), and High to Ultra costs 9 FPS (43 to 34). This non-linear scaling suggests that specific rendering features in the High and Ultra presets — likely related to volumetric effects and shadow quality — disproportionately impact this GPU's 128-bit memory subsystem.

The combo's overall rank in this game is 2362 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking, combined with the measured FPS data, confirms that while the Core i7-14700KF is a top-tier CPU (94th percentile), the RX 7600 XT (60th percentile) holds the system back in The Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support extends to both DDR4 and DDR5 in dual-channel configuration, with ECC support enabled.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with frame data and handle game logic, physics, and AI. The benchmark results show the i7-14700KF is more than adequate for this task. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and Geekbench multi-core score of 21462 demonstrate exceptional parallel throughput, while the single-core scores of 6235 (Cinebench R23) and 2578 (Geekbench) ensure strong per-thread performance for game engine tasks.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is remarkably tight. With an average benchmark score of 70163, it sits just 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) and 0.4% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875). The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X trails by 0.9% (69515), while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K leads by 1% (70879). This clustering means that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, confirming that the GPU is the performance limiter.

The measured FPS data supports this conclusion. The minimum FPS values at Medium settings — 51 at 1080p, 43 at 1440p, and 34 at 4K — show consistent frame delivery without CPU-induced hitches. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect larger gaps between average and minimum FPS, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work. Instead, the frame pacing remains stable, indicating that the i7-14700KF's 28 threads and high boost clock are sufficient to maintain a steady stream of draw calls and game state updates. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking and 70163 average benchmark score reinforce its position as a high-end processor that will not limit this GPU in most scenarios.