The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 shows a configuration that is heavily influenced by graphics settings. This pairing produces a wide range of frame rates, from highly playable at lower presets to a stutter-prone experience at maximum quality. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, with the CPU providing ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, confirming that the Radeon RX 9070 is the limiting component. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 results in a performance reduction from 143.4 FPS to 91.4 FPS, a significant 36% decrease. This scaling is expected, as the pixel count quadruples, placing a much heavier load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

Moving from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings shows a similar trend. The average frame rate falls from 77 FPS at 2560x1440 to 56.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This 26% drop indicates that even at a mid-range preset, the resolution is the dominant factor in determining performance. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is also notable, with a difference of 34.7 FPS, suggesting that the visual quality uplift from the Low to Medium preset is not free.

The most demanding scenario, Ultra settings, shows that 4K is largely out of reach for smooth gameplay. The RX 9070 manages only 34.1 FPS at 3840x2160, which is below the threshold for a consistent experience. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset yields 41.7 FPS, and at 1920x1080, it produces 48.3 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 29% reduction, confirming that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck across the board, regardless of the preset.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the Low preset offers the best performance for high-refresh-rate displays. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 143.4 FPS, which is suitable for a 144Hz monitor. Even at 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 120 FPS, making it a viable option for competitive play or for users who prioritize frame rate above all else. At 4K, Low settings are the only way to get close to the 90 FPS mark, hitting 91.4 FPS.

For a balance between visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset is the sweet spot for most users. It provides a substantial improvement over Low while keeping frame rates high enough for a smooth experience. At 1920x1080, it delivers 90.1 FPS, and at 2560x1440, it maintains a solid 77 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset drops to 56.7 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for this configuration. High settings produce 65.5 FPS at 1080p and just 43.9 FPS at 4K. Ultra is even more demanding, with the combo only reaching 48.3 FPS at 1080p and 34.1 FPS at 4K. These presets appear to be designed for higher-end hardware and do not leverage the CPU's capabilities effectively, as the GPU becomes the sole constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 508th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 30% of all configurations, indicating that it is a capable pairing for this title. The rank reflects the overall performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

The position is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance. The RX 9070's 16 GB of VRAM and 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth are sufficient for the game's textures, but the raw compute power is what limits the higher presets. The CPU's high core count and clock speeds do not boost the ranking further because the game is not CPU-bound in the measured scenarios. The data indicates that other combinations with more powerful GPUs would rank higher, as the frame rates are consistently tied to the graphics load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 143.4 FPS (Low), 90.1 FPS (Medium), 65.5 FPS (High), and 48.3 FPS (Ultra). The progression shows a clear performance cost for each step up in visual quality. The difference between Low and Medium is 53.3 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is 17.2 FPS, showing diminishing returns for the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the results are 120 FPS (Low), 77 FPS (Medium), 55 FPS (High), and 41.7 FPS (Ultra). The drop from 1080p is consistent across all settings, with the Low preset remaining the only option for a 120Hz display. The Medium preset at 77 FPS is a good target for a 75Hz or 144Hz monitor with adaptive sync.

At 3840x2160, the measured scores are 91.4 FPS (Low), 56.7 FPS (Medium), 43.9 FPS (High), and 34.1 FPS (Ultra). The data shows that 4K gaming is only realistic with Low settings for high refresh rates, or Medium for a standard 60Hz experience. The High and Ultra presets at 4K fall below the playable threshold, indicating a need for upscaling technologies or reduced resolution.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the clear performance driver in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for the game's data streaming. The GPU's 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is what determines the frame rates at each preset.

The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are the operating points that matter for gaming. The data shows that the GPU is fully utilized, as frame rates scale inversely with resolution and settings. The 4 nm process node and RDNA 4.0 architecture are efficient, but the raw performance is still the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the GPU cannot maintain a high frame rate. The benchmark scores for the GPU, such as the 25381 in Passmark G3D, support its mid-to-high-end positioning.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF provides a solid foundation for this gaming combo. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it offers substantial multi-threaded capability, which is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures high single-thread performance, scoring 6290 in Cinebench R23 single-core.

However, in The Medium, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck. The frame rates are consistently tied to the GPU's workload, suggesting that the processor has ample headroom. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and support for high-speed memory help to feed the GPU, but the game's engine likely relies more on graphics processing. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a top-tier performer, but it does not translate to higher frame rates in this specific title when paired with this GPU. The data implies that the CPU is not the constraint, and the overall performance is dictated by the graphics card.