The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The Medium's performance scaling across resolutions reveals a heavily GPU-bound title, particularly at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combo produces 50.8 FPS, which drops to 46.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 35.8 FPS at 4K. That represents a 29.5% performance loss from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings, indicating that the GPU's rendering load increases significantly as pixel count rises.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when examining lower settings. At Low settings, the combo achieves 148.4 FPS at 1080p, 125.7 FPS at 1440p, and 98.1 FPS at 4K. This 50.3 FPS gap between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is proportionally smaller than the Ultra gap, suggesting that at Low settings the system becomes less GPU-limited and the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads have more headroom to feed frames. The 125.7 FPS at 1440p Low versus 98.1 FPS at 4K Low shows a 28.1% reduction, which is milder than the Ultra reduction.

Medium settings tell a similar story: 95.9 FPS at 1080p, 79.9 FPS at 1440p, and 62.5 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Medium costs 21.8% performance, while the same transition at High settings costs 23.3% (56.2 FPS to 43.1 FPS). The data strongly suggests that resolution scaling is the dominant factor in this game's performance profile, with the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus being the limiting component at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience on this hardware, Medium settings provide the most sensible trade-off across all tested resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 95.9 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Medium, 79.9 FPS remains fluid, and even at 4K Medium, the 62.5 FPS result is playable. The jump from Medium to High costs 28.8% performance at 1080p (95.9 to 68.3 FPS), making High less attractive unless visual fidelity takes priority.

Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, where 50.8 FPS is borderline playable for a horror title that doesn't demand competitive frame rates. At 1440p Ultra, 46.5 FPS dips below comfortable levels, and at 4K Ultra, 35.8 FPS is too choppy for serious play. Low settings are not recommended for this hardware combination because they leave performance on the table — the 148.4 FPS at 1080p Low exceeds what most displays can show, and the visual downgrade is unnecessary given the headroom at Medium.

The measured data indicates that Medium at 1440p offers the best experience per frame: 79.9 FPS with settings that likely retain most of the game's atmospheric effects. For users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, Medium at 4K (62.5 FPS) outperforms High at 1080p (68.3 FPS) in raw smoothness while offering higher resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF brings substantial processing power to this combo, with 20 cores and 28 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process, demonstrates strong synthetic results: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and single-core score of 6290. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 2 MB provide ample bandwidth for feeding the RTX 4070.

In The Medium, the CPU's role becomes apparent when comparing Low settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system produces 148.4 FPS — a figure that suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter, but the CPU's headroom is what allows this high frame rate. The 0.3% deltaPct against the AMD EPYC 9115 in average benchmark score (70074 vs 69887) shows that this CPU is competitive with enterprise-class silicon, though the game itself is unlikely to leverage all 20 cores given its horror genre focus on sequential rendering tasks.

The CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant: a Geekbench single-core score of 2972 and Passmark single-thread score of 4480 indicate strong per-core throughput. These characteristics matter for The Medium's directorial-style camera work and environment streaming, which typically depend on one or two primary threads. The 96th percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms that this processor sits at the top tier, yet the measured FPS ceiling of 148.4 at 1080p Low suggests the GPU still governs overall performance in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 397th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 23.5% of all configurations. This ranking is notable because the GPU alone sits at the 81st percentile against all GPUs, while the CPU ranks at the 96th percentile. The gap between these percentiles indicates that the RTX 4070 is the limiting factor in this pairing, preventing the combo from climbing higher in the rankings.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (0.6% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38008 (1.9% higher), and the RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (2.2% higher). Interestingly, the desktop RTX 4070 trails these mobile and older parts in synthetic benchmarks, yet in actual game measurements, it delivers playable frame rates at 4K Medium (62.5 FPS). This discrepancy between synthetic and real-world performance suggests that The Medium's engine responds well to the RTX 4070's Ada Lovelace architecture features, including its 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores.

The combo's rank of 397 out of 1689 is respectable for a mid-to-high-end configuration, and the measured data confirms that this pairing is well-balanced for 1440p gaming at Medium to High settings. The CPU's headroom (96th percentile) means that upgrading the GPU would yield immediate FPS gains, while the GPU's 81st percentile suggests that the current configuration is not leaving significant performance on the table.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the primary driver of The Medium's visual output, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz, combined with 5888 shading units, deliver 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. These specifications position the card as a capable 1440p performer, which is reflected in the measured results.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant at 4K resolutions. With 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, the card can handle the texture and geometry demands of The Medium at 4K Medium (62.5 FPS), but Ultra settings at 4K (35.8 FPS) push the memory subsystem to its limits. The pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed for the game's fixed-camera horror scenes, which often feature complex lighting and shadow effects.

The RTX 4070's 81st percentile ranking against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283, places it above the RTX 4080 Mobile in passmark_g3d (26927) but below the RX Vega 56 in overall score. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure that The Medium's modern rendering features are fully supported. The 200 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate that this is a power-efficient card for its performance class, though the suggested 550 W PSU requirement should be noted for system builders.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The combo delivers 95.9 FPS at 1080p Medium, which is 28.8% higher than High settings (68.3 FPS) and 45.1% lower than Low settings (148.4 FPS).

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings (62.5 FPS) or Low settings (98.1 FPS). High settings (43.1 FPS) and Ultra settings (35.8 FPS) at 4K fall below comfortable playable thresholds.

Q: How does this combo rank relative to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 397th out of 1689 combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 23.5% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the best resolution for this GPU and CPU pairing?

A: 1440p Medium provides the best balance, achieving 79.9 FPS. This is 23.3% higher than 4K Medium (62.5 FPS) while offering significantly better visual fidelity than 1080p.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests no CPU bottleneck. The i7-14700KF ranks at the 96th percentile (avg score 70104), while the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile (avg score 37283), indicating the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What settings should I avoid with this hardware?

A: Avoid Ultra settings at 1440p (46.5 FPS) and 4K (35.8 FPS), as these produce frame rates below 60 FPS. 1080p Ultra (50.8 FPS) is also borderline, making Medium the recommended ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS across settings are: Low at 148.4 FPS, Medium at 95.9 FPS, High at 68.3 FPS, and Ultra at 50.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 65.8% reduction in frame rate, with the largest single jump occurring between Medium and High (28.8% loss).

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low at 125.7 FPS, Medium at 79.9 FPS, High at 56.2 FPS, and Ultra at 46.5 FPS. The 1440p results show a 63.0% reduction from Low to Ultra, slightly less severe than at 1080p but still indicating significant GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low at 98.1 FPS, Medium at 62.5 FPS, High at 43.1 FPS, and Ultra at 35.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, trailing 1080p Ultra by 29.5% and 1440p Ultra by 23.0%. The 4K Medium result (62.5 FPS) is remarkably close to the 1440p High result (56.2 FPS), suggesting that resolution scaling has a more significant impact than settings at these higher pixel counts.