The Medium

The Medium, a horror title released in 2021, presents a demanding rendering workload that stresses both CPU and GPU. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, based on measured FPS data across three resolutions and four quality settings. The combination ranks 237th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the upper tier of systems evaluated for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 168.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 142 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 112.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This relatively modest decline—still well above 100 FPS at 4K—indicates that the CPU and memory subsystem can feed the GPU efficiently even at lower graphical loads. At Medium settings, the averages are 101.9 FPS at 1080p, 87.3 FPS at 1440p, and 67.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is about 34 FPS, but the 4K result remains playable.

High settings show a steeper curve: 75.2 FPS at 1080p, 64.1 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. The 4K High average is 24.2 FPS lower than the 1080p High figure, a gap that suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. Ultra settings amplify this trend: 60.4 FPS at 1080p, 49.6 FPS at 1440p, and 37.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest of the entire set, and the difference between 1080p and 4K Ultra is 22.9 FPS. This scaling behavior indicates that at Ultra quality, the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering resources are saturated, while at Low and Medium, the CPU and memory bandwidth can keep pace with the GPU's output.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 237 out of 1689 tested combinations places it in the top 14% of all systems evaluated for The Medium. This is a strong showing, especially considering the individual component percentiles: the i7-14700KF sits at the 96th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4070 SUPER is at the 84th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU's high percentile helps push the combo rank above what the GPU alone would suggest, indicating that the processor is not a bottleneck in this title.

The CPU's average benchmark score is 70104, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-14700K (70074, delta 0%) and 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887). It trails the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X by 0.4% (70420) and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 by 1.3% (71056). These deltas are small, meaning the i7-14700KF is competitive with top-tier desktop and server processors in synthetic workloads. The GPU's average benchmark score is 42576, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653) and 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723). It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 580X by 1.4% (41991) and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 by 1.6% (41897). These margins are narrow, but the GPU's 84th percentile ranking confirms it is a solid mid-to-high-end part.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration delivers strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6290 and Geekbench single-core score of 2972. The multi-threaded results are equally impressive: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 44557, and Passmark multithread reaches 52425.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The 1080p Low average of 168.3 FPS demonstrates that the processor can sustain very high frame rates when the GPU is not heavily loaded. Even at 4K Low, the 112.9 FPS result indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower settings. The high boost clock of 5.60 GHz and the 33 MB L3 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing, particularly in scenes with complex geometry or many objects. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs further underscores its capability, and its nearest rivals—the i7-14700K, EPYC 9115, Ryzen 9 9950X, and Xeon Platinum 8270—are all within 1.3% of its average benchmark score, showing that it sits at the top of the performance curve.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists the average FPS for each resolution and settings combination:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 51 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 112.9 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 67.5 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 37.5 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 64.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 142 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 87.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 49.6 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 75.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 168.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 101.9 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 60.4 |

At 1080p, all settings exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra just clearing the threshold at 60.4 FPS. This makes 1080p Ultra a viable option for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, High and Medium remain above 60 FPS (64.1 and 87.3), but Ultra falls to 49.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, only Low (112.9) and Medium (67.5) achieve playable frame rates; High (51) and Ultra (37.5) are below 60 FPS. The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1440p High or 4K Medium if a 60 FPS experience is desired, while 4K High and Ultra require a more powerful GPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1980 MHz, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The shading units number 7168, with 224 texture mapping units and 80 ROPs. It also includes 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, and its FP32 performance is 35.48 TFLOPS.

In The Medium, the GPU's role becomes dominant at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra average of 37.5 FPS is the lowest result, indicating that the GPU's rendering pipeline is fully saturated. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's textures at 4K, as the measured results do not show any memory-related stutter or frame drops. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth helps maintain texture streaming at high resolutions, contributing to the 4K Medium result of 67.5 FPS. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4627 and Passmark G3D score of 29995 place it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals—the RTX A6000, RX 7650 GRE, Radeon Pro 580X, and Tesla M40—are all within 1.6% of its average benchmark score, confirming that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a competitive mid-to-high-end card. The GPU's launch MSRP is 599 USD, and the CPU's launch MSRP is $384, but the performance data shows that this pairing delivers a balanced experience for The Medium, with the CPU providing ample headroom and the GPU determining the ceiling at high resolutions.