The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience, and the data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings. The measured frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy where the Ultra preset proves too taxing for smooth play at 4K, while the Low preset unlocks exceptional performance that far exceeds display refresh rates. This combination ranks in the top 1.2% of all tested configurations, placing it among the elite for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-limited scenario, particularly at higher quality presets. At the Ultra preset, the average frame rate drops from 75.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 65.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 48.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 36.2% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load is scaling heavily with pixel count. The High preset shows a similar trend, falling from 95.3 FPS at 1080p to 80.2 FPS at 1440p, then to 61.3 FPS at 4K—a 35.7% drop across the resolution span.

The Medium preset exhibits the most linear scaling, with 130.7 FPS at 1080p, 111.5 FPS at 1440p, and 86.6 FPS at 4K. This consistent decline of roughly 20% per resolution step confirms that the RTX 4090's compute resources are being fully utilized as pixel count rises. Interestingly, the Low preset shows the smallest relative drop, from 184.9 FPS at 1080p to 178.8 FPS at 1440p, and 137.5 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p delta of only 3.3% suggests that at Low settings, the game becomes partially CPU-limited at lower resolutions, with the i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads providing ample headroom until the 4K pixel shader load overwhelms the GPU.

The fact that 4K Low (137.5 FPS) outperforms 1080p Ultra (75.5 FPS) by 82.1% underscores that The Medium's Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive at higher resolutions. The data indicates that resolution scaling is steepest on the Ultra preset, where the 4K result is 36.2% lower than 1080p, compared to the Low preset's 25.7% drop. This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional volumetric and shadow effects multiply with pixel count, creating a super-linear workload for the GPU.

FAQ

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

A: At 2560x1440 with the Medium preset, the system achieves 111.5 FPS, which provides a smooth experience while maintaining visual fidelity. The 4K Medium result of 86.6 FPS is also playable, but 1440p offers a larger safety margin above 60 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra in The Medium?

A: No, the 4K Ultra result of 48.2 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered necessary for smooth gameplay. The 4K High preset, at 61.3 FPS, is the highest quality setting that maintains playable performance at this resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 perform in this game compared to other GPUs?

A: The RTX 4090 holds the 91st percentile among all GPUs in general benchmarks, and this specific combo ranks 21st out of 1689 tested configurations in The Medium. The data shows it delivers 184.9 FPS at 1080p Low, which is exceptional for this horror title.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 184.9 FPS drops to 178.8 FPS at 1440p—a mere 3.3% decline—suggesting the CPU is limiting performance at these lower GPU loads. At higher presets, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

Q: What preset offers the best balance of quality and performance?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 111.5 FPS, which is 85.1% faster than the High preset's 80.2 FPS at the same resolution. This makes Medium the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: How does the i7-14700KF compare to similar CPUs?

A: The i7-14700KF ranks in the 96th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70104. It delivers performance nearly identical to the i7-14700K (0% delta) and slightly ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 by 0.3%.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF brings substantial processing power to this pairing, featuring 20 cores and 28 threads based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide strong single-threaded performance, which is crucial for the fixed-camera scenes in The Medium that rely on rapid draw call submissions. The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing when the game streams environmental assets.

In general benchmarks, the i7-14700KF scores 6290 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 44557 in multi-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the i7-14700K, scores nearly identically with a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X trails by 0.4%. The data indicates that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor in The Medium, except at the 1080p Low preset where the GPU load is minimal enough for the processor's 28 threads to become relevant.

The CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low. The 34.5% drop from 184.9 FPS to 137.5 FPS shows that even at Low settings, the GPU eventually takes over as the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 184.9 FPS result suggests the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them, a situation that reverses as resolution increases. The 125W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make this a straightforward upgrade path for systems targeting high-refresh-rate gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the i7-14700KF and RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 21 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 1.2% of all configurations. This top-tier ranking is expected given the GPU's 91st percentile standing among all graphics cards and the CPU's 96th percentile among all processors. The combo outperforms the vast majority of systems tested, with only 20 configurations delivering higher average frame rates in this title.

The ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU, where the i7-14700KF's high boost clock ensures the RTX 4090 is fed with sufficient draw calls to maintain its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute throughput. The 0.3% performance delta between the i7-14700KF and the AMD EPYC 9115 in CPU benchmarks suggests that the choice of high-end processor has minimal impact on the final ranking, as the GPU dominates performance in this game. The combo's position at rank 21 indicates that The Medium is heavily GPU-bound, rewarding systems with the RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

When compared to the GPU's nearest rivals in general benchmarks, the RTX 4090 outperforms the Tesla T4 by 0.4% and the Quadro P6000 by 1.3%, but these are workstation cards not optimized for gaming. The combo's 21st place ranking out of 1689 is a strong result, though the gap to the top 20 likely involves systems with newer or more specialized hardware. The data confirms that this pairing is among the best available for The Medium, with only a handful of more exotic configurations surpassing it.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the optimal balance, delivering 111.5 FPS while maintaining visual quality that surpasses the Low preset. This configuration provides a 38.9% performance improvement over High at the same resolution (80.2 FPS) and is 70.1% faster than Ultra (65.6 FPS). The Medium preset at 4K, at 86.6 FPS, is also viable for players prioritizing resolution over frame rate, though 1440p Medium provides a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

For players with 1080p displays, the High preset at 95.3 FPS is recommended, as it offers better visual fidelity than Medium (130.7 FPS) while remaining well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p (75.5 FPS) is only advisable for players who prioritize maximum visual quality over frame rate consistency, as the drop from High is 20.8%. At 4K, the High preset (61.3 FPS) is the highest quality setting that maintains playable performance, while Ultra (48.2 FPS) should be avoided for smooth gameplay.

The Low preset is not recommended for general play, as its 184.9 FPS at 1080p and 178.8 FPS at 1440p exceed the refresh rate of most displays, meaning the extra performance is wasted. However, Low at 4K (137.5 FPS) could be considered for competitive play or for players with high-refresh-rate 4K monitors who prioritize frame rate over visual quality. The data clearly shows that Medium or High presets provide the best experience, with Ultra reserved for situations where visual fidelity trumps frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are 184.9 FPS on Low, 130.7 FPS on Medium, 95.3 FPS on High, and 75.5 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 59.2% performance reduction, with each preset step costing roughly 20-30% of performance. The 1080p results show the widest spread between presets, indicating that the CPU is capable of pushing high frame rates when the GPU load is low.

At 2560x1440, the results are 178.8 FPS on Low, 111.5 FPS on Medium, 80.2 FPS on High, and 65.6 FPS on Ultra. The Low preset loses only 3.3% compared to 1080p, while Medium loses 14.7%, High loses 15.8%, and Ultra loses 13.1%. This pattern confirms that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as settings increase, with the CPU's role diminishing at higher quality levels.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to 137.5 FPS on Low, 86.6 FPS on Medium, 61.3 FPS on High, and 48.2 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show a 65.0% reduction from Low to Ultra, the largest spread across all resolutions. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for standard refresh-rate displays. The 4K Medium result of 86.6 FPS is the best 4K option that exceeds 60 FPS by a significant margin, while 4K High barely crosses the threshold at 61.3 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for The Medium's high-resolution textures and fixed-camera scenes that require rapid asset loading. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute deliver the raw processing power needed to maintain high frame rates across all settings.

The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all graphics cards is reflected in its measured performance, where it achieves 184.9 FPS at 1080p Low and 137.5 FPS at 4K Low. The VRAM capacity proves sufficient for all tested settings, with no evidence of memory-related stuttering or texture pop-in in the data. The RTX 4090's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores provide headroom for ray-traced effects, though The Medium's measured results do not indicate whether these features are enabled.

The GPU's performance scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings (130.7 to 86.6 FPS, a 33.7% drop) shows that the 4090's memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is well-matched to the game's demands. The fact that 4K Low (137.5 FPS) outperforms 1080p Ultra (75.5 FPS) by 82.1% highlights how the GPU's compute resources are more efficiently utilized at lower quality presets. This suggests that The Medium's Ultra preset includes effects that are not optimized for the 4090's architecture, whereas the Low preset allows the GPU to operate at peak efficiency.