The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience, and the measured data for the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions. The benchmark results show that this combination struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, with only the Low preset achieving a playable average of 62.9 FPS. Stepping up to Medium at 3840x2160 drops the average to 37.4 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 29.8 FPS and 22 FPS respectively, indicating a significant GPU bottleneck at this resolution. The progression from 1080p to 4K is not linear, with the most dramatic performance cliff occurring between 1440p and 4K on the higher settings presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows that resolution scaling has a profound impact on this system's performance in The Medium. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 89.8 FPS, which drops to 73.6 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 62.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 30% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, suggesting that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GPU is still heavily taxed by the pixel count increase. For Medium settings, the scaling is more aggressive: 59.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 49 FPS at 1440p, a 17% drop, and then plummets to 37.4 FPS at 4K, a 37% reduction from the 1440p figure. The High preset tells a similar story, with 41.3 FPS at 1080p, 34.3 FPS at 1440p, and 29.8 FPS at 4K, showing a 28% decrease from 1080p to 4K.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling behavior, starting at 31.4 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 27.5 FPS at 1440p, then to 22 FPS at 4K. This data implies that at 1080p, the system is not entirely GPU-bound even at Ultra, as the frame rate difference between 1080p and 1440p is relatively modest at 12%. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K at Ultra causes a 20% performance hit, indicating that the RX 5700 XT's 8 GB of VRAM and memory bandwidth become limiting factors as pixel throughput demands increase. The overall pattern suggests that the i9-14900K is more than capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, but the Radeon card's RDNA 1.0 architecture struggles to maintain consistent frame delivery as resolution scales up.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT plays a dominant role in determining The Medium's performance, as evidenced by the dramatic frame rate variations across settings presets. This GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves insufficient for the game's high-resolution texture streaming demands at 4K Ultra. The card's boost clock of 1905 MHz and game clock of 1755 MHz are relatively high for its generation, yet the benchmark results show that even at 1080p High, the average FPS of 41.3 indicates that the game is heavily optimized for more modern architectures. The GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 9.754 TFLOPS FP32, are clearly being saturated by The Medium's rendering techniques, which include fixed-camera angles with detailed backgrounds and volumetric lighting effects.

The measured data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS of 22 is well below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs on the Navi 10 chip are insufficient for the pixel fill rate required at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile with a deltaPct of -0.1, indicating nearly identical average benchmark scores, yet the RX 5700 XT's desktop-oriented design with a 225 W TDP does not translate to better gaming performance in this title. The 7 nm process node from TSMC allows for a 251 mm² die size with 10,300 million transistors, but the architectural limitations of RDNA 1.0, which lacks dedicated ray tracing cores, are exposed by The Medium's use of pre-baked lighting and shadow maps.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combination is Low at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 89.8 FPS, providing a smooth experience that comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 73.6 FPS, which remains playable, but the Medium preset at this resolution yields 49 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror title. The data suggests that Medium settings at 1080p, averaging 59.2 FPS, offer the best balance between visual fidelity and performance, as it maintains near-60 FPS while providing improved texture quality and shadow detail over Low. For players prioritizing visual quality, High settings at 1080p produce 41.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that relies on atmospheric tension and smooth camera transitions.

At 4K resolution, the only viable option is Low settings with 62.9 FPS, as Medium drops to 37.4 FPS and High falls to 29.8 FPS, both of which would result in noticeable stuttering during the game's dual-reality sequences. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as even at 1080p it only achieves 31.4 FPS, which undermines the game's intended cinematic experience. The benchmark results indicate that the performance difference between Medium and High at 1440p is 14.7 FPS (49 vs 34.3), suggesting that High settings introduce effects that disproportionately impact the GPU's shading units. For a consistent experience across all resolutions, Low settings provide the most stable frame rates, with a maximum variation of 26.9 FPS between 1080p and 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this system?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings achieves 89.8 FPS average, which is the highest measured frame rate. Medium settings at 1080p deliver 59.2 FPS, offering a reasonable visual upgrade while still maintaining smooth gameplay.

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

A: Yes, but only with Low settings, which produces 62.9 FPS average at 3840x2160. Medium settings at 4K drop to 37.4 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 29.8 FPS and 22 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for smooth play.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT's VRAM affect performance?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears to be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings, where the average FPS of 22 suggests VRAM capacity or bandwidth constraints. At 1080p, the same preset achieves 31.4 FPS, indicating that resolution-dependent memory pressure is significant.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K bottlenecking the GPU?

A: No, the data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. The i9-14900K has 24 cores and 32 threads with a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings changes, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 41.3 FPS while Ultra averages 31.4 FPS, a difference of 9.9 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 6.8 FPS (34.3 vs 27.5), and at 4K, it is 7.8 FPS (29.8 vs 22).

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1193 out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 29% of systems for The Medium. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations in this title, despite the high-end CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K serves as a powerful foundation for this gaming system, but its role in The Medium's performance is secondary to the GPU. With 24 cores and 32 threads, a base clock of 3.20 GHz, and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, this CPU provides substantial processing headroom that the game does not fully exploit. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain low latency for game logic and AI calculations, but the measured FPS data indicates that the game's frame rates are predominantly determined by graphics rendering. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and single-core score of 7040 demonstrate its exceptional computational power, yet The Medium's horror genre with fixed camera angles typically does not require high thread counts.

The i9-14900K's percentile ranking of 97 among all CPUs confirms its elite status, but this does not translate to proportional gaming performance in this title. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 89.8 FPS, which is well below what the CPU could theoretically support, suggesting that the GPU's pixel throughput is the limiting factor. The processor's support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration provides adequate bandwidth for game data, but the Radeon RX 5700 XT's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface is the data pathway that matters most for frame delivery. The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node from Intel's Raptor Lake architecture ensure it remains cool under load, but the game's performance ceiling is clearly defined by the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combination reveals a systematic pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 89.8 FPS for Low, 59.2 FPS for Medium, 41.3 FPS for High, and 31.4 FPS for Ultra. This represents a 58.4 FPS spread between the lowest and highest settings presets, indicating that The Medium's graphical options have a substantial impact on performance. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 73.6 FPS for Low, 49 FPS for Medium, 34.3 FPS for High, and 27.5 FPS for Ultra, with a slightly narrower spread of 46.1 FPS. At 3840x2160, the averages are 62.9 FPS for Low, 37.4 FPS for Medium, 29.8 FPS for High, and 22 FPS for Ultra, resulting in a 40.9 FPS spread.

The data shows that the Low preset is the only settings level that maintains an average above 60 FPS at any resolution, achieving this at both 1080p and 4K. Medium settings come closest to the 60 FPS target at 1080p with 59.2 FPS, but fall short at higher resolutions. High settings never exceed 41.3 FPS, and Ultra never exceeds 31.4 FPS, making these presets unsuitable for competitive or action-oriented gameplay. The percentage difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is 34% (89.8 vs 59.2), while the difference between Medium and High is 30% (59.2 vs 41.3), and High to Ultra is 24% (41.3 vs 31.4). This consistent degradation suggests that each settings tier introduces additional rendering complexity that the RX 5700 XT struggles to process.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination ranks 1193 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 29% of all systems evaluated. This ranking is notably lower than what the CPU's individual performance would suggest, given that the i9-14900K ranks in the 97th percentile among all CPUs. The GPU's percentile ranking of 68 among all GPUs provides a more accurate predictor of gaming performance in this title, as the RX 5700 XT's RDNA 1.0 architecture is not optimized for The Medium's specific rendering requirements. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile with a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the RX 5700 XT performs essentially identically to this mobile workstation card in synthetic benchmarks, yet the gaming results here show that desktop-oriented performance does not always translate to better game-specific outcomes.

The combination's rank of 1193 indicates that a significant majority of tested systems outperform this configuration in The Medium. This is likely due to the game's release in 2021, which coincided with the availability of more modern GPUs that feature dedicated ray tracing cores and more efficient shading architectures. The RX 5700 XT's lack of hardware ray tracing support, combined with its 8 GB VRAM capacity, places it at a disadvantage compared to later-generation cards. The i9-14900K's high performance in CPU benchmarks does not compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title, as the game's fixed-camera presentation and pre-rendered backgrounds place the bulk of the workload on the graphics card. The data suggests that users seeking better performance in The Medium would need to prioritize GPU upgrades over CPU improvements, as the processor's capabilities far exceed what the game currently demands.