The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror title that stresses the GPU heavily, and the data for the Intel Core i9-14900K + AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination reflects a system that is consistently bound by the graphics card across all tested resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings widening dramatically at 4K. This combination ranks in the 1648th position out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, a result that aligns with the GPU's 59th percentile standing among all tested graphics cards.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which strongly indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary limiting component in this pairing. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 101 FPS at 1920x1080 to 85 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 16 FPS, and then to 67 FPS at 3840x2160, another 18 FPS drop. The scaling behavior is linear, suggesting that the GPU's shading and memory bandwidth are being saturated as pixel count increases.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern, with averages of 63 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The High preset is more demanding, yielding 45 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and only 30 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, producing 36 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and just 24 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 34% for Low, 33% for Medium, 33% for High, and 33% for Ultra, which is a remarkably uniform scaling curve.

This uniformity is the key indicator of a GPU-bound scenario. If the Intel Core i9-14900K were the bottleneck, the frame rate would show a much smaller decline at higher resolutions because the CPU workload would remain constant while the GPU work increased. Instead, the data shows that every resolution step imposes a nearly identical proportional penalty, meaning the Radeon RX 9060's rendering throughput is the ceiling. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth likely contributes to this scaling, as higher resolutions require more memory capacity and bandwidth to hold and stream textures. The 4K results, particularly the 24 FPS average on Ultra, suggest the GPU is not only compute-limited but also potentially hitting memory capacity limits, causing additional performance degradation beyond raw pixel throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested CPU-GPU combinations in The Medium, this pairing achieves a rank of 1648 out of 2911, placing it in the 57th percentile of all combos. This is a modest result for a system featuring a flagship-class CPU, and it underscores that the graphics card is the dominant factor in this game's performance. The Intel Core i9-14900K itself is a high-performing processor, sitting in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, but its influence on this game's frame rates is minimal because The Medium is not CPU-intensive.

The GPU's own ranking tells a similar story. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 sits in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with an average score of 16129, which is a -0.7% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 with an average score of 15852, a 1% delta. These are extremely tight margins, meaning the RX 9060 is performance-wise nearly identical to those cards in synthetic benchmarks, and the observed in-game results are consistent with that mid-range positioning.

The combo rank of 1648 out of 2911 means that roughly 43% of tested systems perform better in The Medium, while 57% perform worse. Given that the CPU is in the top 5% of all processors, the fact that this combo lands in the lower half of the distribution is a direct consequence of the GPU's mid-pack standing. In a game that scales heavily with GPU throughput, a processor with 24 cores and 32 threads cannot compensate for a graphics card that is outpaced by many other options. The data suggests that if the goal is higher frame rates in The Medium, swapping the GPU would yield far greater gains than upgrading the already-powerful CPU.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 44 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 28 ray tracing cores. The chip is relatively small at 199 mm² but packs 29,700 million transistors, resulting in a high transistor density of 149.2M per mm². The GPU's clock speeds are notable, with a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz, which are high frequencies for a mid-range card.

The memory subsystem is a potential weakness for this game. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 2250 MHz with an 18 Gbps effective data rate, across a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For The Medium, which is a horror game with detailed environments and likely high-resolution textures, 8 GB can be a limiting factor, especially at 4K resolution with High or Ultra settings. The measured frame rates show that the gap between Low and Ultra settings grows from a 65 FPS difference at 1080p to a 43 FPS difference at 4K, but the absolute 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS suggests the GPU is severely constrained, possibly by both compute and memory bandwidth.

The GPU's pixel rate is 191.4 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s, which are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but insufficient for 4K at high quality settings. The FP32 performance of 21.43 TFLOPS places it in the mid-range tier, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3322 reflects this. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 39476 and OpenCL score of 88183 further confirm that this is a capable but not top-tier GPU. The data shows that the RX 9060 can handle The Medium at 1440p Medium reasonably well, but 4K gaming requires dropping to Low settings to achieve a playable 67 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 9060 delivers its best results. The Low preset achieves an average of 101 FPS, which is smooth and well above the threshold for competitive play. The Medium preset yields 63 FPS on average, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally a stable experience. The High preset drops to 45 FPS average, which is still playable but starts to show the GPU's limitations. The Ultra preset is the least impressive at 1080p, with an average of 36 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target most gamers prefer.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades as expected. The Low preset averages 85 FPS, which remains playable, but the Medium preset falls to 53 FPS average (45 FPS min, 61 FPS max). The High preset averages 38 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience, and the Ultra preset drops to 30 FPS average, which is barely playable for a slow-paced horror title. The 1440p results show that the RX 9060 is best suited for Medium settings at this resolution if the user wants to stay near 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overmatched. The Low preset is the only playable option, averaging 67 FPS. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS (35 FPS min, 48 FPS max), which is sluggish, and the High preset averages 30 FPS, which is barely acceptable for a game like The Medium that relies on atmosphere rather than fast action. The Ultra preset averages just 24 FPS, which is a slideshow and should be avoided. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming with this GPU requires significant settings compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The processor features a large cache hierarchy, including 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i9-14900K is exceptionally strong. It scores 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2262.5 in single-core, and it achieves 6103 and 324.5 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and single-core respectively. Its Geekbench scores are 21697 multi-core and 2655 single-core, and its Passmark multithread score is 58674. The processor's average benchmark score is 79097, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900KF with a -0.3% delta, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus with a -0.6% delta, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with a 1.7% delta, showing that it is essentially tied with the best processors available.

Despite this CPU powerhouse, the measured frame rates in The Medium show no signs of CPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 101 FPS, and at 4K Low, it produces 67 FPS, which are both limited by the graphics card. The CPU's 24 cores and high clock speeds are largely irrelevant for this game, as The Medium does not appear to be heavily threaded or CPU-bound. The data indicates that even a significantly weaker CPU would likely produce identical frame rates with the RX 9060, as the GPU is the bottleneck in every scenario. The i9-14900K's role in this combo is to ensure that it never becomes a limiting factor, which it easily achieves, but the performance ceiling is set entirely by the Radeon RX 9060.

FAQ

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

A: The 1920x1080 resolution with the Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 63 FPS and a minimum of 53 FPS. Higher resolutions require significant settings reductions to maintain playable frame rates.

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

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 67 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 42 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 24 FPS, making 4K viable only with substantial quality compromises.

Q: How does the RX 9060 compare to its nearest rival in raw performance?

A: The RX 9060's average benchmark score is 16014, which is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's 16129 and 1% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7700's 15852. These are essentially equivalent performance levels.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The data shows that frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads are sufficient to avoid any bottleneck in The Medium.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 85 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 30 FPS, a difference of 55 FPS. This highlights the GPU's sensitivity to quality settings.

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

A: This combination ranks 1648th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower-middle tier. The GPU's 59th percentile standing is the primary reason for this mid-pack position.

Settings Recommendations

For a consistent 60 FPS experience, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the optimal choice, yielding an average of 63 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS. This provides a stable frame rate that suits the game's atmospheric pacing without sacrificing visual quality excessively. If the user prefers higher fidelity, the High preset at 1080p delivers 45 FPS average, which is acceptable for a slow-paced horror title but may show occasional stutters.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended setting, averaging 53 FPS with a minimum of 45 FPS. This is the highest quality level that remains consistently above 45 FPS, which is generally sufficient for this genre. The Low preset at 1440p offers a smoother 85 FPS average, but the visual downgrade is noticeable. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p are not recommended, as they drop below 38 FPS, which can detract from the immersive experience.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset is the only viable option, achieving 67 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K averages 42 FPS, which is borderline and could be acceptable for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness, but the frame time variance (35 FPS minimum) may cause noticeable hitches. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended due to their 30 FPS and 24 FPS averages respectively, which are below the playability threshold for most users. Overall, the data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium settings, and 4K should be reserved for players willing to accept Low quality.