The Medium

FAQ

Q: What is the measured performance of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combo in The Medium?

A: The combo’s measured average frame rates range from 109.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings down to 25.6 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The data indicates that the system achieves 51.6 FPS at 1080p High, 44.1 FPS at 1440p High, and 34 FPS at 4K High.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79824, which places it 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 7413 (score 80041) and 0.7% ahead of both the Intel Core i9-14900KF (score 79245) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (score 79240). It also sits 0.9% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (score 79102).

Q: What is the GPU’s standing relative to other graphics cards in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181 and ranks in the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321, which is 0.6% higher, while the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021, which is 0.7% lower.

Q: Does the i9-14900K have a large performance margin over its closest competitor?

A: No, the margin is narrow. The i9-14900K’s score of 79824 is only 0.3% below the AMD EPYC 7413’s 80041, and it is 0.7% above the i9-14900KF. This suggests that in general compute tasks, these processors are effectively in the same performance tier.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 943rd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, indicating that while it is functional, many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher frame rates in this specific title.

Q: Are the FPS numbers measured or estimated?

A: The data is marked as "measured," meaning the frame rates come from direct testing rather than predictive modeling. The measured rows include average FPS values for four settings presets at three resolutions, though minimum and maximum FPS are not provided.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node and features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. Its memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, which translates to 17 Gbps effective, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is substantial, as frame rates scale strongly with resolution and settings. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 109.3 FPS, but this drops to 51.6 FPS at High and 38.1 FPS at Ultra. The pattern holds at 2560x1440, where Low yields 88.5 FPS and Ultra drops to 30.6 FPS. At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor: Low settings produce 74.3 FPS, but Medium falls to 47.7 FPS, High to 34 FPS, and Ultra to 25.6 FPS.

The RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are modest by modern standards, and the data suggests that this capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate falls below 30 FPS. The GPU’s 66th percentile ranking and its proximity to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% lower score) indicate it is a mid-tier part, which aligns with the measured results showing playable but not exceptional performance at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep across all settings, which points to the GPU as the dominant bottleneck. At Low settings, the system delivers 109.3 FPS at 1080p, 88.5 FPS at 1440p (a 19% reduction), and 74.3 FPS at 4K (a 32% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is relatively mild, suggesting that at Low settings, the CPU still has headroom and the GPU is not fully saturated.

At Medium settings, the drop is more pronounced: 66.3 FPS at 1080p, 55.1 FPS at 1440p (a 17% reduction), and 47.7 FPS at 4K (a 28% reduction from 1080p). The High preset shows a similar pattern: 51.6 FPS at 1080p, 44.1 FPS at 1440p (a 15% reduction), and 34 FPS at 4K (a 34% reduction). Ultra settings, however, reveal a sharper cliff: 38.1 FPS at 1080p, 30.6 FPS at 1440p (a 20% reduction), and 25.6 FPS at 4K (a 33% reduction from 1080p).

The fact that 4K Ultra falls to 25.6 FPS while 1080p Ultra stays at 38.1 FPS indicates that the RTX 4060’s compute throughput and memory bandwidth are insufficient for high-fidelity rendering at 4K in this game. The i9-14900K, with its 24 cores and 32 threads, is unlikely to be the limiting factor, as the frame rate scales consistently with GPU load rather than showing CPU-bound plateaus at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 109.3 FPS on Low, 66.3 FPS on Medium, 51.6 FPS on High, and 38.1 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Medium is 43 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 13.5 FPS. This suggests that the Low preset is substantially lighter on the GPU, while Ultra imposes a significant additional load.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are 88.5 FPS on Low, 55.1 FPS on Medium, 44.1 FPS on High, and 30.6 FPS on Ultra. Compared to 1080p, the frame rates drop by roughly 20% to 30% at each setting, with the largest absolute drop occurring at Low (20.8 FPS) and the smallest at Ultra (7.5 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the measured results are 74.3 FPS on Low, 47.7 FPS on Medium, 34 FPS on High, and 25.6 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low figure is still above 60 FPS, but Medium dips below 50 FPS, and Ultra is not playable in a smooth sense. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is roughly a 16% to 23% reduction depending on the preset, with High showing the largest relative drop.

Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low settings double the frame rate compared to Ultra at the same resolution. For example, at 1080p, Low (109.3 FPS) is 2.87x the Ultra figure (38.1 FPS), and at 4K, Low (74.3 FPS) is 2.90x the Ultra figure (25.6 FPS). This indicates that the game’s Ultra preset introduces heavy rendering costs that the RTX 4060 cannot sustain at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 943rd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the 56th percentile of all combos (since 943/1689 is roughly 0.558). This is a below-average ranking, which is noteworthy given the CPU’s strength. The Intel Core i9-14900K is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 97th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 79824, but the RTX 4060 is a mid-range GPU at the 66th percentile.

The disparity between CPU and GPU performance explains the combo’s middling rank. The i9-14900K’s nearest rivals — the AMD EPYC 7413, Intel Core i9-14900KF, and Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF — all have similar average scores (within 0.9%), but pairing the i9-14900K with the RTX 4060 does not boost the combo above the median in this game. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, is only 0.6% faster in synthetic benchmarks, yet the combo’s rank suggests that many other pairings with stronger GPUs outperform it.

The data implies that the RTX 4060 is the bottleneck in this configuration. The CPU can clearly feed the GPU, as evidenced by the 109.3 FPS at 1080p Low, but the GPU’s limitations cap performance at higher settings and resolutions. This is a classic case where a high-end processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card, resulting in a combo that performs well in CPU-light scenarios but falls behind in GPU-intensive titles like The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired smoothness. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 66.3 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for most players, while High drops to 51.6 FPS and Ultra to 38.1 FPS. For a balanced experience at 1080p, Medium is the recommended setting, as it provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS without sacrificing too much visual quality. Low is overkill at 109.3 FPS, but it could be used if the user prioritizes maximum frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset yields 55.1 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Low produces 88.5 FPS, making it the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS at this resolution. High (44.1 FPS) and Ultra (30.6 FPS) are both below the 60 FPS mark, so users with 1440p monitors should choose Low for smooth gameplay or Medium if they can tolerate occasional dips.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings produce 74.3 FPS, which is excellent for 4K, but Medium drops to 47.7 FPS, High to 34 FPS, and Ultra to 25.6 FPS. For 4K users, Low is the only preset that delivers a consistently smooth experience, while Medium is borderline acceptable for slower scenes. High and Ultra are not recommended at 4K, as the frame rates fall below 35 FPS.

Overall, the data suggests that the Medium preset at 1080p (66.3 FPS) offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for this combo. At higher resolutions, users must step down to Low settings to maintain playability, highlighting the RTX 4060’s limitations as a 1080p-oriented GPU. The i9-14900K’s power is evident in the fact that even at 4K Low, the system exceeds 70 FPS, but the GPU prevents the combo from achieving high-fidelity gaming at 1440p or 4K.