The Medium

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but the data reveals a significant performance cliff at higher resolutions and settings. The benchmark results show a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory interface become the primary constraints, while the i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads provide ample headroom. This combo ranks in the 85th percentile of tested configurations, sitting at rank 258 out of 1689 combinations, which is a strong showing for a horror title that relies heavily on fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting component in this pairing. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (167 FPS) to 2560x1440 (139 FPS) represents a 16.8% performance loss, but the jump to 3840x2160 (110.7 FPS) costs another 20.4%. This scaling pattern shows that the GPU's 504.2 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB memory buffer are being taxed heavily at 4K, even on the lowest preset.

The Medium settings tell a similar story but with a more pronounced drop. Moving from 1080p (101.6 FPS) to 1440p (90.5 FPS) loses 10.9%, while 4K (68.6 FPS) represents a 32.5% reduction from 1080p. High settings amplify this further: 1080p (75.8 FPS) to 1440p (62.3 FPS) is a 17.8% drop, and 4K (48.8 FPS) falls 35.6% below 1080p. The Ultra preset shows the most brutal scaling, with 1080p (57.6 FPS) dropping to 1440p (49.1 FPS) at a 14.8% loss, then crashing to 4K (37.5 FPS) for a 34.9% total reduction.

This scaling behavior indicates that The Medium's rendering engine becomes progressively more demanding on the GPU's shading units and memory subsystem as resolution increases. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra result of 37.5 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that players targeting 4K should stick to Medium or Low presets, while 1440p High is the sweet spot for balancing visual quality with performance.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 258 out of 1689 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the top 15.3% of all configurations, which is a commendable position for a game released in 2021. The combo's percentile ranking reflects the i9-14900K's 97th percentile standing among all CPUs and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 84th percentile among GPUs. However, the game's performance is clearly GPU-limited, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data.

The CPU's nearest rivals show that the i9-14900K is well-matched with the RTX 4070 SUPER. The AMD EPYC 7413 scores 0.3% lower, while the Intel Core i9-14900KF and Core Ultra 7 265KF are 0.7% higher, and the Core Ultra 7 265K is 0.9% higher. These tiny deltaPct values mean that swapping to any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 SUPER's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% lower), AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% lower), AMD Radeon Pro 580X (1.4% higher), and NVIDIA Tesla M40 (1.6% higher). The deltaPct values suggest that the RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 42576 is closely clustered with these competitors, but in actual game performance, the 4K Ultra result of 37.5 FPS is only 78.1% of the 4K Low result, showing a significant settings sensitivity that the raw benchmark scores don't capture.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER's specifications directly explain its performance profile in The Medium. With a boost clock of 2475 MHz and a base clock of 1980 MHz, the GPU can push through lighter scenes at 1080p Low (167 FPS), but the 12 GB GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus (504.2 GB/s bandwidth) becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 554.4 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for the game's fixed-camera scenes, but the 80 ROPs struggle with the higher pixel throughput required at 3840x2160.

The memory configuration is particularly telling. The 12 GB capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra likely exceeds the VRAM requirements, causing the GPU to rely on slower memory paging. This explains why the 4K Ultra result (37.5 FPS) is only 54.7% of the 4K Low result (110.7 FPS), a proportionally larger drop than seen at lower resolutions. The 21 Gbps effective memory speed and 1313 MHz memory clock are competitive, but the 192-bit bus width limits total bandwidth compared to wider-memory GPUs.

The GPU's architectural features, including 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, are present in the Ada Lovelace design, but The Medium's horror genre doesn't heavily leverage ray tracing or DLSS in the measured data. The 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs support high refresh rate monitors, though the 4K Ultra performance would struggle to drive such displays. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-efficient card that pairs well with the i9-14900K's 125 W TDP.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers excellent performance across all settings. Low settings produce 167 FPS, Medium drops to 101.6 FPS, High manages 75.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 57.6 FPS. The 65.5% reduction from Low to Ultra shows that the game's highest preset introduces substantial rendering overhead, but even Ultra remains playable at 1080p.

The 2560x1440 results show a clear step down. Low settings hit 139 FPS, which is 83.2% of the 1080p Low score. Medium delivers 90.5 FPS, High runs at 62.3 FPS, and Ultra produces 49.1 FPS. The Ultra result at 1440p is 14.7% below the 1080p Ultra figure, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth begins to throttle at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for demanding presets. Low settings still manage 110.7 FPS, Medium falls to 68.6 FPS, High drops to 48.8 FPS, and Ultra reaches just 37.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is 34.9% lower than 1080p Ultra, and the gap between 4K Medium and 4K High is 28.8%, showing that each settings tier imposes a substantial cost at this resolution. The 4K Low result proves the GPU can handle high frame rates at 4K when the preset is light, but the game's visual features at higher presets are too demanding for consistent 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K 60 FPS?

A: No, the data shows that 4K Ultra produces 37.5 FPS and 4K High reaches 48.8 FPS. Only 4K Medium (68.6 FPS) and 4K Low (110.7 FPS) exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The 2560x1440 High preset delivers 62.3 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides a good balance of visual quality and performance. 1080p Ultra also achieves 57.6 FPS, close to the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the i9-14900K compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The i9-14900K's average benchmark score of 79824 is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7413, 0.7% lower than the i9-14900KF and Core Ultra 7 265KF, and 0.9% lower than the Core Ultra 7 265K. These differences are negligible in practice.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium?

A: The data indicates that 12 GB is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the steep FPS drops at 4K Ultra (37.5 FPS) and 4K High (48.8 FPS) suggest VRAM or memory bandwidth limitations at higher resolutions.

Q: What settings should be avoided with this combo?

A: The 4K Ultra preset should be avoided as it produces 37.5 FPS, which is below playable thresholds. 4K High (48.8 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (49.1 FPS) are also below 60 FPS and may feel stuttery.

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

A: This combo ranks 258th out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the top 15.3% of all systems tested in The Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 57.6 FPS is the best choice for maximum visual quality, as it remains close to 60 FPS and offers the full graphical experience. Players prioritizing frame rate can drop to High at 75.8 FPS for a 31.6% performance boost with minimal visual loss.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (62.3 FPS) provides the best experience, staying above 60 FPS while preserving significant visual fidelity. The Medium preset (90.5 FPS) offers a large performance buffer for demanding scenes, but the visual downgrade from High is noticeable. The Ultra preset at 49.1 FPS should be avoided unless the player is willing to accept sub-60 FPS gameplay.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset (68.6 FPS) is the highest quality option that maintains 60 FPS, while Low (110.7 FPS) provides a very smooth experience at reduced visual quality. The High preset (48.8 FPS) and Ultra preset (37.5 FPS) are not recommended for 4K gaming, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold and will result in noticeable stuttering in a horror game where smooth camera movement is important.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K's specifications explain why it is not the bottleneck in The Medium. With 24 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, the CPU provides massive headroom for the game's logic and physics. The 36 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support ensure that the CPU can feed data to the RTX 4070 SUPER without stalling, even at 1080p Low where the GPU is producing 167 FPS.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 49872 and single-core score of 7040 demonstrate its capability, but these benchmarks are far beyond what The Medium requires. The game's fixed-camera design and pre-rendered backgrounds reduce CPU workload compared to open-world titles, meaning the i9-14900K's 125 W TDP is rarely taxed. The 10 nm process node and Raptor Lake architecture provide efficient performance, but the data shows that even a significantly weaker CPU would produce similar frame rates in this game.

The i9-14900K's 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs and its nearest rival deltas (ranging from -0.3% to 0.9%) confirm that it is not a limiting factor. The PassMark multithread score of 58674 and single-thread score of 4697 support this conclusion, as does the 792694 PassMark data compression score, which reflects the CPU's ability to handle background tasks while gaming. In The Medium, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery pipeline, and the data indicates it does so without issue across all resolutions and settings.