The Medium

The Medium presents an interesting scaling profile for the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, but whose performance ceiling is unlocked when the graphical load is reduced. This analysis examines the resolution scaling, component roles, and overall ranking of this specific configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a high-end GPU facing a demanding title. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 83.7 FPS at 1080p to 69.7 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 14.0 FPS. Moving further to 4K yields 57.4 FPS, representing a cumulative drop of 26.3 FPS from the 1080p baseline. This 31.4% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K indicates that the rendering pipeline is becoming progressively more saturated at higher pixel counts.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when examining the Low preset. At 1080p, the system achieves 190.7 FPS, which drops to 161.4 FPS at 1440p and 124.4 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 4K is 66.3 FPS, or 34.8%, which is proportionally larger than the High preset's decline. This suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is no longer the sole limiting factor at lower resolutions, allowing the CPU to push higher frame rates that then scale down more steeply as resolution increases. The 1080p Low result of 190.7 FPS versus the 1080p High result of 83.7 FPS shows a 107.0 FPS gap that narrows to 67.0 FPS at 4K, confirming that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution climbs.

The Medium and Ultra presets complete the picture. At Medium, frame rates range from 118.8 FPS at 1080p down to 76.4 FPS at 4K, a 42.4 FPS spread. Ultra is the most demanding, starting at 68.6 FPS at 1080p and falling to 43.4 FPS at 4K, a difference of 25.2 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 43.4 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data shows that the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is generally less severe than from 1440p to 4K, indicating that 4K resolution places a disproportionate load on the RTX 4080 SUPER.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. Its benchmark results place it in the 97th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79824. This places it in close competition with the AMD EPYC 7413, which scores 80041, a difference of only -0.3%. The Intel Core i9-14900KF scores 79245, which is 0.7% lower than the i9-14900K, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF and 265K score 79240 and 79102 respectively, both within 0.9% of the i9-14900K.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show that at 4K, even the Low preset achieves 124.4 FPS, which is well below the CPU's potential maximum output. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the 190.7 FPS result suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with sufficient data. The multi-core performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 49872 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 20370, provides substantial headroom for game logic and physics calculations. The single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040, is equally strong, ensuring that the primary rendering thread does not become a bottleneck.

The Passmark physics score of 3140, while not directly comparable to gaming benchmarks, indicates robust computational throughput. The data compression score of 792694 and encryption score of 46813 further demonstrate the CPU's capability in workloads that may parallelize with game rendering. Despite this, the benchmark results for The Medium show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 43.4 FPS result is clearly GPU-bound. The CPU's 24 cores and 32 threads ensure that even with background tasks, the game's frame pacing remains consistent across all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, with memory running at an effective 23 Gbps. Its benchmark results place it in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 53610. This puts it in close proximity to the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which scores 53489, a difference of only 0.2%. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 53414, 0.4% lower, while the AMD Radeon RX 7700S and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti score 52505 and 52086 respectively, being 2.1% and 2.9% lower.

The GPU's 10240 shading units and 80 RT cores are substantial, but the game's performance at 4K Ultra, averaging 43.4 FPS, indicates that The Medium is particularly demanding on GPU resources. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K results in a drop from 57.4 FPS to 43.4 FPS, a 14.0 FPS reduction that highlights the cost of the highest quality settings. The GPU's FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS suggests ample compute capability, yet the measured results show that the game's rendering pipeline is not fully utilizing this potential at lower settings.

At 1080p, the GPU's performance ranges from 190.7 FPS at Low to 68.6 FPS at Ultra, demonstrating that the RTX 4080 SUPER can deliver high frame rates when the resolution is not a constraint. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is likely sufficient for all tested settings, as no VRAM-related performance anomalies are evident in the data. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s supports high-resolution textures without noticeable stuttering. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 226163 provide additional context for the GPU's raw performance, though they do not directly translate to The Medium's specific engine requirements.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 72nd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 4.3% of all configurations, indicating that it is a high-performing pairing for this game. The ranking reflects the balance between the CPU's strong multi-core and single-core performance and the GPU's high-end capabilities.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i9-14900K's performance is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7413, which is an enterprise-focused processor. The 0.7% difference between the i9-14900K and i9-14900KF suggests that the integrated graphics on the K variant do not impact gaming performance. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, is only 0.2% behind in average benchmark score, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER's advantage in this game is primarily driven by its architectural features rather than raw compute power.

The rank of 72 suggests that there are 71 other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in The Medium. Given that the measured data shows the RTX 4080 SUPER delivering 43.4 FPS at 4K Ultra, the higher-ranked combinations likely include more powerful GPUs or configurations that are better optimized for this specific game. The 1689 total combinations tested provide a broad comparison base, and the 72nd position indicates that this setup is firmly in the upper echelon of gaming performance, though not at the absolute top.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 83.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 118.8 FPS, offering a significant improvement for competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 190.7 FPS, which is suitable for maximum refresh rate monitors but sacrifices visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1080p, at 68.6 FPS, is playable but offers diminishing returns over High.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 69.7 FPS, which is adequate for most players. The Medium preset at 1440p achieves 102.4 FPS, providing a better balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 161.4 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Ultra preset at 1440p, at 55.0 FPS, falls below 60 FPS and may not provide a consistently smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the High preset yields 57.4 FPS, which is marginally below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 76.4 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K gaming, as it balances visual quality with playable frame rates. The Low preset at 4K reaches 124.4 FPS, which is more than sufficient for 4K displays with lower refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 43.4 FPS, is not recommended for general play due to its sub-60 FPS average.

The data indicates that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience across all three resolutions, with frame rates of 118.8 FPS at 1080p, 102.4 FPS at 1440p, and 76.4 FPS at 4K. This preset offers a substantial performance margin over High at 4K, with a 19.0 FPS improvement, while maintaining acceptable visual quality. For users prioritizing visual fidelity, the High preset at 1440p is a viable option, but the Medium preset at 4K offers a more consistent experience.