The Medium

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p Medium settings in The Medium?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers an average of 60 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The minimum observed frame rate is 51 FPS, while the maximum reaches 69 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has an average benchmark score of 27507, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800's 27535. The delta is a mere -0.1%, placing the two processors effectively on par in overall CPU performance.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 17639, positioning it as a mid-range performer relative to the full spectrum of tested hardware.

Q: Is there a significant performance gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 43 FPS, but at 3840x2160 High, the average drops to 29 FPS. This 14 FPS reduction illustrates the increasing load on the GPU as resolution scales upward.

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved across all tested configurations?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 97, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the only configuration in the measured data to approach triple-digit frame rates.

Q: How does the GPU's score compare to its closest rival, the AMD Radeon HD 7790?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 17639 is slightly lower than the AMD Radeon HD 7790's 17666, resulting in a delta of -0.2%. The two cards are statistically indistinguishable in aggregate synthetic performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 serves as the primary rendering engine for The Medium, and its specifications directly shape the frame rates observed in the measured data. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, containing 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates across a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s—a figure that becomes increasingly relevant at higher resolutions where texture streaming and memory throughput demand more headroom.

Clock speeds play a defining role in the performance envelope. The base clock is 1830 MHz, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, allowing the GPU to scale its workload dynamically. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, translating to 17 Gbps effective. These clocks, combined with 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s. For a horror title like The Medium, which relies on atmospheric rendering and dual-world mechanics, these figures determine how smoothly the game can maintain its visual fidelity.

The RTX 4060's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present but not explicitly stressed in the measured FPS data. However, the FP32 throughput of 15.11 TFLOPS provides the raw compute headroom for the game's shader complexity. The GPU's 115 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a mobile-oriented implementation, which aligns with the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H's mobile market segment. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface is sufficient for the card's bandwidth needs, though it does cap theoretical transfer rates compared to x16 lanes.

In the context of The Medium, the GPU's VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical factor. At 1080p, the measured frame rates remain playable across all settings, but at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 23 FPS. This suggests that the 8 GB frame buffer becomes a limiting constraint when texture detail and resolution scale up, forcing the rendering pipeline to manage memory more aggressively. The GPU's percentile rank of 61 among all tested cards underscores its mid-tier positioning, but within this specific game, the combination of VRAM size and clock speeds determines whether the experience stays fluid or stutters under load.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data reveals a clear pattern of frame rate degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, with the GPU emerging as the dominant bottleneck. At Low settings, the progression is stark: 97 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single drop occurring between 1440p and 4K—a 17 FPS decline that highlights the pixel-pushing demands of 4K rendering.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory but with more moderate absolute values. The combo achieves 60 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs 9 FPS, while the jump to 4K costs another 11 FPS. Notably, the minimum frame rates at Medium settings—51 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K—indicate that even the worst-case dips remain above the 30 FPS threshold at all resolutions, though 4K approaches that boundary.

High settings reveal a more pronounced scaling penalty. The frame rates are 43 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 7 FPS, but the absolute performance at 4K falls below the 30 FPS playability standard, suggesting that High settings at 4K are not viable for a smooth experience. Ultra settings follow the steepest curve: 34 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K, with each resolution step costing 5-6 FPS.

This scaling behavior points squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. The CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample processing headroom, as evidenced by its 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs, but the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become strained as resolution climbs. The bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s is adequate for 1080p but insufficient for the texture-heavy workloads at 4K Ultra. The data shows that the game is GPU-bound across all settings, with the CPU never becoming the primary constraint—a conclusion reinforced by the consistent frame rate drops that track resolution increases rather than scene complexity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across four settings presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 97 FPS, the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, offering a balanced experience. High settings drop to 43 FPS average, while Ultra settles at 34 FPS. The 1080p resolution is the only tier where every preset maintains an average above 30 FPS, making it the most versatile option for this hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance curve shifts downward but retains usability. Low settings average 81 FPS, a significant 16 FPS drop from 1080p. Medium settings average 51 FPS, with minimum and maximum values of 43 and 59 FPS respectively, keeping the experience within a playable range. High settings average 36 FPS, which dips below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth. Ultra settings average 29 FPS, falling under the 30 FPS standard. The 1440p results indicate that Medium is the highest preset that consistently maintains playable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become evident. Low settings average 64 FPS, which is still respectable but represents a 17 FPS drop from 1440p. Medium settings average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS, making it the only 4K preset that stays above the 30 FPS floor. High settings average 29 FPS, just below the playability threshold. Ultra settings average 23 FPS, rendering the game nearly unplayable at maximum fidelity. The 4K data shows a clear gradient: Low is playable, Medium is marginal, and High/Ultra are not recommended.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset demonstrates the most consistent scaling behavior. At 1080p, it averages 60 FPS; at 1440p, 51 FPS; at 4K, 40 FPS. The incremental drops of 9 and 11 FPS respectively indicate a linear relationship between resolution and performance. In contrast, the Ultra preset shows a steeper decline, with averages of 34, 29, and 23 FPS across the same resolution ladder, suggesting that Ultra settings amplify the GPU's memory bandwidth constraints more aggressively.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1751 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 60th percentile of all system configurations evaluated for this game, indicating a solidly mid-tier position. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across all measured settings, with the combo's strengths at 1080p Low and Medium settings balanced against its weaknesses at 4K Ultra.

The CPU's benchmark profile provides context for this ranking. With an average benchmark score of 27507, the Core Ultra 5 125H sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 at 27535, the Intel Core i5-12600K at 27578, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X at 27578, and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G at 27382—all fall within a 0.5% delta of the Ultra 5. This clustering indicates that the CPU is not the differentiating factor in the combo's ranking; any of these processors would yield similar frame rates in The Medium.

The GPU's benchmark standing is more varied. The RTX 4060's average score of 17639 places it at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (-0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (+0.3%), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 at 17551 (+0.5%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at 17509 (+0.7%). These small deltas suggest that the RTX 4060's synthetic benchmark performance is closely matched by older and integrated alternatives, but its real-world gaming results in The Medium are bolstered by its 8 GB VRAM and modern architecture.

The combo's rank of 1751 out of 2911 translates to a percentile of approximately 60, meaning it outperforms 60% of tested configurations. This is a respectable showing for a mobile-oriented CPU paired with a mid-range GPU. The rank is likely constrained by the GPU's performance at higher resolutions, where the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit frame rates. At 1080p, the combo would rank higher due to strong Low and Medium results, but the 4K Ultra figure of 23 FPS drags the aggregate score down. Overall, this combo represents a balanced pairing where the CPU has headroom to spare, but the GPU defines the ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset offers the most favorable balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much graphical fidelity. The 51 FPS floor means that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate stays comfortably above the 30 FPS playability threshold. This makes Medium the recommended starting point for players prioritizing a consistent experience.

For users targeting higher resolutions, Medium remains the optimal choice. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS, which is playable but with occasional dips into the low 40s. This is acceptable for a horror title where atmospheric tension matters more than competitive frame rates. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 40 FPS with a 34 FPS minimum, which is borderline but still above the standard 30 FPS floor. The Medium preset's scaling behavior—from 60 FPS at 1080p to 40 FPS at 4K—demonstrates that it is the most robust setting for this hardware.

Low settings are recommended for players who prioritize frame rate above all else. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 97 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. At 1440p Low, the average of 81 FPS remains excellent, and at 4K Low, the 64 FPS average is still smooth. Low settings effectively eliminate any frame rate concerns, but the visual compromise is significant, particularly in a game like The Medium that relies on detailed environments and lighting to build horror atmosphere.

High and Ultra settings are not recommended for this combo. At 1080p High, the 43 FPS average is playable but not ideal, and at 1440p High, the 36 FPS average dips into marginal territory. Ultra settings are worse across the board: 34 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. These figures fall below the 30 FPS threshold at 1440p and 4K, making the game feel sluggish and potentially inducing motion sickness in sensitive players. The performance cost of Ultra settings, which likely includes higher texture resolutions and more demanding post-processing, is not justified by the visual gains given the GPU's memory bandwidth limitations.

In summary, the data supports Medium as the primary recommendation, with Low as a fallback for higher frame rates and High/Ultra reserved for players who prioritize visuals over smoothness and are willing to accept sub-30 FPS performance at higher resolutions.