The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core Ultra 5 125H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile

The Medium presents a demanding workload for this mobile platform, with benchmark results showing a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance across all tested configurations. The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile delivers playable frame rates primarily at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K resolution remains challenging except at the lowest settings. The data reveals a 2285th place ranking out of 3724 tested combos, placing this configuration in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data demonstrates a steep performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, with the scaling behavior varying significantly depending on the quality preset selected. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 97 FPS at 1080p to 81 FPS at 1440p, representing a 16.5% reduction, and then further to 64 FPS at 4K, which is a 21% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern indicates that at Low settings, the GPU still has substantial headroom, and the performance decline is relatively moderate as pixel count increases.

Moving to Medium settings reveals a more pronounced resolution penalty. The average frame rate falls from 60 FPS at 1080p to 51 FPS at 1440p (a 15% reduction), and then to 40 FPS at 4K (a 21.6% drop from 1440p). The Medium preset at 1440p maintains a 51 FPS average, which remains above the 30 FPS threshold for basic playability, but the 4K result of 40 FPS shows the GPU struggling to maintain smooth motion at higher pixel densities.

High settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling losses. The average frame rate drops from 43 FPS at 1080p to 36 FPS at 1440p (a 16.3% reduction), and then to 29 FPS at 4K (a 19.4% drop from 1440p). This pattern shows that at High settings, the 4K resolution pushes the system below the 30 FPS playability threshold, indicating that the rendering load at this quality level exceeds what the RTX 4060 Mobile can sustain at native 4K resolution.

Ultra settings produce the steepest absolute performance degradation. The average frame rate falls from 34 FPS at 1080p to 29 FPS at 1440p (a 14.7% reduction), and then to 23 FPS at 4K (a 20.7% drop from 1440p). The scaling between resolutions remains consistent across all presets, with the 1080p-to-1440p transition costing roughly 15-17% performance and the 1440p-to-4K transition costing roughly 20-22% performance. This consistent scaling pattern strongly suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the performance penalty scales proportionally with the pixel count increase rather than revealing any CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile serves as the dominant performance driver in this configuration, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1545 MHz with a boost clock of 1890 MHz, and its 3072 shading units process geometry and pixel data across 96 texture mapping units and 48 raster output units. The benchmark results indicate that The Medium's rendering requirements align closely with the GPU's capabilities, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate scaling across resolution changes.

The GPU's memory configuration of 8 GB proves sufficient for the game's demands at all tested settings, as no memory-related stuttering or frame time anomalies appear in the measured data. The memory clock runs at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective data rate, providing adequate bandwidth for the texture-heavy horror environments typical of The Medium's fixed-camera presentation style. The RTX 4060 Mobile's 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores suggest hardware-level support for advanced rendering features, though the measured data does not isolate ray tracing performance specifically.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 67th percentile among all tested graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 22729. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with a score of 22895 (0.7% higher) and the Intel Arc B580 with a score of 23021 (1.3% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 22549 (0.8% lower). This competitive positioning indicates that the RTX 4060 Mobile delivers performance comparable to desktop GPUs from the previous generation, yet the measured frame rates in The Medium suggest that the game's optimization favors GPUs with higher raw throughput rather than specific architectural features.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the most balanced experience, delivering a 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS. This configuration offers smooth gameplay while maintaining visual quality above the minimum threshold, and the frame time consistency indicated by the narrow range between minimum and maximum values suggests stable performance during gameplay. The 1080p Medium preset represents the sweet spot for this hardware combination, as the 60 FPS average comfortably exceeds the 30 FPS playability threshold while the 51 FPS minimum ensures no significant drops below playable levels.

For users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, the 1440p Medium preset offers a viable alternative with a 51 FPS average and minimum of 43 FPS. This configuration maintains playability while providing higher resolution detail, though the frame rate drops noticeably compared to the 1080p Medium setting. The 1440p Medium result shows a 15% reduction from the 1080p Medium average, which represents an acceptable trade-off for the resolution increase.

The High preset at 1080p delivers 43 FPS average, which falls below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay but remains above the 30 FPS minimum threshold. However, the High preset at 1440p drops to 36 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 29 FPS, which dips below the playability threshold. The Ultra preset produces 34 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K, with only the 1080p configuration maintaining playable frame rates. These results indicate that High and Ultra settings are only recommended at 1080p, with Medium being the highest quality preset that remains playable at 1440p and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the benchmark results show a clear progression of average frame rates corresponding to quality presets. The Low preset achieves 97 FPS, representing the highest performance ceiling for this resolution. The Medium preset delivers 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS, providing consistent performance within a narrow band. The High preset produces 43 FPS average, while the Ultra preset yields 34 FPS average. This 1080p data demonstrates that the GPU can handle the game's rendering load at lower quality settings with substantial headroom, but the higher presets begin to strain the hardware.

At 2560x1440 resolution, the performance metrics shift downward across all presets. The Low setting achieves 81 FPS average, maintaining smooth gameplay with significant margin. The Medium preset delivers 51 FPS average with a minimum of 43 FPS and maximum of 59 FPS, representing a playable configuration with acceptable frame time consistency. The High preset drops to 36 FPS average, which hovers near the playability threshold. The Ultra preset falls to 29 FPS average, dipping below the 30 FPS minimum for smooth motion.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the performance constraints become more pronounced. The Low preset delivers 64 FPS average, which remains playable and demonstrates the GPU's capability at lower quality settings. The Medium preset produces 40 FPS average with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 46 FPS, maintaining marginal playability. The High preset drops to 29 FPS average, falling below the playability threshold. The Ultra preset yields 23 FPS average, which is unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The 4K data shows that only Low and Medium presets remain viable at this resolution, with Medium providing the highest quality option that stays above 30 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile ranks 2285th out of 3724 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the 61.4th percentile of all tested combos. This ranking indicates that the configuration performs slightly below the median of the benchmark database, suggesting that while capable of running the game, it does not deliver exceptional performance relative to other tested hardware combinations. The rank position reflects the mobile GPU's performance ceiling in this title, as the RTX 4060 Mobile's 67th percentile among all GPUs does not translate to an equivalent ranking in this specific game.

The ranking gap between the GPU's general percentile and the combo's in-game rank suggests that The Medium places additional demands on the system beyond raw GPU compute. The game's fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds may create specific rendering patterns that either favor or penalize certain GPU architectures. The combo's 2285th rank out of 3724 places it in the lower 38.6% of tested configurations, indicating that many desktop and higher-end mobile combinations achieve better performance in this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H provides the processing foundation for this configuration, featuring 14 cores and 18 threads with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core support the game's logic and streaming requirements, while the 7 nm Meteor Lake architecture with 112 KB L1 cache per core handles instruction processing. The CPU's benchmark scores show a 12804.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1647.5 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 21100 and single-thread score of 3399.

The CPU's performance profile places it in the 79th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 27507. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 with a score of 27535 (0.1% higher) and the Intel Core i5-12600K with a score of 27578 (0.3% higher), while the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G scores 27382 (0.5% lower). This competitive positioning indicates that the Ultra 5 125H provides adequate processing power for The Medium, though the measured FPS data suggests that the GPU remains the primary bottleneck in most configurations.

The CPU's 28 W TDP and mobile-oriented design prioritize power efficiency over sustained peak performance, which may influence frame times during CPU-intensive sequences. However, the consistent scaling pattern across resolutions indicates that the CPU does not become a limiting factor at lower resolutions, as the frame rates continue to increase when pixel count decreases. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and dual-channel memory bus provide sufficient data throughput for the game's asset streaming requirements, though the specific impact on frame pacing cannot be isolated from the measured average FPS data.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for smooth gameplay?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset delivers 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS, providing the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 1440p Medium preset at 51 FPS average is also viable if higher resolution is preferred.

Q: Can this hardware handle The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset (64 FPS average) and Medium preset (40 FPS average) maintain playable frame rates above 30 FPS. The High preset drops to 29 FPS and Ultra falls to 23 FPS, which are not suitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 Mobile compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 on average benchmarks, placing it 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895) and 1.3% below the Intel Arc B580 (23021), while performing 0.8% above the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (22549).

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H sufficient for The Medium?

A: The CPU ranks in the 79th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 27507. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions indicates GPU-bound performance, suggesting the CPU does not bottleneck gameplay.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p with High settings?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 36 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but remains above the 30 FPS playability threshold. However, the Medium preset at this resolution provides a more comfortable 51 FPS average.

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

A: This combination ranks 2285th out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the benchmark database. The ranking reflects the mobile GPU's performance limitations in this title despite the CPU's strong general benchmark positioning.