The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with graphical fidelity. The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile demonstrates a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions, with the data showing a system that is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p but is pushed to its limits at 4K. The measured frame rates reveal that the GPU is the primary scaling factor, while the CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide a stable foundation that rarely becomes the bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from The Medium reveals a steep and consistent performance cost as resolution increases, pointing directly to the GPU as the limiting component. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 86 FPS to 72 FPS, a reduction of 14 FPS or roughly 16%. The scaling becomes more aggressive when stepping up to 3840x2160, where the same Medium preset yields just 57 FPS. This represents a 29 FPS drop from the 1440p result and a 33.7% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario; the fixed-camera angles and detailed environments of The Medium demand more pixel throughput as the resolution increases, and the RTX 4080 Mobile's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are tasked with filling an increasingly large frame buffer.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets. At Low settings, the system produces 137 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1080p to 4K at Low settings results in a 46 FPS loss, or about 33.6%. In contrast, the High preset shows a more compressed range: 61 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the performance ceiling at lower resolutions is not being constrained by the CPU, as the Core Ultra 5 135H's boost clock of 4.60 GHz is sufficient to feed the GPU. The bottleneck is purely the rendering load on the GPU. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows the most dramatic scaling, falling from 49 FPS at 1080p to 41 FPS at 1440p and finally to 32 FPS at 4K.

This scaling behavior suggests that for a smooth experience, users must make a trade-off between resolution and visual fidelity. The 4K results, with averages between 32 and 91 FPS depending on settings, show that hitting 60 FPS at this resolution is only achievable with the Low preset. The 1440p results are more versatile, with Medium settings hitting a playable 72 FPS and High settings maintaining a respectable 52 FPS. The 1080p results are the most fluid, with the Low preset reaching 137 FPS and the Medium preset hitting 86 FPS, making this resolution the clear choice for high-refresh-rate displays. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a powerful chip, but The Medium's visual complexity at 4K Ultra is too demanding for it to maintain high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested hardware combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile holds a combo rank of 1180 out of 3724 tested configurations. This places the system in the 68.3rd percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms the majority of systems that have been benchmarked with this game. The ranking is a holistic measure that combines the capabilities of both the CPU and GPU, and this result indicates a well-balanced, high-end mobile platform.

The individual component percentiles support this ranking. The CPU, Intel Core Ultra 5 135H, has a percentile rank of 81 when compared against all CPUs in the database. This indicates that the processor is in the top 19% of all tested CPUs in terms of average benchmark score. Similarly, the GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, also holds an 81st percentile rank against all other GPUs. The alignment of these two high percentiles suggests that neither component is severely limiting the other in this specific game, allowing the combo to achieve a strong overall position.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when compared to the system's nearest rivals. The CPU's average benchmark score of 29093 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, which scores 29123, a negligible delta of -0.1%. This indicates that in general processing tasks, the Core Ultra 5 135H is on par with a previous-generation desktop-class processor. The data also shows it is slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, with a delta of +0.5%, and slightly behind the Intel Core i5-13500HX, with a delta of -0.6%. These marginal differences in synthetic benchmarks do not directly translate to a significant performance gap in The Medium, where the heavy lifting is done by the GPU.

The GPU's position among its rivals is more nuanced. Its average benchmark score of 38135 is surprisingly close to the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, which scores 38299, a delta of -0.4%. However, this is a case where raw synthetic scores may not reflect gaming performance, as the RTX 4080 Mobile is a vastly more capable chip for DirectX 12 titles. The data also shows it is 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and the NVIDIA Tesla P4. This ranking data confirms that this combo is a strong performer, but it is not at the very top of the hierarchy, leaving headroom for more powerful mobile and desktop configurations to achieve higher frame rates in The Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium. Its performance is defined by its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is a substantial allocation for a mobile GPU. In a game like The Medium, which renders complex, detailed scenes with a fixed camera, the memory capacity is crucial for holding textures and geometry. The 192-bit memory bus width and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth provide the necessary throughput to feed the 7424 shading units. The core clock speeds are set at a base of 1290 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz, and the data shows that this configuration is capable of delivering the measured frame rates.

Across all tested resolutions and settings, the GPU's workload is the primary determinant of performance. The data shows a clear and consistent frame rate hierarchy based on the preset. At 4K, the GPU produces 91 FPS at Low, 57 FPS at Medium, 41 FPS at High, and 32 FPS at Ultra. This progression shows the GPU's raw pixel-pushing power. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K results in a 34 FPS loss, while the jump from High to Ultra results in a 9 FPS loss. This suggests that the most significant performance hit comes from enabling the higher-tier effects present in the Medium preset.

The GPU's rendering capabilities are further highlighted by its architectural features. The 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores are present, though The Medium's use of ray tracing is not explicitly detailed in the measured data. However, the presence of these cores is part of the GPU's overall compute capability. The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Geekbench OpenCL score of 159575 and a Passmark G3D score of 24926, indicates a high level of compute and rasterization performance.

The frame rate data suggests that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a capable 4K GPU for this title, but only at lower settings. At 4K Medium, it achieves 57 FPS, which is close to but not consistently at the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The 1440p results are more comfortable, with High settings achieving 52 FPS and Medium achieving 72 FPS. The GPU's role is clear: it is the deciding factor in how the game looks and runs, and its performance scales predictably with resolution and quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the system's performance across twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system achieves its highest frame rates. The Low preset delivers an average of 137 FPS, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset is also highly playable, with an average of 86 FPS and a minimum of 73 FPS, ensuring a consistent experience. The High preset drops to 61 FPS, while the Ultra preset brings the average down to 49 FPS, which is still technically playable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance metrics drop accordingly. The Low preset still provides a very smooth experience at 116 FPS. The Medium preset maintains a solid frame rate of 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS, which is a good target for standard 60Hz displays. The High preset yields 52 FPS, which is a more cinematic but less responsive experience. The Ultra preset falls to 41 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on most displays.

At 3840x2160, the system is pushed to its limit. The Low preset is the only one that can break the 60 FPS barrier, achieving an average of 91 FPS. The Medium preset produces 57 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS, showing some variability. The High preset drops to 41 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of just 32 FPS. This breakdown shows a clear performance hierarchy where each step up in resolution or settings has a significant and measurable impact on the average frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the best experience for a standard 60Hz display is achieved with the Medium preset at 2560x1440 resolution. This configuration delivers an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, ensuring that frame rates rarely dip below the refresh rate of the monitor. This provides a solid balance between visual quality and performance, as the Medium preset in The Medium includes significant visual improvements over Low without the severe performance penalty of High or Ultra.

For users with a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended choice. It delivers an average of 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive experience that takes advantage of displays with 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rates. While the Low preset offers a higher average of 137 FPS, the visual quality is significantly reduced, and the jump to Medium provides a more immersive experience for a modest performance cost.

At 4K, the data suggests that the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, with an average of 91 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces 57 FPS, which is close to but not consistently at the 60 FPS target. The High and Ultra presets at 4K produce frame rates of 41 and 32 FPS respectively, which are not recommended for active gameplay. For a more visually rich 4K experience, users could consider the Medium preset, but they must be prepared for occasional frame rate drops below 60 FPS. The data implies that High and Ultra settings are best reserved for 1080p or 1440p resolutions, where they are more likely to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H plays a supporting but essential role in this system's performance in The Medium. The processor features 14 cores and 18 threads, a configuration that is well-suited for modern games which can utilize multiple threads for game logic and physics. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensure that it can handle the single-threaded tasks that are often critical for game performance. The data from the measured frame rates indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks shows it is a capable processor. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11875.5 and single-core score of 1700 indicate a strong balance of multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. This is corroborated by its Passmark single-thread score of 3521 and its overall average benchmark score of 29093. The CPU's percentile rank of 81 against all CPUs places it in the top tier of processors, and its performance is closely matched with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, showing it has enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 Mobile.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's simulation. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 112 KB of L1 cache per core help to reduce latency and keep data close to the cores. The CPU's 28W TDP is a mobile-class power envelope, but its performance is sufficient for this game. The data shows that even at 1080p with the Low preset, where the CPU has the least amount of GPU work to wait for, it can deliver 137 FPS. This demonstrates that the Core Ultra 5 135H is not a bottleneck, and the system's performance is governed by the demands placed on the RTX 4080 Mobile.