The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a demanding workload that scales steeply with resolution and settings. On the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, the benchmark data reveals a configuration that is strictly limited at 4K, but capable of delivering playable frame rates at lower resolutions. The data shows a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, while the CPU's 14 cores and 18 threads provide a solid foundation at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this laptop configuration in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 with Low settings is the only combination that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, hitting an average of 80 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 50 FPS, and at 1080p High it falls to 36 FPS. For a smoother experience, 2560x1440 Low achieves 67 FPS, but 4K is only viable at Low settings with 53 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 Mobile's performance in this game compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 43268 places it virtually tied with the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, which scores 43262 (a 0% delta). It is also essentially level with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, which scores 43223 (a 0.1% delta), and sits slightly behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which scores 43667 (a -0.9% delta). This indicates that in synthetic tests, the RTX 5050 Mobile performs on par with a previous-generation desktop flagship.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 Mobile in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU appears to be a limiting factor, as the frame rate drops significantly with each setting increase, from 80 FPS at Low to 28 FPS at Ultra. However, at 4K, the frame rate is so low across all settings that the GPU is clearly the primary bottleneck. The CPU's performance is close to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with a delta of -0.1%, suggesting it has ample processing power for the game's logic.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 42 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers an average of 24 FPS. This represents an 18 FPS drop, or a 42.9% reduction in performance, when moving from Medium to Ultra. The 1440p Medium setting also has a recorded min FPS of 36 and a max FPS of 48.

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

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile ranks 2987 out of 3724 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower percentile of all configurations, indicating that while it is not the weakest, it is far from the top tier for handling The Medium's requirements.

Q: Does the game run better at 1080p High or 1440p Medium on this hardware?

A: The 1080p High preset averages 36 FPS, while the 1440p Medium preset averages 42 FPS. Interestingly, the higher resolution with lower settings yields a higher average frame rate, suggesting that the game is more sensitive to the graphics preset's specific demands than the pixel count alone at these settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile is the decisive component in this configuration's performance for The Medium. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 1500 MHz, and its memory runs at an effective 24 Gbps. The benchmark results show that the GPU's raw compute capabilities, which include 2560 shading units and 20 RT cores, are heavily taxed by the game's visual effects, especially at higher resolutions.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 83 among all GPUs indicates it is a strong performer in general, but the game-specific data tells a more nuanced story. In The Medium, the frame rate scales poorly with resolution. For instance, at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 50 at 1080p to 42 at 1440p and then plummets to 33 at 4K. This steep decline highlights that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, particularly at 4K, where even Low settings only manage an average of 53 FPS. The data suggests that the 8 GB VRAM capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the sheer fill-rate demands of 4K overwhelm the GPU's 32 ROPs and 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Comparing the RTX 5050 Mobile to its nearest rivals, the synthetic benchmark scores are remarkably close. It is statistically tied with the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (0.1% delta). This suggests that in a vacuum, its raw compute power is similar to these cards. However, in The Medium, the actual frame rates are more indicative of a mobile part that is constrained by its 50 W TDP. The GPU's performance is a delicate balance; it is powerful enough for high refresh rates at 1080p Low, but it lacks the headroom to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with high visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H provides the processing foundation for this system. It is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The CPU has 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory. Its average benchmark score of 29093 places it at the 81st percentile of all CPUs, indicating a solid mid-range performer for mobile workloads.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is less about raw frame rate generation and more about ensuring the GPU is fed with data, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the frame rate varies significantly with settings (80 FPS at Low, 50 FPS at Medium, 36 FPS at High, 28 FPS at Ultra). This variance suggests that while the CPU can handle the game's logic at high frame rates, the GPU quickly becomes the bottleneck as the render load increases. The CPU's performance is very close to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with a delta of -0.1%, and the Intel Core i5-13500HX, with a delta of -0.6%. This parity in synthetic benchmarks implies that the Core Ultra 5 135H should not be a significant hindrance in most gaming scenarios.

However, the data also shows that at 4K, the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 53, which is higher than at 4K Medium (33 FPS) and 4K High (24 FPS). If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would be similar across all settings. The fact that it scales so dramatically with settings confirms that the GPU is the sole constraint at this resolution. The CPU's 28 W TDP is a clear indicator of its mobile efficiency focus, but its 14 cores and high boost clock provide enough computational power to avoid being the primary performance ceiling in this particular game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile places it at rank 2987 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This ranking, which is in the bottom 20% of all configurations, might seem surprising given the individual component scores. The CPU is in the 81st percentile, and the GPU is in the 83rd percentile, yet their combination ranks poorly for this specific title. This indicates that The Medium is a particularly demanding game that requires a higher tier of hardware to achieve high rankings.

The low combo rank is primarily a result of the GPU's performance at higher resolutions. While the GPU's synthetic average score of 43268 is competitive, its real-world performance in The Medium is not. The game's fixed-camera angles and heavy use of volumetric lighting and reflections appear to be especially taxing on the RTX 5050 Mobile's architecture. The combo's rank suggests that while it can handle many modern titles at 1080p, The Medium's specific engine demands push it to its limits.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals, the data shows that the RTX 5050 Mobile is expected to perform similarly to a desktop RTX 4070 SUPER in synthetic tests. However, in this game, the mobile nature of the RTX 5050 Mobile, with its lower power limit, likely prevents it from sustaining the performance levels of its desktop counterparts. The combo rank of 2987 reflects a system that is capable of entry-level 1080p gaming and mid-range 1440p gaming, but it is not optimized for the high-fidelity experience that The Medium can offer at 4K. The data positions this combo as a mainstream option that struggles with the game's highest demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. This scaling is a critical indicator of which component is the primary bottleneck in the system. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 50 FPS at 1920x1080 to 42 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 16% decrease), and then to 33 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 34% decrease from 1440p). This non-linear drop, where the gap widens significantly at 4K, is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance.

The data at 4K demonstrates the most extreme example of this scaling. At 4K Low, the system manages 53 FPS, but this falls to 33 FPS at Medium and 24 FPS at High. The massive performance hit between Low and Medium at 4K (a 20 FPS drop) suggests that the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth or raw pixel throughput. The 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth and 32 ROPs are insufficient for the pixel count at 3840x2160 with higher-quality textures and effects. This resolution analysis confirms that the RTX 5050 Mobile is the definitive limiting component.

At 1080p, the scaling is more moderate. The frame rate difference between Low and Ultra is 52 FPS (80 FPS to 28 FPS), which indicates a heavy reliance on GPU settings. However, the fact that the system can hit 80 FPS at 1080p Low shows that the CPU is not a hard limit. The frame rate drops are not as steep as at 4K, suggesting that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at this resolution. Overall, the scaling data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can offer a reasonable range of settings, but it is not a 4K-capable configuration for The Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data points represent the exact average frame rates measured for this configuration across all tested resolutions and settings. The minimum and maximum frame rates are only available for the Medium preset.

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results are as follows:

• Low: 80 FPS average
• Medium: 50 FPS average, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS
• High: 36 FPS average
• Ultra: 28 FPS average

At 2560x1440, the benchmark results show a clear step down in performance:

• Low: 67 FPS average
• Medium: 42 FPS average, with a minimum of 36 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS
• High: 30 FPS average
• Ultra: 24 FPS average

At 3840x2160, the benchmark results indicate that the GPU is severely overburdened:

• Low: 53 FPS average
• Medium: 33 FPS average, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 38 FPS
• High: 24 FPS average
• Ultra: 19 FPS average

These numbers provide a comprehensive picture of the system's capabilities. For a target of 60 FPS, only the 1080p Low and 1440p Low settings are viable. For a target of 30 FPS, the options expand to include 1080p High, 1440p High, and 4K Medium. The 4K Ultra setting is essentially unplayable at 19 FPS, and 4K High is borderline at 24 FPS. The data suggests that users will need to make significant compromises in visual quality to achieve a smooth experience at higher resolutions, with the Medium preset at 1440p offering the best balance of fidelity and playability at 42 FPS.