The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and benchmark results for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT show a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, while still delivering playable frame rates at 1080p with adjusted settings. The data indicates a clear hierarchy where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, though the CPU’s modest thread count also plays a role in overall performance. This combination ranks 1886th out of 2911 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which reflects a system that can handle the game but requires careful settings management for a smooth experience. The measured frames per second, taken directly from the FACT PACK, reveal that the sweet spot for this pairing is 1080p with Low or Medium settings, where average FPS reaches 95 and 59 respectively, while 4K Ultra drops to an unplayable 22 FPS average.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data for this combination shows a dramatic and consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, a pattern that strongly indicates the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the limiting component in this system. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 95, which drops to 80 at 1440p and further to 63 at 4K, representing a 33.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling suggests that at 1080p, the GPU still has headroom, but as pixel count increases, the rendering workload grows faster than the GPU can compensate, pulling frame rates down. The same trend is visible across all settings tiers: High settings average 43 FPS at 1080p, 36 at 1440p, and 28 at 4K; Medium settings average 59, 50, and 39 respectively; Ultra settings average 34, 28, and 22 respectively. The absolute deltas between resolutions are consistent, with roughly a 10-15 FPS drop moving from 1080p to 1440p and another 8-12 FPS drop moving from 1440p to 4K, depending on the settings preset.

This scaling behavior tells a clear story: the game’s rendering engine at higher resolutions places an enormous burden on the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth, and at 4K, this becomes a severe constraint. The fact that 4K Low (63 FPS) outperforms 4K High (28 FPS) by more than double highlights that texture quality and shading complexity are what drive the GPU to its limits, not just resolution alone. For this combo, 1440p represents a borderline zone where only Low settings (80 FPS) remain comfortably smooth, while Medium (50 FPS) and High (36 FPS) are playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. At 1080p, the scaling is more forgiving, but the pattern is unmistakable: every resolution jump costs roughly 15-20% of the frame rate at Low settings, and similar percentage losses at other settings. The data points to a GPU-bound scenario at all resolutions above 1080p, with the CPU not being the primary constraining factor in most cases, though its 10-core, 10-thread configuration without hyper-threading could limit performance in specific CPU-heavy scenes, a possibility supported by the fact that the frame rate scaling is not perfectly linear across all settings.

FAQ

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

A: According to the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers the highest average frame rate at 95 FPS, making it the smoothest experience. For a balance of visual quality and performance, 1920x1080 with Medium settings (59 FPS average) or 2560x1440 with Low settings (80 FPS average) are the most viable alternatives, as they stay above the 50 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 4K is only playable at Low settings, where the average FPS is 63. At Medium settings, the average drops to 39 FPS, and at High and Ultra, it falls to 28 and 22 FPS respectively, which are generally considered too low for smooth gameplay. Therefore, 4K is possible only with significant compromises to visual fidelity.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which places it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, scores 36945, a delta of 0%, meaning they perform nearly identically. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% slower, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 and Intel Core i9-12900T are 0.4% and 0.5% slower respectively.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 59, while at 4K Medium, it drops to 39. This represents a 33.9% decrease in performance, which highlights the significant GPU workload increase at higher resolutions. The minimum FPS also drops from 51 at 1080p to 33 at 4K.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT a high-performing GPU in this game?

A: The RX 6650 XT ranks at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19765. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla K40m, scores 19885, which is 0.6% higher. This places it in the mid-range tier, which is consistent with the measured FPS results showing that it can handle 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU’s thread count affect performance in The Medium?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores and 10 threads, meaning each core handles one thread without hyper-threading. While the CPU’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz and 20 MB of shared L3 cache provide solid single-thread performance, the lack of additional threads could become a bottleneck in scenes with heavy CPU overhead. However, the resolution scaling data suggests the GPU is the primary limiter, as FPS drops consistently with increasing resolution regardless of settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the dominant factor in this system’s performance in The Medium, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, 2048 shading units, and 32 ray accelerators defining its capabilities. The GPU’s boost clock of 2635 MHz and game clock of 2410 MHz are relatively high for its class, but the memory configuration—128-bit bus width and 280.3 GB/s bandwidth—proves to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows a clear correlation: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 22, which is borderline unplayable, while at 1080p Low, it reaches 95 FPS. This 4.3x difference between the most demanding and least demanding settings at different resolutions underscores how the GPU’s memory bandwidth and pixel fill rate are being saturated.

The GPU’s 64 ROPs and 128 TMUs determine its texture and pixel processing rates, with a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s. In The Medium, which features complex lighting and shadow effects common in horror titles, these rates are likely strained at 4K. The fact that 4K Medium (39 FPS) is only 62% of the performance of 4K Low (63 FPS) indicates that the GPU’s compute units are heavily utilized when higher quality shadows and reflections are enabled. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is also a concern at 4K, as modern horror games with high-resolution textures can exceed this limit, leading to potential stuttering or texture pop-in, although the minimum FPS data (33 FPS at 4K Medium) suggests the game is not exceeding VRAM at these settings.

Comparing to its GPU rivals, the RX 6650 XT’s average benchmark score of 19765 puts it at the 65th percentile, with the closest competitor being the NVIDIA Tesla K40m at 19885, a 0.6% higher score. This places the RX 6650 XT in a competitive but not top-tier position, which matches its measured FPS in The Medium. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 10.79 TFLOPS and FP16 of 21.59 TFLOPS indicate its raw compute capability, but the game’s engine appears to be more memory-bound than compute-bound, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops at 4K. For this title, the GPU’s role is clear: it determines the ceiling for resolution and settings, and the data shows that users should prioritize 1080p or 1440p with medium-to-low settings to maintain playable frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1886th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 35th percentile of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the modest performance ceiling of the GPU, as the CPU is relatively strong—ranking at the 85th percentile of all CPUs—but the overall combo is dragged down by the graphics card’s mid-range standing. The rank of 1886 suggests that roughly 65% of tested combinations perform better in this game, which is expected given the RX 6650 XT’s 65th percentile GPU ranking and the demanding nature of The Medium.

Looking at the components individually, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 36938 puts it slightly above the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2% delta), AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4% delta), and Intel Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5% delta). This indicates the CPU is not a weak link in this combo. However, the GPU’s average benchmark score of 19765 is 0.6% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885) and 0.7% higher than the AMD FirePro D300 (19637), placing it in a similar performance tier to professional workstation GPUs from several generations ago. This comparison highlights that the RX 6650 XT is a capable but not high-end gaming GPU.

The combo ranking of 1886 out of 2911 means that for every 1000 systems tested, roughly 353 perform better than this one in The Medium. This is not a catastrophic result, but it does mean that users should not expect high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p or above. The data shows that at 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 59 FPS average, which is just below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, while 1080p Low hits 95 FPS. This suggests that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with settings dialed down, or for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The ranking also indicates that this system is more than capable of running many other games well, but The Medium’s specific hardware demands push it to its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a secondary but not insignificant role in this system’s performance in The Medium, with its 10 cores and 10 threads running at a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The lack of hyper-threading means the CPU can only process 10 threads simultaneously, which could be a limitation in scenes with many AI-driven characters or complex physics calculations, though the resolution scaling data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck in most situations. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core provide ample data storage for game logic, and its 3 nm process node from TSMC ensures efficient power consumption, though these specifications do not directly translate to gaming performance.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and single-core score of 3655 demonstrate strong performance, ranking it at the 85th percentile of all CPUs. This places it ahead of several rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which has a 0% delta in average benchmark score, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, which is 0.2% slower. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 4412 and multi-thread score of 30459 confirm its balanced capabilities. In The Medium, which is a narrative-driven horror game that does not typically stress CPUs as heavily as competitive shooters or strategy games, the Core Ultra 5 225 should provide sufficient processing power for most scenes.

However, the 10-thread limit could become a factor in specific scenarios. The game’s dual-reality mechanic, which renders two worlds simultaneously in certain sequences, could engage multiple threads for rendering and AI, potentially causing frame rate dips if the CPU cannot keep up. The measured FPS data does not show evidence of CPU bottlenecks, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, but the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium (51 FPS) is lower than the average (59 FPS), suggesting occasional frame time spikes that could be CPU-related. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and support for DDR5 memory further enhance its performance, but these factors are secondary to the GPU’s limitations in this specific game. Overall, the CPU role is to provide a stable foundation without introducing significant bottlenecks, and the data indicates it succeeds in this role.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in The Medium provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets, with exact numbers from the FACT PACK. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the average FPS ranges from 95 at Low settings to 34 at Ultra settings. The Medium preset delivers 59 FPS average with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 68, while High settings yield 43 FPS average. This shows that at 1080p, the combo can achieve playable frame rates at all settings, though Ultra dips below 40 FPS, which may be too low for some players. The jump from Low to Medium costs 36 FPS (from 95 to 59), a 37.9% reduction, while the jump from Medium to High costs 16 FPS (from 59 to 43), a 27.1% reduction, and High to Ultra costs 9 FPS (from 43 to 34), a 20.9% reduction. These diminishing returns indicate that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops significantly across all settings. Low settings produce 80 FPS average, which is still smooth, while Medium produces 50 FPS (minimum 43, maximum 58), High produces 36 FPS, and Ultra produces 28 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 15 FPS (from 95 to 80), a 15.8% drop, while at Medium settings it is 9 FPS (from 59 to 50), a 15.3% drop, and at High settings it is 7 FPS (from 43 to 36), a 16.3% drop. This consistent percentage drop across settings confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the relative performance loss is similar regardless of the workload. At 1440p, only Low and Medium settings are recommended for playable frame rates, with High and Ultra falling below 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the combo struggles significantly. Low settings achieve 63 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal, while Medium drops to 39 FPS (minimum 33, maximum 45), High drops to 28 FPS, and Ultra drops to 22 FPS. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is 17 FPS (from 80 to 63), a 21.3% drop, while at Medium settings it is 11 FPS (from 50 to 39), a 22% drop, and at High settings it is 8 FPS (from 36 to 28), a 22.2% drop. Again, the consistent percentage drops underscore the GPU-bound nature of the system. At 4K, only Low settings are truly playable, with Medium being borderline at 39 FPS and High and Ultra being too slow for comfortable gaming. The minimum FPS data at 4K Medium (33 FPS) indicates that even at this setting, frame rate dips can occur, potentially causing stutter in intense scenes. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with Medium settings or 1440p with Low settings, and that 4K should be avoided except at the lowest quality preset.