The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that stresses both the CPU and GPU through its dual-reality rendering. For this configuration, the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, the measured frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy of playable settings. The data shows that the Medium preset at 1080p delivers 120 FPS on average, with minimums of 102 FPS, making it the most balanced option for smooth gameplay. While the Low preset pushes performance to 185 FPS, the visual compromise is significant. At 1440p, the Medium preset still holds 101 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh monitors. The Ultra preset, however, drops to 68 FPS at 1080p and 57 FPS at 1440p, which is a noticeable step down in fluidity. For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at either 1080p or 1440p offers the strongest combination of frame rate and visual fidelity, avoiding the steep performance cost of High and Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Core Ultra 5 225 and RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 200 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top percentile of all configurations, indicating a very strong pairing for this title. The rank reflects not just the GPU's raw power but also the CPU's ability to feed it. The Core Ultra 5 225, with its 10 cores and 10 threads, is positioned at the 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 36938 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945, showing a delta of 0%. This suggests the CPU is a solid, mid-to-high-range performer. The RTX 4080, on the other hand, sits at the 86th percentile among GPUs, with its average score of 54247 being just 0.1% behind the RTX 4080 SUPER. The data implies that this combo is not bottlenecked by either component, and the resulting rank of 200 demonstrates that it is a top-tier setup for this game, outpacing the vast majority of the 3724 combos tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This large memory pool is crucial for The Medium, a game known for rendering two worlds simultaneously. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are also relevant, as the game uses ray-traced effects. The base clock is 2205 MHz, with a boost clock of 2505 MHz. These specifications translate directly into the measured FPS. The GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s are substantial, but the benchmark results show that even this powerful card is challenged by the Ultra preset at 4K, where it only manages 45 FPS. Interestingly, the RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54247, which is 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X but 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. This indicates that while it's a top-tier card, its performance in synthetic tests is not always directly mirrored in specific games. The data suggests the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates, especially at higher resolutions and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. Starting at 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 185 FPS. Medium drops to 120 FPS, High further to 86 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 68 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum FPS of 102 and a maximum of 138, showing a stable frame delivery. Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down as expected. Low produces 161 FPS, Medium 101 FPS, High 72 FPS, and Ultra 57 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 86 and a maximum of 116 FPS. At 3840x2160, the demands become severe. Low still manages a respectable 127 FPS, but Medium falls to 79 FPS, High to 57 FPS, and Ultra to just 45 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 67 and maximum of 91 FPS. The pattern is clear: the gap between Low and Medium is significant, but the gap between High and Ultra is also substantial. The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot, providing high frame rates with a reasonable visual boost over Low, while High and Ultra impose a heavy cost that may not be worth the visual gain on this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The impact of resolution on frame rate is dramatic and reveals the limiting component. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drop for the Medium preset is from 120 to 101, a reduction of about 16%. From 1440p to 4K, the Medium preset drops from 101 to 79, a further reduction of about 22%. The trend is more pronounced at higher settings. For the Ultra preset, performance falls from 68 FPS at 1080p to 57 FPS at 1440p, and then to 45 FPS at 4K. This scaling behavior suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM is sufficient, but the sheer pixel count at 4K overwhelms the GPU's processing power. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 3.30 GHz base clock, is likely not the limiting factor here, as even at 1080p with the Low preset, the GPU is producing 185 FPS, which is a high enough load. The data implies that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands, and the frame rate drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting but essential role in this setup. It has 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. This is a modern Arrow Lake-S architecture CPU on the Intel Socket 1851, built on a 3 nm process. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a single-core score of 3655. In The Medium, the CPU's role is to manage the game's logic and the dual-reality rendering system. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU is able to push the GPU to 185 FPS, indicating it is not a bottleneck. However, the CPU's 20 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's data streaming needs. The CPU's percentile rank of 85 shows it is a capable processor, but its nearest rivals, like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, have nearly identical average scores. This suggests that while the CPU is not weak, it is not the source of the system's high performance in this game; that credit goes to the RTX 4080.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting to use for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the only one that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 79 FPS and a minimum of 67 FPS. The High preset averages 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (score of 54209). It is also 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score of 54828), but 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (score of 55698).

Q: Is the Core Ultra 5 225 a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in The Medium?

A: No, the data indicates it is not. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 185 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The CPU's average benchmark score of 36938 is nearly identical to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945, showing a 0% delta. This suggests the CPU is adequately feeding the GPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 161 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 57 FPS. This is a difference of 104 FPS, showing a very large performance cost for the highest visual settings.

Q: Does the game run better at 1440p High or 4K Medium?

A: The 1440p High preset averages 72 FPS, while the 4K Medium preset averages 79 FPS. While the 4K Medium has a slightly higher average frame rate, the 1440p High preset offers a different visual balance, and the choice depends on whether resolution or settings are prioritized. The 4K Medium also has a minimum FPS of 67, which is lower than the 1440p High's minimum.

Q: How does this combo's rank in The Medium compare to all tested combos?

A: This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 200th out of 3724 tested combos. This places it in the top 5.4% of all configurations tested for this game, indicating a very high level of performance.