The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER lands at rank 151 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it comfortably in the top 5% of all systems evaluated. The pairing of a 10-core Arrow Lake processor with an Ada Lovelace flagship-class GPU produces a system that excels at high-refresh 1440p gaming and remains capable at 4K, though the data reveals some interesting bottlenecks and scaling behaviors worth examining.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 151 out of 2911 tested combinations signals that this hardware pairing sits in the 94.8th percentile of all systems benchmarked in The Medium. This is a strong result, though not at the very top tier — the data suggests that roughly 150 other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this title. Given the components involved, this ranking makes sense: the RTX 4080 SUPER is an end-of-life product that was superseded by the GeForce 50 series, and the Core Ultra 5 225 is a mid-range desktop processor rather than a flagship.

The CPU itself holds an 85th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, while the GPU sits at an 86th percentile versus all GPUs. These figures align well with the combo's overall position — both components are above-average performers, and their combined result reflects a balanced pairing. The processor's average benchmark score of 36938 places it within 0.5% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%), and the Intel Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5%). This tight clustering indicates that the Core Ultra 5 225 delivers performance nearly identical to several established competitors, with no meaningful advantage or deficit.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score of 54209 is essentially tied with the RTX 4080 (54247, -0.1% delta), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.7%), and AMD Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.8%) all score slightly higher in aggregate benchmarks. Despite those rivals posting higher synthetic scores, the measured FPS in The Medium demonstrates that this GPU delivers excellent real-world gaming performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is built around the AD103 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves valuable in The Medium's fixed-camera horror scenes that often feature high-resolution textures and complex lighting. The GPU's 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines deliver substantial raw throughput, with a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s.

Clock speeds see the base set at 2295 MHz with a boost up to 2550 MHz, while memory runs at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, ensuring full compatibility with The Medium's rendering requirements. With 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, the card is well-equipped for any ray-traced effects the game might employ, though the measured data doesn't specifically break out RT performance.

The GPU's FP32 compute of 52.22 TFLOPS (matching its FP16 throughput at 1:1 ratio) provides ample headroom for the game's fixed-camera rendering approach, which often relies on pre-baked lighting and cinematic post-processing. The 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design indicate this is a power-hungry part, though the data shows it delivers consistent frame rates across all tested settings. The GPU's end-of-life production status and 2024-01-30 release date mean it was current when The Medium was still relatively new, and its performance in this title remains strong.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is limited to DDR5 in a dual-channel configuration, providing 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread capability with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4412. Multi-threaded performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891 and a Passmark multithread score of 30459. The Passmark physics score of 2342 and floating-point math score of 92038 suggest the processor handles the kind of physics and transform calculations common in horror game environments.

Despite having only 10 threads — fewer than many competing desktop processors — the Core Ultra 5 225 holds its own in The Medium. The game's fixed-camera design likely doesn't demand extreme multi-threading, making the processor's high boost clock more relevant than raw thread count. The 4.90 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded game logic and rendering commands are processed quickly, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates. The processor's 85th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms it sits above the median, though its nearest rivals show it's not a class leader.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 185 FPS average, while Medium reaches 119 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 137 FPS. High settings produce 85 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 68 FPS. These numbers show that even at the most demanding preset, the system maintains playable frame rates at 1080p, with Low settings providing a high-refresh experience suitable for 144 Hz displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low settings deliver 160 FPS average, Medium hits 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS, High produces 72 FPS, and Ultra drops to 57 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate that this combination can handle competitive gaming at Medium settings with smooth performance, while High and Ultra presets remain playable but require some compromise on refresh rate.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limits. Low settings achieve 126 FPS average, Medium delivers 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 90 FPS, High drops to 56 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title, but the GPU's raw compute is stretched by the game's visual demands at this resolution. The Medium preset at 4K offers a playable 79 FPS average, which is notable given the game's cinematic presentation.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals interesting insights about where the bottleneck lies in this system. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 185 FPS at 1080p to 160 FPS at 1440p (a 13.5% decrease) and then to 126 FPS at 4K (a 21.3% decrease from 1440p). This relatively gentle scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is playing a significant role — the frame rates are high enough that the processor's limits become apparent before the GPU is fully saturated.

At Medium settings, the progression from 119 FPS at 1080p to 100 FPS at 1440p (16% decrease) and then to 79 FPS at 4K (21% decrease) shows a similar pattern, though the GPU begins to take on more responsibility as resolution increases. The minimum frame rates also scale predictably: 101 FPS at 1080p, 85 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K, maintaining roughly 84% of average performance across all resolutions.

High settings tell a different story. The drop from 85 FPS at 1080p to 72 FPS at 1440p (15.3% decrease) is followed by a steeper decline to 56 FPS at 4K (22.2% decrease). This steeper 4K penalty indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor at High settings, as the increased pixel count demands more from the RTX 4080 SUPER's shading units and memory bandwidth.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 68 FPS at 1080p dropping to 57 FPS at 1440p (16.2% decrease) and then to 45 FPS at 4K (21.1% decrease). The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is barely above the threshold for smooth gameplay, suggesting that this preset is best avoided at 4K unless the player prioritizes visual fidelity over frame rate. The overall pattern indicates a balanced system where the CPU holds up well at lower resolutions and settings, while the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K with higher presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 119 FPS with a tight minimum of 101 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium maintains 100 FPS with an 85 FPS minimum, which is excellent for a 144 Hz monitor. At 4K, Medium drops to 79 FPS with a 67 FPS minimum, still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates — 185 FPS at 1080p, 160 FPS at 1440p, and 126 FPS at 4K — but sacrifices the visual quality that a horror game like The Medium relies on for atmosphere. The Ultra preset, meanwhile, offers the best visuals but only reaches 68 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K, with the 4K result falling below the ideal smoothness threshold.

For players with high-refresh displays, the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p is the clear recommendation, as it provides frame rates well above 100 FPS while maintaining acceptable visual fidelity. For 4K display owners, Medium is also the best choice, as it's the only preset that stays above 60 FPS at that resolution. The High preset at 4K (56 FPS) and Ultra at 1440p (57 FPS) both hover near 60 FPS and may cause noticeable stutter on standard 60 Hz displays, making Medium the safer choice across the board.

FAQ

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

A: This combination ranks 151st out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the top 5% of all systems evaluated in this game.

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

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 100 FPS average with an 85 FPS minimum, making it the optimal choice for high-refresh displays. At 4K, the same preset achieves 79 FPS average, which is the only settings level that stays above 60 FPS at that resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 54209 is nearly identical to the RTX 4080 (54247, -0.1% delta), while the Radeon Pro W5700X (54828, -1.1%), RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698, -2.7%), and Radeon 8060S (55757, -2.8%) all score slightly higher in aggregate benchmarks.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 5 225 bottleneck the RTX 4080 SUPER at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K. Frame rates at Ultra settings drop to 45 FPS, and the scaling from 1440p to 4K shows steeper declines at higher presets, indicating the GPU is the primary constraint rather than the CPU.

Q: What is the CPU's performance compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 5 225's average benchmark score of 36938 is within 0.5% of its closest competitors, including the Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0%), Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%), Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%), and Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5%).

Q: Is the Medium preset at 4K playable on this hardware?

A: Yes, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 achieves 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This makes it the recommended setting for 4K displays on this system.