The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that leans heavily on fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered transitions, and the data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT shows a system that can handle the game’s visual demands, though with significant trade-offs depending on resolution and quality settings. The benchmark results, drawn from measured FPS data, reveal a configuration where the GPU is the primary driver of performance, but the CPU’s capabilities ensure that frame pacing remains stable even when the graphics card is saturated. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across three resolutions and four quality presets, contextualizing the combo’s rank against a field of 2,911 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the most dramatic drop occurring between 1080p and 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system delivers an average of 115 FPS, which falls to 97 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 76 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 22% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is being progressively more taxed as pixel count rises. The trend continues across all settings, but the severity of the drop is most pronounced at the higher quality presets, suggesting that the Radeon RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are sufficient for the workload, yet the raw compute power begins to limit performance at 4K.

For High settings, the scaling is steeper in percentage terms: 52 FPS at 1080p drops to 43 FPS at 1440p (a 17% reduction) and then to 34 FPS at 4K (a 21% reduction from 1440p). This shows that the gap between 1080p and 4K widens to a 35% overall loss, which is a significant hit for a game that relies on atmospheric detail rather than fast action. The Medium settings provide a middle ground, with 72 FPS at 1080p, 61 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K, translating to a 15% drop between the first two resolutions and a 21% drop to the highest. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows 41 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K, with the percentage losses being 17% and 21% respectively, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck across all resolutions.

The behavior at Low settings is particularly telling for identifying the limiting component. The jump from 115 FPS at 1080p to 97 FPS at 1440p is a 16% reduction, but the further drop to 76 FPS at 4K is a 22% reduction. If the CPU were the primary constraint, we would expect the 1080p result to be closer to the 1440p result, as lowering resolution reduces GPU load but not CPU load. The data shows a consistent decline with each resolution step, which points to the GPU as the limiting factor even at Low settings, though the high frame rates at 1080p suggest the CPU has enough headroom to avoid stalling the pipeline. Overall, the scaling pattern indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring a compromise on quality to maintain playable frame rates.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the workhorse in this pairing, and its specifications align closely with the measured FPS results. With a base clock of 2150 MHz, a boost clock of 2600 MHz, and a game clock of 2495 MHz, the GPU operates within a tight frequency range that ensures consistent performance under load. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for The Medium’s texture-heavy environments at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 27, suggesting that memory bandwidth and compute units are both stressed. The GPU’s 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s, which are the raw resources that determine how quickly the game’s scenes can be rendered.

The RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process with 17,200 million transistors, provides a solid foundation for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support, which The Medium utilizes. The benchmark scores for this GPU show a Passmark G3D score of 20,700 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,548, placing it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs. This percentile ranking is reflected in the game’s performance, where the combo achieves 115 FPS at 1080p Low but only 27 FPS at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon R9 M395X with a deltaPct of 0.5 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile with a deltaPct of 1.1, have similar average benchmark scores, but the RX 6750 XT’s higher memory capacity and bandwidth give it an edge in this specific title’s VRAM usage.

The VRAM allocation is a critical factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the game’s high-detail textures and shadows require more memory, and the 12 GB capacity appears sufficient to avoid stuttering, as the min FPS at 4K Medium is 40 FPS compared to an average of 48 FPS. However, the gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K (76 FPS vs. 27 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU’s computational limits, rather than memory capacity, are the primary constraint. The boost clock of 2600 MHz is sustained during gaming workloads, but the 250 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest that thermal throttling could be a factor in extended sessions, though the data does not show any anomalous frame drops that would indicate such behavior. The GPU’s performance is consistent with its position as a mid-range to upper-mid-range card, and the measured FPS numbers confirm that it handles The Medium well at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with high-quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of tested hardware combinations, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 1,292 out of 2,911 combos for The Medium, placing it in the 44th percentile of all configurations. This rank indicates that while the combo is capable of running the game, it is not among the top performers, which is consistent with the GPU’s 71st percentile ranking and the CPU’s 89th percentile ranking. The CPU, with a Passmark multithread score of 37,816 and a single-thread score of 4,516, is a strong performer, but the GPU’s mid-tier position drags the overall combo down relative to configurations with higher-end graphics cards.

The combo’s rank of 1,292 suggests that there are 1,619 other configurations that perform better in this game, which is a significant number. This is likely due to the RX 6750 XT being an end-of-life product, as indicated by its production status, and its performance ceiling is evident in the 4K results. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 with a deltaPct of 0.1 and the Intel Core i9-13900HX with a deltaPct of -0.1, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, showing that the CPU is not a differentiator in this pairing. Instead, the GPU’s capabilities define the combo’s position in the rankings, and the data shows that it is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates across all settings.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the RX 6750 XT’s average benchmark score of 26,011 is slightly above the Radeon R9 M395X (25,891) and the FirePro W7100 (25,856), but the deltaPct values are small, indicating that these cards are closely matched. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile, with a deltaPct of 1.1, is just 1.1% slower in average benchmarks, yet the RX 6750 XT’s desktop-class performance with higher power limits may give it an advantage in sustained gaming. The combo’s rank reflects this balance: it is a mid-pack performer that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it is not a top-tier configuration for 4K gaming. The data suggests that users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to look at combos with more powerful GPUs, while those gaming at 1080p will find this setup more than adequate.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 41 FPS, which is the lowest result at this resolution, indicating that the GPU is heavily loaded with the maximum visual preset.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 48, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 55 FPS, showing that the game remains playable at 4K with reduced quality settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve high frame rates?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is the highest measured result, making 1080p the optimal resolution for high frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates drop significantly with resolution increases, while the CPU’s performance remains sufficient to avoid bottlenecking, evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p Low.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1,292 out of 2,911 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the lower half of all configurations, which reflects the GPU’s mid-tier performance.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 52, with an average of 61 and a maximum of 70 FPS, indicating stable frame delivery with some variance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo provides a comprehensive view of performance across twelve different configurations, spanning three resolutions and four quality settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 115 FPS, Medium settings produce an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 and maximum of 83 FPS, High settings deliver an average of 52 FPS, and Ultra settings reduce the average to 41 FPS. The progression shows a 37% drop from Low to Medium, a 28% drop from Medium to High, and a 21% drop from High to Ultra, demonstrating that each quality tier has a substantial impact on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 97 FPS, Medium averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 52 and maximum of 70 FPS, High averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The relative drops are 37% from Low to Medium, 30% from Medium to High, and 21% from High to Ultra, which follows a similar pattern to 1080p but with lower absolute values. The 1440p results show that the combo can maintain playable frame rates at Medium and High settings, but Ultra dips below 35 FPS, which may be jarring for a horror game that relies on smooth camera movements.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 76 FPS, Medium averages 48 FPS with a minimum of 40 and maximum of 55 FPS, High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 37%, from Medium to High is 29%, and from High to Ultra is 21%. At 4K, only the Low setting provides a comfortable frame rate above 60 FPS, while Medium is borderline at 48 FPS, and High and Ultra are below the 30 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for playable performance. The consistent 21% drop from High to Ultra across all resolutions indicates a fixed cost for the Ultra preset’s additional effects, which the GPU cannot offset at higher pixel counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 plays a supporting role in this pairing, but its specifications ensure that it does not become a bottleneck in The Medium. With 14 cores and 14 threads, the CPU provides ample multi-threading capabilities for the game’s background processes, though the fixed-camera design of The Medium means that most of the workload is on the GPU. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz offer high single-thread performance, which is crucial for the game’s AI and scripted events, and the Passmark single-thread score of 4,516 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. This high single-thread performance is reflected in the game’s frame delivery, as the CPU can quickly process draw calls and maintain frame pacing even when the GPU is operating at full capacity.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy, with 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, provides low-latency access to frequently used data, which helps reduce stuttering in a game that loads new scenes during camera transitions. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors indicate an efficient design, and the 65 W TDP suggests that thermal headroom is not a concern, allowing the CPU to sustain its boost clock without throttling. The memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s of theoretical bandwidth ensures that the CPU and GPU can communicate quickly, though the game’s data requirements are modest compared to open-world titles.

Benchmark results show that the CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14,769 and single-core score is 2,085, which are competitive with its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 has an average score of 46,030 with a deltaPct of 0.1, while the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46,098 with a deltaPct of -0.1, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 235 is on par with these CPUs in overall synthetic benchmarks. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to ensure that the GPU is fed with enough data, and the high FPS at 1080p Low (115 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU is not holding back the GPU. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, the CPU maintains frame delivery without introducing additional bottlenecks, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS values at Medium settings across all resolutions. The CPU’s 14 threads are more than sufficient for a game that typically uses fewer than 8 threads, leaving headroom for background tasks without affecting gameplay performance.