The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around narrative exploration and dual-reality puzzle solving, presents a unique load profile that stresses both the CPU and GPU in unexpected ways. When paired with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, the measured frame rates reveal a system that can handle the game’s eerie stillness at high settings, but one that requires careful settings adjustment to maintain smooth motion in its most demanding scenes. The data shows a combination that ranks 1045th out of 2911 tested combos in this game, placing it in the upper-middle tier of systems, with performance that scales predictably across resolutions but with a notable sensitivity to the game's preset levels.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions demonstrates a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, where the frame rate drops significantly as pixel count increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 56 FPS, but moving to 1440p High drops that to 47 FPS, a 16% reduction, and then to 4K High, which falls further to 37 FPS, a 34% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steady decline indicates that the Radeon RX 7700 XT is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 providing enough headroom to keep the GPU saturated even at 1080p.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 126 FPS, but this drops to 106 FPS at 1440p Low (a 16% decrease) and then to 83 FPS at 4K Low (a 34% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across both High and Low settings suggests that the game’s rendering pipeline scales linearly with resolution, and that the RX 7700 XT’s memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are the decisive factors. The 4K to 1080p ratio for High settings is 37/56, or 0.66, while for Low settings it is 83/126, or 0.66, confirming that the relative performance hit from higher resolutions is identical regardless of quality preset.

The Medium’s fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds might suggest that resolution scaling would be less severe, but the data contradicts that assumption. The 4K Ultra preset yields just 30 FPS, which is exactly half the 1080p Low score of 126 FPS, and the 4K Medium preset at 52 FPS is only 41% higher than the 4K Ultra score. This indicates that the game’s Ultra preset introduces effects that are particularly taxing on the GPU, likely related to volumetric lighting and shadow quality, which scale poorly with pixel count. The measured frame times, where available, show that the Medium preset at 4K has a min FPS of 44 and a max of 60, producing an average of 52, which suggests some frame pacing inconsistency that could be perceptible during camera transitions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT combination holds a combo rank of 1045 out of 2911 tested systems in The Medium, placing it in the 64th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects a system that is solidly mid-pack, outperforming roughly two-thirds of tested combos but falling short of the high-end configurations that dominate the top of the leaderboard. The rank is particularly interesting given the hardware’s specifications: the Core Ultra 5 235 sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 7700 XT is at the 67th percentile among all GPUs, suggesting that the combo’s overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU’s relatively lower standing.

The nearest rival CPUs provide context for the processor’s contribution to this ranking. The Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, a 0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, a -0.1% difference). This means that swapping the Core Ultra 5 235 for either of these rivals would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, assuming the GPU remains constant. The AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303 also sit within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 5 235’s score, reinforcing that this CPU is not the bottleneck in this pairing.

On the GPU side, the RX 7700 XT’s average benchmark score of 22549 is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (22435, a 0.5% difference) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, a -0.8% difference). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 is 1.5% ahead, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 is 1.7% behind. These small deltas mean that in The Medium, the choice between these GPUs would result in less than a 2% difference in average FPS, which is within the margin of run-to-run variation. The combo’s rank of 1045 thus reflects a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outperforms its direct competitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and Passmark single-thread score of 4516. In The Medium, a game that does not heavily multi-thread its main gameplay loop, these single-core capabilities are crucial for maintaining consistent frame pacing during scripted sequences and camera movements.

The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing latency during level transitions. The 14 cores, while not all utilized by The Medium, provide ample headroom for background tasks and the game’s audio processing, which can be surprisingly demanding in a horror title that relies on directional sound cues. The multi-core performance, measured at 14769 in Cinebench R23 and 37816 in Passmark multithread, ensures that the system does not experience stutters when the game loads new areas or streams in high-resolution textures.

The Core Ultra 5 235’s 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game, as The Medium does not require excessive memory bandwidth. The processor’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is a high-performing part, and the benchmark data shows it trading blows with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, both of which are newer or more power-hungry parts. In The Medium specifically, the CPU’s role is to feed the RX 7700 XT with draw calls and physics calculations, and the measured FPS patterns—where Low settings at 1080p reach 126 FPS—suggest that the CPU can handle far more frames than the GPU can render at higher presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates, with the Low preset achieving 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 79 FPS average, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS, indicating that the game remains fluid even during scenes with multiple light sources or particle effects. The High preset drops to 56 FPS, which is still playable but approaches the edge of what many users consider acceptable for a horror game where slow panning shots can make lower frame rates more noticeable. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and would likely result in visible judder during camera transitions.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all presets, as expected. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 106 FPS, maintaining a smooth experience, while the Medium preset drops to 66 FPS average, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. This Medium setting at 1440p is the sweet spot for this resolution, providing a balance between visual quality and frame rate. The High preset at 1440p produces 47 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, and the Ultra preset falls to 38 FPS, which is marginal for a game that relies on atmospheric tension rather than fast action. The 1440p Medium frame times, ranging from 56 to 76 FPS, show a narrower spread than the 1080p Medium, suggesting that the GPU is more consistently loaded at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates. The Low preset at 4K achieves 83 FPS, which is surprisingly high for a 4K resolution and indicates that the RX 7700 XT’s 12 GB of VRAM and 432 GB/s bandwidth can handle the lower-detail assets without bottlenecking. The Medium preset at 4K produces 52 FPS average, with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 60, which is just below the 60 FPS target but still playable for a slower-paced horror title. The High preset at 4K drops to 37 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 30 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for smooth playback and would likely result in noticeable stuttering during the game’s signature dual-world split-screen sequences.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, is the primary driver of The Medium’s visual output. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures at 1080p and 1440p, but becomes a limiting factor at 4K where the larger framebuffer demands more memory throughput. The GPU’s boost clock of 2544 MHz and game clock of 2171 MHz allow it to sustain high pixel rates, measured at 244.2 GPixel/s, which explains why the Low preset scales so well across resolutions.

The RX 7700 XT’s 3456 shading units and 216 texture mapping units deliver 35.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is more than enough for The Medium’s DirectX 12 rendering path. The GPU’s 54 ray tracing cores are relevant because The Medium uses ray-traced reflections and shadows in select scenes, though the measured FPS data suggests that these effects are not fully utilized at lower presets. The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 22547 places it at the 67th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals—the RTX 5060 Mobile, RTX 4060 Mobile, RTX 2080, and RX 5700—are all within 1.7% of its score, indicating that this GPU is competitive with a wide range of mid-range and previous-generation high-end parts.

The GPU’s 245 W TDP and dual-slot cooler with 2x 8-pin power connectors are typical for this performance class, and the suggested 550 W PSU provides adequate headroom. The 4K Medium preset’s 52 FPS average, compared to the 4K Low preset’s 83 FPS, shows that the GPU has significant headroom when settings are reduced, but the jump from Medium to High (52 to 37 FPS) and High to Ultra (37 to 30 FPS) indicates that each subsequent preset tier imposes a disproportionate cost. This is characteristic of a GPU that is well-suited to 1080p and 1440p gaming but is stretched at 4K, where the 12 GB VRAM capacity and 192-bit memory bus become limiting factors for the highest quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, the Medium preset at 79 FPS average (67 min, 91 max) provides the best experience, as it maintains a smooth frame rate well above 60 FPS while offering significantly better visual quality than the Low preset. The High preset at 56 FPS is playable but risks dipping below 60 FPS during intense scenes, while the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended due to its sub-60 FPS performance. The Low preset at 126 FPS is excessive for a horror game where high frame rates are less critical than visual atmosphere, making Medium the clear choice.

For 1440p, the Medium preset at 66 FPS average (56 min, 76 max) is the recommended setting, as it stays above 60 FPS on average and only occasionally dips below during the most demanding sequences. The Low preset at 106 FPS is smoother but sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that relies on environmental storytelling. The High preset at 47 FPS is below the 60 FPS target and would be noticeable during slow camera pans, while the Ultra preset at 38 FPS is too low for comfortable gameplay. The 1440p Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with the minimum FPS of 56 ensuring that most players will not experience stuttering.

For 4K, the Low preset at 83 FPS is the only setting that delivers a consistently smooth experience, though it does so at a significant visual cost. The Medium preset at 52 FPS average (44 min, 60 max) is borderline, and its minimum FPS of 44 suggests that some scenes will feel choppy. The High preset at 37 FPS and Ultra preset at 30 FPS are not recommended for 4K, as they fall well below the playable threshold. Players with 4K displays should either accept the Low preset for a fluid experience or consider running the game at 1440p with Medium settings and relying on the display’s upscaling, as the 1440p Medium preset’s 66 FPS average is a substantial improvement over any 4K setting except Low. The data shows that this combo is best suited to 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high-quality visuals at playable frame rates, while 4K requires significant compromises in settings to achieve acceptable performance.