The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique load profile that stresses both the processor and the graphics card in distinct ways. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data set provides a complete matrix of average frame rates, with minimum and maximum values recorded only for the Medium preset. The following sections break down the scaling behavior, component roles, and practical settings for this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, but with an interesting twist at the lower settings. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 113 at 1080p to 95 at 1440p, a decline of 18 frames, and then further to 74 at 4K, another 21-frame drop. This represents a total reduction of 34.5% from 1080p to 4K, indicating that even at Low settings, the rendering resolution significantly impacts performance. The 1440p to 4K transition is particularly steep, suggesting the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the primary constraint as the pixel count more than doubles.

Moving to the High preset, the scaling is more gradual in absolute terms but proportionally similar. The average FPS goes from 50 at 1080p to 42 at 1440p, then down to 33 at 4K. The 4K result here is just below the 35 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for a playable experience, and the 1080p result is comfortably above it. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 9 FPS, which is a 21.4% reduction, showing that the higher resolution settings amplify the gap between the two lower resolutions.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data, including minimum and maximum frame times. At 1080p, the average is 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 81. This minimum value is exactly at the 60 FPS target, meaning occasional dips to that level are measured. At 1440p, the average drops to 59 FPS, with the minimum at 50 and maximum at 68. The 4K Medium preset shows an average of 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and maximum of 54. The minimum frame rates scale consistently with the averages, indicating no sudden stuttering or frame time spikes are introduced at higher resolutions; the entire performance envelope shifts downward uniformly.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe resolution penalty. The average FPS is 40 at 1080p, 34 at 1440p, and 26 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable, and even the 1080p Ultra result is below the 60 FPS standard. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 6 FPS drop, and from 1440p to 4K is an 8 FPS drop. This pattern confirms that the RTX 3060 Ti, with its 8 GB of memory and 256-bit bus, is the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, as the data shows no corresponding CPU bottleneck emerging from the Core Ultra 5 235’s 14 cores.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS is 70, with a measured minimum of 60 and a maximum of 81. This makes the Medium preset the only one at 1080p that maintains an average above 60 FPS while also having a minimum that does not drop below that threshold.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 1080p Low performance?

A: The 4K Ultra preset delivers an average of 26 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset delivers 113 FPS. This represents a performance difference of 87 FPS, or roughly 4.3 times higher frame rate at the lower resolution and settings, highlighting the extreme cost of the Ultra preset at 4K.

Q: Is there a significant difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, the High preset averages 42 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. The 8 FPS difference indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional graphical effects have a measurable but not overwhelming impact at this resolution, though both remain below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of performance for the Low preset?

A: The 1440p Low preset averages 95 FPS, which is 21 FPS lower than the 1080p result but 21 FPS higher than the 4K result. For users prioritizing high frame rates over resolution, 1440p Low provides a substantial improvement over 4K while still offering a higher pixel count than 1080p.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: The minimum FPS values are 60 at 1080p, 50 at 1440p, and 40 at 4K. These figures provide a conservative estimate of worst-case performance, and the consistent 10 FPS gap between each resolution step indicates a predictable scaling pattern.

Q: Does the data suggest a CPU bottleneck at any resolution or setting?

A: No, the data does not show a CPU bottleneck. The frame rates decrease monotonically with increasing resolution across all settings, which is the signature of a GPU-limited workload. The Core Ultra 5 235’s performance is sufficient to keep the RTX 3060 Ti fully utilized in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, based on the Ampere architecture and GA104 chip, is the dominant component in this configuration for The Medium. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is a critical resource for a game that uses high-resolution textures. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU’s capacity is directly challenged by the game’s demands, particularly at 4K where the 8 GB capacity may be a limiting factor for the Ultra preset’s texture pools.

The GPU’s clock speeds are 1410 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost, and the benchmark results show a percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs. In the context of this game, the RTX 3060 Ti’s performance at 1080p is adequate for most presets, but the Ultra preset’s 40 FPS average indicates that the additional shading and ray tracing features (38 RT cores) are not fully optimized for this title. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the theoretical peak, but the measured results suggest that memory bandwidth and capacity are more influential than raw compute throughput in this specific workload.

The comparison to nearest rivals shows the RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129, which is 0.7% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 9060 and 1.4% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M. This places it in a competitive mid-range tier, but the game’s performance at 4K Ultra (26 FPS) demonstrates that it is not a high-end solution for this title. The 4K Medium result of 47 FPS is more representative of its practical ceiling, and the 1440p High result of 42 FPS shows that users must accept either a lower resolution or lower settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the Medium preset’s average of 70 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum is the only configuration that guarantees a stable 60 FPS experience without frame rate drops. The High preset at 1080p averages 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, and the Ultra preset averages 40 FPS, making Medium the clear choice for smooth gameplay.

At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 59 FPS, which is just shy of the 60 FPS target, but the minimum of 50 FPS means occasional dips below 60 will occur. The Low preset at this resolution averages 95 FPS, providing a substantial performance margin for users with high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1440p averages 42 FPS, which is borderline playable but not ideal, and the Ultra preset at 34 FPS is below the 35 FPS playability threshold.

For 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option, with an average of 47 FPS and a minimum of 40 FPS. This is a playable experience, though not a smooth one, and the Low preset at 74 FPS is the better choice for users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, with averages of 33 and 26 FPS respectively, are not recommended for any use case. The data indicates that the Medium preset is the best compromise between visual quality and performance, as it is the only preset that maintains an average FPS above the 60 FPS standard at 1080p and remains within a playable range at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1415 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 48.6th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly half of all combinations perform better and half perform worse. The rank reflects the mid-range positioning of both components: the CPU has a percentile ranking of 89 among all CPUs, while the GPU has a percentile ranking of 59 among all GPUs.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 46062, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and 0.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 4364P. This places the Core Ultra 5 235 in a strong position relative to its peers, but the GPU’s average score of 16129 is 1.4% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and 1.7% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 370X. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU skews the overall system toward CPU-bound tasks, but in The Medium, the GPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data.

The rank of 1415 out of 2911 suggests that this combo is not optimized for this particular game, as the GPU’s performance is the bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU has significant headroom, as the frame rates scale linearly with resolution, indicating the GPU is saturated. For users with this combination, the measured results provide a clear performance ceiling that is determined by the RTX 3060 Ti’s capabilities rather than the Core Ultra 5 235’s processing power.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 113 FPS. The Medium preset averages 70 FPS, with a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 81. The High preset averages 50 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 40 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 73 FPS, with the most significant drop occurring between Low and Medium (43 FPS), followed by a 20 FPS drop to High and a 10 FPS drop to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 95 FPS. The Medium preset averages 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 68. The High preset averages 42 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 34 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 36 FPS drop, with a further 17 FPS drop to High and an 8 FPS drop to Ultra. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, ranging from 18 FPS for Low to 6 FPS for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 74 FPS. The Medium preset averages 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 54. The High preset averages 33 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The 4K results show the most compressed range, with only a 48 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The step from Low to Medium is 27 FPS, from Medium to High is 14 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 7 FPS. The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset at each resolution (60, 50, 40) show a perfectly linear 10 FPS decrement, which reinforces the consistent scaling behavior.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide a solid foundation for gaming workloads. In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows that it performs this task without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. The PassMark single-thread score is 4516, and the multi-thread score is 37816. These figures place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% lower average score). The CPU’s 14 cores are more than sufficient for a game like The Medium, which typically uses fewer than eight threads.

The measured FPS data confirms the CPU is not a limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU would be unable to process frames faster regardless of the GPU workload. Instead, the data shows that frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases, which is the definitive sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The Core Ultra 5 235’s performance is thus more than adequate for this game, and its capabilities are left largely untapped by the RTX 3060 Ti’s limitations in The Medium. The CPU’s 5.00 GHz boost clock and 14 cores provide ample headroom for any future GPU upgrade, as the current combination is clearly constrained by the graphics card.