The Medium

# The Medium: Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 — Benchmark Analysis

This combination of Intel's Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 produces a wide performance envelope in The Medium, ranging from highly playable 143 FPS at 1080p Low to a cinematic 34 FPS at 4K Ultra. The measured data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and the Core Ultra 5 235's 14-core configuration both playing distinct roles. The combo ranks 753rd out of 2,911 tested combinations in this title, placing it in the upper quartile of all tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings presets. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 143 FPS at 1920x1080 to 121 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 15.4% reduction), then further to 95 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 21.5% reduction from 1440p). This progressive decline indicates that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU remains the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, though the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads are sufficient to maintain high throughput at 1080p.

The Medium setting shows a steeper scaling curve: 90 FPS at 1080p, 75 FPS at 1440p (a 16.7% drop), and 59 FPS at 4K (a 21.3% drop from 1440p). The min/max frame ranges at Medium settings—76-103 FPS at 1080p, 64-87 FPS at 1440p, and 50-68 FPS at 4K—demonstrate that frame pacing remains consistent even as the average drops, suggesting the RTX 3080's 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth handles the increased data load without introducing stutter.

High settings amplify the resolution penalty further: 64 FPS at 1080p falls to 54 FPS at 1440p (a 15.6% drop) and then to 42 FPS at 4K (a 22.2% drop from 1440p). Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling, with 51 FPS at 1080p dropping to 43 FPS at 1440p (15.7% lower) and finally to 34 FPS at 4K (20.9% lower than 1440p). The consistent 15-22% per-step reduction across all presets indicates that The Medium's rendering pipeline is heavily pixel-bound, and the RTX 3080's 8704 shading units are the limiting factor rather than the CPU's 5.00 GHz boost clock.

The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is revealing. At 1080p, Low produces 143 FPS versus Ultra's 51 FPS—a 64.3% difference. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 64.5% (121 vs 43 FPS), and at 4K it remains similar at 64.2% (95 vs 34 FPS). This consistency suggests that the settings presets scale the same underlying effects proportionally, rather than introducing resolution-specific bottlenecks.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 at Medium settings provides the best balance, with 75 FPS average and a 64-87 FPS range. At 1080p Medium, the system achieves 90 FPS, but the 1440p Medium result of 75 FPS remains well within smooth-playable territory while offering higher visual fidelity.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only at lower presets. At 4K Low, the combo averages 95 FPS, which is fully playable. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 59 FPS with a 50 FPS minimum, which is still acceptable for a horror title. High and Ultra at 4K produce 42 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, which may be too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 10 GB GDDR6X memory with 760.3 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for all tested settings in The Medium. The frame time consistency at Medium settings, particularly the tight 76-103 FPS range at 1080p, suggests no memory capacity or bandwidth throttling occurs even at 4K Ultra.

Q: Is the CPU holding back this GPU in The Medium?

A: The data indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 143 FPS, and the Core Ultra 5 235's single-thread benchmark score of 4516 and multi-thread score of 37816 suggest ample headroom. The consistent 15-22% FPS drops when moving to higher resolutions point to GPU-bound performance.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 753rd out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in approximately the 74th percentile. This is a strong result, though not top-tier, reflecting the RTX 3080's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Which settings preset offers the most consistent frame pacing?

A: Medium settings show the tightest min/max ranges relative to average across all resolutions. At 4K Medium, the 50-68 FPS range represents a spread of 18 FPS around the 59 FPS average, whereas High and Ultra lack reported min/max data, making Medium the most predictable preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination achieves a rank of 753 out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the upper 25% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the hardware's overall capability, but the CPU and GPU individually occupy different percentile positions: the Core Ultra 5 235 sits at the 89th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 46,062, while the RTX 3080 sits at the 68th percentile among GPUs with an average score of 23,172.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% higher average score), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% lower), AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% higher), and AMD EPYC 7303 (0.2% higher). These minuscule deltas indicate the Core Ultra 5 235 sits in a densely packed performance cluster, where single-digit percentage differences separate it from competing chips. The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering: the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X all sit within 0.4% of the RTX 3080's average score.

The gap between the CPU's 89th percentile ranking and the GPU's 68th percentile ranking suggests the system's overall position in The Medium is constrained more by graphics performance than processing power. The combo rank of 753rd (approximately 74th percentile) sits between these two values, indicating that the GPU's relative weakness drags the combined result below what the CPU alone would suggest. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system reaches 143 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it falls to 34 FPS, a 76.2% reduction that cannot be attributed to CPU limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 143 FPS average, while Medium achieves 90 FPS with a range of 76-103 FPS. High settings yield 64 FPS, and Ultra drops to 51 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 64.3% reduction in average frame rate, showing that The Medium's higher presets impose significant rendering costs even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the performance hierarchy remains consistent. Low settings produce 121 FPS, Medium delivers 75 FPS with a 64-87 FPS range, High achieves 54 FPS, and Ultra produces 43 FPS. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs between 15.4% (Low) and 15.7% (Ultra) of average FPS, a remarkably consistent penalty across all presets.

At 3840x2160, the system's limits become apparent. Low settings still provide 95 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 59 FPS with a 50-68 FPS range. High settings produce 42 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The 4K step costs between 20.9% (Ultra) and 22.2% (High) of average FPS relative to 1440p, indicating that pixel count becomes the dominant factor at this resolution.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 76-103 FPS (a 27 FPS spread); at 1440p, it is 64-87 FPS (a 23 FPS spread); and at 4K, it is 50-68 FPS (an 18 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU becomes more thoroughly utilized, reducing CPU-induced frame time spikes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, built on the GA102 chip with Ampere architecture and an 8 nm process from Samsung, provides the primary performance driver in this system. Its 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs handle The Medium's rendering workload across all tested configurations. The GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which the measured data suggests is adequate even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 34.

The RTX 3080's clock behavior—1440 MHz base and 1710 MHz boost—contributes to its 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. In The Medium, this compute capacity translates to 143 FPS at 1080p Low but only 51 FPS at 1080p Ultra, demonstrating that the game's higher presets add significant shading and rasterization work. The GPU's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but their specific impact on The Medium's performance cannot be isolated from the measured data.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 68 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172, places it in the upper-midrange. Its nearest rivals all sit within 0.4% in average score, indicating the RTX 3080 is part of a competitive performance tier. The GPU's 68th percentile ranking is notably lower than the CPU's 89th percentile, which explains why the combo's overall rank in The Medium (74th percentile) falls below what the CPU alone might suggest.

The GPU's memory configuration appears well-matched to The Medium's demands. The 10 GB capacity is never exceeded at any tested setting, as evidenced by the absence of sudden frame rate collapses at higher resolutions. The 760.3 GB/s bandwidth supports the 95 FPS average at 4K Low, indicating that memory throughput is not a limiting factor even when pixel count quadruples from 1080p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides the processing foundation for this system, with 14 cores and 14 threads operating at a 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock. Built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process from TSMC, this CPU delivers strong single-thread and multi-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 scores of 2,085 single-core and 14,769 multi-core, and its Passmark single-thread score of 4,516.

The CPU's role in The Medium appears secondary to the GPU across all tested configurations. At 1080p Low, where CPU-bound scenarios typically appear, the system achieves 143 FPS, suggesting the Core Ultra 5 235's 14 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 3080 without bottlenecking. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for the game's streaming and AI-driven camera mechanics.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46,062, places it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% higher), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% lower), AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% higher), and AMD EPYC 7303 (0.2% higher)—all perform within a 0.3% band, indicating this is a tightly contested performance tier where architectural differences produce minimal real-world impact.

The CPU's 14 threads (matching its core count, with no hyperthreading) are adequate for The Medium's requirements. The game's fixed-camera perspectives and pre-rendered backgrounds reduce CPU load compared to fully open-world titles, allowing the Core Ultra 5 235 to maintain high frame rates even at 1080p Low where GPU load is lightest. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures responsive frame delivery, though the measured data does not show CPU-specific bottlenecks at any resolution or setting.

Settings Recommendations

For users seeking the smoothest experience, 1920x1080 at Low settings delivers 143 FPS average, which is well above any refresh rate threshold. However, this preset sacrifices visual quality. The Medium setting at 1080p provides 90 FPS with a 76-103 FPS range, offering a strong balance of performance and fidelity. The High preset at 1080p drops to 64 FPS, which remains playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation. The 75 FPS average with a 64-87 FPS range keeps the experience smooth, and the 23 FPS spread indicates consistent frame delivery. The Low preset at 1440p produces 121 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays, but Medium offers significantly better visual quality for a 38% reduction in average FPS. High at 1440p (54 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) are better suited to slower-paced horror exploration rather than action sequences.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 95 FPS is the only fully comfortable option, though Medium at 59 FPS with a 50 FPS minimum remains acceptable for a horror title where precise timing is less critical. High (42 FPS) and Ultra (34 FPS) at 4K are best reserved for screenshot purposes or scenarios where cinematic frame rates are acceptable.

The data suggests the Medium preset at 1440p is the optimal configuration for this combination. It provides 75 FPS average, maintains a minimum of 64 FPS, and avoids the visual compromises of Low settings while staying well above the 43 FPS of Ultra. The 16.7% FPS reduction from 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium is a reasonable trade for the increased resolution, and the 21.3% further reduction to 4K Medium makes 1440p the sweet spot for this hardware pairing.