The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with both resolution and graphical presets. The measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveals a configuration that is decisively GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while still maintaining solid performance at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this specific combination ranks against the broader database of tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

Resolution scaling is the most significant factor in this dataset, with average frame rates nearly halving at each major step up in pixel count. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 150 FPS, which drops to 126 FPS at 1440p and further to 99 FPS at 4K. This represents a 16% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 34% reduction from 1440p to 4K, illustrating how the rendering load expands with pixel count.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the Medium preset, which includes min and max frame data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 93 FPS with a range of 79 to 108 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average falls to 79 FPS (a 15% drop), with a range of 67 to 91 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average plummets to 62 FPS, a 21.5% reduction from 1440p, with a range of 53 to 71 FPS. The progressive increase in the percentage drop as resolution rises indicates that the RTX 4070’s rendering pipeline is being saturated, making the GPU the primary limiting component.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically with resolution. At 1080p, Low yields 150 FPS while Ultra yields 53 FPS, a 2.83x difference. At 4K, Low yields 99 FPS while Ultra drops to 35 FPS, a 2.83x difference as well, but the absolute values are much lower. This consistency in the multiplier suggests that the graphical presets scale computational cost in a linear fashion, but the baseline cost of each pixel is so high at 4K that even the Low preset cannot maintain high frame rates. The 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is barely playable, while 4K Low at 99 FPS is quite fluid, showing that resolution has a more profound impact on performance than the preset selection alone.

The data strongly suggests that at 1080p, the CPU still has some headroom, as the 150 FPS Low result is well above typical display refresh rates. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the unequivocal bottleneck, with the frame rate being dictated by the graphics card’s fill rate and shader throughput. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235, with its 14 cores and 5.00 GHz boost clock, is not the limiting factor in this game at higher resolutions, as the FPS scales inversely with pixel count in a way that is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant force in this configuration, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured performance. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 5,888 shading units and 64 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz provide the raw compute throughput needed for The Medium’s demanding visuals. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is crucial for feeding the GPU’s texture and geometry units at high resolutions.

The GPU’s performance percentile of 81% versus all GPUs indicates that it is a solidly above-average part, and the benchmark results support this. In 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12), it scores 3,854, and in Geekbench Vulkan it scores 174,152. The Passmark G3D score of 26,927 further establishes its position in the mid-to-high range. The data shows a clear ceiling: at 4K Ultra, the GPU can only manage 35 FPS, suggesting that The Medium’s Ultra preset is extremely demanding, likely due to high-resolution textures and complex lighting effects.

The role of the 12 GB VRAM is not directly tested in the FPS data, but the capacity is adequate for the game’s needs at all tested settings. The fact that the GPU can deliver 99 FPS at 4K Low and 44 FPS at 4K High shows that there is a massive performance range available, dependent on the preset. The RTX 4070’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the engine driving these results, and the data indicates that the card is well-matched for 1440p gaming, where it delivers between 45 FPS (Ultra) and 126 FPS (Low). The card’s position relative to its nearest rivals in the database, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (which it trails by 1.3% in average benchmark score), suggests that it is performing near the expected level for its class.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers an average of 67 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a solid choice for visual fidelity. However, the Medium preset at 1080p provides 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which is significantly smoother and still looks good. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, the Low preset at 150 FPS is the clear winner, but it sacrifices visual quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, ensuring that frame pacing remains stable during intense scenes. The High preset at 56 FPS is playable but may dip below 60 FPS in demanding sections, while the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is borderline for a horror game that benefits from high frame rates to maintain immersion. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended balance of visual quality and performance.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Medium preset delivers 62 FPS, which is playable but not perfectly smooth. The Low preset at 99 FPS is the best option for a fluid experience, but it requires significant visual compromises. The High preset at 44 FPS is too low for comfortable play, and Ultra at 35 FPS is only suitable for screenshots or cinematic viewing. The data suggests that for 4K, users should either accept the Medium preset’s 62 FPS or drop to Low for 99 FPS, as the jump to High and Ultra does not provide a playable experience.

The measured min and max FPS for the Medium preset at all three resolutions provide insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the range is 79–108 FPS (a 29 FPS spread), at 1440p it is 67–91 FPS (a 24 FPS spread), and at 4K it is 53–71 FPS (an 18 FPS spread). The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is more consistently saturated, leading to more stable frame times, even though the average FPS is lower.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 150 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 67 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 53 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 126 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 56 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves an average of 99 FPS. The Medium preset achieves an average of 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 44 FPS. The Ultra preset achieves an average of 35 FPS.

The data reveals a consistent hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution. The performance delta between Low and Medium is substantial (e.g., 57 FPS at 1080p), while the delta between High and Ultra is smaller (e.g., 14 FPS at 1080p). This suggests that the Medium preset offers the most efficient balance of visual quality and performance, as it captures a large portion of the performance headroom without the steep cost of the High and Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested combos for The Medium, this specific configuration ranks 614 out of 2,911 tested combinations. This places it in the top 21.1% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a high-performing setup for this title. The rank of 614 is a strong result, but it also shows that there are over 600 other combinations that achieve higher performance, likely featuring more powerful GPUs or CPUs.

The combo’s ranking is driven primarily by the RTX 4070’s capabilities, as the game is GPU-bound at the higher resolutions where the most demanding tests occur. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235’s percentile of 89% versus all CPUs indicates that it is a highly capable processor, but its contribution to the in-game rank is secondary to the GPU. The fact that the combo ranks in the top quarter of all tested systems suggests that it can handle The Medium at high settings and high resolutions, but it will not be at the absolute top tier for 4K Ultra performance.

The nearest rival GPUs in the database, such as the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (which has a 0.4% higher average benchmark score) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (which is 1.3% faster), provide context for the RTX 4070’s performance. The RTX 4070 is clearly in a different league than the older Vega 56, but it is measurably slower than the mobile RTX 4080, which explains why the combo’s rank is not higher. The 614th position out of 2,911 confirms the RTX 4070’s strength, but it also highlights the headroom that exists in the market for higher-end configurations.

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. It is built on a 3 nm process by TSMC, with 24 MB of shared L3 cache. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14,769 points in multi-core and 2,085 points in single-core, demonstrating strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. Its passmark multithread score of 37,816 and single-thread score of 4,516 further confirm its high performance.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the CPU can push the GPU to 150 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. However, as the resolution increases, the FPS drops, indicating that the GPU is no longer able to keep up with the CPU’s output. The CPU is not the bottleneck in this game at 1440p and 4K, as the FPS scaling is consistent with GPU limitations.

The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads are more than sufficient for The Medium, which is not a heavily multi-threaded title. The high boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is important for the game’s fixed-camera rendering and AI calculations. The CPU’s percentile of 89% versus all CPUs places it well above average, and its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% slower), show that it is in the top tier of processors in the database.

The CPU’s performance in Passmark physics (2,570) and integer math (87,948) indicates that it can handle complex simulations without issue. For The Medium, the CPU is a capable partner to the RTX 4070, ensuring that there is no artificial frame rate cap imposed by processor limitations. The data confirms that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is not a limiting factor in this configuration, and its performance is sufficient to fully utilize the GPU’s capabilities at all tested settings.

FAQ

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

A: The average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings is 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS.

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

A: It can, but with compromises. At 4K with Low settings, it achieves 99 FPS, and with Medium settings, it achieves 62 FPS. Higher settings are less playable, with High at 44 FPS and Ultra at 35 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rival in the database?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37,648. It is 0.4% slower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 1.3% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile.

Q: What is the CPU’s boost clock speed?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has a boost clock speed of 5.00 GHz and a base clock of 3.40 GHz.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth 60+ FPS experience with this combo?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 79 FPS, and at 1080p, the High preset delivers 67 FPS. For a guaranteed 60+ FPS with headroom, 1440p Medium is the optimal choice.

Q: How does this combo rank in the global database for The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 614th out of 2,911 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21.1% of all tested systems.