The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination delivers a highly playable experience in The Medium, though the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy driven by settings and resolution. The combo ranks 209th out of 2911 tested configurations, placing it in the top 7.2% of all tested hardware pairings. This is a strong result, but the benchmark rows show that the game's demands escalate sharply at higher presets, making settings management critical for maintaining high frame rates.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

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 by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 24 MB L3 cache. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes.

In the context of The Medium, a horror title that relies on fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered environments, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU and manage the game's logic. The processor's single-thread performance is a key factor for this genre, as the game's engine often relies on a few heavily utilized threads for scene management and scripting. The Core Ultra 5 235's boost clock of 5.00 GHz provides strong single-core throughput, which is evident in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 points.

The multi-core performance is also relevant, as the game may offload certain tasks like streaming assets or handling background AI. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14769 points, and its PassMark multithread score is 37816. The CPU's overall benchmark percentile is 89, meaning it outperforms 89% of all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 46062, placing it in a tight cluster with rivals like the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, 0.1% slower). This indicates the Core Ultra 5 235 is a well-balanced mid-range to upper-mid-range desktop chip.

For The Medium specifically, the measured FPS data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 180 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS threshold and indicates the CPU can handle the game's logic without limiting the frame rate. The 14 threads provide enough parallelism for background tasks, while the high boost clock ensures responsive single-thread performance. The data does not show a scenario where the CPU holds back the GPU, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, pointing to the GPU as the limiting factor in more demanding configurations.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 2295 MHz, with a boost clock of 2452 MHz, and the memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The card has 8960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores. Its peak FP32 performance is 43.94 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

The GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 86, and its average benchmark score is 49957. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001, 0.1% higher), the Intel Arc A550M (49737, 0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (50951, 2% higher). This places the RTX 5070 Ti in a competitive position, though the deltaPct values indicate it is closely matched with older high-end cards.

In The Medium, the GPU's 16 GB VRAM is a significant asset. The game features high-resolution textures and complex lighting, which can consume substantial memory at 4K. The measured data shows that at 4K with High settings, the combo achieves 53 FPS, while at 4K with Medium settings, it reaches 74 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K results in a 21 FPS drop, indicating that the High preset's additional visual effects (likely including more detailed shadows and reflections) place a heavy load on the GPU's compute units. The GPU's 8960 shading units and 70 RT cores are well-suited for this workload, but the game's engine appears to be particularly demanding at higher presets.

The RTX 5070 Ti's boost clock of 2452 MHz ensures consistent performance across the frame rate curve. The card's 16 GB VRAM likely prevents any memory-related stuttering, as the game's assets fit comfortably within the frame buffer even at 4K Ultra. However, the Ultra preset at 4K drops to 42 FPS, which suggests the GPU's raw compute throughput is the limiting factor at the highest quality settings, not the memory capacity.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling across resolutions, which identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the combo delivers 180 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 119 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33.9% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is a moderate decline and suggests the CPU is still capable of keeping up with the GPU's output at lower settings.

At Medium settings, the frame rates are 113 FPS at 1080p, 95 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 34.5%, nearly identical to the Low preset's scaling. This consistency indicates that the Medium preset is still heavily GPU-bound, with the CPU having sufficient headroom to feed the graphics card.

The High settings show a more pronounced drop: 81 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. The decline from 1080p to 4K is 34.6%, similar to the other presets, but the absolute frame rates are lower. This suggests that the High preset's increased shading complexity and texture filtering are taxing the GPU's compute units more heavily, but the scaling pattern remains consistent.

The Ultra settings exhibit the steepest absolute drop: 64 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 34.4%, which is consistent with the other presets. This uniformity across all settings is a strong indicator that the RTX 5070 Ti is the limiting component at every resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at higher resolutions, with the GPU's load not increasing proportionally. Instead, the FPS scales almost linearly with the pixel count, confirming that the GPU's rendering throughput is the constraining factor.

The data also shows that the RTX 5070 Ti's performance scales predictably: the difference between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 15-20%, and the difference between 1440p and 4K is another 20-25%. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the frame rate is inversely proportional to the number of pixels rendered.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 180 FPS on Low settings, 113 FPS on Medium, 81 FPS on High, and 64 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum FPS of 96 and a maximum of 130, indicating a stable frame time distribution. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 64 FPS, which is still playable but below the 70 FPS threshold that many users prefer for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 152 FPS on Low, 95 FPS on Medium, 68 FPS on High, and 54 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 81 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS, with an average of 95 FPS. This is a solid result for 1440p gaming, as it stays above the 60 FPS mark with some headroom. The High preset at 1440p drops to 68 FPS, which is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 54 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may cause noticeable stuttering in fast-moving sections.

At 3840x2160, the combo delivers 119 FPS on Low, 74 FPS on Medium, 53 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 74 FPS and a minimum of 63 FPS. This makes 4K Medium the sweet spot for this GPU, as it provides a smooth experience without compromising too much on visual quality. The High preset at 4K drops to 53 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a horror game where smooth camera movement is important. The Ultra preset at 4K is essentially unplayable at 42 FPS, as the frame rate dips below the 45 FPS threshold that most players would consider acceptable.

The data shows that the combo's performance scales consistently across resolutions, with the Medium preset offering the best balance of quality and frame rate at all resolutions. The Low preset provides very high frame rates but sacrifices visual fidelity, while the Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo's rank of 209 out of 2911 tested configurations places it in the top 7.2% of all tested hardware pairings for The Medium. This is a strong result, indicating that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 5070 Ti combination is well-suited for this game. The rank is likely driven by the GPU's high raw performance, as the CPU's role is secondary in this title.

The combo's performance is consistent with the CPU's overall percentile of 89 and the GPU's percentile of 86. The fact that the combo ranks slightly below the 86th percentile of GPUs suggests that The Medium is a more demanding title than the average benchmark, or that the CPU's single-thread performance is slightly limiting in the game's most intensive scenes. However, the rank of 209 out of 2911 is still excellent, and the combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems.

The nearest rival CPUs in the database, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (46030 and 46098, respectively), with deltaPct values of 0.1% and -0.1%. This means the Core Ultra 5 235 is essentially tied with these processors in general compute performance, and any difference in The Medium would be negligible. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 XT, have deltaPct values of -2% and 3.1%, respectively, indicating that the RTX 5070 Ti is in the same performance class as these older high-end cards.

The combo's rank of 209 reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. The Core Ultra 5 235 provides sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5070 Ti, allowing the GPU to deliver its full performance in The Medium. The result is a system that can handle the game at high frame rates across most resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best experience for this combo in The Medium. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS, providing a smooth and responsive experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS, which is still excellent and provides a comfortable margin for demanding scenes. At 4K, the Medium preset averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 FPS, making it the only preset that consistently stays above 60 FPS at 4K.

The High preset is a viable option for users with 1080p or 1440p displays. At 1080p, it averages 81 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom. At 1440p, it drops to 68 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game that may have sudden frame rate drops in intense moments. At 4K, the High preset averages 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and may result in noticeable judder during camera pans.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, where it averages 64 FPS. This is a playable frame rate, but the visual improvement over the Medium preset is unlikely to justify the 43% performance drop (from 113 FPS to 64 FPS). At 1440p and 4K, the Ultra preset's average frame rates of 54 FPS and 42 FPS are too low for a comfortable experience, and users should avoid this preset at those resolutions.

The Low preset is not recommended for this combo, as it provides excessive frame rates (180 FPS at 1080p) at the cost of significant visual quality. The game's horror atmosphere relies heavily on lighting and shadow effects, which are severely degraded at Low settings. The Medium preset provides a much better balance, offering 59% higher frame rates than High at 4K (74 FPS vs 53 FPS) while still maintaining a high level of visual fidelity.

For the best experience, users should select the Medium preset and adjust the resolution based on their display. At 1080p, the Medium preset provides a near-perfect experience with high frame rates and good visual quality. At 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, offering 95 FPS with a minimum of 81 FPS. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only option that delivers a smooth experience, with an average of 74 FPS and a minimum of 63 FPS. This makes the Medium preset the clear recommendation for this hardware combination.