The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that demands a careful balance between CPU and GPU resources to maintain a stable frame rate, and the tested configuration of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a distinct performance profile. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while still delivering high refresh rate capability at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the roles of each component, and how this specific combination ranks against other tested hardware.

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 desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, providing the computational headroom needed for modern game engines. The processor’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 24 MB of L3 cache, which helps reduce latency when accessing frequently used game data. The CPU’s performance percentile sits at 89, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of all tested CPUs in the database, a strong indicator of its capability to feed a high-end GPU without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s logical simulation, AI, and physics calculations. The game is known for its dual-reality rendering mechanic, where two worlds are displayed simultaneously, which can increase the draw call and object management load on the processor. The Core Ultra 5 235’s multi-threaded performance is substantial, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14,769 points. This suggests it has ample capacity to manage the game’s overhead while still leaving resources for background tasks. Its single-thread performance is equally important, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,085 points, ensuring that the main game thread is processed efficiently.

Benchmark comparisons place this CPU in a tight cluster with several rivals. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, has an average benchmark score of 46,030, which is only 0.1% behind the Intel’s average of 46,062. The Intel Core i9-13900HX is a near-perfect match, with a score of 46,098, putting it 0.1% ahead of the Core Ultra 5 235. These minuscule deltas indicate that in pure CPU compute, the Core Ultra 5 235 is on par with these established parts, meaning that any performance differences in The Medium at lower resolutions are more likely attributable to the GPU or game-specific optimizations rather than a deficiency in CPU power. The data shows that the processor is not a weak link in this pairing.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the flagship graphics card in the GeForce 50-series, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. It is a massive GPU with 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output pipelines. The card operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts up to 2407 MHz, with memory running at an effective 28 Gbps. Crucially for a game like The Medium, which often uses large, high-resolution textures to create its oppressive atmosphere, the RTX 5090 is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. This provides a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth, ensuring that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not cause stuttering or frame drops.

The GPU’s raw compute power is staggering, with a FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS. This computational muscle is directly relevant to The Medium’s rendering techniques, which involve complex lighting and post-processing effects. The card’s performance percentile is 92, placing it above nearly all other GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 79,842 is closely matched by rivals like the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79,605 (a 0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, which scores 80,959 (a -1.4% delta). This shows that while the RTX 5090 is a top-tier consumer card, its raw benchmark scores are in a high-performance bracket, and its advantage comes from its massive VRAM allocation and modern feature set.

In The Medium, the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 51 FPS, which is a demanding load. The RTX 5090’s 32 GB of VRAM is a significant asset here, as it allows the game to load all assets into memory without relying on slower system RAM. The card’s boost clock of 2407 MHz ensures that it can sustain high throughput during intense scenes. The GPU is clearly the dominant component in this configuration, and its performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, as detailed in the sections below.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 39 out of a total of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the top 1.3% of all tested configurations, which is an exceptional result. The data indicates that this pairing is highly effective for this title, likely due to the balance between the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance and the GPU’s overwhelming rasterization power.

This ranking is significant because it shows that while the RTX 5090 is a dominant GPU, the Core Ultra 5 235 does not hold it back to any meaningful degree. If the CPU were a significant bottleneck, the combo rank would likely be lower than the GPU’s individual percentile rank of 92. Instead, the combo rank of 39 suggests that the system is performing near the peak of what is possible with this GPU, with the CPU providing sufficient support to allow the graphics card to operate at its full potential. The delta between this combo and the top spot is not provided, but the rank of 39 out of 2,911 is a clear indicator of top-tier performance.

Looking at the broader context, the CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and the Intel Core i9-13900HX, would likely produce very similar results when paired with an RTX 5090, given their near-identical average benchmark scores. The data suggests that the game is not highly sensitive to the small differences in CPU compute power at this level, and the RTX 5090 is the primary driver of the high combo rank. The result is a system that is exceptionally well-suited for achieving high frame rates in The Medium at any resolution.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of how the system performs across different resolutions and quality presets. The data includes average FPS for all settings, and for the Medium preset, it also includes minimum and maximum FPS values, offering a more complete picture of frame time consistency.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all settings. With Low settings, the average FPS is 189, which is exceptionally high and likely limited by the CPU or game engine logic rather than the GPU. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops to 135, with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS, showing a stable frame rate with a narrow variance. High settings produce an average of 97 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 77 FPS. This shows that even at the most demanding 1080p preset, the system is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales as expected. Low settings yield an average of 178 FPS, showing that the GPU still has plenty of headroom at this resolution. Medium settings average 114 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS, again indicating good consistency. High settings average 82 FPS, and Ultra settings average 65 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a clear increase in GPU load, but the system remains highly playable at all settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed to its limits. Low settings produce an average of 143 FPS, which is still very high for 4K and indicates the massive headroom of the RTX 5090. Medium settings average 90 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, which is a solid performance for a horror game that prioritizes atmosphere. High settings average 64 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target. Ultra settings bring the average down to 51 FPS, which is the only preset where the system dips below the 60 FPS threshold. This data shows that the RTX 5090 can handle 4K at very high settings, but Ultra settings require a compromise on frame rate.

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

The scaling of FPS from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck in this system. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 189 at 1080p to 143 at 4K, a decrease of 46 FPS or about 24%. This relatively modest drop indicates that at Low settings, the game is not heavily GPU-bound, and the CPU is capable of maintaining high frame rates even at 4K. The GPU has enough horsepower to render the simpler scenes quickly, and the limiting factor is likely the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls and process game logic.

At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 135 at 1080p to 90 at 4K, a decrease of 45 FPS or about 33%. This is a more significant drop than at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is starting to become a larger factor. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 21 FPS, and the gap between 1440p and 4K is 24 FPS, showing a fairly linear scaling with pixel count. This suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter, but the CPU is still keeping up.

At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 77 at 1080p to 51 at 4K, a decrease of 26 FPS or about 34%. The absolute drop is smaller than at lower settings, but the percentage is similar. The fact that the system can achieve 77 FPS at 1080p Ultra and only 51 FPS at 4K Ultra strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s workload does not scale significantly with resolution, so if the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain roughly constant across resolutions. Since the FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, the RTX 5090 is clearly the performance ceiling for this configuration, especially at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the High preset averages 64 FPS, so it is the highest quality setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 65 FPS, offering a higher quality experience at a lower resolution. For a higher refresh rate experience, 1920x1080 with High settings achieves 97 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this system for The Medium?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor. As resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the average FPS drops consistently across all settings. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload, as the CPU’s workload does not scale with resolution. The CPU’s high percentile and benchmark scores show it is capable of handling the game’s logic.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems tested in the database?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 39th out of 2,911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 1.3% of all systems, indicating exceptional performance and a well-balanced pairing for this specific game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this system, and at what settings?

A: The measured data includes minimum FPS only for the Medium settings preset. The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 76 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 97 FPS, and at 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 115 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46,062. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, scores 46,030, which is a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46,098, also a 0.1% delta. This shows the CPU is statistically tied with these competitors in general compute tasks.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and why is it relevant to this game?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory. This is highly relevant for The Medium, as the game features large, detailed environments and dual-reality rendering. The large VRAM pool ensures that all textures and assets can be stored on the GPU, preventing stuttering or asset loading hitches that could occur with a smaller frame buffer.