The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile produces a mid-pack result in The Medium, landing at rank 1180 out of 3724 tested combos. This places the combination in roughly the 68th percentile of all systems tested, meaning it outperforms more than two-thirds of the field while remaining a clear step behind the top-tier configurations that dominate the leaderboard. The data suggests a system that is consistently capable but not exceptional, with the bottleneck shifting between components depending on the resolution and settings applied.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1180 out of 3724 is a solid but unremarkable placement. It indicates that while this hardware pairing is well above average, it does not crack the upper echelon of performance. The rank implies that a significant portion of the tested combos—roughly 2544 systems—are slower, but also that this specific configuration is not a top-1000 performer. This is consistent with a mobile RTX 4080 that is not the absolute fastest GPU in the laptop space and a CPU that, while modern, does not carry the top-tier halo of the highest-end desktop chips.

When examining the CPU's overall standing, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX holds a 91st percentile rank against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 52073. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are the AMD EPYC 8124P (52121, 0.1% faster), the Intel Core i7-14700 (52301, 0.4% faster), the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (51947, 0.2% slower), and the Intel Core i9-13900F (51730, 0.7% slower). The delta percentages are all within a single percentage point, indicating that in pure CPU compute, this Ultra 5 235HX sits in a very tight cluster with several previous-generation desktop flagships. This means the processor is not holding the GPU back in any meaningful way in The Medium, as its compute capability is statistically indistinguishable from those heavy hitters.

The GPU's own percentile rank is 81, with an average benchmark score of 38135. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38299, 0.4% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349, 0.6% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (37648, 1.3% slower), and the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, 1.3% slower). The proximity of the RTX 5080 Mobile is particularly interesting, as it suggests that in this specific game, the newer generation offers only a marginal synthetic advantage. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a strong performer, but the combination's rank in-game is ultimately dictated by how that GPU and CPU interact with The Medium's specific engine demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is the primary driver of frame rates in The Medium, and the benchmark results clearly show the GPU's influence as resolution increases. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The memory operates at 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective. For a horror game with fixed camera angles and detailed environments, this memory capacity is more than sufficient to hold textures at 4K, preventing any texture streaming hitches.

The GPU's clock speeds are modest for the architecture, with a base of 1290 MHz and a boost of 1665 MHz. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, provides 7424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The theoretical peak performance is 24.72 TFLOPS for FP32. These specifications suggest a GPU that is designed for high refresh rate 1440p gaming and entry-level 4K, which is exactly what the data shows in The Medium.

At 1080p, the GPU is often not the limiting factor at lower settings. The jump from Low to Medium settings at 1080p yields a 51 FPS drop (from 137 to 86 FPS), indicating that while the GPU is working harder, the CPU is still capable of feeding it. However, at 4K with Ultra settings, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the average frame rate falls to 32 FPS. The performance scaling from 1080p Low (137 FPS) to 4K Low (91 FPS) shows a 46 FPS reduction, which is a significant drop but not a catastrophic one, suggesting that even at 4K, the GPU has enough headroom to avoid being completely overwhelmed at lower preset levels. The data implies that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a capable 4K GPU for this title only when settings are dialed back, and its 12 GB VRAM is never the primary constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3. This is a modern mobile chip with strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4903 and multi-core score of 34731.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where it can keep up with the GPU's frame output. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 137 FPS, which is a high frame rate that indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor. However, the CPU's influence wanes as the resolution increases, because the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The transition from 1080p Low to 1440p Low shows a 21 FPS drop (137 to 116 FPS), which is a 15% reduction. This is a smaller percentage drop than the one seen when moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low, which drops 25 FPS (116 to 91 FPS). This pattern suggests that while the CPU is solid, the GPU's workload scaling is the dominant factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores place it in a class with previous-generation desktop processors. For instance, its Passmark multithread score is 40849, and its single-thread score is 4683. These numbers indicate that the Ultra 5 235HX has enough computational power to handle the game's logic, AI, and physics without introducing stutters, even when the GPU is producing over 100 FPS. The data does not show any scenario where the CPU causes a frame rate collapse, confirming that this is a balanced pairing for The Medium, with the GPU being the more critical component for visual fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this combo?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 is the optimal balance, as the Medium settings at this resolution produce an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS, which is smooth and playable. The 4K results are lower, with Ultra at 32 FPS and High at 41 FPS, which are not ideal for a horror game that benefits from smooth motion.

Q: How much faster is the CPU compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is statistically tied with its nearest rivals. It is 0.1% slower than the AMD EPYC 8124P, 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 0.4% slower than the Intel Core i7-14700, and 0.7% faster than the Intel Core i9-13900F. All deltas are under one percent, meaning there is no practical performance difference.

Q: Is the GPU's 12 GB VRAM enough for 4K in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate any VRAM-related stutters or frame drops. The average FPS at 4K Low is 91, and the GPU's memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is sufficient for the game's textures. The limiting factor at 4K is the GPU's raw compute power, not its memory capacity.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 137 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The CPU's single-thread score of 4903 in Cinebench R23 and its 91st percentile rank indicate it has ample headroom to feed the GPU at this resolution. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU when settings are increased.

Q: How does the combo rank against all other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1180 out of 3724 total combos. This places it in the 68th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it is faster than 68% of the field but slower than the top 32% of configurations.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 2560x1440 Medium?

A: The data provides a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, with an average of 72 FPS. The spread of 22 FPS between the minimum and maximum suggests there are some frame time spikes, but the minimum is still above 60 FPS, ensuring a generally smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals the classic pattern of a GPU-bound system. From 1080p to 1440p to 4K, the average frame rates at Medium settings are 86, 72, and 57 FPS, respectively. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 14 FPS (16.3% reduction), and the drop from 1440p to 4K is 15 FPS (20.8% reduction). The scaling is not linear, with the 4K drop being more severe in percentage terms, which is expected because the pixel count increases significantly more from 1440p to 4K than from 1080p to 1440p.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic. The frame rates are 137 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 91 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 21 FPS (15.3%), and from 1440p to 4K is 25 FPS (21.6%). This suggests that at Low settings, the system is heavily GPU-limited, as the CPU can easily handle the lower settings, and the GPU's workload is the primary driver of the frame rate reduction.

The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4080 Mobile is the limiting component across all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU workload does not change with resolution. Instead, the consistent drops with each resolution increase point to the GPU being the primary constraint. The CPU's role is to maintain a high enough frame ceiling, which it does, as even at 1080p Low, the frame rate is high enough to suggest the CPU is not capping performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of presets for this combo in The Medium. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. This is a solid experience for a horror game, offering smooth motion and good visual detail. The High preset at 1080p drops the average to 61 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less smooth, and the Ultra preset falls to 49 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for a game with frequent camera pans.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the best choice, with an average of 72 FPS and a minimum of 61 FPS. This resolution provides a sharper image than 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is above 60 FPS. The High preset at 1440p averages 52 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for a game that relies on atmospheric tension. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 41 FPS, which is too low for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that the Low preset is the only viable option, with an average of 91 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 57 FPS, which is playable but borders on the edge of comfort, and the High and Ultra presets (41 and 32 FPS) are not recommended for a fluid experience. The best overall experience per the measured rows is 2560x1440 with the Medium preset, as it combines a high resolution with a frame rate that never dips below 60 FPS, providing both visual fidelity and smoothness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for The Medium with this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 137 FPS. The Medium preset averages 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. The High preset averages 61 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 49 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 116 FPS. The Medium preset averages 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. The High preset averages 52 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 41 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 91 FPS. The Medium preset averages 57 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS. The High preset averages 41 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 32 FPS.

The data shows a consistent reduction in performance as settings increase across all resolutions. The most significant drop occurs between Low and Medium at 1080p, where the average frame rate falls by 51 FPS (from 137 to 86). This indicates that the Medium preset introduces a substantial increase in GPU workload, likely from more complex shading and texture detail. The other settings transitions are smaller, with drops of 25 FPS (Medium to High) and 12 FPS (High to Ultra) at 1080p. This pattern is repeated at 1440p and 4K, confirming that the GPU's performance scaling is the primary factor in determining the final frame rate.