The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with resolution. For the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, the measured frame rates reveal a configuration that is consistently GPU-bound at higher resolutions but shows clear signs of CPU influence at 1080p. The data indicates that the most balanced experience is found at 1440p, where the GPU is utilized effectively without the frame rate collapsing entirely.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data for this combination shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-intensive title like The Medium. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo produces 93 FPS on average. Moving to 1440p drops that average to 79 FPS, a reduction of 14 FPS. The most significant drop occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, where the average falls to 62 FPS at Medium settings. This represents a 17 FPS decrease, indicating that the RX 9070 XT is being pushed hard at 3840x2160.

The scaling pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system is not purely GPU-limited. The jump from 93 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p is a 15% performance penalty, which is less than the pixel count increase would suggest. This implies that at 1080p, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is providing enough headroom that the RX 9070 XT cannot fully stretch its legs, but the GPU is still the primary bottleneck. At 4K, the situation becomes more clear-cut; the 62 FPS average at Medium settings shows that the GPU is now the dominant limiting factor, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed the graphics card.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more revealing. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 149 FPS, which drops to 126 FPS at 1440p and then to 99 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is still very playable, showing that even at the highest resolution, the GPU has enough raw power to maintain high frame rates when the visual load is reduced. The gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 23 FPS, while the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low is 27 FPS. This relatively uniform scaling suggests that the game’s engine is well-optimized for resolution changes, with the GPU being the primary constraint even at lower settings.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling losses. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 53 FPS, dropping to 45 FPS at 1440p and finally to 35 FPS at 4K. This 18 FPS loss from 1080p to 4K is the largest absolute drop across all settings, indicating that the game’s highest quality settings place an enormous load on the GPU’s shading and memory subsystems. The fact that 4K Ultra is only 44% of the 1080p Low frame rate (35 vs 149 FPS) highlights how much headroom the Low preset offers on this hardware.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the clear workhorse in this pairing for The Medium. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card has ample VRAM and bandwidth for this title’s assets. The memory clock is listed at 2518 MHz with an effective data rate of 20.1 Gbps, providing a total bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is more than sufficient for the game’s texture streaming and shadow maps, even at 4K resolution.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2970 MHz and game clock of 2400 MHz are relatively high for a RDNA 4.0 part, and the benchmark results confirm that the card is capable of delivering strong performance when the CPU is not a constraint. The core configuration includes 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, which are all utilized heavily in a game like The Medium that relies on complex lighting and post-processing effects. The pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s are theoretical peaks, but the measured frame rates show that the card sustains a high percentage of its peak throughput.

The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260 and Passmark G3D score of 26795 indicate that this is a mid-to-high-range performer, though its percentile rank of 55 versus all GPUs suggests that there are many faster cards available. However, in the context of The Medium, the RX 9070 XT’s performance is adequate for smooth gameplay at 1440p, as evidenced by the 79 FPS average at Medium settings. The 16 GB VRAM is a significant asset, as the game can easily exceed 8 GB at high resolutions, and the 644.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture loads do not cause hitches.

The GPU’s nearest rivals, according to the data, are the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which have average scores within 0.2% of the RX 9070 XT. This is a strange comparison, as those are much older and less powerful cards, but the data shows that the RX 9070 XT’s average benchmark score of 13543 is very close to those legacy parts. This suggests that the synthetic benchmarks in the data may not fully capture the card’s gaming performance, or that the sample size for the RX 9070 XT is limited. Regardless, the measured FPS in The Medium shows that the card is more than capable of handling the game’s requirements.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain a 60 FPS average?

A: The data shows that at 1440p with Medium settings, the combo achieves 79 FPS, and at 4K with Medium settings, it drops to 62 FPS. Only the 4K Medium setting is above 60 FPS, while 4K High drops to 44 FPS. Therefore, 4K Medium is the only 4K preset that stays above the 60 FPS threshold, while 1440p High also remains above at 56 FPS, which is below 60.

Q: How does the Low preset perform at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 149 FPS, which is extremely high and indicates a CPU-bound scenario. At 4K Low, the average drops to 99 FPS, showing that the GPU is still powerful enough to produce very high frame rates even at the highest resolution when the visual settings are reduced.

Q: Is there a large difference between the Medium and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 79, while at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 45 FPS. This represents a 43% performance loss for the Ultra preset, indicating that the additional visual fidelity comes at a significant cost to frame rate.

Q: What are the measured minimum and maximum FPS values for the 4K Medium preset?

A: The data provides specific values for this configuration. The 4K Medium preset has an average of 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. This shows that the frame rate is relatively stable, but there is a 9 FPS variance between the minimum and average.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 149 FPS average suggests that the CPU might be limiting the GPU, as the RX 9070 XT is capable of higher frame rates in less demanding scenarios. However, at 1440p and 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at those resolutions.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo is ranked 631 out of 2911 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the top 22% of all configurations, indicating that it is a solid performer, though not in the top tier of systems that have been measured.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo is comprehensive across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 149 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this configuration. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS, showing a wide variance. The High preset drops to 67 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 53 FPS. This progression shows a clear 96 FPS difference between the lowest and highest quality settings at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 126 FPS, which is still very high and playable. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS, indicating a tighter frame time distribution than at 1080p. The High preset reduces the average to 56 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 45 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 81 FPS, which is slightly less than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the performance metrics show the most significant impact of resolution. The Low preset still manages an average of 99 FPS, which is impressive for 4K. The Medium preset averages 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. The High preset falls to 44 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 35 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64 FPS, which is the smallest absolute gap across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the hard limit at this resolution.

The data reveals that the Medium preset offers the most consistent frame rate stability, as it is the only preset with both minimum and maximum values recorded across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the min-max range is 28 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 23 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 18 FPS. This shrinking range with increasing resolution suggests that the frame pacing becomes more stable when the GPU is fully saturated.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference. For players prioritizing a smooth 60 FPS experience, the 4K Medium preset is the only 4K option that exceeds this threshold, with an average of 62 FPS. However, the minimum of 53 FPS means that there will be occasional dips below 60, which could be noticeable in a horror game where frame rate consistency is important for immersion.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate rarely drops below the 60 FPS mark. This makes 1440p Medium the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it offers a significant improvement over 1080p while maintaining a comfortable margin above the playability threshold. The High preset at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, so Medium is the recommended choice for this resolution.

For players with high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, the Low preset offers 149 FPS, which is ideal for maximizing the refresh rate. The Medium preset at 1080p still provides 93 FPS, which is also excellent for high refresh rates, and the additional visual quality may be worth the 56 FPS drop. The Ultra preset at 1080p, at 53 FPS, is best avoided unless visual fidelity is the absolute priority, as the frame rate is below the 60 FPS target.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not viable for this combo at any resolution, as even at 1080p it only achieves 53 FPS, which is below the standard for smooth gameplay. The High preset is a middle ground, but it fails to reach 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K. Therefore, the Medium preset is the recommended setting for this configuration, as it provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate stability across all three resolutions, with the sweet spot being 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 plays a supporting role in this game, providing enough processing power to avoid becoming a significant bottleneck at most resolutions. With 14 cores and 14 threads, the CPU has a substantial amount of parallel processing capability, though the lack of hyper-threading means that its thread count is equal to its core count. The base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz are respectable, and the 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps to reduce memory latency.

The CPU’s benchmark results show that it is a strong performer in both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate that the CPU is well-suited for gaming, where single-core performance is often critical. The Passmark single-thread score of 4394 further confirms this, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This high single-core performance is essential for The Medium, which likely relies heavily on a few main threads for game logic and rendering commands.

The nearest rivals to the Ultra 5 245 include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which has a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which is -0.5% slower. The Intel Xeon Gold 5318H is 0.6% faster, and the Intel Core i5-14600K is 0.8% faster. These comparisons show that the Ultra 5 245 is closely matched to a range of other CPUs, and its performance in The Medium is likely to be very similar to these parts.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p Low, where the 149 FPS average suggests that the GPU is not fully utilized. This is a classic sign of a CPU limit, as the processor cannot issue draw calls fast enough to keep the GPU busy. However, at 1440p and above, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and the CPU’s performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates without causing stutters. The 65 W TDP of the CPU is also a positive factor, as it indicates that the processor does not generate excessive heat, allowing for consistent performance over long gaming sessions.

How This Combo Ranks

The total combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is ranked 631 out of 2911 tested configurations for The Medium. This places the combo in the top 21.7% of all systems that have been benchmarked for this game. This is a solid ranking, indicating that the hardware is well-balanced for the game’s requirements, though there is room for improvement with higher-end components.

The ranking of 631 suggests that there are 630 other combinations that deliver better performance in The Medium. These are likely to include systems with more powerful GPUs, such as those with higher benchmark scores than the RX 9070 XT, or CPUs with better single-core performance. However, the combo’s position in the top quarter of all tested systems shows that it is a capable setup for playing The Medium at high settings and resolutions.

The data also shows that the CPU’s percentile rank of 90 versus all CPUs is much higher than the GPU’s percentile rank of 55 versus all GPUs. This disparity suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing, and that upgrading the graphics card would yield a more significant performance improvement than upgrading the CPU. The combo’s overall rank of 631 reflects this imbalance, as the GPU is holding back the system from achieving a higher position.

Despite the GPU’s relatively low percentile rank, the measured FPS in The Medium are still very playable at 1440p and even 4K with the right settings. The combo’s rank of 631 is respectable, and the data indicates that it is a well-matched pair for this specific game, providing a smooth experience at Medium settings across all resolutions. The fact that it is in the top 22% of all tested combos reflects the overall capability of the hardware, even if the GPU is not in the top tier of available graphics cards.