The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror game that stresses both CPU and GPU depending on resolution and settings. This analysis covers the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, using measured frame data across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data set includes average FPS for all twelve combinations, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded only for Medium settings. The combo ranks 2026 out of 2911 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field. The following sections break down the measured performance, component roles, and practical settings guidance based strictly on the provided figures.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual quality and frame rate for this CPU-GPU combo. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 92 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire data set. Medium at the same resolution drops to 57 FPS, High falls to 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness, Low at 1080p is the only preset that clears 60 FPS comfortably.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 77 FPS average, still above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 48 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. The 1440p Low setting offers a usable experience, but the step to Medium costs 29 FPS, which is a substantial hit for a single preset change. At 3840x2160, only Low maintains playability at 61 FPS average. Medium falls to 38 FPS, High to 27 FPS, and Ultra to 21 FPS.

The Medium preset provides the only recorded minimum and maximum FPS values in the data: at 1080p, it ranges from 49 to 66 FPS; at 1440p, from 41 to 55 FPS; and at 4K, from 32 to 43 FPS. These ranges indicate that Medium has consistent frame pacing, with the minimum staying within 8 FPS of the average in each case. For a horror game where pacing matters, Medium offers the most stable experience, but only at 1080p does it stay above the 50 FPS minimum threshold.

The best experience per the measured rows depends on resolution priority. At 1080p, Medium at 57 FPS average with a 49 FPS minimum is the sweet spot for visual fidelity without dropping below playable territory. At 1440p, Low at 77 FPS is the only preset that avoids sub-50 FPS dips, though Medium at 48 FPS average with a 41 FPS minimum may be acceptable for less action-sensitive scenes. At 4K, Low at 61 FPS is the only viable option; any higher preset falls below 38 FPS. The data suggests that this combo cannot sustain High or Ultra at any resolution without sacrificing frame rate to the 20-40 FPS range, which is poor for a game that relies on atmospheric tension.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1470 MHz with a boost clock of 1650 MHz, and it contains 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes ray tracing cores (34) and tensor cores (272), though the measured FPS data does not indicate whether ray tracing was enabled in any test.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The drop from 1080p Medium (57 FPS) to 1440p Medium (48 FPS) represents a 15.8% reduction, while the drop from 1440p Medium to 4K Medium (38 FPS) represents a 20.8% reduction. These scaling losses are larger than what would be expected from a purely CPU-bound scenario, suggesting that the GPU's memory subsystem and shading throughput become bottlenecks as pixel count increases.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is modest by current standards, and the data reflects this at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 33 FPS average, which is only 57.9% of the Low preset's 92 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 21 FPS, indicating that the GPU cannot handle the combined load of high-resolution rendering and maximum quality effects. The GPU's percentile rank of 62 among all GPUs places it in the lower-middle tier, and its nearest rivals (RTX 3060 Mobile at -0.4% delta, Radeon Pro 5700 at -0.5% delta) show that it is competitive with entry-level to mid-range hardware from its era.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2026 out of 2911 tested combinations places this pairing in the 30th percentile of all CPU-GPU combos tested in The Medium. This means roughly 69.6% of tested combinations perform better. The rank reflects the GPU's age and the CPU's relatively recent release (January 2025 for the CPU, July 2019 for the GPU). The CPU's percentile rank of 90 among all CPUs is strong, but the GPU's percentile rank of 62 holds the combo back.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its compute capability. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 in average benchmark, sitting just 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and 0.5% below the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228). It outperforms the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618) by 0.8%. These deltas are small, indicating that the Ultra 5 245 is well-balanced for its class. However, the GPU's nearest rivals show a different story: the RTX 2060 SUPER (18093 average) sits 0.4% below the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159), 0.5% below the Radeon Pro 5700 (18189), 1.5% below the Radeon RX 460 (18373), and 1.6% below the Intel Arc A770M (18383). The GPU is at the bottom of its immediate comparison group.

The combo rank of 2026 is consistent with the GPU being the weaker component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the rank would likely be higher given its 90th percentile standing. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield a larger performance improvement than upgrading the CPU for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low 92, Medium 57 (min 49, max 66), High 41, and Ultra 33. The spread between Low and Ultra is 59 FPS, meaning Ultra delivers only 35.9% of Low's frame rate. Medium provides a 24.3% improvement over High, while High offers a 24.2% improvement over Ultra. The minimum FPS at Medium (49) is above the average FPS of High (41), indicating that Medium is more stable than High even though High has a lower average.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low 77, Medium 48 (min 41, max 55), High 35, and Ultra 27. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15 FPS for Low (16.3% reduction), 9 FPS for Medium (15.8%), 6 FPS for High (14.6%), and 6 FPS for Ultra (18.2%). The proportional loss is fairly consistent across settings, ranging from 14.6% to 18.2%, which suggests a uniform resolution scaling penalty rather than a settings-specific bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low 61, Medium 38 (min 32, max 43), High 27, and Ultra 21. The jump from 1440p to 4K costs 16 FPS for Low (20.8%), 10 FPS for Medium (20.8%), 8 FPS for High (22.9%), and 6 FPS for Ultra (22.2%). The similarity in percentage drops across settings indicates that the GPU's rendering pipeline is stressed proportionally by the increase in pixel count, with no single setting causing a disproportionate penalty.

Comparing the same settings across resolutions, Low goes from 92 to 77 to 61 FPS, a total drop of 33.7% from 1080p to 4K. Medium goes from 57 to 48 to 38 FPS, a total drop of 33.3%. High goes from 41 to 35 to 27 FPS, a total drop of 34.1%. Ultra goes from 33 to 27 to 21 FPS, a total drop of 36.4%. These consistent drops reinforce that the GPU is the primary limiter, as the scaling penalty is nearly identical regardless of quality preset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium at 1920x1080 produces 57 FPS average with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 66 FPS. This is the only preset above Low that maintains a minimum above 45 FPS, making it the best balance of quality and stability.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution?

A: Only the Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves a playable average of 61 FPS. Medium drops to 38 FPS, High to 27 FPS, and Ultra to 21 FPS. These higher presets fall below typical playability thresholds.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has an average benchmark score of 48995, which is 0.4% below the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and 0.5% below the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228). It beats the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618) by 0.8%.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER averages 18093 in benchmarks, sitting 0.4% below the RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% below the Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It trails the Radeon RX 460 (18373) by 1.5% and the Intel Arc A770M (18383) by 1.6%.

Q: What is the frame time stability at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 49 to 66 FPS, a spread of 17 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 41 to 55 FPS, a spread of 14 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 32 to 43 FPS, a spread of 11 FPS. The shrinking spread at higher resolutions indicates tighter frame pacing.

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

A: The combo ranks 2026 out of 2911 total combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 62nd percentile, showing the GPU is the weaker component.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 has 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. It features 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU operates at a 65 W TDP and uses the Arrow Lake architecture on a 3 nm process from TSMC. Its memory bandwidth is 102.4 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5.

In benchmark tests, the CPU scores 32924 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4648 in single-core. It achieves 38706 in Passmark multithread and 4394 in Passmark single-thread. These scores place it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong compute capabilities. The CPU's nearest rivals show that its average score of 48995 is within 1% of four other processors, meaning it is not a standout performer but is competitive.

In this game, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across settings, with total drops between 33.3% and 36.4%. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling loss would be smaller at higher resolutions, as the GPU would become the limiter. The data shows the opposite: the performance loss is nearly uniform, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's high single-thread score (4648 in R23) and 14 cores provide ample headroom for The Medium's fixed-camera rendering, which is less CPU-intensive than open-world titles.

The CPU's 14 threads (equal to its core count) mean no hyper-threading, which could matter in heavily threaded scenes. However, the measured FPS data does not show any anomalies that would indicate CPU stalls. The minimum FPS at Medium settings (49 at 1080p, 41 at 1440p, 32 at 4K) stays proportionally close to the average, suggesting stable frame delivery without CPU-induced hitches.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K follow a clear pattern across all settings. For Low, the average FPS goes from 92 to 77 to 61, a total reduction of 33.7%. For Medium, it goes from 57 to 48 to 38, a 33.3% reduction. For High, it goes from 41 to 35 to 27, a 34.1% reduction. For Ultra, it goes from 33 to 27 to 21, a 36.4% reduction. The consistency of these percentages (all within 3.1 points of each other) indicates that the rendering load scales linearly with pixel count.

The step from 1080p to 1440p costs between 14.6% and 18.2% of FPS depending on settings. The step from 1440p to 4K costs between 20.8% and 22.9%. The larger penalty at higher resolutions is expected, as 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, while 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p. The GPU's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears insufficient for the 4K Ultra workload, which produces just 21 FPS.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS at 1080p would be more similar to 4K, as the CPU would cap performance regardless of resolution. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly one-third from 1080p to 4K at every settings level, which is the signature of a GPU that is saturated by increasing pixel shader work. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and high multi-thread score (32924 in R23) support this conclusion—it has the compute headroom to feed the GPU, but the RTX 2060 SUPER cannot keep up with higher resolutions.

The practical implication is that this combo is best used at 1080p or 1440p with Low or Medium settings. At 4K, only Low is playable, and even then, the 61 FPS average leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The data does not include any frame generation or upscaling metrics, so the only lever the user has is preset selection. Given the consistent scaling losses, reducing resolution is more effective than reducing settings for gaining FPS: dropping from 4K Medium to 1440p Medium adds 10 FPS, while dropping from 4K Medium to 4K Low adds 23 FPS. This suggests that settings reduction offers a larger performance gain than resolution reduction for this GPU, which is characteristic of a GPU with moderate compute but sufficient bandwidth for lower-quality presets.