The Medium

The Medium is a horror title known for its fixed-camera angles and dual-reality rendering, and the data for this system—pairing an Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti—shows a configuration that is heavily dependent on settings and resolution to hit smooth frame rates. Benchmark results indicate that the CPU, which sits in the 90th percentile of all tested processors, is more than capable of feeding the GPU, while the RTX 3080 Ti, despite being in the 83rd percentile of GPUs, becomes the primary constraint as resolution climbs. The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy: the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience, while Ultra settings push the hardware to its limits, particularly at 4K where average frame rates dip below playable thresholds.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate for this combo at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the system delivers an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. This makes it a very smooth experience for most displays.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score is 48995, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which scores 49196, a delta of -0.4%. It is also within 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K, which scores 48618.

Q: What is the performance hit when moving from 1440p to 4K on the High preset?

A: On the High preset, the average FPS drops from 56 at 2560x1440 to 44 at 3840x2160. This represents a 21% reduction in performance, indicating the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium at 4K?

A: The data suggests yes, as the card achieves 61 FPS at 4K Medium. However, the frame time variance increases at this resolution, with a minimum of 52 FPS, suggesting the memory subsystem and GPU compute are stressed.

Q: What is the best preset for a 60 FPS target at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. Lowering to the High preset drops the average to 56 FPS, so Medium is the clear choice for this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for The Medium?

A: The combination ranks 663rd out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the top 23% of all systems tested for this specific game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture for optimal settings. At 1080p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 93 FPS on average with a minimum of 79 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and ensures smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. While the Low preset pushes the average to 149 FPS, the visual fidelity loss is likely not worth the extra headroom for most users. The High preset at 67 FPS is playable but leaves little room for drops, and the Ultra preset at 53 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable for competitive or fast-paced play.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the best choice. It achieves an average of 78 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS target, with a minimum of 67 FPS ensuring consistency. The High preset drops to 56 FPS, which is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. For users with high refresh rate 1440p monitors, the Low preset at 125 FPS is an option, but the Medium preset offers a much better balance of visuals and performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Medium preset is the only viable option for a playable experience, yielding 61 FPS on average. However, the minimum FPS of 52 indicates that there will be noticeable stutters in heavier scenes. The High preset at 44 FPS and the Low preset at 98 FPS are the alternatives, but the former is too slow for smooth gameplay, and the latter sacrifices too much visual quality. The Ultra preset at 35 FPS is effectively unplayable. The data strongly suggests that for 4K, the Medium preset is the maximum playable setting, and users may need to consider resolution scaling or accepting lower frame rates for higher fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At the Low preset, the system scales from 149 FPS at 1080p to 125 FPS at 1440p, a 16% drop, and then to 98 FPS at 4K, a further 22% drop. This shows the RTX 3080 Ti is still capable of high frame rates even at 4K when the graphical load is light. However, the scaling becomes more punishing as settings increase. On the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 93 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p (a 16% reduction) and then to 61 at 4K (a 22% reduction from 1440p). This consistent percentage drop indicates that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are the primary bottleneck.

The High and Ultra presets show even steeper drops. For High, the frame rate falls from 67 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p (a 16% drop) and then to 44 at 4K (a 21% drop). For Ultra, the numbers are 53, 45, and 35, respectively, with the 4K figure representing a 22% drop from 1440p. The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets is a strong indicator that the limiting component is the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth, rather than the CPU. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245, with its high single-thread and multi-thread scores, is not holding the system back; the data shows that the frame rate is scaling directly with the pixel count and the settings-driven shader complexity, which are both GPU responsibilities.

How This Combo Ranks

With a rank of 663 out of 2911 tested combinations for The Medium, this system sits comfortably in the top quarter of all configurations. This is a strong result for a pairing of a mid-range current-generation CPU and a previous-generation high-end GPU. The CPU’s 90th percentile standing among all CPUs helps ensure that it is not a bottleneck, allowing the GPU to operate near its full potential. The GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking is respectable, but the ranking shows that many other GPU configurations, likely including newer ones, can outperform it in this specific title.

The data suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates on high settings. However, the 663rd rank out of 2911 also implies that a significant number of other systems can achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K where the RTX 3080 Ti’s age begins to show. The ranking confirms the CPU’s strength, as it holds its own against much more expensive processors, but it also highlights the GPU as the limiting factor in this partnership.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the workhorse of this combo, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s. This large memory pool is likely sufficient for The Medium’s textures, even at 4K, but the bandwidth is crucial for the game’s dual-reality rendering, which can require heavy data streaming. The GPU’s boost clock of 1665 MHz and its 10240 shading units are responsible for the raw compute power, which is taxed heavily at higher settings.

The performance data shows that the RTX 3080 Ti is capable of high frame rates at lower resolutions, but it struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K on higher presets. The drop from 61 FPS at 4K Medium to 44 FPS at 4K High indicates a significant increase in shader complexity and memory pressure that the GPU cannot overcome. The GPU’s 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, but The Medium’s specific rendering techniques appear to be more demanding on memory bandwidth and raw fill rate. The data indicates that while the RTX 3080 Ti is a capable card, its architecture is not as efficient as newer designs, leading to the observed performance scaling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: The system achieves an average of 149 FPS, which is exceptional for high-refresh-rate monitors.
• Medium: The average is 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. This is the recommended preset for a balanced experience.
• High: The average drops to 67 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.
• Ultra: The average falls to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and not ideal for smooth gameplay.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: The average is 125 FPS, showing the GPU can still push high frame rates at this resolution with minimal settings.
• Medium: The average is 78 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. This is the best setting for a smooth 1440p experience.
• High: The average is 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold but may be acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay.
• Ultra: The average is 45 FPS, which is noticeably stuttery and not recommended.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: The average is 98 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and shows the GPU’s raw power when settings are lowered.
• Medium: The average is 61 FPS, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that approaches a playable frame rate.
• High: The average drops to 44 FPS, which is too low for consistent smoothness.
• Ultra: The average is 35 FPS, which is effectively unplayable and indicates the GPU is overwhelmed.

The data across all resolutions shows a clear pattern: the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, while the Ultra preset is consistently too demanding for this hardware. The RTX 3080 Ti is the limiting factor, as the CPU provides ample headroom for the GPU to work at its maximum capacity.