The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a highly capable, yet distinctly resolution-dependent, experience in The Medium. The data shows this pairing is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, where it excels, but it struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K with maximum settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to explain exactly where this combo thrives and where it hits its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, but with an interesting twist at the lower settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces a massive 167 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 140 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 110 FPS. This scaling pattern, where the frame rate drops by roughly 16% from 1080p to 1440p and then another 21% from 1440p to 4K, is relatively mild, suggesting that at Low settings the CPU is still doing significant work to feed the GPU.

However, the picture changes dramatically as settings increase. At Medium settings, the frame rates are 104 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops become steeper, indicating the GPU is starting to become the primary bottleneck. This trend intensifies at High settings, where the average FPS goes from 75 at 1080p to 63 at 1440p and then plummets to 49 at 4K. The 4K High result is a 35% drop from the 1440p High score, a clear sign that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth are being saturated by the higher-resolution textures and effects.

The most telling data point is at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS collapses to 39. This is a 22% drop from the already-struggling 4K High score of 49 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Ultra (59 FPS) to 4K Ultra (39 FPS) represents a 34% performance loss. This steep decline confirms that at the highest settings and resolution, the GPU is the overwhelming limiting component. The CPU, with its 3.50 GHz base and 5.10 GHz boost clock, has ample headroom; it is the graphics card that cannot maintain playable frame rates in this scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured results, the optimal setting depends entirely on the target resolution and refresh rate. For a 60 FPS target, the data suggests that Medium settings are the sweet spot for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 104, with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 120, providing a wide margin above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 88 FPS (min 75, max 101), which is still comfortably above 60 FPS and ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K, Medium settings deliver a solid 69 FPS average with a minimum of 59 FPS, making it the only preset at 4K that consistently achieves a playable frame rate.

For players with 144Hz or 165Hz displays at 1080p, the Low preset is the only option that gets close to maximizing the display's potential, with an average of 167 FPS. However, the visual sacrifice is significant. The High preset at 1080p (75 FPS) is a far more visually appealing option, but it locks the experience to 75 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 59 FPS, which is playable but misses the 60 FPS mark by a single frame.

At 1440p, High settings (63 FPS) are perfectly playable on a 60Hz monitor, but Medium (88 FPS) is the better recommendation for those seeking a smoother experience on higher refresh rate panels. The data clearly shows that Ultra settings are not viable at 1440p for this combo, as the 50 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, the choice is stark: Medium (69 FPS) is the only playable preset, while High (49 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) are not smooth enough for a consistent experience. In summary, Medium settings provide the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all three resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the defining component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the data suggests it becomes a limiting factor at 4K, particularly with High and Ultra presets, where the frame rate drops sharply.

The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and its 56 RT cores are capable of handling The Medium's fixed-camera horror aesthetic, but the game's demanding rendering techniques still tax the card. The performance at 4K Ultra (39 FPS) indicates that the combination of the game's graphical load and the 4K resolution overwhelms the card's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The fact that the GPU has a passmark G3D score of 29995 and sits in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs places it as a strong mid-to-high-end part, yet it is not a 4K Ultra card for this specific title.

Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, with delta percentages of -0.1% and -1% respectively. This indicates that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER performs at a level comparable to a high-end mobile RTX 4090, which confirms its efficiency. However, the 12 GB VRAM capacity is a potential concern for future titles, but for The Medium, it is the raw compute power and memory bandwidth that dictate the performance ceiling. The GPU's role as the primary bottleneck is confirmed by the fact that lowering the resolution from 4K to 1440p yields a larger performance increase at High settings (49 to 63 FPS) than upgrading the CPU would provide.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4070 SUPER in The Medium is as follows:

• 1920x1080: At Low settings, the average FPS is 167. At Medium, it averages 104 FPS, with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 120. The High preset delivers an average of 75 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 59 FPS.

• 2560x1440: The Low preset produces an average of 140 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 101. High settings average 63 FPS. Ultra settings drop the average to 50 FPS.

• 3840x2160: At Low, the average is 110 FPS. Medium averages 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 and a maximum of 79. The High preset manages only 49 FPS on average. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding an average of 39 FPS.

These numbers paint a clear picture. The combo is a 1080p and 1440p powerhouse at Medium settings, with headroom for High at 1440p. It is not a 4K gaming solution for anything beyond Medium settings. The jump from 1440p Ultra (50 FPS) to 4K Medium (69 FPS) is notable, showing that a lower preset at a higher resolution can outperform a higher preset at a lower resolution, but the 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS is simply too low for a smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 380th out of 2911 combos in The Medium. This puts it in the top 13% of all tested systems, which is a strong result. The percentile ranking reflects the balanced nature of the CPU and GPU, where the CPU's 90th percentile performance (with an average benchmark score of 48995) is well-matched by the GPU's 83rd percentile standing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (with a delta of -0.4%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (delta of -0.5%), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (delta of 0.6%), and the Intel Core i5-14600K (delta of 0.8%). This shows that the Ultra 5 245 is performing within a 1% margin of these other solid processors, meaning the CPU is not a weak link in this system.

The high combo rank of 380 out of 2911 is primarily due to the GPU's ability to deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, as seen in the measured FPS. The fact that the combo ranks in the top 13% indicates that, for this game, the RTX 4070 SUPER is providing a level of performance that places it above the vast majority of tested systems. However, the rank also reflects the GPU's limitations at 4K Ultra, which prevents it from breaking into the top echelon of scores. The combo's performance is a direct result of the GPU being a high-tier mainstream card that is not designed for maxed-out 4K gaming in demanding titles.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves an average of 88 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. It also handles 1080p very well, but 1440p offers a better balance of visual clarity and performance.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings. The 4K Medium preset averages 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS. The High (49 FPS) and Ultra (39 FPS) presets at 4K are below the 60 FPS threshold and will not provide a consistently smooth experience.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this setup?

A: The GPU is the clear limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, and the CPU, which has a high single-thread performance, is not the primary constraint.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 FPS experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice. It provides an average of 88 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS, ensuring a stable 60+ FPS experience. The High preset, at 63 FPS, is also viable for 60Hz displays, but Medium offers more headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in terms of overall GPU score?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43223. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, scores 43262, which is a 0.1% difference. The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667, which is 1% higher.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 39 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The minimum FPS data is only provided for Medium settings, where the lowest minimum is 59 FPS at 4K.