The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror title 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 4080 SUPER, using measured data from 1080p, 1440p, and 4K across four quality presets. The dataset shows a performance profile that is strong at high refresh rates but requires careful settings management at 4K to maintain smooth playback.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60 FPS or higher on High settings?

A: The data shows that at 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 72 FPS. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Therefore, 1440p is the highest resolution that maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS on High.

Q: How much faster is Low settings compared to Ultra at the same resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 190 FPS average versus 68 FPS on Ultra, which is a 122 FPS difference. At 1440p, the gap is 160 FPS versus 57 FPS (a 103 FPS difference). At 4K, Low provides 126 FPS while Ultra drops to 45 FPS, a difference of 81 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only preset with a recorded minimum FPS is Medium. At 1080p, the minimum is 101 FPS; at 1440p, it is 85 FPS; and at 4K, it is 67 FPS. No minimum FPS data is available for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

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

A: The combo rank is 137 out of 2911 tested combos. This places it in the top 4.7% of all configurations in the database for this game, indicating a high overall performance tier.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p and 4K on Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 1080p Medium is 119 FPS, while at 4K Medium it is 79 FPS. This represents a 40 FPS drop, or a 33.6% reduction in performance when moving to 4K.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 68. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 57 FPS. The relatively small drop of 11 FPS when increasing resolution by 1.78 times suggests that the CPU is a significant bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the GPU has headroom to spare.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It runs at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and can boost up to 5.10 GHz. With a TDP of 65 W and support for DDR5 memory, this CPU is positioned as a mainstream desktop part, though its benchmark scores indicate it is far from entry-level.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's influence is most visible at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Ultra settings only reduces the average FPS from 190 to 68. This wide spread suggests that even at Low settings, the game is not purely GPU-bound, as the CPU must handle the game's fixed-camera scene complexity and entity logic. The single-core performance is strong, as shown by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, which helps maintain frame pacing in a game that may not fully utilize all 14 threads.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 245 sits within a tight performance band. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G by 0.4% and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 by 0.5% in average benchmark score. Conversely, it is 0.6% ahead of the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and 0.8% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600K. These deltas are minimal, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game compared to its direct competitors. The 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is a high-tier processor, but the game's results at 4K show that the GPU becomes the dominant factor.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s are sufficient for the game's data streaming needs. In the measured results, the fact that 1080p Ultra (68 FPS) is only 11 FPS higher than 1440p Ultra (57 FPS) and 23 FPS higher than 4K Ultra (45 FPS) indicates that the CPU is able to feed the GPU adequately at 1080p, but the GPU's workload scales more significantly with resolution. This is typical for a game where visual effects and pixel count increase demand on the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

For this combo, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance consistency. The data shows that Medium is the only preset with recorded minimum FPS values, which provides a clearer picture of frame stability. At 1440p Medium, the average is 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate displays. The 1080p Medium results are even stronger, with an average of 119 FPS and a minimum of 101 FPS.

High settings are viable at 1440p, where the average FPS is 72. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for standard displays. However, at 4K, High settings dip to 56 FPS average, which may cause noticeable stutter on fixed 60 Hz panels. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p, where the average is 68 FPS, but even then, the lack of minimum FPS data means frame drops could be problematic. At 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 57 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 45 FPS, making these configurations unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates, with 190 FPS at 1080p and 160 FPS at 1440p. This preset is ideal for competitive play or for users who prioritize raw frame rate over visual fidelity. However, given the game's horror genre, the atmospheric lighting and shadow effects that are reduced on Low may diminish the intended experience. The recommended path is to use Medium at 1440p for a high-quality, high-FPS experience, or Medium at 4K for a slower-paced but still playable 79 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 137 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 95th percentile of all configurations, showing that it is a top-tier setup. The rank is determined by the measured FPS across all resolutions and settings, weighted by the database's methodology.

Relative to the individual component rankings, the combo performs slightly better than the GPU's standalone percentile. The RTX 4080 SUPER has a percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs, while the CPU has a percentile rank of 90. The combo's rank of 137 out of 2911 (which is roughly the 95.3rd percentile) suggests that the pairing is well-balanced, with neither component dragging the other down significantly. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080, is only 0.1% behind in average score, indicating that the SUPER variant offers a marginal improvement.

The rank also implies that there are 136 other combos that achieve higher FPS in this game. These are likely combinations with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or more powerful CPUs, but the data shows that the 4080 SUPER is still capable of delivering excellent results. The fact that it ranks in the top 5% means that users can expect high performance without needing to upgrade to the absolute top-tier hardware available.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. It features 10240 shading units, 80 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. The boost clock is rated at 2550 MHz, with a base clock of 2295 MHz. This GPU is a high-end part, as evidenced by its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In The Medium, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized, as evidenced by the large FPS differences between settings. For example, the difference between Low (190 FPS) and Medium (119 FPS) is 71 FPS, which shows that the CPU can still push frames when the GPU workload is light. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The difference between Low (126 FPS) and Medium (79 FPS) is 47 FPS, but the difference between Medium and High (56 FPS) is 23 FPS, and between High and Ultra (45 FPS) is 11 FPS. This narrowing gap as settings increase indicates that the GPU is running out of headroom.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra. The game's memory footprint is unlikely to exceed 8-10 GB, so the GPU's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s is the more critical factor. The RTX 4080 SUPER's nearest rivals include the RTX 4080, which is 0.1% slower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which is 2.7% slower. These deltas show that the 4080 SUPER is at the top of its class, though the 2.8% gap to the AMD Radeon 8060S suggests that newer AMD parts can compete.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 190 FPS on Low, 119 FPS on Medium, 85 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 137 FPS, indicating a stable frame delivery. The High and Ultra presets do not have recorded minimum or maximum values, but the averages suggest a playable experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 160 FPS on Low, 100 FPS on Medium, 72 FPS on High, and 57 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again provides the only min/max data, with a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 115 FPS. This represents a 20% drop in average FPS from 1080p on Medium, which is a reasonable scaling for a 1.78x increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 126 FPS on Low, 79 FPS on Medium, 56 FPS on High, and 45 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum is 67 FPS and maximum is 90 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K on Medium is 21 FPS (from 100 to 79), which is a 21% reduction. This scaling is less severe than the 1080p to 1440p drop, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more efficient at higher resolutions, but the absolute FPS numbers are lower.

The data shows that the Ultra preset is the most demanding, with a 45 FPS average at 4K being the lowest recorded value across all resolutions. The High preset at 4K is marginal at 56 FPS, while Medium at 4K offers a comfortable 79 FPS average. For users with 1440p monitors, the Medium preset at 100 FPS is the sweet spot, while 1080p users can push to High at 85 FPS without issue.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the balance between the CPU and GPU. On Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 119 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p, then to 79 at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 21% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is relatively linear, indicating that neither component is a hard bottleneck, but the GPU is doing more work as resolution increases.

On Low settings, the drop is more pronounced. The average FPS goes from 190 at 1080p to 160 at 1440p (a 15.8% drop), and then to 126 at 4K (a 21.3% drop from 1440p). The fact that Low settings at 4K still achieve 126 FPS suggests that the GPU has substantial headroom, and the CPU is still keeping up. However, on High settings, the drop from 1080p (85 FPS) to 1440p (72 FPS) is 15.3%, but the drop to 4K (56 FPS) is 22.2%. This steeper decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling. The average FPS drops from 68 at 1080p to 57 at 1440p (a 16.2% drop), and then to 45 at 4K (a 21.1% drop from 1440p). The absolute FPS values are low enough that the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the CPU has already demonstrated its ability to push higher frames at lower settings. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the RTX 4080 SUPER is fully saturated, and the 45 FPS average is a direct result of the GPU's rendering capabilities for this game's visual effects.

Overall, the resolution scaling analysis confirms that the Core Ultra 5 245 is not a limiting factor at 4K, as the FPS drops are consistent with pixel count increases. The GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions, and users should target 1440p Medium or High for the best balance, or 4K Medium for a high-fidelity experience that stays above 60 FPS.