The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that scales heavily with both resolution and graphical presets. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, using measured data to show how the combination behaves across different settings. The results reveal a system that is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions but is pushed to its limits by the most extreme 4K settings. The data indicates that this configuration ranks 57th out of 2911 tested combos for this specific game, placing it in the top 2% of all tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic and clear trend as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 132 FPS at 1080p to 111 FPS at 1440p, a 21 FPS reduction. The jump to 4K is more severe, with the average falling to 87 FPS. This represents a 45 FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load on the GPU increases exponentially with pixel count.

The pattern is consistent across all settings. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (95 FPS) to 1440p (80 FPS) is a 15 FPS loss, and then to 4K (63 FPS) is another 17 FPS loss. The Low settings preset shows the same scaling behavior, going from 192 FPS at 1080p to 178 FPS at 1440p and finally to 140 FPS at 4K. This consistent scaling across all presets suggests that the system is primarily GPU-limited at every resolution tested, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The frame rate drop from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p. This is typical for a game like The Medium, which uses heavy post-processing and volumetric effects that scale with resolution. At Ultra settings, the 4K result of 50 FPS is exactly half of the 1080p result of 75 FPS, showing that the most demanding preset can halve performance at the highest resolution. This scaling behavior indicates that the RTX 4090's raw compute power is the limiting factor at 4K, while at 1080p the combination has significant performance headroom to spare.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark results reflect its capabilities. The GPU has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. In The Medium, this memory configuration is more than sufficient, as the game does not appear to hit VRAM limits even at 4K Ultra settings. The 16384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units provide the raw throughput needed for the game's fixed-camera angles and detailed environments.

The GPU's clock speeds are listed at a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz. These relatively high clocks contribute to the card's ability to maintain strong frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully saturated. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s are key figures for understanding why the card performs as it does in this title.

At 4K Medium settings, the card produces an average of 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. This 27 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates that the GPU is handling the game's variable load well, without significant stuttering. The RTX 4090's performance in The Medium is strong, but the Ultra preset at 4K (50 FPS) shows that even this flagship GPU can be brought to its knees by the most demanding settings in this game.

The data suggests that the RTX 4090 is the clear performance driver in this configuration. The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 82.58 TFLOPS for FP32, are more than enough for the game's DirectX 12 rendering path. The card's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are also relevant, though The Medium's use of ray tracing is limited. The GPU's performance percentile of 88 versus all GPUs confirms that this is one of the fastest cards available, and the benchmark results in this game reflect that standing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 provides the processing foundation for this combination. This CPU features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. For a game like The Medium, which is not heavily multithreaded, the single-core performance is more critical than the raw core count. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 and multi-core score of 32924 indicate strong performance for gaming workloads.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate memory hierarchy for game logic and asset streaming. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without creating a bottleneck. The lack of a 3D V-Cache or other special gaming optimizations means the CPU relies on its high boost clock to maintain performance in frame-limited scenarios.

At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 192 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 132 FPS. These high frame rates suggest the CPU is capable of keeping up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions. The fact that the frame rate scales consistently with resolution from 1080p to 4K strongly indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across all resolutions at the same settings, which is not the case here.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in the 90th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which scores 0.5% higher, and the Intel Core i5-14600K, which scores 0.8% lower. This level of performance is more than sufficient for The Medium, which likely relies more on GPU throughput than CPU logic for its frame rate. The CPU's 65W TDP and 3nm process node also suggest efficient operation, though these factors have no direct bearing on frame rates in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 57 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places the system in the top 1.96% of all tested configurations, a strong result that reflects the raw power of the RTX 4090. The rank is particularly impressive given that the CPU is not a top-tier flagship chip, suggesting that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting in this game.

The combo rank of 57 means that there are only 56 other tested combinations that perform better in The Medium. These would presumably be systems with even more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher single-thread performance. The gap between this combo and the very top performers is likely small, as the RTX 4090 is one of the fastest consumer GPUs available. The GPU's average benchmark score of 60347 and 88th percentile ranking support this interpretation.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals does not significantly impact the combo's rank in this game. The nearest rival CPUs, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and Intel Core i5-14600K, show score differences of less than 1% in synthetic benchmarks. In a GPU-bound title like The Medium, these small CPU differences would translate to negligible frame rate differences, meaning the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU's performance.

The data shows that this combo is well-balanced for The Medium, with the CPU providing enough performance to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any resolution. The rank of 57 out of 2911 is a strong endorsement of this pairing for this specific game, indicating that users can expect excellent performance without worrying about system imbalances. The only systems that would outperform this combo would be those using even more specialized or higher-clocked components.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 111 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 128 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in The Medium?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution, dropping from 132 FPS at 1080p Medium to 87 FPS at 4K Medium, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 57th out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 2% of all tested configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 140 FPS at Low settings to 50 FPS at Ultra settings, a 90 FPS difference that highlights the extreme load of the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: No data suggests VRAM limitations. The GPU maintains playable frame rates at 4K High (63 FPS) and 4K Medium (87 FPS), indicating that the memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for this game.

Q: What is the boost clock of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245?

A: The CPU's boost clock is 5.10 GHz, while its base clock is 3.50 GHz.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table provides the complete set of measured frame rates for this configuration in The Medium. All data points are from direct measurement and represent average FPS unless otherwise noted.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers high frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 192 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 132 FPS with a minimum of 112 FPS and maximum of 152 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 95 FPS, and Ultra settings bring it down to 75 FPS. These results show that 1080p is well within the capability of this combo, even at the most demanding preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance decreases but remains strong. Low settings average 178 FPS, while Medium settings average 111 FPS with a range of 95 to 128 FPS. High settings produce 80 FPS, and Ultra settings drop the average to 63 FPS. The 1440p results show a clear step down from 1080p, but the system still handles the game smoothly at all settings except perhaps the most demanding moments.

At 3840x2160, the true stress test begins. Low settings still manage an average of 140 FPS, which is impressive for 4K. Medium settings average 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 63 FPS, and Ultra settings bring it down to 50 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that this combo can handle the game at High settings with reasonable smoothness, but Ultra settings will require compromises.

The complete dataset shows a clear hierarchy of performance based on resolution and settings. The minimum FPS values, where available, indicate that the system maintains consistent frame delivery without major drops. The maximum FPS values show that the system can burst above its average when the game's load is lighter. For 4K gaming on this combo, Medium or High settings are recommended for a smooth experience, with Low settings available for those who prioritize frame rate above all else.