The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around atmospheric storytelling, presents a unique challenge for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination. The measured data reveals a system that can handle the game, but the optimal experience depends heavily on resolution and a willingness to compromise on visual fidelity. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics to determine the best way to play.

Settings Recommendations

At 1080p, the Medium preset of Low delivers an average of 96 FPS, making it the only tested setting to approach high-refresh-rate territory. However, for a horror game that thrives on moody lighting and detailed environments, the visual quality difference between Low and Medium is substantial. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. This is the sweet spot for the best balance of smoothness and visual fidelity at this resolution. While High and Ultra presets are playable at 1080p with averages of 43 and 34 FPS respectively, the frame pacing in a slow-paced horror title can make these playable, but they do not offer the fluidity of the Medium preset.

Moving to 1440p, the data suggests that the Medium preset is still the best choice for a consistent experience, yielding an average of 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS. The High preset drops to 36 FPS, which is a noticeable step down in smoothness. The Low preset at 1440p produces an average of 81 FPS, which is excellent for fast reactions but sacrifices too much graphical detail for a game that relies on its art direction. The Medium preset at 1440p is the recommended choice for users with a 1440p monitor, as it provides a playable and visually acceptable experience.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. While this is technically playable, it is below the 60 FPS target most gamers prefer. The Low preset at 4K achieves 64 FPS, which is the only way to get a smooth 4K experience on this hardware, but it requires significant graphical compromises. The High and Ultra presets at 4K are not recommended, as they fall to 29 and 23 FPS respectively, which is too low for a comfortable experience. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option for a fluid frame rate, while the Medium preset is acceptable for users who prioritize visuals over smoothness.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the primary driver of frame rates in this title. The GPU data shows a boost clock of 2572 MHz and a base clock of 2317 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The benchmark results for the RTX 5050 place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, which it trails by 1.6%, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which it leads by 0.6%. This indicates that the RTX 5050 is a mid-range performer, and the game's demands on the GPU are clear.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is a critical factor. The data shows that at 4K with the Ultra preset, the average FPS drops to 23, which is a severe performance hit. While this is partly due to the increased resolution, the 8 GB frame buffer is likely a limiting factor when handling the high-resolution textures and effects of the Ultra preset. The gap between the Low preset and the Medium preset at 4K is significant, with the Low preset achieving 64 FPS and the Medium preset dropping to 40 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset's additional memory requirements and shader complexity are taxing the GPU heavily. In contrast, the drop from Medium to High at 4K is from 40 FPS to 29 FPS, showing that the GPU is quickly overwhelmed as settings are increased.

The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, and its specifications, including 2560 shading units and 20 RT cores, are designed for modern games. However, the data indicates that for The Medium, the RTX 5050 is more than capable at 1080p and 1440p with medium settings, but it struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K with higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1765 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom half of all combinations, indicating that it is not a top-tier performer for this specific game. The rank is a holistic measure of the system's performance across all tested settings and resolutions.

The CPU in this combo has an average benchmark score of 48995, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, which it trails by 0.4%, and the Intel Core i5-14600K, which it leads by 0.8%. This shows that the processor is a strong performer in general tasks. However, the game's performance is clearly more dependent on the GPU, as the overall combo rank is low, which is likely due to the RTX 5050's mid-range status. The GPU's average benchmark score of 21035 is in the 66th percentile, which is significantly lower than the CPU's percentile, highlighting the GPU as the bottleneck.

The combo's rank of 1765 out of 2911 means that a majority of other tested systems deliver higher frame rates in The Medium. This is not a poor performance, but it is firmly in the mid-range tier. Users of this combo should expect to play at Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p to get a good experience, rather than trying to push for Ultra settings at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best setting for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the best choice, delivering an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. This provides a consistent and playable experience without the visual degradation of the Low preset.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. The Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 64 FPS, which is playable. The Medium preset at 4K drops to 40 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold but still playable for a slower-paced game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The GPU's performance percentile (66th) is much lower than the CPU's percentile (90th), and the frame rates scale dramatically with resolution and settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo's performance compare to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 1765 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom half of all combinations, suggesting that while it is capable, many other systems provide higher frame rates.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 51 FPS, while the High preset drops to an average of 36 FPS. This is a 15 FPS difference, making the Medium preset clearly preferable for a smoother experience.

Q: Is the Low preset ever the best option?

A: Yes, particularly at 4K. At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that achieves a consistently playable frame rate, with an average of 64 FPS. At 1080p and 1440p, Low offers the highest frame rates, but the Medium preset is generally the better choice for visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 60 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the same preset drops to 51 FPS, a decrease of 9 FPS or 15%. Further scaling to 4K, the Medium preset averages 40 FPS, a drop of 11 FPS from 1440p and 20 FPS from 1080p. This scaling indicates that the system is heavily taxed by the increased pixel count.

The Low preset shows a similar trend but with higher absolute values. The average FPS goes from 96 at 1080p, to 81 at 1440p, and finally to 64 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 33%, which is less than the 33% drop for the Medium preset (from 60 to 40 FPS). This suggests that as the GPU becomes more stressed with higher settings, the resolution scaling has a more severe impact on performance.

This behavior points to a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU has the headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions, but the RTX 5050's rendering capabilities are saturated at higher resolutions. The fact that the frame rate drops by a nearly proportional amount to the pixel count increase confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck. For this reason, users who want to play at 4K will need to lower settings to the Low preset to achieve a playable frame rate, while 1080p and 1440p users can afford to use the Medium preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. The processor's performance is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 48995 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, which it trails by 0.5%.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to process game logic, physics, and draw calls. The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game. This is evidenced by the fact that the frame rates are consistent across different resolutions when the settings are held constant. For example, the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p yields 96 and 81 FPS respectively, which shows that the CPU is not being maxed out at lower resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to be similar across all resolutions, as the CPU's workload is largely independent of resolution.

Furthermore, the CPU's high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, is sufficient for this title. The game's fixed-camera angles often rely on strong single-core performance for scene management. The data suggests that the Core Ultra 5 245 provides more than enough processing power for The Medium, allowing the RTX 5050 to be the sole determinant of frame rates. Users should not worry about a CPU bottleneck with this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average frame rates for this system in The Medium.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• The Low preset achieves the highest average FPS at 96 FPS.
• The Medium preset delivers a solid 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS.
• The High preset produces an average of 43 FPS.
• The Ultra preset yields an average of 34 FPS.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• The Low preset leads with an average of 81 FPS.
• The Medium preset follows with an average of 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS.
• The High preset drops to an average of 36 FPS.
• The Ultra preset is the lowest, with an average of 29 FPS.

3840x2160 (4K):

• The Low preset is the only one to break 60 FPS, averaging 64 FPS.
• The Medium preset averages 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS.
• The High preset falls to an average of 29 FPS.
• The Ultra preset is the most demanding, averaging just 23 FPS.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: the Low preset is always the fastest, followed by Medium, High, and then Ultra. The Medium preset is the recommended setting for a balance of quality and performance at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the Low preset is the only option for a smooth experience. The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset (51 at 1080p, 43 at 1440p, 34 at 4K) show that the frame rate stays relatively stable, avoiding severe hitches that could be jarring in a horror game.