The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around atmospheric storytelling, presents a demanding load that scales sharply with resolution. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile, using only the data provided to interpret how this combo handles the game’s visual presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the Low preset, the average frame rate drops from 97 FPS at 1080p to 81 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 16 FPS, and then further down to 64 FPS at 4K, another 17 FPS loss. This linear decline indicates the RTX 4060 Mobile’s pixel throughput is the primary constraint at these settings, with the CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the bottleneck.

The Medium preset shows a similar trajectory but with a steeper absolute drop. The average FPS moves from 60 at 1080p to 51 at 1440p, and finally to 40 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K here is 20 FPS, which is proportionally larger than the Low preset’s 33 FPS difference. This suggests that as the game’s rendering complexity increases, the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and its 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM become more significant factors, amplifying the cost of higher resolutions.

High settings present an interesting anomaly. The average FPS at 1080p is 43, which drops to 36 at 1440p and then to 29 at 4K. The delta between 1440p and 4K is only 7 FPS, which is smaller than the 11 FPS drop seen between 1080p and 1440p. This compression at the higher resolutions hints that the combo is approaching a hard performance floor where the GPU is fully saturated, and further resolution increases yield diminishing returns in terms of FPS loss, though the absolute numbers become less playable.

Ultra settings are the most punishing, with the average FPS falling from 34 at 1080p to 29 at 1440p and then to 23 at 4K. The 4K result is barely above a slideshow, and the 1440p result is only marginally better. The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4060 Mobile’s 11.61 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and its 128-bit memory bus are simply not designed for high-resolution, high-fidelity rendering in this title. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU’s performance metrics, such as a Passmark single-thread score of 3468 and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028, are more than adequate for the game’s logic and physics.

The scaling behavior also indicates that the game is heavily dependent on fill rate and memory bandwidth. The pixel rate of 90.72 GPixel/s and texture rate of 181.4 GTexel/s are taxed heavily at 4K, regardless of the preset. For builders, the key takeaway is that this combo is best suited for 1080p or lower-resolution displays if aiming for smooth gameplay, as the jump to 1440p or 4K requires substantial sacrifices in visual quality to maintain a playable frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the most balanced experience is achieved at the Medium preset at 1920x1080, which yields an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. This provides a smooth, consistent frame pacing that is ideal for a horror game where sudden dips can break immersion. The 60 FPS average is the exact threshold for standard display refresh rates, and the minimum staying above 50 ensures that most scenes will remain fluid.

For players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, the High preset at 1080p offers an average of 43 FPS. This is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sequences, and the lack of min/max data for this row suggests the frame times may be less stable than at Medium. The data indicates that the jump from Medium to High costs 17 FPS on average, a significant penalty for what is likely a modest improvement in shadow quality and texture filtering.

The Low preset at 1080p delivers an average of 97 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. However, this preset likely strips away the atmospheric effects that define the game’s horror aesthetic. Considering the genre, the immersion provided by Medium settings outweighs the raw speed of Low, making Medium the clear recommendation for the best overall experience.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset drops to an average of 51 FPS, which is still within the territory of playability but with a minimum of 43 FPS that could cause noticeable stutter in busy scenes. The High preset at 1440p is not recommended, as its 36 FPS average falls below the desired threshold for a smooth experience. Similarly, the 4K Medium preset, with an average of 40 FPS and a minimum of 34 FPS, is only suitable for players who prioritize resolution over frame rate and are willing to tolerate occasional slowdowns.

The Ultra preset is universally poor across all resolutions, with the highest average being 34 FPS at 1080p. The data shows that this preset is not viable for this combo, as even the 1440p result of 29 FPS is below the standard for console-like performance. The performance cost of Ultra is not justified by the measured frame rates, and players should avoid it entirely unless they are capturing static scenes for screenshots.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile ranks 2285 out of 3724 tested combinations for this game. This places it in the lower-middle tier of the database, indicating that while it is not a bottom-tier performer, it is far from the top echelon. The percentile data for the individual components supports this: the CPU sits in the 83rd percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 67th percentile against all GPUs.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 with a deltaPct of 0.1, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H with a deltaPct of -0.4. These negligible deltas indicate that the Ultra 7 155H’s processing power is on par with these alternatives, meaning the CPU is not the differentiating factor in this combo’s ranking. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028 is competitive, but in a game like The Medium, which is likely not heavily threaded, this advantage is minimized.

The GPU’s nearest rivals are more telling. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 has a deltaPct of -0.7, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has a deltaPct of 0.8, and the Intel Arc B580 has a deltaPct of -1.3. This places the RTX 4060 Mobile in the same performance class as these desktop cards, but its mobile form factor and lower TDP of 115 W mean it operates under thermal constraints. The combo rank of 2285 out of 3724 suggests that many other pairings, likely with higher-tier desktop GPUs or more powerful mobile variants, achieve significantly better results in this title.

The ranking also implies that the game’s performance is heavily weighted towards GPU capability. Since the CPU is in the 83rd percentile but the combo rank is only in the 61st percentile (2285/3724), the GPU’s 67th percentile is dragging the overall result down. This is consistent with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed the GPU as the limiting factor. Builders should note that upgrading the GPU would yield a more substantial improvement in this game than upgrading the CPU, as the current processor has ample headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear hierarchy of settings. Low delivers an average of 97 FPS, making it the only preset that fully utilizes high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium drops to an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 and maximum of 69, providing a solid baseline. High averages 43 FPS, which is a substantial step down, and Ultra bottoms out at 34 FPS. The deltas between presets are large, with a 37 FPS difference between Low and Medium, indicating that Medium is the optimal stopping point before diminishing returns.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages compress somewhat. Low averages 81 FPS, which is still smooth, while Medium averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 and maximum of 59. High falls to 36 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium here is 30 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p, showing that resolution scaling reduces the headroom available for higher settings. The Medium preset’s minimum of 43 FPS is concerning for a horror game, as it may drop below the threshold for comfortable viewing.

At 3840x2160, the data shows that only Low and Medium are viable. Low averages 64 FPS, which is surprisingly playable, while Medium averages 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and maximum of 46. High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS, both of which are effectively unplayable for a game that requires atmospheric tension. The 4K results highlight the GPU’s memory bandwidth limitation; the 8 GB VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-fidelity textures at this resolution without severe performance penalties.

The lack of min/max data for Low, High, and Ultra presets in most resolutions is notable. Only the Medium preset provides these figures, suggesting that the other presets may exhibit unstable frame times that the benchmark did not record. The Medium preset’s data shows a spread of 15-18 FPS between min and max, which is a moderate variance that could cause perceptible stutters in a horror game’s quiet moments.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is the dominant factor in this game’s performance. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, which is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The measured FPS drops at 4K, particularly at High and Ultra presets, are directly attributable to this bandwidth limitation, as the GPU struggles to feed its 3072 shading units with texture data.

The GPU’s base clock of 1545 MHz and boost clock of 1890 MHz are modest for a 40-series part, but the Ada Lovelace architecture’s efficiency helps. The 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores are present, but The Medium likely does not utilize these features heavily, instead relying on traditional rasterization. The pixel rate of 90.72 GPixel/s and texture rate of 181.4 GTexel/s are the key metrics for this game, and they are insufficient for 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU’s Passmark G3D score of 17469 and its 67th percentile ranking against all GPUs confirm its mid-range positioning. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 2080, which is a previous-generation desktop card, and the RX 7700 XT, which is a modern desktop card. This suggests that the mobile 4060 offers performance roughly equivalent to a mid-range desktop GPU from a few years ago, but with the thermal and power constraints of a laptop implementation.

The GPU’s TDP of 115 W is relatively low, which limits its sustained boost clocks under load. This is evident in the measured FPS, where the 4K High preset averages only 29 FPS, indicating that the GPU is likely thermal throttling or power-limiting itself to maintain stability. For builders, this means that the RTX 4060 Mobile is best paired with a 1080p display, where its bandwidth and compute resources are sufficient to maintain high frame rates at Medium settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a capable processor that does not bottleneck the GPU in this game. Its 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz, provide ample processing power for the game’s logic. The CPU’s Passmark single-thread score of 3468 and multi-thread score of 24873 indicate strong performance, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028 is competitive with its rivals.

The CPU’s architecture, Meteor Lake, is built on a 7 nm process and features a 24 MB shared L3 cache. This cache size is sufficient for the game’s data, and the dual-channel memory bus with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s ensures the CPU can feed the GPU without stalling. The CPU’s 83rd percentile ranking against all CPUs confirms its high-end positioning, and its nearest rivals show minimal performance deltas, meaning there is no meaningful CPU bottleneck.

In a game like The Medium, which is likely single-threaded or lightly threaded, the CPU’s 22 threads are largely underutilized. The boost clock of 4.80 GHz is more relevant, as it determines single-thread performance. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743 is respectable, ensuring that the game’s main thread can process frames quickly enough to keep the GPU fed at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting component in any of the measured scenarios. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is not saturated, the CPU maintains an average of 97 FPS without issue. This indicates that the Core Ultra 7 155H has significant headroom for future game updates or more demanding titles. Builders should focus their upgrade efforts on the GPU, as the CPU is more than sufficient for this and likely many other games.