The Medium

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 lands at rank 651 out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 22.4% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not a dominant one, given that the RTX 4090 is the flagship GPU in this pairing. The combo's position reflects the CPU's mid-range standing—the Core Ultra 7 155H sits at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs—while the GPU itself ranks at the 88th percentile among all GPUs. The gap between the GPU's percentile and the combo's overall rank suggests the CPU is holding back the system somewhat in this title.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows a tightly clustered group. The Core Ultra 7 155H scores 32,697 in average benchmark, essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T at 32,707 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 at 32,662 (0.1% delta). The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is 0.2% behind, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H trails by 0.4%. This means the 155H is neither a standout nor a laggard—it sits in the middle of a pack where less than half a percent separates the nearest competitors. For The Medium, this translates to a combo that can deliver playable frame rates across most settings, but the CPU's average positioning means it won't push the RTX 4090 to its absolute limits in CPU-bound scenarios.

The GPU's rival comparisons tell a different story. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60's 60,326 (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48's 60,140 (0.3% delta). The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is 2.5% ahead, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 is 2.9% behind. These are workstation-class GPUs, not gaming counterparts, which indicates the benchmark database places the RTX 4090 in an unusual peer group here. In actual gaming performance within The Medium, the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom, but the combo's rank shows that raw hardware potential doesn't always translate to top-tier game rankings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear sweet spot for this combo at Medium settings. Across all three resolutions, Medium provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 94 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS. At 1440p, Medium drops to 79 FPS average with a range of 67 to 91 FPS. At 4K, Medium still holds at 62 FPS average with a 53 to 71 FPS range. These numbers show that Medium settings maintain playable frame rates even at the highest resolution, making it the recommended preset for this configuration.

High settings are playable but require compromises. At 1080p, High averages 67 FPS, which is smooth but a 28.7% drop from Medium's 94 FPS. At 1440p, High averages 57 FPS, still acceptable for most players but approaching the lower end of comfort. At 4K, High falls to 45 FPS, which is borderline for a horror game where smooth camera movement matters. Ultra settings, by contrast, are only viable at 1080p, where the combo manages 53 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 45 FPS, and at 4K, it craters to 35 FPS—too low for a comfortable experience.

Low settings offer the highest frame rates but sacrifice visual fidelity. At 1080p, Low reaches 143 FPS, which is more than double the Medium preset's 94 FPS. At 1440p, Low hits 127 FPS, and even at 4K, Low maintains 99 FPS. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, Low is the choice, but for a narrative-driven horror title, the visual atmosphere matters more than raw speed. The data suggests that players should start with Medium, then adjust upward only if they prioritize graphical detail over frame rate consistency, or downward if they need higher refresh rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck lies in this combo. At Medium settings, the progression is 94 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a further 21.5% drop from 1440p to 4K. The overall decline from 1080p to 4K is 34%, which is substantial but not linear—the GPU is clearly the dominant factor at higher resolutions, as the Core Ultra 7 155H's processing power becomes less relevant when pixel count increases.

The High preset shows a similar pattern: 67 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p (a 14.9% drop), and 45 FPS at 4K (a 21.1% drop from 1440p). The total decline from 1080p to 4K is 32.8%. This consistency across presets indicates that The Medium scales resolution predictably, with the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM being more than sufficient even at 4K Ultra, where memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s handles the increased texture loads without issue.

Ultra settings exhibit the steepest scaling curve: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p (15.1% drop), and 35 FPS at 4K (22.2% drop). The total decline of 34% from 1080p to 4K mirrors the Medium preset's scaling almost exactly. This suggests that the limiting factor at 4K is the GPU's raw compute throughput rather than memory capacity or CPU performance. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is being taxed heavily by the game's rendering demands at 4K Ultra, while the CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads appear to keep up adequately even at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo shows a wide performance envelope. Low settings deliver 143 FPS average, the highest measured for this configuration. Medium settings produce 94 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS, providing a consistent experience. High settings yield 67 FPS average, which is smooth but noticeably lower than Medium. Ultra settings bottom out at 53 FPS average, the only 1080p preset that dips below 60 FPS. The spread from 53 to 143 FPS demonstrates the RTX 4090's headroom and the CPU's ability to feed it at lower resolutions.

At 1440p, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings achieve 127 FPS average, still well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 79 FPS with a range of 67 to 91 FPS, maintaining smoothness for most gameplay. High settings drop to 57 FPS average, which is borderline for fast-paced scenes. Ultra settings fall to 45 FPS average, making this preset unsuitable for 1440p gaming on this combo. The 1440p results show that Medium is the highest preset that guarantees 60+ FPS, with High falling just short.

At 4K, the performance ceiling becomes apparent. Low settings manage 99 FPS average, a strong result for the highest resolution. Medium settings average 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS, hovering right around the 60 FPS target. High settings drop to 45 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 35 FPS average. The 4K results indicate that Medium is the recommended preset for this resolution, as it's the only setting that consistently stays near 60 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K (99 vs 62 FPS) shows that the game's visual upgrades at Medium come at a significant performance cost.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 plays a pivotal role in this combo's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the GPU has more than enough VRAM for The Medium at any setting, even 4K Ultra. The 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and asset loading don't become bottlenecks, which is crucial for a horror game with detailed environments. The GPU's base clock of 2,235 MHz and boost clock of 2,520 MHz provide the computational speed needed to maintain playable frame rates at Medium settings across all resolutions.

The RTX 4090's architectural advantages are evident in the measured results. Its 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores, combined with 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance, allow it to handle the game's lighting and shadow effects efficiently. The GPU's 512 tensor cores also enable advanced features, though the measured data focuses on standard rasterization performance. The 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient for The Medium's visual demands, as evidenced by the 99 FPS average at 4K Low settings.

However, the GPU's benchmark standing is peculiar. While the RTX 4090 ranks at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, its nearest rivals in the database are workstation cards like the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48. This may skew expectations—the RTX 4090's gaming performance is far superior to these professional cards, but the benchmark scores place them in a similar range. In The Medium specifically, the RTX 4090's gaming-focused design (with features like DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 12_2 API compatibility) gives it an edge that synthetic benchmarks may not fully capture. The GPU's 450 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate a high-power component, but the measured results show it delivering strong performance without thermal throttling concerns.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 4K?

A: Medium settings provide the best experience at 3840x2160, with an average of 62 FPS and a minimum of 53 FPS. This is the only preset that stays near 60 FPS at 4K, as High drops to 45 FPS and Ultra falls to 35 FPS.

Q: How does the Core Ultra 7 155H compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 155H scores 32,697 in average benchmarks, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T (32,707, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32,662, 0.1% delta). The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is 0.2% behind, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H is 0.4% behind.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium?

A: Yes, the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for this game at any resolution or setting. The measured frame rates show no evidence of VRAM limitations, even at 4K Ultra.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The combo delivers an average of 57 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is playable but below the 60 FPS threshold, so Medium settings at 79 FPS average are recommended for a smoother experience.

Q: How much performance drops from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 94 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p (a 16% decrease), then to 62 FPS at 4K (a 21.5% decrease from 1440p). The total decline from 1080p to 4K is 34%.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations in The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 651 out of 2,911 tested combinations, placing it in the top 22.4% of all configurations. The CPU's 83rd percentile standing and the GPU's 88th percentile standing contribute to this solid but not elite ranking.