The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding environment for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 8060S combination. The measured data shows a system that is capable but requires careful settings management to achieve a smooth experience. This analysis interprets the recorded frames per second across resolutions and presets to understand the performance profile of this particular hardware pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo in The Medium?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 101 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. At the same resolution, the Low preset is the only one that breaks the 100 FPS barrier, with High, Medium, and Ultra presets delivering 45, 63, and 36 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Radeon 8060S compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 55757, placing it nearly on par with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698), which is a 0.1% difference. It also performs slightly better than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (54247), showing a 2.8% lead, but trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (56083) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium settings preset?

A: The data includes minimum FPS values only for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 53 FPS; at 2560x1440, it drops to 45 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it falls to 35 FPS. These are the only instances where minimum frame rates are provided in the measurements.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H perform in synthetic multi-core benchmarks?

A: The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 9233. In the PassMark multi-thread test, it scores 25933, and its overall average benchmark score is 34083, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: The difference is significant. At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 85 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields only 30 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 55 FPS, or about 65%, when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the CPU have a high single-thread performance score compared to its multi-core score?

A: The single-thread scores are relatively modest compared to the multi-core results. The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1759, and the PassMark single-thread score is 3509. These figures are much lower than the multi-core scores, indicating the processor's strength lies in multi-threaded workloads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 24 MB shared L3 cache. These specifications suggest a processor designed to handle heavy multi-threaded tasks, which is reflected in its benchmark scores like the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 14551.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's performance is likely adequate for the game's logic and physics, but the data suggests it is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. The 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is a capable processor, but its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, show nearly identical average scores (34260 vs 34083). This suggests that the processor is not an outlier in performance; it is a solid, mid-to-high-tier mobile chip.

The measured FPS results show a clear trend where the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution and settings increase. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system hits 101 FPS, which gives the CPU room to work. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 24 FPS, a clear sign that the graphics processor is overwhelmed. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and with a PassMark physics score of 1806, it appears to be doing its job without creating a major bottleneck, even if it doesn't push frame rates to their absolute maximum.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is a mobile graphics processor built on the RDNA 3.5 architecture. It features 2560 shading units and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. Its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This is a critical detail, as the bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which can impact performance in memory-intensive scenarios.

The GPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2162 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 84626. It sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival comparison is telling: it is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.1% difference) and performs 2.8% better than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. This places the 8060S in a high-performance tier, but the measured FPS in The Medium suggests that the shared memory architecture might be a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The data shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1080p Medium, the average is 63 FPS, but at 4K Medium, it drops to 42 FPS. This is a 33% reduction in performance when quadrupling the pixel count, which is a typical scaling pattern for GPUs. However, the low 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS indicates that the GPU struggles with the highest settings, likely due to the combination of high pixel count and the overhead of the shared memory system. The GPU is the clear bottleneck in this pairing, especially at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the Low preset is the only reliable choice. At 1920x1080, Low delivers 101 FPS, and at 2560x1440, it delivers 85 FPS. Even at 4K, Low achieves a playable 67 FPS.

The Medium preset offers a balance between visual quality and performance, but it requires a resolution compromise. At 1080p, Medium averages 63 FPS, which is acceptable. However, at 1440p, it drops to 53 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 42 FPS. The minimum FPS values for Medium are also telling: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. This suggests that while the average is playable at 1080p, there are dips that could be noticeable in a horror game where frame pacing is crucial.

The High and Ultra presets are generally not recommended for this game with this hardware. High settings yield average frame rates of 45 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. Ultra is even more demanding, producing 36 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. For a game that relies on atmosphere and tension, frame rates below 40 FPS are likely to feel sluggish. Therefore, the data suggests that the Low preset is the best choice for a consistent experience, while Medium is viable only at 1080p if the user is willing to accept occasional dips below 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 8060S ranks 1648 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 43rd percentile of all combinations, meaning it performs better than a majority of systems but is far from the top tier. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the measured FPS, which shows the system is capable but not exceptional.

The ranking suggests that while the individual components are strong, the pairing does not produce top-tier results in this specific game. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and the GPU's 87th percentile ranking would suggest a higher overall position, but the in-game data tells a different story. This discrepancy highlights that synthetic benchmarks do not always translate directly to real-world gaming performance, particularly in a game like The Medium with its unique rendering demands.

The combo's position in the lower half of the pack implies that many other systems achieve higher frame rates. For example, the GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, is likely to perform much better in this game, even though the benchmark scores are close. The 1648th rank out of 2911 is a clear indicator that this is a middle-of-the-road gaming setup for this title, requiring significant settings adjustments to achieve playable performance at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance. The Low preset averages 101 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 63 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 72 FPS. The High preset averages 45 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 36 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the system can consistently hit high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. The Low preset averages 85 FPS, which is still smooth. The Medium preset averages 53 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and a maximum of 61 FPS. The High preset averages 38 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 30 FPS. This resolution is playable only on Low settings for a 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles. The Low preset averages 67 FPS, which is the only playable option. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS. The High preset averages 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 24 FPS. This resolution is only viable with the Low preset, and even then, the frame rate is not ideal for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern in how performance scales with resolution. Moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by roughly 16-20%. For example, at Medium settings, the frame rate goes from 63 FPS at 1080p to 53 FPS at 1440p, a 15.9% decrease. At Low settings, it goes from 101 FPS to 85 FPS, a 15.8% drop.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 53 FPS to 42 FPS, a 20.8% decrease. At Low settings, it drops from 85 FPS to 67 FPS, a 21.2% decrease. The High and Ultra presets show similar or even steeper drops, with Ultra going from 30 FPS at 1440p to 24 FPS at 4K, a 20% decline.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would be more consistent across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not change significantly with pixel count. The fact that FPS drops consistently as resolution increases indicates that the Radeon 8060S is struggling to fill the additional pixels. The steep drop at 4K, especially on higher presets, suggests that the shared memory architecture may be a contributing factor, as the bandwidth demands increase dramatically at 4K. The system is clearly GPU-bound, and the CPU has sufficient headroom to handle the game's logic without becoming a constraint.