The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both the CPU and GPU, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile combo show a clear pattern: performance scales dramatically with both resolution and preset. The data provides a straightforward path for getting the best experience from this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal that the "Medium" preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 68 FPS, which is a substantial 19 FPS higher than High and 29 FPS higher than Ultra. The frame time consistency is also better, with a recorded min of 58 FPS and max of 78 FPS, indicating a stable experience. Pushing to Low at 1080p yields 108 FPS, but the visual cost is typically too high for most players, and the jump from Medium to Low is not worth the loss in image quality for a horror game where atmosphere matters.

At 2560x1440, Medium again provides the best balance with 57 FPS average, with a min of 49 and max of 66. This is playable and smooth for a slow-paced horror title. High drops to 41 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra falls to 32 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. The story is similar at 3840x2160, where Medium averages 45 FPS with a min of 38 and max of 52. While 45 FPS is not ideal for fast action, The Medium’s deliberate pacing makes it acceptable. Low at 4K hits 72 FPS, but that requires sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

The data strongly suggests that Medium settings are the optimal choice. It provides a 45% improvement over High at 1080p (68 vs 49 FPS), a 39% improvement at 1440p (57 vs 41 FPS), and a 41% improvement at 4K (45 vs 32 FPS). The Ultra preset is consistently punishing, yielding only 39 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K, making it unplayable in most scenarios. For players with high-refresh displays, Low at 1080p is the only way to approach 100+ FPS, but for the intended experience, Medium is the recommended starting point.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU and manage the game’s logical threads. The benchmark data shows that this processor is more than capable of handling the game’s demands, as the performance bottleneck shifts heavily to the GPU at higher resolutions.

The CPU’s benchmark scores indicate solid multi-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14,551 multi-core and 1,759 single-core. This places it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, which is strong for a mobile part. The nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with an average score 0.3% higher, and the AMD EPYC 4244P and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, both 0.4% lower. This data suggests the 165H is competitive with desktop parts from a few generations ago, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X which is 0.5% higher in average score.

For The Medium, the 16 cores and 22 threads are likely sufficient to handle the game’s background streaming and AI systems. The game is not known for being heavily CPU-bound at high resolutions, and the FPS data confirms this. The drop from 1080p to 4K is primarily a GPU limitation, not a CPU one. The processor’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU. Even at 1080p with Low settings, where the CPU load is relatively highest, the combo still achieves 108 FPS, indicating that the CPU is not holding back the frame rate in a meaningful way.

The core clock behavior is also relevant. With a 5.00 GHz boost, the chip can provide strong single-thread performance when needed, which is important for the game’s main thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,759 is respectable and ensures that the game’s primary logic thread won’t become a bottleneck at lower resolutions. Overall, the CPU role here is to provide a stable foundation, and the data shows it does so without being the limiting factor in most configurations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark results show it is the primary determinant of frame rate. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1395 MHz with a boost of 1695 MHz. This is a 40-series part based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, with 4,608 shading units and 36 RT cores.

The GPU’s benchmark scores are telling. In PassMark G3D, it scores 19,587, placing it in the 73rd percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT with a delta of 0%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which is 0.5% higher. This indicates that the mobile 4070 performs similarly to a desktop RTX 3090 in raw compute terms, which is impressive for a laptop part. However, the 8 GB VRAM capacity is a potential limitation for The Medium at higher settings and resolutions.

The FPS data shows the GPU’s capabilities and limits. At 1080p Medium, the GPU delivers 68 FPS, which is a solid result. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 57 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it falls to 45 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 16% drop, and from 1440p to 4K is a 21% drop. This suggests that the GPU is being pushed harder as resolution increases, but it still maintains playable frame rates at Medium settings.

The 8 GB VRAM is likely a limiting factor at Ultra settings. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the FPS collapses to 25, which is a 44% drop from Medium. This suggests that the game is exceeding the VRAM capacity or the GPU’s compute limits are being exceeded. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 15.62 TFLOPS, which is high, but the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s may not be sufficient for the highest textures at 4K. For players who want to use Ultra settings, this GPU will struggle, and the data clearly shows that Medium is the realistic ceiling for a smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of this CPU and GPU in The Medium places the configuration at rank 1,999 out of 3,724 tested combos. This puts it in the 46th percentile of all tested systems, which is a middle-of-the-pack result. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component scores, but it reflects the specific demands of The Medium, which appears to be particularly sensitive to GPU memory and bandwidth.

The rank suggests that while this combo is capable, there are many other systems that perform better in this specific title. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 73rd percentile ranking are both above average, but the combination only achieves a 46th percentile game ranking. This implies that The Medium is not scaling well with this particular hardware pairing, likely due to the 8 GB VRAM limitation at higher settings.

For context, the CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 0.5% of its average score, but their in-game performance could differ. The GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 3090, has a higher average score, but in this game, the mobile 4070’s 8 GB VRAM may be a disadvantage. The combo rank indicates that players with this setup should not expect top-tier performance in The Medium, but rather a solid mid-range experience. The data shows that the system is more than adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Medium settings, but it will not compete with higher-end desktop systems or laptops with more VRAM.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 68 at 1080p to 57 at 1440p and finally to 45 at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 21% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 34%, which is significant but not as steep as some other titles.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would be more consistent across resolutions. Instead, the frame rate drops steadily as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The RTX 4070 Mobile is working harder at higher resolutions, and the data shows it can handle 1440p Medium comfortably but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

At High settings, the scaling is similar, with a drop from 49 FPS at 1080p to 41 FPS at 1440p (16% drop) and then to 32 FPS at 4K (22% drop from 1440p). The 4K High result of 32 FPS is borderline playable, but it shows the GPU is nearing its limits. At Low settings, the scaling is more aggressive, with 108 FPS at 1080p dropping to 91 FPS at 1440p (16% drop) and then to 72 FPS at 4K (21% drop). This indicates that even at low settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter.

The resolution scaling data also reveals that the 8 GB VRAM is a factor at 4K. The drop from Medium to High at 4K is 29% (45 to 32 FPS), while the drop from Medium to High at 1080p is 28% (68 to 49 FPS). This consistency suggests that the GPU’s compute power is the main constraint, not just VRAM. However, the Ultra preset shows a severe drop, with 4K Ultra at 25 FPS, which is 44% lower than Medium. This indicates that Ultra settings are likely exceeding the GPU’s capabilities, possibly due to VRAM overflow or extreme shader demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use for a smooth experience with this hardware?

A: The Medium preset is the clear recommendation. It delivers 68 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K, which are all playable. The High preset drops to 49 FPS at 1080p and 41 FPS at 1440p, while Ultra is only playable at 1080p with 39 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in The Medium?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The FPS drops consistently as resolution increases, which is a sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s strong multi-threaded scores, including a 14,551 in Cinebench R23, indicate it is not holding back the system.

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

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, where it achieves 45 FPS. At High settings, the average drops to 32 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 25 FPS, which is not smooth. Players targeting 4K should stick to Medium.

Q: How does this GPU compare to a desktop RTX 3090 in this game?

A: The RTX 4070 Mobile has a PassMark G3D score of 19,587, which is only 0.5% lower than the RTX 3090’s average score. However, the mobile GPU’s 8 GB VRAM may limit performance in The Medium at higher settings.

Q: Does the CPU’s 16-core configuration help in this game?

A: The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample headroom for the game’s background tasks. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is more than sufficient, and the FPS data confirms the CPU is not a limiting factor.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset shows stable frame times. At 1080p, the min FPS is 58 and max is 78. At 1440p, the min is 49 and max is 66. At 4K, the min is 38 and max is 52. This indicates a smooth experience without major stutters.