The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique challenge for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. This pairing demonstrates that while the system is capable of high frame rates, its performance scaling across resolutions reveals a significant bottleneck shift. The data indicates a processor that can easily feed the GPU at lower resolutions but a graphics card that struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K, especially with the most demanding presets.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a classic GPU-bound progression, but with some notable quirks. At 1080p, the combo is clearly CPU-limited at lower settings, with the Low preset hitting an average of 167 FPS. This high number suggests the processor is doing the heavy lifting, as the graphical load is light enough for the RTX 4070 SUPER to render frames quickly. Moving to Medium drops the average to 104 FPS, and High brings it down to 75 FPS, indicating a gradual shift towards the GPU becoming the limiting factor. The Ultra preset, however, presents a stark drop to 59 FPS, showing that the game’s most demanding settings can quickly overwhelm the graphics card even at 1080p.

Stepping up to 1440p, the bottleneck moves decisively to the GPU. The Low preset still manages a very playable 140 FPS, but the scaling is less linear than at 1080p. The Medium preset averages 88 FPS, with a minimum of 75 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS, showing a solid performance window for most displays. High drops to 63 FPS, which is still smooth, but the Ultra preset falls to 50 FPS. This 1440p data suggests that the RTX 4070 SUPER is well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution, but only if the user is willing to dial back from the absolute highest settings.

The 4K results are where the GPU’s limitations become most apparent. The Low preset averages 110 FPS, which is surprisingly high, but this is likely an outlier due to the low graphical complexity. The Medium preset drops to 69 FPS, with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 79 FPS, which is the playable sweet spot at this resolution. The High preset falls to 49 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for many gamers, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 39 FPS, making it a poor choice for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1080p to 4K on the High preset (75 FPS to 49 FPS) shows a 35% drop, while the Medium preset drops from 104 FPS to 69 FPS, a 34% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across presets confirms that the 12 GB frame buffer and the GPU’s compute capabilities are the primary constraints at 4K, not the CPU.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware combinations, this setup holds a respectable position. The data shows a combo rank of 380 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the top 13% of all configurations. This is a strong showing, indicating that the pairing of the Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4070 SUPER is well-balanced for most gaming scenarios. While the 4K Ultra results are poor, the overall ranking suggests that the combination’s performance across a wide variety of games and settings is quite competitive.

The percentile scores for the individual components support this. The CPU sits in the 93rd percentile against all tested CPUs, while the GPU is in the 83rd percentile against all GPUs. This indicates that the processor is a top-tier performer, while the graphics card is slightly further down the performance curve. This imbalance explains why the system can produce such high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but falls behind at 4K, where the GPU’s relative weakness becomes the deciding factor. The combo’s rank of 380 suggests that while many systems may have faster GPUs, few pair them with a CPU of this caliber, making it a formidable combination in CPU-bound scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Its core configuration, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, provides substantial processing power. In The Medium, this power is evident in the high frame rates at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low preset result of 167 FPS is a direct indicator that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this setting, as it can easily process the game’s logic and feed the GPU with draw calls.

The CPU’s benchmark scores further contextualize its gaming performance. A Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960 show a processor that excels in both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. The Medium, like many games, benefits from strong single-core performance for game logic and physics, while the 20 cores ensure that background tasks and streaming don’t cause frame hitches. The processor’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache also helps with data locality, reducing latency for frequently accessed game assets. The data suggests that this CPU is more than capable of handling The Medium, and its performance is unlikely to be the limiting factor in any of the tested resolutions. The nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4464P, has an average score only 0.3% higher, showing that the Core Ultra 7 265 is at the very top of the performance tier for its class.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K with high settings?*

A: No. The measured average frame rate for the High preset at 3840x2160 is 49 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. You would need to use the Medium preset, which averages 69 FPS, for a better experience at that resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve high refresh rates?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 167 FPS and the Medium preset averages 104 FPS, making it the best resolution for pushing a high-refresh-rate monitor. At 2560x1440, the Low preset still manages 140 FPS, which is also excellent.

Q: Is the game more demanding on the CPU or the GPU in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU is the bottleneck, but at 4K, the GPU is clearly the constraint, as seen by the significant FPS drops when increasing settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of VRAM affect performance?

A: The 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for all tested presets, but the 4K Ultra preset’s average of 39 FPS suggests that the GPU’s compute power, rather than VRAM capacity, is the primary limitation at that extreme setting.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 7 265 a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 SUPER?

A: No, not in this game. The CPU’s high single-core score of 5960 in Cinebench R23 and its 93rd percentile ranking show it is a top-tier performer. The high frame rates at 1080p Low (167 FPS) prove it can keep up with the GPU.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers for the Medium preset?

A: The measured minimum FPS for the Medium preset is 88 FPS at 1920x1080, 75 FPS at 2560x1440, and 59 FPS at 3840x2160. This shows a consistent frame time experience without major stutters.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear determinant of performance at higher resolutions and settings in The Medium. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for the game’s textures, but the GPU’s compute capabilities are what limit the 4K Ultra preset to 39 FPS. The card’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and 7168 shading units are powerful, yet the data shows they are insufficient for the most demanding settings at 4K.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 83rd percentile, with a Passmark G3D score of 29995. This is a strong result, but its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which is only 1% faster on average. This close grouping suggests that the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER is near the performance ceiling for its class. In The Medium, this translates to excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p, where it can easily maintain high frame rates, but it falls short of the 60 FPS mark at 4K High. The card’s 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are standard for this performance tier, and the suggested 550 W power supply indicates it is not an overly power-hungry component. The transition from the Low to Ultra preset at 4K (110 FPS to 39 FPS) highlights the GPU’s sensitivity to the game’s graphical effects, such as the dual-reality rendering that The Medium is known for.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings for this hardware combination depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the data shows that the High preset is a safe choice, averaging 75 FPS. However, for users with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset, at 104 FPS, offers a much smoother experience while still looking great. The Low preset at 167 FPS is excessive for most displays, but it demonstrates the CPU’s headroom.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear winner. With an average of 88 FPS and a minimum of 75 FPS, it provides a consistently smooth experience that is ideal for 144Hz displays. The High preset at 63 FPS is also playable, but users will notice a significant drop in smoothness. The 4K resolution presents a trade-off. The Medium preset, averaging 69 FPS, is the only viable option for a near-60 FPS experience. The High preset at 49 FPS is too choppy for comfortable play, and the Ultra preset at 39 FPS should be avoided.

Ultimately, the data suggests that the “Medium” preset is the sweet spot for this combination across all resolutions. It consistently delivers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with average frame rates of 104 FPS at 1080p, 88 FPS at 1440p, and 69 FPS at 4K. This preset provides a minimum of 59 FPS even at the demanding 4K resolution, ensuring a stable experience. The High preset is only recommended for 1080p, while the Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution due to its poor frame rates.