The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique stress test for the combined performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and the AMD Radeon 760M. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are strikingly low, indicating a system that is heavily constrained. This analysis examines the specific data points to understand where the bottleneck lies and what the experience implies for this particular hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a predictable but severe impact as resolution increases, pointing directly to the integrated GPU as the limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 31 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings, the average drops to 26 FPS, a reduction of 5 FPS. At 4K, the average falls further to 21 FPS. This scaling pattern—where performance degrades by roughly 16-19% with each major resolution step—is characteristic of a GPU that is running out of pixel processing throughput.

The trend becomes even more pronounced when examining the higher settings presets. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 19 FPS at 1080p to 16 FPS at 1440p, and then to 13 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic collapse, starting at a meager 11 FPS at 1080p, falling to 9 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 7 FPS at 4K. The fact that the delta between 1440p and 4K is smaller than the delta between 1080p and 1440p at these lower settings suggests the GPU is not just bandwidth-limited but is also hitting a raw compute ceiling.

The data implies that the Radeon 760M's 5.323 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is simply insufficient for the demands of The Medium at higher resolutions. The game's use of dual-reality rendering, where two perspectives are often displayed simultaneously, likely doubles the pixel shading workload. This explains why the frame rate is not just low but collapses to near-unplayable levels at 4K, with the Ultra preset delivering an average of only 7 FPS. The CPU, despite its power, cannot compensate for this GPU limitation, as the workload is overwhelmingly pixel-bound in this scenario.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a formidable mobile processor, featuring 20 cores and 20 threads based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642 and a single-core score of 5737, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The CPU's base clock is 2.60 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it has a 30 MB shared L3 cache. In most gaming scenarios, this processor would be more than capable of feeding a discrete GPU.

However, in this specific configuration, the CPU's role is largely academic. The measured FPS data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at every resolution and settings level. For instance, at 1080p Low, the CPU is likely idle for a significant portion of each frame while the GPU struggles to render it. The game's reliance on the GPU is so absolute that the CPU's performance headroom is never utilized. This is not a case of the processor holding back the graphics chip; it is a case of the graphics chip being unable to keep pace with the processor's output.

The data suggests that a less powerful CPU paired with the same Radeon 760M would yield nearly identical frame rates in this game. The CPU's high multi-threaded performance of 47985 in Passmark's multithread test and its 511817 score in data compression are irrelevant to the game's outcome here. The primary job of the CPU in this context is to prepare draw calls and manage game logic, tasks it can complete with ease, leaving the GPU to struggle with the pixel fill rate and shader complexity demanded by The Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and the AMD Radeon 760M ranks at position 2900 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 0.4% of all configurations, a stark indicator of its performance level. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's low standing in the broader hardware landscape. The Radeon 760M itself sits in the 35th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 6019, placing it near rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M.

The CPU, on the other hand, is a top-tier part, ranking in the 93rd percentile with an average benchmark score of 63173, closely matching the Intel Core i7-13790F. The massive disparity between the CPU's high ranking and the GPU's low ranking is what creates such a poor overall combo result. The system's performance is effectively capped by its weakest link, and in this case, that link is exceptionally weak for gaming purposes. The combo rank of 2900 is a clear signal that this hardware combination is not intended for demanding gaming workloads like those presented by this horror title.

This ranking also highlights the performance gulf between integrated and discrete graphics solutions. While the CPU is a modern powerhouse, the GPU is an integrated part designed primarily for basic tasks and light gaming. The data confirms that The Medium, with its specific rendering requirements, is far outside the capabilities of this integrated solution, resulting in a combo ranking that is near the bottom of the entire database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive, if bleak, picture of the system's performance. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 31 FPS, Medium settings drop to 19 FPS with a minimum of 17 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS, High settings produce 14 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 11 FPS. These numbers indicate that even at 1080p, the experience is barely playable on Low, and becomes a slideshow at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, the performance degrades further. Low settings average 26 FPS, Medium settings average 16 FPS (with a range of 14-19 FPS), High settings average 12 FPS, and Ultra settings average 9 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all settings, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the workload. The minimum FPS values for Medium settings also show that frame pacing is inconsistent, with dips that would be noticeable as stutter.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes critically low. Low settings average 21 FPS, Medium settings average 13 FPS (with a range of 11-15 FPS), High settings average 9 FPS, and Ultra settings average just 7 FPS. At this resolution, the Radeon 760M is completely overwhelmed. The 4K Ultra result of 7 FPS is effectively a static image, and the 4K High result of 9 FPS is not much better. The data clearly shows that 4K is not a viable option for this game on this hardware.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 31 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Is this system capable of playing The Medium at 4K resolution?*

A: The data suggests it is not. At 4K, the average frame rates range from 21 FPS on Low settings down to 7 FPS on Ultra settings, all of which are far below a playable threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to the GPU's in this system?

A: The CPU is a high-end part, ranking in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The GPU is a low-end integrated part, ranking in the 35th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU is the definitive bottleneck.

Q: What is the system's overall rank for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2900 out of 2911 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the bottom fraction of a percent.

Q: Which setting provides the most consistent frame rate at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 17 and a maximum of 22, while the Low preset has no recorded variance. Low is the only preset that approaches a stable 30 FPS.

Q: Does increasing resolution have a larger impact on High or Low settings?

A: The data shows a consistent frame rate drop of roughly 16-19% when moving from 1080p to 1440p and from 1440p to 4K, for both Low and High settings, indicating the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only viable configuration for The Medium is the Low preset at 1920x1080 resolution, which yields an average of 31 FPS. This is the only setting combination that approaches a playable frame rate, though it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target. The measured data shows that any increase in visual quality comes at a devastating cost to performance.

The Medium preset at 1080p drops the average to 19 FPS, a 12 FPS penalty for a modest visual upgrade. This is not a worthwhile trade-off. The High and Ultra presets, with averages of 14 and 11 FPS respectively, are not playable in any meaningful sense. The minimum FPS data for Medium settings at 1080p is 17, which means even this preset will have noticeable dips that could impact the game's tense atmosphere.

For users who must play at higher resolutions, the Low preset at 1440p offers an average of 26 FPS, which may be tolerable for a slow-paced horror game, but it is still not recommended. The data indicates that the Radeon 760M's capabilities are so limited that any attempt to increase graphical fidelity results in a sub-20 FPS experience. Therefore, the recommendation is clear: prioritize resolution and settings to the absolute minimum to achieve the highest possible frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 760M is the sole graphics processor in this system, and its performance defines the entire gaming experience. With 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, it is a small chip by modern standards. Its boost clock is rated at 2599 MHz, resulting in a theoretical FP32 performance of 5.323 TFLOPS. The GPU's memory is system-shared, meaning its bandwidth is dependent on the system's DDR5 memory configuration.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is to render the game's dual-reality scenes, which is a computationally expensive task. The low pixel rate of 41.58 GPixel/s and texture rate of 83.17 GTexel/s are insufficient for the game's demands at higher resolutions. This is evident in the FPS data: the GPU's performance scales almost linearly with resolution, confirming that it is fill-rate and compute-limited. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 5310 places it in the 35th percentile, and its performance is similar to a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 3.0, is modern and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, but its small size prevents it from executing the complex shaders efficiently. The 8 RT cores are present but are of little use at these performance levels. The data strongly suggests that the GPU is the absolute bottleneck in this system, and its limitations are the sole reason for the poor frame rates. The CPU is never the limiting factor; the Radeon 760M simply cannot render the game fast enough to provide a fluid experience.