The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title known for its dual-reality rendering, presents a formidable challenge to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and AMD Radeon 890M combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily constrained by its integrated graphics, with performance that struggles to maintain playable framerates at higher fidelity settings. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, focusing on how the system scales across resolutions and settings, and what the numbers imply about the underlying hardware bottlenecks.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At Low settings, the average framerate falls from 45 FPS at 1920x1080 to 30 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction in performance, which is a significant hit but not catastrophic for a game like this. However, the scaling becomes much harsher as the graphical load increases. At Medium settings, the average drops from 28 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 4K, a 32% decrease. At High settings, the drop is from 20 FPS to 13 FPS, a 35% decline. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, plummeting from 16 FPS at 1080p to 11 FPS at 4K, a 31% loss.

The data suggests that the AMD Radeon 890M's compute and memory bandwidth are being saturated even at 1080p. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is also substantial; at Low settings, the average goes from 45 FPS to 38 FPS, and at Medium from 28 FPS to 24 FPS. The fact that the framerate is so low even at 1080p High (20 FPS) indicates that the integrated GPU is the primary limiting component. The CPU, with its 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache, is unlikely to be the constraint at these low framerates. The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is running out of pixel processing power and memory throughput, not a CPU that is waiting on data. The 890M's system-shared memory is a likely culprit, as the bandwidth is "System Dependent" and cannot be isolated from the CPU's workload, potentially causing contention that further limits performance at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the best experience is clearly at the Low preset. This is the only setting where the system achieves an average framerate that approaches the standard for playability. At 1920x1080 Low, the average is 45 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low yields 38 FPS, which is still a playable average for a slower-paced horror game. The 4K Low setting produces 30 FPS, which is borderline but could be acceptable for a game that does not require rapid reflexes.

The Medium preset is a less appealing option. At 1080p, it produces an average of 28 FPS with a minimum of 24 FPS. This is a noticeable drop from Low and may result in a less smooth experience, especially during scene transitions or when the game renders both realities simultaneously. The data shows that the cost of moving from Low to Medium at 1080p is a 17 FPS reduction (45 to 28), which is a steep price for the visual improvements. Higher presets are not viable. High settings at 1080p yield only 20 FPS, and Ultra drops to 16 FPS. These are below the threshold for a comfortable experience and should be avoided. The recommendation is to play at 1080p Low for the best balance of visual clarity and performance, or to accept a lower internal resolution if a higher preset is desired.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and the AMD Radeon 890M ranks 2755 out of 2911 tested combos for this game. This places it in the bottom 5% of all systems tested, which is a poor result. The percentile ranking for the CPU is high (93rd percentile vs all CPUs), and its average benchmark score is 63173, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13790F (0.1% delta). This indicates that the processor is a top-tier mobile part. Conversely, the GPU's percentile is only 45th, and its average score of 9210 is slightly below that of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (-0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (-0.7% delta). The combined rank is dragged down almost entirely by the GPU.

This disparity is the defining characteristic of this system. It is a CPU that is capable of far more than the GPU can deliver. The data shows a system that is "CPU-strong, GPU-weak," leading to a severe bottleneck in a graphically intensive game like The Medium. The rank of 2755 suggests that most other combinations, even those with less powerful CPUs, will outperform this one in this specific title because they are likely paired with a more capable dedicated graphics card. The iGPU's performance, while respectable for integrated graphics, is simply not in the same league as even entry-level discrete GPUs, which is reflected in its rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data is as follows:

• 3840x2160 (4K)
• Ultra: 11 FPS average
• High: 13 FPS average
• Medium: 19 FPS average (min 16, max 21)
• Low: 30 FPS average

• 2560x1440 (1440p)
• Ultra: 14 FPS average
• High: 17 FPS average
• Medium: 24 FPS average (min 20, max 27)
• Low: 38 FPS average

• 1920x1080 (1080p)
• Ultra: 16 FPS average
• High: 20 FPS average
• Medium: 28 FPS average (min 24, max 32)
• Low: 45 FPS average

The data clearly shows a linear progression of performance as settings are lowered and resolution is reduced. The only settings that provide a consistent, playable experience are the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p. The Medium preset at 1080p is the only other configuration that breaks the 25 FPS average mark, but its minimum of 24 FPS suggests it will dip into the low 20s regularly. All High and Ultra settings are effectively unplayable, with averages below 20 FPS across all resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 11 FPS is a slideshow, confirming that this resolution is entirely out of reach for this combo.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 45 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

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

A: Technically yes, but not at a playable framerate. At 4K Low, it averages 30 FPS, but at Medium settings it drops to 19 FPS, and at High and Ultra it averages 13 FPS and 11 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX has an average benchmark score of 63173. It is 0.1% faster than the Intel Core i7-13790F (score 63080) and 0.7% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (score 62738). It is 0.2% slower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (score 63331).

Q: How does the GPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M has an average benchmark score of 9210. It is 0.1% slower than the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (score 9221) and 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (score 9273).

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

A: Based on the measured data, the Low preset at 1920x1080 provides the best experience with an average of 45 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p (28 FPS) is the only other viable option, though it is significantly slower.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 2755 out of 2911 indicate?

A: It indicates that this specific CPU and GPU pairing performs poorly in The Medium compared to other tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 5% of systems.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Its high thread count and multi-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 40642, suggest it is more than capable of handling the game's logic and any CPU-bound tasks. The data, however, suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this scenario. The framerates are so low across all settings that the CPU is likely idle much of the time, waiting for the GPU to render frames.

The 30 MB of shared L3 cache is a substantial amount, and its high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5737) ensures that it can handle the game's main thread without issue. In this specific case, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU as fast as possible, but the 890M's limited processing power means the CPU's capabilities are largely wasted. The 55W TDP for the CPU, in a mobile context, also suggests it has sufficient power headroom, but the low framerates are a direct consequence of the GPU's inability to keep up. The CPU is a top-7% performer (93rd percentile), yet this combo ranks in the bottom 5%, highlighting the extreme imbalance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is the clear limiting factor in this system. This integrated GPU, based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, has 1024 shading units and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. Its theoretical FP32 performance is 5.939 TFLOPS, which is low for modern gaming. The benchmark results confirm this, as the GPU sits in the 45th percentile of all GPUs, performing on par with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 and AMD Radeon Vega 8. The game's rendering demands, particularly for its unique dual-world effect, are simply too much for this iGPU.

The most critical aspect is its memory configuration: the Radeon 890M uses "System Shared" memory, meaning its bandwidth is "System Dependent." This is a major disadvantage. The GPU must compete with the CPU for access to the same DDR5 memory pool, and the bandwidth is shared. This is a likely cause of the severe performance degradation at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's VRAM is not a separate pool; it is a portion of the system's main memory, which can cause stuttering and low average framerates. The 890M's 16 RT cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are irrelevant when the raw shader and memory performance is insufficient to maintain a playable framerate in this title. The data shows a GPU that is fundamentally outclassed by the game's requirements.