The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a wide performance envelope in The Medium, ranging from highly playable frame rates at lower presets to demanding loads at 4K Ultra. The measured data reveals a clear pattern of scaling across resolutions and settings, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck in most configurations. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, offering a methodical look at what the numbers mean for gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting component in this pairing. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 102 at 1920x1080 to 87.6 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 14%. Moving to 3840x2160 drops the average further to 67.8, which is a 33.5% decrease from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where the increase in pixel count directly impacts rendering load.

The High preset shows a similar trajectory. The average FPS at 1080p is 75.7, which drops to 62.8 at 1440p, a 17% decline. At 4K, the average falls to 46.6, representing a 25.8% drop from the 1440p figure. The Ultra preset exhibits the most dramatic scaling, with the average FPS at 1080p (56.3) falling to 53.2 at 1440p and then to 42.1 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 25.2%, showing that the most demanding settings amplify the resolution penalty.

Low settings tell a different story, as the frame rates are high enough that the CPU may begin to play a role. At 1080p Low, the average is 164.3 FPS, which drops to 140.9 at 1440p (a 14.2% decline) and then to 112.9 at 4K (a 19.9% decline from 1440p). The fact that the drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is still the dominant constraint, though the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with its 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache is clearly not holding back the frame rate at any tested resolution.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining a 60 FPS average in The Medium with this combo?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings achieves an average of 87.6 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 FPS. At 4K, only the Low preset (112.9 FPS) and Medium preset (67.8 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while High (46.6 FPS) and Ultra (42.1 FPS) fall short.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from High to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 75.7 on High to 56.3 on Ultra, a decrease of 19.4 FPS (25.6%). At 1440p, the drop is from 62.8 to 53.2, a 9.6 FPS difference (15.3%). At 4K, the drop is from 46.6 to 42.1, a 4.5 FPS difference (9.7%).

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K a bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: With an average of 164.3 FPS at 1080p Low, the CPU is clearly delivering enough performance to feed the GPU. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 50009 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7060 in single-core, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CPUs. The frame rate is more likely limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities at this preset.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K with Low settings, the average FPS is 112.9, which is very playable. Medium settings at 4K produce an average of 67.8 FPS, which is also acceptable. High and Ultra settings at 4K are not recommended, as they produce averages of 46.6 and 42.1 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of VRAM factor into these results?

A: The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory paired with a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth appears sufficient for all tested settings. The consistent frame rate scaling across resolutions suggests that VRAM capacity is not causing a performance cliff at 4K Ultra, where the average remains at 42.1 FPS.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of this GPU in the benchmark database?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 42576, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, has a score of 42653, which is only 0.2% higher.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium achieves an average of 102 FPS, which is nearly double the 56.3 FPS of Ultra. At 1440p, Medium produces 87.6 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 4K, Medium manages 67.8 FPS, making it the only preset besides Low that remains playable at that resolution.

High settings are a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate. At 1080p, High delivers 75.7 FPS, which is still quite smooth. At 1440p, High drops to 62.8 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target. However, at 4K, High falls to 46.6 FPS, which may feel sluggish for action-heavy scenes.

Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p, where the average of 56.3 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target. At 1440p and 4K, Ultra produces averages of 53.2 and 42.1 FPS, respectively, which are likely to result in a less responsive experience. Low settings are the only preset that guarantees high frame rates at all resolutions, with a minimum average of 112.9 FPS at 4K, but the visual compromise is substantial.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 247th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the top 14.6% of all tested configurations for this game, indicating strong overall performance. The ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU, where the 20-core processor provides ample headroom for the graphics card to operate at its full potential.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals supports this high ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K has an average benchmark score of 79102, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF (79240) and the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79245). It is 0.9% behind the Intel Core i9-14900K (79824) and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041). This tight grouping at the top of the CPU charts means that the processor is not a weak link in the pairing.

The GPU's standing is similarly solid, though it sits in a more crowded field. The RTX 4070 SUPER's average score of 42576 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (42653, 0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (42723, 0.3% higher). It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991) by 1.4% and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897) by 1.6%. This mid-pack position among rivals suggests that the GPU is well-matched to the CPU, resulting in a combo that ranks highly without being at the absolute top tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the primary determinant of frame rates in The Medium, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game's demands at all tested settings, as evidenced by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 4K without any sudden performance collapses.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These clocks, combined with the 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs, produce a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS is the raw compute capability that drives the rendering workload. In practical terms, these specifications translate to an average of 46.6 FPS at 4K High and 42.1 FPS at 4K Ultra, showing that the GPU is pushed hard at the highest settings.

The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-hungry component, but the benchmark results show it delivers consistent performance. The 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a high-end part, though not the absolute fastest. In The Medium, its role as the bottleneck is clear: as resolution increases, the FPS drops proportionally, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-limited system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all combinations of resolution and settings.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 164.3 on Low to 56.3 on Ultra. The Medium preset achieves 102 FPS, while High delivers 75.7 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the capabilities of this system, with even Ultra settings remaining playable.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 140.9 on Low, 87.6 on Medium, 62.8 on High, and 53.2 on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is more pronounced at higher settings, with Ultra losing 3.1 FPS (5.5%) and Low losing 23.4 FPS (14.2%). This suggests that the GPU is becoming more stressed as the pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 112.9 on Low, 67.8 on Medium, 46.6 on High, and 42.1 on Ultra. The 4K results show the largest performance penalty, with High and Ultra falling below the 60 FPS threshold. The difference between Medium and High at 4K is 21.2 FPS, which is a significant jump in performance for a one-tier settings reduction.

The data clearly shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the limiting factor, as the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K provides sufficient processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low, where the CPU is most likely to be tested. Overall, this combo offers a flexible gaming experience, with the user able to choose between high frame rates at lower settings or playable frame rates at higher resolutions.