The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 2793rd out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 4% of all tested hardware configurations. This is a profoundly weak result, with the combo sitting at the 96th percentile for the CPU alone but being dragged down by a GPU that, while at the 74th percentile globally, simply cannot handle the game's demands at modern resolutions. The data indicates a severe bottleneck that no amount of CPU headroom can overcome, as the RX 570's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and GCN 4.0 architecture are outmatched by the game's rendering requirements at nearly every settings and resolution combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination's rank of 2793 out of 2911 tested combos is a decisive verdict: this is one of the weakest pairings for The Medium in the entire benchmark database. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 93785, sits at the 96th percentile of all processors and is competitive with the Intel Xeon 6520P (deltaPct 0), the AMD EPYC 4564P (deltaPct -1.5), the AMD EPYC 9175F (deltaPct -1.9), and the AMD EPYC 4565P (deltaPct -2.1). This is raw computational muscle that would be wasted on a less demanding title. However, the GPU's average benchmark score of 28766 places it at the 74th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (deltaPct 0.7), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct -0.8), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (deltaPct 1.2). These rivals are not powerhouses; they are mid-range and older parts, confirming the RX 570 is the limiting factor.

The measured FPS data confirms this chasm. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 44 FPS, which is the only playable result in the entire dataset. At 1080p Medium, it drops to 28 FPS, and at 1080p High to 20 FPS. The Ultra preset is a slideshow at 16 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the situation worsens: Low yields 37 FPS, Medium 23 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 13 FPS. At 4K, the results are almost unusable, with Low at 29 FPS, Medium at 18 FPS, High at 13 FPS, and Ultra at 10 FPS. The trend is clear: the CPU is capable of far more, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth (224.0 GB/s) are insufficient for the game's fixed-function workload. The ranking is not an anomaly; it is a direct reflection of the GPU's inability to keep up, and the data suggests that swapping the RX 570 for almost any modern GPU would yield a dramatic rank improvement.

Settings Recommendations

The only setting that provides a consistently playable experience is Low at 1080p, where the combo achieves an average of 44 FPS. This is the sole configuration where the frame rate meets the minimum threshold for a smooth horror experience, and it is the only row in the measured data that exceeds 40 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 28 FPS, which is borderline and will result in noticeable stutter during the game's fixed-camera transitions and dual-world sequences. The data shows a 36% FPS drop from Low to Medium at 1080p (44 to 28 FPS), which is a steep penalty for a single preset step. The High preset at 1080p yields 20 FPS, and Ultra yields 16 FPS; both are unplayable and should be avoided entirely.

For 1440p, the Low preset at 37 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it is still below the 1080p Low experience. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 23 FPS, which is too low for the game's atmospheric pacing. At 4K, no setting is viable; even Low at 29 FPS is a poor experience due to the resolution's pixel count, and the game's reliance on pre-rendered backgrounds does not mitigate the GPU's load. The recommendation is unequivocal: run the game at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only combination that allows the game to be played without constant frame drops, and it is the only row where the hardware's performance is not a distraction from the horror experience. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the maximum acceptable compromise, but the measured 28 FPS average will test patience during the game's most intense scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a GPU-bound scenario that is unusually linear. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by 16% on Low (44 to 37 FPS), by 18% on Medium (28 to 23 FPS), by 15% on High (20 to 17 FPS), and by 19% on Ultra (16 to 13 FPS). From 1440p to 4K, the drops are more severe: Low falls from 37 to 29 FPS (a 22% drop), Medium from 23 to 18 FPS (a 22% drop), High from 17 to 13 FPS (a 24% drop), and Ultra from 13 to 10 FPS (a 23% drop). This pattern indicates that the RX 570's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are the primary constraints, as the frame rate scales almost exactly with the pixel count increase.

The CPU, with its 24 cores and 24 threads running at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, is not the limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau where FPS remains constant regardless of resolution, but the data shows a consistent decline with each resolution step. The 4K results, which are all below 30 FPS, are particularly telling; the GPU's 4 GB VRAM is likely causing texture thrashing, as the game's assets at 3840x2160 exceed the memory capacity. The 18 FPS at 4K Medium (with a min of 15 FPS and max of 21 FPS) shows severe frame time variance, which is a classic sign of memory pressure. The conclusion is that the RX 570's 256-bit memory bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 1440p and 4K, and the 1080p Low preset is the only true sweet spot where the GPU's limitations are masked by the lower resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of the combo's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 44 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 28 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 32 FPS, showing a playable but inconsistent frame rate. The High preset drops to 20 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 16 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for competent gameplay. The 1080p results show that the game is technically playable only at Low, and the 16 FPS at Ultra is a 64% drop from the Low preset, which is a massive performance penalty for shadows and reflections that the GPU cannot handle.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 37 FPS, which is a 16% drop from 1080p Low. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 23 FPS, with a minimum of 20 FPS and a maximum of 27 FPS, indicating that the game is not smooth at this setting. The High preset at 1440p yields 17 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 13 FPS. The 1440p data shows a 22% drop from Low to Medium (37 to 23 FPS), and a 43% drop from Low to Ultra (37 to 13 FPS). This steep decline is due to the GPU's fill rate being overwhelmed by the increased pixel count combined with higher settings. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 29 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 20 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 18 FPS, with a minimum of 15 FPS and a maximum of 21 FPS, showing severe frame pacing issues. The High preset at 4K drops to 13 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 10 FPS. The 4K data is uniformly unplayable, and the 10 FPS at Ultra is a 66% drop from the 4K Low preset, confirming that the RX 570 is out of its depth at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable setting for this combo in The Medium?

A: The 1920x1080 Low preset is the only configuration that delivers a playable experience, with an average of 44 FPS. All other settings and resolutions fall below 40 FPS, with the next best being 1440p Low at 37 FPS, which is still marginal.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93785, putting it at the 96th percentile. It is essentially tied with the Intel Xeon 6520P (deltaPct 0), and is 1.5% faster than the AMD EPYC 4564P, 1.9% faster than the AMD EPYC 9175F, and 2.1% faster than the AMD EPYC 4565P. The CPU is not the bottleneck.

Q: Is the GPU a significant bottleneck?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon RX 570's average benchmark score of 28766 is at the 74th percentile, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct -0.4), the AMD Radeon R9 M295X (deltaPct 0.7), the AMD Radeon RX 470 (deltaPct -0.8), and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 (deltaPct 1.2). The GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the FPS dropping consistently with resolution and settings.

Q: What happens to FPS when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: The average FPS drops by approximately 34-38% depending on the setting. For example, Low goes from 44 FPS at 1080p to 29 FPS at 4K, and Medium goes from 28 FPS at 1080p to 18 FPS at 4K. The scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, confirming a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: Can this combo run the game at Ultra settings?

A: No, the Ultra preset is unplayable at all resolutions. The highest Ultra result is 16 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 13 FPS at 1440p and 10 FPS at 4K. The data shows that the RX 570 cannot handle the Ultra preset's increased shadow and reflection quality.

Q: How does the combo rank overall?

A: The combo ranks 2793rd out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 4% of all tested hardware. This rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's limitations, despite the CPU being in the top 4% of all processors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a formidable processor that is entirely wasted in this configuration. It features 24 cores and 24 threads, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture on a 3 nm process node from TSMC. The base clock is 3.70 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and it has a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This CPU is designed for heavy multi-threaded workloads, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44253 and a Passmark multithread score of 68574. It also has a Passmark single-thread score of 5068, indicating strong per-core performance.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's physics and AI. The game is a horror title that uses fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, which reduces the CPU's rendering workload compared to open-world titles. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck, as the FPS scaling with resolution follows the GPU's pixel throughput. The CPU's 24 threads are more than sufficient for the game's multi-threaded tasks, and the 36 MB of L3 cache helps with data locality. However, the game's performance is capped by the RX 570's 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 159.2 GTexel/s texture rate, which are insufficient for the game's graphical demands. The CPU's high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2439) ensures that it can handle the game's main thread without causing frame drops, but this does not translate to playable frame rates due to the GPU's limitations. The data suggests that even a lower-end CPU would achieve similar FPS in this game, as the RX 570 is the sole determinant of performance. The 24-core CPU is overkill for this workload, but it does ensure that there are no CPU-induced stutters, allowing the GPU to be the sole source of frame rate variance.