The Medium

# The Medium: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 — Benchmark Analysis

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents an unusual stress profile: it relies heavily on continuous scene rendering with frequent dual-world split-screen sequences. The measured data from this Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly CPU-bound at 1080p. With the combo ranking 583rd out of 2,911 tested configurations, this pairing sits in the top 20% of all tested systems, though the performance characteristics are more nuanced than that rank suggests.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 150 FPS at 1920x1080 to 127 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 23 FPS or roughly 15%. Pushing to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields 99 FPS, which represents a 34% drop from the 1440p result and a 51 FPS total decline from 1080p. This scaling pattern is steep but not extreme, suggesting the RTX 4090 still has headroom even at 4K when settings are minimized.

The Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 94 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The delta between 1080p and 1440p is 15 FPS (16%), while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 17 FPS (21.5%). This accelerating decline with resolution is a textbook indicator that pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint as resolution climbs. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are clearly being taxed by the 4K render targets, particularly with The Medium's layered camera work.

High and Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty considerably. At High, the system delivers 67 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K — each step costs roughly 10-12 FPS. Ultra settings are the most punishing: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and just 35 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is below the 45 FPS High result at the same resolution, showing that the gap between High and Ultra widens as resolution increases. This suggests Ultra enables effects that disproportionately impact higher pixel counts, likely related to volumetric lighting or shadow resolution.

What the data indicates is that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes relevant — the 16-core, 22-thread Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with a 5.10 GHz boost clock has to work harder to keep the RTX 4090 saturated. At 4K, the GPU's raw compute and memory bandwidth dominate the equation, and the CPU's role diminishes. The 45 FPS 4K High result versus the 67 FPS 1080p High result demonstrates that resolution scaling costs roughly one-third of performance, which is consistent with a GPU that is being pushed to its limits at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in this configuration is the undisputed performance driver at 1440p and above. With a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, this Ada Lovelace part (AD102 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process) delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs provide the raw geometry and pixel throughput that The Medium's cinematic camera angles demand. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present, though The Medium's implementation of ray-traced effects is limited in the measured settings.

The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory running at 21 Gbps effective through a 384-bit bus yields 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This is critical for The Medium because the game frequently renders two simultaneous perspectives (the real world and the spirit world) in split-screen or overlapping segments. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 35 FPS, and the memory subsystem is likely the constraint — 4K render targets for two world states consume significant VRAM and bandwidth. The 53 FPS minimum observed at 4K Medium (with a 71 FPS max) confirms that frame pacing varies considerably when memory pressure fluctuates.

The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347, places it well above typical mobile or desktop parts. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (+0.3%), but those comparisons are based on synthetic averages, not gaming performance. In The Medium specifically, the RTX 4090's strength in raw rasterization becomes evident in the Low settings results — 150 FPS at 1080p and 99 FPS at 4K are both high enough to suggest the GPU is not the bottleneck when settings are reduced.

The delta between High and Ultra settings at the same resolution is consistent: 14 FPS at 1080p (67 to 53), 12 FPS at 1440p (57 to 45), and 10 FPS at 4K (45 to 35). This narrowing delta at higher resolutions indicates that Ultra settings introduce effects that scale with resolution — likely high-resolution shadow maps or ambient occlusion — and the GPU's fixed compute budget becomes more strained. The RTX 4090's 450 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are justified here; the card is clearly being pushed hard at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in The Medium?

A: The maximum measured average is 150 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the same resolution with High settings, the average drops to 67 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra result compare to the 1080p Low result?

A: The 4K Ultra average is 35 FPS, which is 115 FPS lower than the 1080p Low average of 150 FPS. This represents a 76.7% reduction in frame rate when moving from the least demanding to the most demanding measured configuration.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not entirely. At 1080p Low (150 FPS) versus 1440p Low (127 FPS), the drop is 23 FPS, which is smaller than the 1440p-to-4K drop of 28 FPS. This nonlinear scaling implies the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p, where the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H's 16 cores and 22 threads must feed frames faster than the GPU can render them.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 583rd out of 2,911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 80th percentile of all tested systems.

Q: Which settings provide the most stable frame rates?

A: The Medium settings show the most consistent frame pacing, with measured minimums of 80 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K. These are the only settings with recorded min/max values, indicating more stable performance than High, Low, or Ultra.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H has an average benchmark score of 35,670, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 (35,719), 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 7 250H (35,728), 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802), and 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (35,909).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings sweep shows a wide performance envelope. Low settings deliver 150 FPS average, Medium produces 94 FPS (with a minimum of 80 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS), High achieves 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 53 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 97 FPS spread, indicating that settings choices have an enormous impact at this resolution. The Medium setting's 80 FPS minimum suggests that even during heavy scenes, the system maintains playable frame rates, while the 108 FPS maximum indicates headroom in lighter moments.

At 2560x1440, the same settings hierarchy persists but with compressed values. Low leads at 127 FPS, Medium follows at 79 FPS (67 min, 91 max), High delivers 57 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 45 FPS. The 82 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is smaller than at 1080p, reflecting the GPU's increased workload. The Medium setting's frame time consistency — a 24 FPS range between min and max — is actually tighter than the 28 FPS range at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU's workload is more stable at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low produces 99 FPS, Medium 62 FPS (53 min, 71 max), High 45 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The 64 FPS spread between Low and Ultra is the smallest of all three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck. The Medium setting's 53 FPS minimum is concerning for a horror game that relies on atmosphere — drops below 60 FPS can be noticeable. The 71 FPS maximum, however, shows that the system can exceed 60 FPS in less demanding scenes even at 4K with Medium settings.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, with minimums above 50 FPS even at 4K. High settings at 4K (45 FPS) and Ultra at 1440p (45 FPS) both sit at the same average, suggesting that users targeting 45 FPS can choose between higher resolution or higher settings depending on their display. Low settings at 4K (99 FPS) outperform High settings at 1080p (67 FPS), which illustrates the GPU's capability to prioritize resolution over detail.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 583 out of 2,911 tested configurations in The Medium. This places the combo in the top 20% of all systems tested, which is respectable but not exceptional for a pairing that includes the flagship RTX 4090. The rank reflects that The Medium's performance is heavily influenced by settings and resolution choices, and that many other high-end configurations can match or exceed these results depending on their CPU-GPU balance.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 85 against all CPUs indicates that the processor is in the top 15% of all tested CPUs, while the GPU's 88th percentile ranking places it in the top 12% of GPUs. The slight discrepancy between these percentiles and the combo's 80th percentile rank in The Medium suggests that the game does not fully utilize the strengths of either component. The Medium's engine appears to be more sensitive to GPU memory bandwidth and raw rasterization than to CPU multi-threading, which is why the combo's rank is slightly lower than the individual component percentiles might predict.

The nearest CPU rivals — the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, Intel Core 7 250H, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, and AMD Ryzen 7 7700X — all have average benchmark scores within 0.7% of the Core Ultra 9 185H. This clustering indicates that the CPU is not a differentiating factor in this game; the GPU dominates the performance envelope. The RTX 4090's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks (Intel Arc Pro A60, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48) are workstation-oriented parts, which highlights that the RTX 4090 is in a class of its own for gaming workloads.

For users comparing this combo to others, the 583rd rank out of 2,911 means that roughly 2,328 configurations perform better in The Medium. Given that many of those configurations likely include desktop-class CPUs and possibly higher-clocked GPUs, this mobile CPU with a flagship mobile GPU delivers competitive but not top-tier performance. The rank is a useful reference point, but the measured FPS data provides a clearer picture of what to expect in actual gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide substantial single-thread and multi-thread capability, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17,984.5 and a single-core score of 1,810.5. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 per core help maintain data locality for the game's streaming assets.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is most pronounced at 1080p Low settings, where the 150 FPS average suggests the GPU is not the primary constraint. The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 29,376 and single-thread score of 3,697 indicate strong per-core performance that can drive high frame rates. However, the drop from 150 FPS at 1080p Low to 127 FPS at 1440p Low (23 FPS) versus the 28 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K suggests that the CPU is still contributing at 1080p but becomes less relevant as resolution increases.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface could be a limiting factor at very high frame rates. At 150 FPS, the CPU must feed draw calls and scene data to the GPU at a rate that approaches the memory subsystem's practical limits. The 24 MB L3 cache helps mitigate this, but the data shows that the CPU cannot maintain 150 FPS at higher resolutions, where the GPU's workload becomes the bottleneck.

The CPU's benchmark percentile of 85 and average score of 35,670 place it in the upper tier of mobile processors, but its nearest rivals are all within 0.7% performance. This suggests that replacing the CPU with a comparable chip would have minimal impact on The Medium's frame rates. The game's fixed-camera perspective and pre-rendered backgrounds reduce CPU load compared to open-world titles, so the Core Ultra 9 185H's 22 threads are more than sufficient for this workload.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the optimal choice across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 94 FPS average with a minimum of 80 FPS, which provides a smooth experience on high-refresh displays without the visual compromises of Low settings. The 14 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1080p (94 vs 67) is significant, but the minimum frame rate of 80 FPS at Medium ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay above 70 FPS, which is not guaranteed at High settings.

At 1440p, Medium produces 79 FPS average (67 min, 91 max), which is well-suited for 144 Hz monitors. The 22 FPS gap between Medium and High (57 FPS) represents a meaningful visual quality upgrade that costs 22 FPS, but for users prioritizing frame rate consistency, Medium is the safer choice. The 67 FPS minimum at Medium is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High's 57 FPS average leaves no margin for demanding scenes.

At 4K, Medium delivers 62 FPS average (53 min, 71 max), which is the only setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS at this resolution. High and Ultra produce 45 FPS and 35 FPS respectively, both of which are below the 60 FPS target. For 4K users, Medium is the clear recommendation — the 53 FPS minimum is acceptable for a horror game where frame rate drops can enhance tension, but the 62 FPS average keeps the experience smooth. Users with VRR displays can tolerate the 53-71 FPS range without noticeable stuttering.

Low settings are only recommended for competitive play or maximum frame rate, where 150 FPS at 1080p or 99 FPS at 4K could be desirable. High settings are a middle ground for users with 60 Hz displays at 1440p, where 57 FPS is close enough to the target. Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions unless visual fidelity is the absolute priority — the 35 FPS at 4K Ultra is below playable thresholds for most users, and the 53 FPS at 1080p Ultra is only marginally acceptable. The data consistently shows that Medium provides the best balance of performance and quality, with the largest safety margin in minimum frame rates.