The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers a highly capable, if demanding, experience in The Medium. The benchmark data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, but which can still produce extremely high frame rates when the graphical load is reduced. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and presets, explaining what the numbers mean for a builder targeting this specific horror title.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 36 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35589 and a single-core score of 2204, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs tested. With an average benchmark score of 67469, it sits within 0.7% of the Intel Xeon 6515P and within 0.6% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX, making it a top-tier mobile part.

However, in The Medium, the CPU's role is not the primary bottleneck. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 137 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it achieves 86 FPS. If the CPU were limiting performance, we would expect these scores to be closer together, as the graphical load changes. Instead, the frame rate scales significantly with settings, indicating that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting. The processor's high single-thread performance (Geekbench single-core score of 2458) ensures that it can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the game's rendering demands quickly outpace what the RTX 4080 can deliver.

The 24 threads are more than sufficient for this title. The game does not appear to be multi-thread scaling limited, as the performance delta between resolutions and settings is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 55759 is impressive, but it is not a determining factor in the FPS numbers observed. The data suggests that the Core Ultra 9 275HX provides a stable foundation, preventing any CPU-induced frame dips, but the experience is dictated by the graphics card.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 137 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset drops to 86 FPS, still very smooth, while High yields 61 FPS, which is playable but less fluid. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces 49 FPS, indicating a significant performance cost for the highest visual fidelity.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern continues. Low delivers 116 FPS, Medium 72 FPS, and High 52 FPS. Ultra drops to 41 FPS. At 4K, the numbers become more demanding: Low hits 91 FPS, Medium 57 FPS, High 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 32 FPS. The data shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, providing a 73-99 FPS range at 1080p and a 61-83 FPS range at 1440p. This preset maintains playable frame rates even at 4K (48-65 FPS range), making it the most versatile choice across all resolutions.

For a builder prioritizing smoothness, the Low preset is the only option that guarantees triple-digit frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. However, the jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 37% of the frame rate at 1080p (137 to 86 FPS), which is a substantial trade-off. The High preset is a middle ground, but it often falls below the 60 FPS threshold at 1440p and 4K, which many players consider the minimum for a comfortable experience. The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combination, as it struggles to maintain 60 FPS even at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of a GPU-limited workload. At Medium settings, the average FPS is 86 at 1080p, 72 at 1440p, and 57 at 4K. This represents a 16.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33.7% drop from 1080p to 4K. The Low preset shows a similar trend: 137 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 91 at 4K. These are significant reductions in frame rate as pixel count increases, which directly indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor.

If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rates to remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. Instead, the data shows that the RTX 4080 is saturated by the increasing pixel throughput. The 4K High preset drops to 41 FPS, which is a 32.8% reduction from the 1080p High score of 61 FPS. This pattern confirms that the game's rendering engine is pushing the graphics card to its limits, and the Core Ultra 9 275HX is not holding it back.

The scaling is not perfectly linear, which suggests some minor overhead, but the overall trend is clear. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being exercised heavily at higher resolutions. The data implies that to achieve a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, a user must drop to Low settings (91 FPS) or accept the Medium preset's 57 FPS average. This is a direct consequence of the GPU's raw compute power (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) being the primary driver of performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 872nd out of 2911 total combos. This places it in the top 30% of all tested systems, which is a solid result but not a top-tier one. Given the high-end nature of both components, one might expect a higher rank, but the game's performance is clearly influenced by the GPU's limits at higher settings.

The combo rank of 872 suggests that while this is a powerful system, there are many other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in this specific title. This is likely due to the fact that The Medium is a demanding game that punishes even flagship GPUs at 4K Ultra. The data shows that the RTX 4080, while capable, is not the fastest card available, and the Core Ultra 9 275HX, despite its high synthetic scores, does not boost the combo into the top echelon for this game.

Compared to other combos, this pairing is firmly in the "high-end enthusiast" bracket, but it is not the absolute fastest. The rank indicates that a user with this setup can expect a very good experience, especially at lower resolutions and settings, but they will not be at the very top of the performance leaderboard. The percentile ranking of the CPU (94th) and GPU (86th) individually does not translate directly to a top-tier game rank, highlighting that game-specific optimization and engine quirks play a significant role.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this system. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2505 MHz, and it has a TDP of 320 W. With 9728 shading units and 76 RT cores, it is a powerful Ada Lovelace architecture card. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 34457 in Passmark G3D and 6567 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs.

Its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores a deltaPct of 0.1%, meaning they are virtually identical in performance. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% slower, and the Radeon 8060S is 2.7% slower. The GPU's performance in The Medium is directly tied to its memory bandwidth and compute throughput. At 4K Ultra, the game demands a massive amount of data, and the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is a key factor in the 32 FPS result. The 16 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for the game's textures, but the raw compute power is the limiting factor at high settings.

The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute is the engine driving the FPS numbers, and the results show that it is fully utilized. The Low preset at 4K (91 FPS) shows that when the visual load is reduced, the GPU can push high frame rates, but the High and Ultra presets quickly overwhelm it. This indicates that the game's advanced rendering features, such as ray tracing or high-resolution shadows, are extremely taxing on the GPU's resources.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: According to the measured data, the Medium preset at 1440p provides an average of 72 FPS, with a range of 61-83 FPS, which is ideal for a consistent 60 FPS experience. At 4K, the Medium preset also averages 57 FPS, but it can dip to 48 FPS, making it less reliable for a strict 60 FPS target.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. The 4K Low preset achieves 91 FPS, and the Medium preset achieves 57 FPS. However, the High preset drops to 41 FPS and Ultra to 32 FPS, indicating that 4K is only comfortable at lower graphical presets.

Q: Is the game more CPU-bound or GPU-bound for this combo?

A: The data strongly indicates a GPU-bound scenario. The FPS drops significantly as resolution increases (e.g., 86 FPS at 1080p Medium to 57 FPS at 4K Medium), which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU's performance is sufficient to keep up, as evidenced by the high frame rates at Low settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems tested?

A: This specific combo ranks 872nd out of 2911 tested combinations. This places it in the top 30% of all systems, which is a strong result, but it indicates that other hardware pairings can achieve higher frame rates in this specific title.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the High preset averages 61 FPS, while Ultra averages 49 FPS, a drop of 12 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is from 52 FPS to 41 FPS. At 4K, High averages 41 FPS and Ultra averages 32 FPS, showing that Ultra is consistently about 20-25% slower than High.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM enough for this game?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory appears sufficient, as the performance drops are more closely tied to compute load (settings) than to memory capacity. The game does not exhibit sudden crashes or massive stutters that would indicate a VRAM overflow, and the FPS scaling with resolution is consistent with bandwidth and compute limitations.