The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within The Medium. The data reveals a system where a top-tier processor is held back by a mid-range graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across nine distinct configurations, interpreting what the numbers mean for playability and system balance.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for The Medium clearly indicates that the "Medium" preset is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. This frame rate range is notably smoother than the High preset’s 52 FPS average, and it provides a more consistent experience than the 115 FPS Low preset, which likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for performance that exceeds what most displays can show.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains a playable average of 61 FPS, with dips to 52 FPS and peaks at 70 FPS. This is the only settings tier at this resolution that stays comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for the majority of playtime. The High preset drops to 43 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in a game that relies on atmospheric tension, while the Ultra preset’s 34 FPS average is simply too sluggish for a smooth horror experience. The Low preset at 97 FPS, while fast, undermines the game's visual storytelling.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Medium preset yields a 48 FPS average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS. While not hitting the 60 FPS mark, this is the only preset at 4K that offers a reasonably stable and immersive experience. The High preset falls to 34 FPS, and Ultra drops to a nearly unplayable 27 FPS average. The Low preset at 76 FPS is the only way to achieve high refresh rates at 4K, but it requires significant graphical compromises.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the recommended starting point for all users. It provides the best compromise between the CPU's ability to feed frames and the GPU's capacity to render them, avoiding the severe frame rate collapses seen at High and Ultra while maintaining superior visual quality compared to Low. The 40 FPS minimum at 4K Medium is the lowest dip recorded for this setting, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame time remains relatively stable.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the primary limiting factor in this configuration for The Medium. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit memory bus provide a 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's assets at 1080p and 1440p. However, the data shows a clear performance cliff as resolution increases, pointing to the GPU's raw compute limitations rather than memory capacity issues.

The GPU's boost clock of 2600 MHz and game clock of 2495 MHz are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding settings. The benchmark progression from 1080p Medium (72 FPS) to 1440p Medium (61 FPS) to 4K Medium (48 FPS) shows a consistent performance degradation that aligns with the GPU's pixel throughput limits. The RDNA 2.0 architecture, while capable, is outclassed by the CPU's headroom in this pairing.

Interestingly, the GPU's performance percentile of 71 places it well below the CPU's 96 percentile, creating a significant imbalance. The nearest rivals to the RX 6750 XT, such as the AMD Radeon R9 M395X (0.5% slower) and the AMD FirePro W7100 (0.6% slower), are all older or lower-tier parts, confirming that this GPU is positioned in the mid-range segment. The 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is simply insufficient to drive The Medium's dual-reality rendering technique at high resolutions and settings simultaneously.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this combo?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent performance, with the Medium preset averaging 72 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset still achieves 61 FPS, but 3840x2160 drops to 48 FPS on the same settings.

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

A: Yes, but only with significant compromises. At 4K, the Low preset achieves 76 FPS, and Medium drops to 48 FPS. The High and Ultra presets fall to 34 FPS and 27 FPS respectively, which are below playable thresholds for a horror title requiring smooth motion.

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

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 84,003 on average, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX. It trails the AMD EPYC 7F72 by 1.3%.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly?

A: The Ultra preset at any resolution yields the lowest frame rates, from 41 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 4K. This suggests the GPU cannot handle the additional rendering load, as the CPU has ample headroom with its 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock.

*Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium?*

A: The data indicates yes, as the frame rate drops between resolutions are consistent with compute limitations, not memory overflow. The 432.0 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB capacity appear adequate for the game's requirements at the tested settings.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 1292 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the GPU bottleneck, as the CPU alone would rank much higher.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT achieves a rank of 1292 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places the system in the 55.6th percentile of all configurations tested, meaning it outperforms slightly more than half of the systems in the database.

This ranking is notably lower than what the CPU alone would suggest. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the RX 6750 XT is only in the 71st percentile of GPUs. The combination's rank is dragged down by the GPU, which is the bottleneck in this pairing. The data shows that the CPU's 24 cores and 36 MB of L3 cache provide substantial performance headroom, but the GPU's 13.31 TFLOPS of compute power cannot fully utilize it in The Medium.

The rank of 1292 indicates that many other tested systems with more balanced CPU-GPU pairings outperform this configuration, despite the high-end processor. This highlights a critical insight: in a game like The Medium that relies heavily on GPU rendering, a mid-range graphics card will limit the overall experience regardless of CPU prowess. The gap between the CPU's percentile (96) and GPU's percentile (71) is a clear indicator of this imbalance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the classic signs of a GPU-bound scenario. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 72 at 1920x1080 to 61 at 2560x1440, a 15.3% decrease. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160, the FPS drops from 61 to 48, a 21.3% decrease. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 33.3%, which is substantial but not linear with the pixel count increase.

This non-linear scaling pattern is telling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates at lower resolutions would plateau, but they do not. The consistent decline across all resolutions indicates that the GPU is working at its maximum capacity. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 115 FPS, but this drops to 76 FPS at 4K Low, a 33.9% reduction. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the GPU's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra presets widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 74 FPS (115 vs 41). At 4K, this gap narrows to 49 FPS (76 vs 27). This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is saturated at 4K, unable to differentiate between settings as effectively because it is already at its computational limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings spectrum is tested. The Low preset delivers the highest average at 115 FPS, followed by Medium at 72 FPS (min 61, max 83), High at 52 FPS, and Ultra at 41 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 61 FPS is particularly notable, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold even during demanding scenes, providing a consistently smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down predictably. Low produces 97 FPS, Medium drops to 61 FPS (min 52, max 70), High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34 FPS. The Medium preset's 52 FPS minimum is close to the 60 FPS target, but occasional dips below it may be noticeable in slower, more detailed sections of the game.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become stark. Low yields 76 FPS, Medium drops to 48 FPS (min 40, max 55), High falls to 34 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 27 FPS. The Medium preset's 40 FPS minimum is the lowest recorded for any Medium setting, indicating that even this moderate preset struggles at 4K during intense sequences.

The data reveals that the Medium preset at 1080p (72 FPS) outperforms the High preset at 1440p (43 FPS) by 67.4%, and the Medium preset at 1440p (61 FPS) outperforms the Ultra preset at 4K (27 FPS) by 125.9%. These comparisons highlight how users can prioritize either resolution or visual fidelity, with the Medium preset offering the most balanced experience at each resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a powerhouse that is severely underutilized in this pairing. With 24 cores and 24 threads, a base clock of 3.70 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, the CPU has far more processing capability than The Medium requires. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample memory hierarchy for game logic and asset streaming.

The CPU's benchmarks confirm its high-end status. It scores 51,731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7,303 in single-core, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 84,003 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX, showing that it is at the top of the performance stack.

However, in The Medium, the CPU never becomes a limiting factor. The frame rates at all resolutions and settings are governed by the GPU's rendering speed. This is evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would face its highest workload, the system achieves 115 FPS. This is a high frame rate, but it is not limited by the CPU; rather, it is the maximum the GPU can output at those settings.

The data suggests that this CPU is overkill for gaming with a mid-range GPU. The 125W TDP and 3 nm process node make it an efficient processor, but its full potential remains untapped. In a system with a more powerful GPU, this CPU could push significantly higher frame rates in The Medium, as its 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 cores would easily handle any scene the game can produce. The current configuration wastes this capability, leaving substantial performance on the table.