The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on a dual-reality rendering system, presents a demanding workload that scales steeply with resolution. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, using only the benchmark data provided to interpret how this combination handles the game’s visual load.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline tells a specific story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo averages 90 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 75 FPS, a 16.7% reduction. The jump to 4K further reduces the average to 59 FPS, another 21.3% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 3080’s rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor as pixel count grows.

The Low preset exhibits the most dramatic resolution sensitivity. At 1080p Low, the system hits 143 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still manages 121 FPS, but at 4K Low, the average plummets to 95 FPS. The delta between 1440p and 4K here is 21.5%, nearly identical to the Medium preset’s drop. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is still the primary constraint; the CPU is not holding the system back, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions.

High and Ultra presets show steeper relative declines. High averages 64 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p (a 15.6% drop), and 42 FPS at 4K (a 22.2% drop). Ultra is the most punishing, starting at 51 FPS at 1080p, falling to 43 FPS at 1440p (15.7% drop), and reaching just 34 FPS at 4K (20.9% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across presets reinforces that resolution scaling is uniform and entirely dependent on the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, not on the CPU’s processing power.

The data indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 3080. The frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p are smaller than those between 1440p and 4K, which is typical for a GPU-limited title. The game’s dual-world rendering technique, which requires simultaneous scene processing, does not appear to introduce a CPU bottleneck at any resolution tested, since even the lowest preset at 1080p only reaches 143 FPS, far below the CPU’s potential ceiling.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus bottleneck the RTX 3080 in The Medium?

A: No. The measured data shows that frame rates scale consistently with resolution, dropping proportionally as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 143 FPS, and at 4K Low, it drops to 95 FPS, indicating the GPU is the limiting component across all settings.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for a smooth experience?

A: Based on the measured rows, 1440p Medium provides a strong balance, averaging 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and offers higher visual fidelity than Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 3080's VRAM capacity affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 3080 has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 320-bit bus and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth. The data shows 4K Medium averages 59 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 34 FPS. The steep falloff at Ultra suggests the memory subsystem is strained, though the exact impact of VRAM capacity versus raw compute cannot be isolated from these figures.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable with this hardware?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average is 51 FPS, which is technically playable but below the 60 FPS standard. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 43 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it is 34 FPS. The data suggests Ultra is only viable at 1080p for those who prioritize image quality over frame rate.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Medium?

A: At 1080p, Medium (90 FPS) is 76.5% faster than Ultra (51 FPS). At 1440p, Medium (75 FPS) is 74.4% faster than Ultra (43 FPS). At 4K, Medium (59 FPS) is 73.5% faster than Ultra (34 FPS). The relative gain is consistent across resolutions.

Q: What does the Low preset offer in terms of performance headroom?

A: Low settings unlock high refresh rates. The combo achieves 143 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. This preset is suitable for competitive play or for users with high refresh rate monitors, even at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the definitive performance driver in this configuration. Its Ampere architecture, built on Samsung’s 8 nm process, contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The card operates with a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, providing the raw compute necessary for The Medium’s complex lighting and shadow calculations. The GPU’s 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines are directly responsible for the pixel throughput observed in the measured FPS data.

Memory bandwidth plays a critical role in this title. The RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at an effective 19 Gbps across a 320-bit bus, yielding 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial figure, but the data suggests it is still insufficient for the Ultra preset at high resolutions. The transition from Medium to Ultra at 4K results in a 42.4% drop in average FPS (from 59 to 34). While this is partly due to increased shader complexity, the memory pressure from higher-resolution textures and the dual-world rendering system is likely a contributing factor.

The GPU’s performance percentile, at 68% versus all GPUs, places it in the upper third of the market. However, its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which are not comparable in gaming performance. This discrepancy highlights that the RTX 3080’s real-world gaming capabilities, as demonstrated in The Medium, are stronger than its average benchmark score might suggest. The measured FPS at 1080p Medium (90 FPS) and 1440p Medium (75 FPS) confirm that this GPU remains a capable performer for this title, despite its end-of-life production status.

The GPU’s ray tracing cores and tensor cores, 68 and 272 respectively, are present but their specific impact on The Medium’s performance cannot be quantified from the provided data. The game’s use of fixed camera angles and pre-baked lighting may reduce the reliance on real-time ray tracing, meaning the card’s rasterization throughput is the primary factor in the results shown. The FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS provides ample compute headroom, but the measured frame rates indicate that memory bandwidth and fill rate are the binding constraints at higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides 12 distinct measurement points, covering four settings presets across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS of 143, with Medium at 90, High at 64, and Ultra at 51. The Medium preset at 1080p includes a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, indicating a stable frame time distribution. The 52 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the significant cost of the higher-quality textures and effects.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with reduced absolute numbers. Low averages 121 FPS, Medium 75 FPS (with a min of 64 and max of 87), High 54 FPS, and Ultra 43 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 78 FPS, showing that the resolution increase compresses the performance envelope. The Medium preset at 1440p remains the most balanced option, with its minimum of 64 FPS staying above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 begins to struggle with the higher presets. Low averages 95 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K. Medium drops to 59 FPS (min 50, max 68), placing it just below the ideal 60 FPS mark. High averages 42 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS, both of which would be considered borderline unplayable for a smooth experience. The 61 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest relative spread across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is running out of headroom at this pixel count.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers the most consistent performance profile across all three resolutions. Its minimum FPS values (76 at 1080p, 64 at 1440p, 50 at 4K) are all within a reasonable range of their averages, suggesting that the game does not suffer from sudden frame time spikes at this setting. In contrast, the High and Ultra presets, which lack min/max data, are likely more variable, but the lower averages already indicate a less stable experience.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the RTX 3080 achieves a combo rank of 753 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the system in the top 25.9% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank is a holistic measure that considers performance across all resolution and settings combinations, and it reflects the RTX 3080’s solid, but not top-tier, standing in the current hardware landscape.

The CPU component of this combo is a high-end part, with a benchmark percentile of 96% versus all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 84003 places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX. This indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is among the fastest processors available, and its performance headroom is not a limiting factor in this game. The CPU’s 24 cores and 24 threads, along with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, provide substantial single-threaded and multi-threaded capability, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 scores of 7303 single-core and 51731 multi-core.

The GPU, however, is the weaker link in this pairing. Its percentile of 68% versus all GPUs is significantly lower than the CPU’s 96%. The RTX 3080’s average benchmark score of 23172 is actually 0.3% lower than the NVIDIA P106-100, a much older and less capable card, highlighting the synthetic benchmark’s inability to capture real-world gaming performance. In The Medium, the GPU’s rank contribution is limited by its memory capacity and bandwidth, which are insufficient for the highest settings at 4K.

The combo rank of 753 suggests that while this system is capable of playing The Medium well at medium settings, it is not optimized for maximum visual fidelity. Many of the 2158 combos ranked above it likely feature newer GPUs with larger memory pools and higher bandwidth. The data indicates that for this specific game, the CPU is overqualified relative to the GPU, and a more balanced pairing would either use a less powerful CPU or a more powerful GPU to achieve a higher rank.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset provides the optimal balance between visual quality and playable frame rates for this hardware combination. At 1080p, Medium delivers 90 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Medium maintains 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS, ensuring no significant dips below playability. At 4K, Medium drops to 59 FPS, which is marginally below 60 but still acceptable for a slower-paced horror game.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate. At 1080p, it achieves 64 FPS, which is still playable. However, at 1440p, it drops to 54 FPS, and at 4K, it falls to 42 FPS. These lower frame rates may cause noticeable stuttering in a game that relies on atmospheric tension and precise timing, making Medium the safer choice for a consistent experience.

The Ultra preset should be avoided at resolutions above 1080p. At 1080p, it averages 51 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold. At 1440p and 4K, it produces 43 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, both of which are too low for comfortable gameplay. The visual gains from Ultra over High are unlikely to justify the significant performance cost, particularly given the game’s fixed camera angles which reduce the perceived detail difference.

The Low preset is the only option that provides consistently high frame rates across all resolutions, with 143 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. This preset is recommended for users with high refresh rate monitors (144Hz or above) or for those who value performance above all else. However, the visual downgrade is substantial, and the Medium preset’s 90 FPS at 1080p offers a far better balance for most players.

For the best overall experience, the recommendation is to run the game at 1440p with the Medium preset. This configuration yields 75 FPS average with a 64 FPS minimum, providing a smooth, stable, and visually appealing experience that leverages the RTX 3080’s capabilities without overextending its memory bandwidth. At 4K, the Medium preset’s 59 FPS average is acceptable, but users may prefer to drop to 1440p for a more consistent frame rate.