The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both the CPU and GPU, and the data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows a configuration that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly capable at lower settings. The benchmark results across the three tested resolutions reveal a system that can deliver high refresh rates at 1080p with the right settings, but which settles into a more conventional 60 FPS territory at 1440p and requires significant compromises at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a classic resolution scaling curve that becomes less steep as the preset quality drops. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo produces an average of 93 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium drops the average to 79 FPS, a reduction of 14 FPS. The jump to 4K Medium further reduces the average to 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor; the RTX 4070's workload increases proportionally with pixel count, and the frame rate follows suit.

The scaling behavior changes dramatically when looking at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system hits an average of 150 FPS, which is an excellent result for a high-refresh-rate display. At 1440p Low, the average is 126 FPS, and at 4K Low, it remains very playable at 99 FPS. The difference between the 1080p and 4K Low results is only 51 FPS, suggesting that at these lower settings, the CPU is starting to play a more significant role, preventing the frame rate from scaling linearly with the GPU load.

High and Ultra presets show the steepest drops, which is expected given the increased rendering complexity. At 1080p High, the average is 67 FPS, falling to 56 FPS at 1440p, and then to 44 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with averages of 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and just 35 FPS at 4K. The data shows that the 4K High and Ultra settings push the RTX 4070 to its limits, resulting in frame rates that are below the 60 FPS target, whereas the Medium preset at 4K just barely crosses that threshold.

The scaling pattern indicates that for this specific game and hardware combo, the limiting component at 4K Ultra is definitively the GPU. The frame rate drops by 18 FPS going from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, which is a 34% reduction. In contrast, the drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 51 FPS, a 34% reduction as well. The consistency of this percentage drop across presets suggests that the CPU overhead is relatively constant, and the GPU is doing the heavy lifting in all scenarios. This is typical for a horror game with complex lighting and shadow effects, which the RTX 4070's architecture handles well but which still requires significant processing power.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features a 12 GB frame buffer of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for The Medium at the tested resolutions, as the game does not appear to exceed the VRAM capacity, which would otherwise cause stuttering or texture pop-in. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz are key to its performance, and the data shows that it can sustain high throughput when needed.

In the context of the benchmark results, the RTX 4070's role is to manage the game's visual effects and rendering load. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs are responsible for pixel processing, and the 184 texture mapping units handle texture filtering. The card's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are indicative of its raw capabilities. However, the measured FPS shows that at 4K Ultra, these resources are stretched thin, resulting in a 35 FPS average.

The GPU's performance relative to its peers is solid. It holds a percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 37648 places it in a competitive position. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which is only 0.1% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, which is 0.4% behind. The RTX 4070 also leads the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 by 1.3%. This indicates that the RTX 4070 is a mid-to-high-tier card, and the results in The Medium align with this positioning; it is not a top-tier card capable of 4K Ultra at high frame rates, but it is more than adequate for 1440p gaming.

The data from the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the card scored 3854, and the Passmark G3D score of 26927, corroborates the gaming performance. The GPU's compute capabilities, as shown by its FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS, are substantial, but they are not fully utilized in this game, which is more dependent on fixed-function units and memory bandwidth. The 12 GB of VRAM is a notable asset, allowing the card to handle high-resolution textures without swapping to system memory, which would be a performance killer.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. This is a high-end desktop CPU built on the 3 nm process, and its performance in synthetic benchmarks is exceptional. It scores 51731 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7303 in single-core, which places it in the top tier of processors. Its average benchmark score of 84003 gives it a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw calls. The game is not particularly CPU-intensive compared to some strategy titles, but it still benefits from a high single-thread performance. The Ultra 9's single-core score of 736 in Cinebench R15 and 4823 in Passmark single-thread indicate that it can process the game's main thread efficiently. The 24 cores and 24 threads are more than enough for this game, which likely does not utilize more than a few cores effectively.

The CPU's influence on the frame rate is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 150 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes critical. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and the high boost clock help to minimize latency and ensure smooth frame pacing. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s for DDR5 also contributes to overall system responsiveness.

The data suggests that the Ultra 9 is not the limiting factor in this configuration. Even at 4K Low, where the frame rate is 99 FPS, the CPU is likely still not at its maximum capacity, as the frame rate is primarily constrained by the GPU's rendering speed. The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is very close; it is only 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which is a negligible difference, and 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX. This shows that the Ultra 9 is a top-tier processor, but its advantage over the previous generation is minimal, and in gaming, the GPU will almost always be the deciding factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 614th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 21% of all configurations, which is a strong showing given the wide range of hardware that has been benchmarked. The rank reflects the balance between the high-end CPU and the mid-to-high-end GPU, with the GPU ultimately capping the overall gaming performance.

The rank of 614 suggests that there are many combos with faster GPUs that achieve higher frame rates, but the Ultra 9's processing power ensures that the RTX 4070 is always fed with enough data to avoid CPU-related stutters. The combo is likely to be outperformed by systems with RTX 4080 or 4090 class cards, but it will also significantly outperform systems with lower-end CPUs paired with the same GPU, as the powerful processor prevents any bottlenecking.

Looking at the raw performance, the combo's results in The Medium are consistent with its overall hardware ranking. The RTX 4070's individual percentile of 81 and the CPU's percentile of 96 indicate that the CPU is a much stronger component relative to its peers than the GPU. This means that in a game like The Medium, the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rate, and the combo's rank of 614 is largely a reflection of the GPU's position in the market.

The ranking also implies that for users looking to improve performance in this specific game, upgrading the GPU would yield a more significant benefit than upgrading the CPU. The data shows that the RTX 4070 is the bottleneck at higher settings, and a more powerful GPU, such as one with a higher Passmark G3D score, would directly translate to higher frame rates. Conversely, the Ultra 9's performance is already so high that a faster CPU would likely provide diminishing returns.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a 60 FPS experience, the Medium preset is the clear choice at 4K, as it achieves an average of 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS. This provides a playable experience without significant dips, although the minimum frame rate suggests some occasional stutter in heavier scenes.

At 1440p, the High preset is a better option, delivering an average of 56 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 1440p achieves 79 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above 60 FPS and offers a smoother experience. For users with a 144 Hz monitor, the Low preset at 1440p, with an average of 126 FPS, is the only way to get close to that refresh rate, but it comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

At 1080p, the situation is more flexible. The High preset delivers 67 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and offers a good balance between visuals and performance. The Medium preset at 93 FPS is ideal for high refresh rate monitors, providing a smooth and responsive experience. The Low preset at 150 FPS is overkill for most displays, and the Ultra preset at 53 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold and the visual improvement over High is marginal.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the "sweet spot" for this hardware. It provides a playable frame rate at all three resolutions, with 93 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. The minimum frame rates for Medium are also consistent, with 79 FPS at 1080p and 67 FPS at 1440p, indicating good frame pacing. For a horror game where atmospheric tension is key, the Medium preset offers a stable enough frame rate to avoid breaking immersion, while still providing a visually appealing experience. The High preset is a viable alternative for those who prioritize visuals, but only at 1080p; at higher resolutions, the frame rate drops too low.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The combo achieves an average of 62 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ultra 9 has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K's score of 83807. It is also 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 powerful enough for 1080p High settings in The Medium?

A: Yes, the data shows an average of 67 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 614th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 21% of all configurations.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s.

Q: Which preset provides the highest frame rate at 1440p?

A: The Low preset provides the highest average frame rate at 2560x1440, achieving 126 FPS. The Medium preset follows with 79 FPS, and the High preset with 56 FPS.