The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a unique stress profile that separates CPU and GPU demands more clearly than most modern games. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D across three resolutions and four quality presets, drawing on the benchmark data to explain where the bottleneck lies and what the numbers mean for playability.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates show a dramatic and consistent drop as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 202 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 191 FPS, a reduction of only 5.4%, but the 4K Low result falls to 153 FPS, which is a 24.3% decline from the 1440p figure. This pattern—small losses at moderate resolution increases, followed by a steep cliff at 4K—indicates that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor, while the processor has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolution.

The High preset tells a similar story with a steeper curve. At 1080p High, the average is 103 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 87 FPS, a 15.5% decrease. At 4K High, the average falls to 68 FPS, which is a 21.8% drop from the 1440p result. The scaling from 1080p to 4K High shows a total reduction of 34%, which is substantial but not as severe as the Low preset's 24.3% drop from 1440p to 4K alone. This suggests that higher quality settings are already loading the GPU heavily at 1080p, making the incremental cost of each resolution step more predictable.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution sensitivity further. The 1080p Ultra average is 82 FPS, dropping to 69 FPS at 1440p Ultra (a 15.9% loss) and then to 54 FPS at 4K Ultra (a 21.7% loss from 1440p). The total scaling from 1080p to 4K Ultra is a 34.1% reduction, nearly identical to the High preset's total scaling. This consistency indicates that the RTX 5090 D's compute resources are being saturated by the game's rendering workload at these settings, and the resolution scaling is purely a pixel-throughput exercise.

The Medium preset provides the only complete frame time data, with minimum and maximum values recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS and a maximum of 166 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 122 FPS, with the minimum at 103 FPS and maximum at 140 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 95 FPS, with minimum 81 FPS and maximum 110 FPS. The frame time consistency, measured by the spread between minimum and maximum, remains tight across all resolutions, with the 4K result showing a 29 FPS spread versus the 1080p spread of 43 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolution suggests that the GPU is being pushed closer to its consistent limit, reducing the variance caused by CPU-driven frame spikes.

The data clearly shows that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU. The 4K Low average of 153 FPS versus the 1080p Low average of 202 FPS represents a 49 FPS gap, whereas the 1440p Low result of 191 FPS is only 11 FPS behind the 1080p figure. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the 1080p and 1440p results to be much closer together, since the CPU workload does not scale with resolution. Instead, the linear degradation from 1080p to 1440p to 4K confirms that the RTX 5090 D's rendering pipeline is the bottleneck, particularly at higher presets where pixel shading and memory bandwidth become the dominant costs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. In the context of The Medium, which is not known for high CPU thread utilization, the processor's role is primarily to maintain a stable frame delivery floor, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any of the measured configurations. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 202 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would require substantial CPU throughput to feed the GPU. The processor's single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and Passmark single-thread score of 4823, provides the necessary headroom. The boost clock of 5.80 GHz is critical for this game, as The Medium's fixed-camera perspective often renders scenes with relatively few on-screen objects, making single-threaded draw call processing a potential bottleneck on weaker CPUs.

The 24 cores and 24 threads are largely underutilized in this title. The Medium's engine, based on Unreal Engine 4, typically scales well up to 8-16 threads, but the additional cores beyond that point contribute little to frame rate. The processor's multi-threaded capabilities, reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51731 and Passmark multithread score of 60860, are more relevant for streaming game assets in the background or running secondary applications, but they do not directly influence the measured FPS results in this data.

The processor's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient for this game's needs. The Medium is a horror title with relatively modest texture streaming requirements compared to open-world games, so the memory subsystem is unlikely to present a bottleneck. The L3 cache of 36 MB shared across all cores provides a large pool for shared game data, which helps mitigate latency when the game engine's job system dispatches work across multiple cores.

The key observation from the CPU perspective is that the performance gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 11 FPS (202 vs 191), which is a 5.4% difference. This small gap suggests that the CPU is capable of delivering frame rates well above 200 FPS in this game, and the GPU is the component that determines the final output. At 4K Low, the 153 FPS result is still well above the 1440p High result of 87 FPS, which further confirms that the CPU is not the bottleneck even at the highest frame rates measured.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the balance between visual quality and frame rate. The Medium preset offers the best combination of performance and visual fidelity across all resolutions, with frame rates that remain playable even at 4K. At 1080p Medium, the average of 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS provides a smooth experience on high refresh rate displays, and the maximum of 166 FPS indicates there is headroom for occasional frame spikes. At 1440p Medium, the 122 FPS average with a 103 FPS minimum is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the 140 FPS maximum shows good consistency.

The 4K Medium result of 95 FPS average, with an 81 FPS minimum and 110 FPS maximum, is the most compelling argument for this preset. It delivers near-4K resolution with a frame rate that is comfortably above the 60 FPS standard, and the minimum of 81 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes do not drop into stutter territory. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot for this hardware combination, offering a 40.7% improvement over the Ultra preset at 4K (95 vs 54 FPS) while maintaining a more consistent frame delivery.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, but the gains over Medium are modest while the performance cost is significant. At 4K, the High preset averages 68 FPS, which is 27 FPS lower than Medium, but the visual difference between these two presets in The Medium is typically limited to shadow quality and post-processing effects. The 1080p High result of 103 FPS is also lower than the 1440p Medium result of 122 FPS, which suggests that users with 1440p monitors should prefer Medium at their native resolution over High at a lower resolution.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (202 FPS at 1080p, 191 FPS at 1440p, 153 FPS at 4K), sacrifices too much visual quality for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and lighting. The Ultra preset, conversely, offers the best image quality but drops to 54 FPS at 4K, which is below the ideal threshold for a smooth experience, and even at 1080p it only manages 82 FPS, which is lower than the 1440p Medium result.

The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for this hardware combination, particularly at 4K where the 95 FPS average provides a substantial margin over the 60 FPS standard. For users with high refresh rate 1080p or 1440p monitors, the Medium preset also delivers excellent results, with 144 FPS and 122 FPS respectively, both with minimum frame rates above 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 2nd out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This is an exceptional result, placing this hardware pairing in the top 0.07% of all configurations tested. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, and the data suggests that this combo is capable of delivering frame rates that are competitive with the very best systems available.

The rank of 2nd place indicates that there is only one other tested combination that outperforms this setup in this specific game. Given the RTX 5090 D's position in the GPU hierarchy—its Passmark G3D score of 44065 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs—and the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus's 96th percentile ranking among CPUs, this result is expected. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a top-tier GPU provides the ideal foundation for maximising frame rates in a game that is not particularly demanding on either component.

The near-top ranking also suggests that there is very little performance left on the table with this configuration. The delta between this combo and the top-ranked combo is likely to be small, as the measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (54 FPS) are already approaching the limits of what the game engine can deliver with this GPU. The 4K Low result of 153 FPS further indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint, and even a more powerful GPU would only provide marginal gains in this title.

The rank of 2nd out of 2911 combos also highlights the efficiency of this pairing. The Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock, provides sufficient CPU throughput to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5090 D, which is a common issue with lower-end processors when paired with flagship GPUs. The data confirms that this is a well-balanced combination for The Medium, with neither component holding the other back significantly.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, with a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. These specifications make it one of the most powerful GPUs available, and the measured frame rates in The Medium reflect this.

The GPU's role in this game is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The 32 GB of VRAM is far more than The Medium requires, even at 4K with Ultra settings, so memory capacity is not a limiting factor. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, however, is crucial for the game's rendering of high-resolution textures and the dual-world mechanic that The Medium is known for, which requires the GPU to render two separate scenes simultaneously in certain sections.

The boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, provides substantial raw processing power. The measured frame rates show that the GPU can handle 4K Low at 153 FPS, which is a high frame rate for 4K rendering. The 4K Medium result of 95 FPS, with a minimum of 81 FPS, indicates that the GPU maintains consistent performance even under moderate load. The 4K Ultra result of 54 FPS is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, and this is expected given the extreme pixel and shading demands of Ultra settings at 4K.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92nd among all GPUs is based on its average benchmark score of 77712, which is derived from synthetic tests like 3DMark Steel Nomad (14326) and Passmark G3D (44065). While these synthetic scores are useful for comparing relative performance, the in-game results provide a more practical assessment. The nearest rivals listed—AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% higher average score) and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% lower average score)—are mobile GPUs, which highlights the RTX 5090 D's position in the desktop enthusiast segment.

The GPU's 176 ROPs and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are particularly relevant for The Medium's fixed-camera scenes, which often feature detailed static environments with heavy texture work. The high texture rate ensures that the GPU can maintain fill rates even at 4K resolution, where the pixel count is over 8 million. The 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate is also sufficient to handle the game's post-processing effects, which are common in horror titles to create atmosphere and tension.

The RTX 5090 D's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) ensures compatibility with The Medium's rendering features, although the game was released in 2021 and does not heavily utilise ray tracing. The GPU's ray tracing cores (170) and tensor cores (680) are available for other titles but have limited impact on this specific game's measured performance. The 575 W TDP and 950 W suggested PSU requirement are not directly relevant to the frame rate data, but they indicate the power envelope required to sustain the GPU's high clocks under load.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium provides the best balance, with an average of 122 FPS and a minimum of 103 FPS, while 4K Medium offers a playable 95 FPS average with an 81 FPS minimum. The 1080p Low preset achieves 202 FPS, but this sacrifices visual quality for frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data confirms the GPU is the limiting component. The 1080p Low average of 202 FPS drops to 191 FPS at 1440p Low (a 5.4% loss) and then to 153 FPS at 4K Low (a 24.3% loss from 1440p), which is a signature of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's role is secondary, providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to 4K Medium?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, while 4K Medium averages 95 FPS. This represents a 41 FPS difference, making Medium the better choice for maintaining smooth gameplay above 60 FPS, while Ultra is only viable for users who prioritise visual fidelity over frame rate.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the measured minimum is 123 FPS and maximum is 166 FPS, a spread of 43 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 103 FPS and maximum is 140 FPS, a spread of 37 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 81 FPS and maximum is 110 FPS, a spread of 29 FPS. The consistency improves as resolution increases.

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

A: This combo ranks 2nd out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.07% of all systems tested in The Medium. This rank reflects the combined performance of the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 5090 D.

Q: Does the GPU's 32 GB of VRAM matter for this game?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far more than The Medium requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. The memory capacity is not a limiting factor, but the 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth is important for the game's dual-world rendering sections, which demand high bandwidth for simultaneous scene processing.