The Medium

# The Medium on Intel Core Ultra X7 368H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The Medium presents a demanding dual-reality rendering challenge, and this laptop combination of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a starkly varied experience depending on resolution and quality preset. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can handle 1080p gaming with ease, yet struggles to maintain playability at 4K Ultra settings, indicating a clear performance ceiling defined by the GPU rather than the CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High settings, the system produces an average of 43 FPS, while at 1440p High it falls to 36 FPS, and at 4K High it drops to just 29 FPS. This represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings, which is a substantial penalty that points directly at the GPU as the limiting factor.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The system achieves 97 FPS at 1080p Low, 81 FPS at 1440p Low, and 64 FPS at 4K Low. The drop from 1080p to 4K here is 34%, similar to the High preset, confirming that the RTX 4060's rendering throughput is the primary constraint across all quality levels. The CPU is not holding back performance at lower resolutions, since the 1080p Low result of 97 FPS still leaves headroom before hitting any CPU-imposed ceiling.

The Medium preset shows the most complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 60 FPS with a range of 51 to 69 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium drops the average to 51 FPS, with a 43 to 59 FPS range. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 40 FPS, with a 34 to 46 FPS range. The consistent step-down pattern — roughly 10 FPS lost per resolution tier — suggests a linear relationship between pixel count and performance, typical of a GPU-bound scenario.

Ultra settings reveal the harshest scaling. From 34 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 29 FPS at 1440p and then to 23 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, confirming that this combination is not suitable for maximum quality at the highest resolution. The data implies that the RTX 4060's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory interface become increasingly strained as resolution increases, with the 4K results showing the system's practical limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H brings 16 cores and 16 threads to the table, running at a base clock of 2.00 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor's architecture, Panther Lake, built on a 3 nm process, delivers strong synthetic benchmark scores that suggest it is more than capable of feeding the RTX 4060 in this game. The multi-core Cinebench R23 score of 28,221 and single-core score of 3,984 indicate a processor with substantial headroom for gaming workloads.

The CPU's performance percentile of 87 versus all CPUs places it in the upper tier of available processors. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 7 253PE, scores 40,557 in average benchmarks, which is only 0.1% higher than the Ultra X7 368H's 40,518 average. This close margin suggests that swapping to that rival chip would yield virtually identical gaming performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940H trails by a mere 0.2%, reinforcing that this processor class is well-matched for the RTX 4060.

In The Medium specifically, the CPU's role appears secondary given the GPU-bound nature of the performance scaling. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 97 FPS while 4K Low drops to 64 FPS — a 34% reduction — indicates that the rendering pipeline is saturated by the GPU long before the CPU becomes a constraint. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel LPDDR5X memory support with 153.6 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data throughput for the game's asset streaming.

The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 32,956 and single-thread score of 4,005 reinforce its capability for gaming workloads. However, the benchmark results in The Medium show no evidence of CPU limitations, as the frame rate drops correlate almost perfectly with resolution increases. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see diminishing frame rate differences between resolutions, which is not the case in the measured data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the clear determinant of performance in The Medium. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, this GPU has enough resources for 1080p and 1440p gaming but shows strain at 4K. The boost clock of 2460 MHz and 3072 shading units deliver a measured FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS, which translates to the frame rates observed in the data.

The GPU's benchmark percentile of 61 versus all GPUs places it in the mid-range tier. Its average benchmark score of 17,639 is remarkably close to the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17,666 (0.2% higher) and the AMD Radeon 780M at 17,588 (0.3% lower). This proximity in synthetic scores suggests that the RTX 4060's real-world gaming performance could be similar to these rivals, though the measured FPS in The Medium reveals the actual gaming experience.

The 4K results are particularly telling for the GPU's capabilities. At 4K High, the average of 29 FPS barely crosses into playable territory, while 4K Ultra at 23 FPS falls below acceptable thresholds. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is likely a contributing factor at 4K, where texture-heavy scenes in The Medium's dual-world rendering can exceed this allocation. The 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth also becomes a constraint at higher resolutions, limiting the rate at which texture data can be streamed.

The RTX 4060's ray tracing capabilities — 24 RT cores — and DLSS support are present in the hardware specifications, though the measured data does not include frame generation or upscaling results. The 5 nm process node and 18,900 million transistors indicate an efficient design, but the 115 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface suggest this is a power-conscious mobile solution rather than a desktop-class performer. The gap between 1080p Ultra (34 FPS) and 4K Ultra (23 FPS) demonstrates the GPU's diminishing returns as pixel count increases.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1,751 out of 2,911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the combo in the 60th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 40% of configurations perform worse and 60% perform better. The ranking suggests that while this is not a top-tier setup for this game, it is far from the bottom.

The combo's rank is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong 87th percentile standing. The processor is clearly capable, but the GPU's 61st percentile ranking drags the overall performance down. This indicates that for The Medium, upgrading the GPU would yield greater performance gains than upgrading the CPU. The data shows a system where the CPU has headroom to spare, but the GPU is consistently the limiting factor across all resolutions and settings.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system's mid-pack ranking means it will handle the game at Medium settings comfortably at 1080p and 1440p, but will struggle at higher quality presets. The gap between the combo's CPU percentile (87) and GPU percentile (61) highlights an imbalance that becomes evident in the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the 23 FPS result is among the lower performance tiers for this game, while at 1080p Low, the 97 FPS result is respectable.

The ranking also implies that many combinations with slightly weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs would outperform this setup. The 0.1% to 0.2% differences between the CPU and its nearest rivals would have negligible impact on gaming performance, whereas even a modest GPU upgrade would produce noticeable improvements in The Medium's frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience balances visual quality with smooth gameplay. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers an average of 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS, providing a solid foundation for consistent playability. The High preset at 1080p drops to 43 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 34 FPS is borderline, and the Low preset at 97 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity for marginal gains.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, with an average of 51 FPS and a minimum of 43 FPS. This provides a good balance between resolution and frame rate. The High preset at 36 FPS is playable but may dip below comfort levels in intense scenes. The Low preset at 81 FPS offers smooth performance but undermines the purpose of playing at a higher resolution. The Ultra preset at 29 FPS is not recommended for consistent gameplay.

At 4K, the Medium preset with an average of 40 FPS and minimum of 34 FPS is the only viable option for playable performance. The High preset at 29 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS are below acceptable thresholds for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 64 FPS is playable but severely compromises visual quality at such a high resolution. For the best experience, 1080p Medium provides the most consistent frame rate with reasonable visual quality, while 1440p Medium offers a higher resolution with slightly lower but still acceptable performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings with an average of 40 FPS and minimum of 34 FPS. At High settings, the average drops to 29 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 23 FPS, both below smooth playability thresholds.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The 1080p Medium preset delivers 60 FPS average with a 51 to 69 FPS range, offering the best balance of smoothness and visual quality. Alternatively, 1440p Medium provides 51 FPS average with a 43 to 59 FPS range for higher resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H has an average benchmark score of 40,518, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core 7 253PE and 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 5 223PE. It outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H by 0.2% and the Intel Xeon 6507P by 0.2%.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes, the data shows the frame rate drops consistently with resolution increases, with a 33-34% reduction from 1080p to 4K across settings. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking versus the CPU's 87th percentile confirms the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings produce 97 FPS average while Ultra produces 34 FPS, representing a 63 FPS difference. The Medium preset at 60 FPS and High at 43 FPS sit between these extremes.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 1,751 out of 2,911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the 60th percentile of all systems. This indicates a mid-pack performance level, with better CPU performance than GPU performance relative to other components.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for this system in The Medium is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 97 FPS average
• Medium: 60 FPS average, 51 FPS minimum, 69 FPS maximum
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 51 FPS average, 43 FPS minimum, 59 FPS maximum
• High: 36 FPS average
• Ultra: 29 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 64 FPS average
• Medium: 40 FPS average, 34 FPS minimum, 46 FPS maximum
• High: 29 FPS average
• Ultra: 23 FPS average

The data reveals a consistent pattern across all resolutions: Medium settings provide the most balanced experience with complete min/max data, while Low settings maximize frame rates at the cost of visual quality. The High and Ultra presets progressively reduce performance, with 4K Ultra representing the worst case at 23 FPS. The 1080p Medium result of 60 FPS exactly matches the common refresh rate standard, making it the most harmonious setting for this hardware. The 1440p Medium result at 51 FPS remains smooth for most gaming scenarios, while 4K Medium at 40 FPS is the minimum recommended threshold for playable performance.